How do you test a band that invited you for auditioning ?

[chevybusa]

Really interesting topic. I think what makes it so hard is that you can develop a really good "bull{censored} detector" and after a litle while of doing it can know exactly what to look for and what things constitute red flags, but the thing is that you can't really know how things are gonna turn out until you actually get involved. That's a big part of why I gave up the whole thing years ago and now just play write and record at home by myself.

 

I found that after a few years of the whole gigging and band thing that I pretty much knew exactly what to look for and exactly what to stay the hell away from...the thing is that in almost every single case whenever I found a band that met all the positive criteria and had no red flags that didn't mean that {censored} wouldn't come to the surface or that things would change once I got involved. Same went for bands I was in that auditioned new members.

 

What really sucks is that there just is no crystal ball, and even if everything is perfect at the outset there's no guarantee that one or more of a whole host of issues won't pop up down the road. Sure, a lot of that can often be mitigated against, but unfortunately I personally found that there's just no way to know, even if you have the best scenario possible to start with it's always a leap of faith...

[The Real MC]

Keyboard players are in a bit of a different camp than say, guitarists, bass players or drummers. Usually, the band is looking to either change their direction or just add a keys player to fatten their sound. We're mainly the sauce being added to the meat. The meat can still be eaten, but the sauce gives it that added flavor. Gigs can still be booked and played sans keyboard player, just won't have that "sound". Even for any instrument, it may be a situation that the musician may be leaving the band at some time(for whatever reason) and will continue to play gigs with this band until he leaves, giving time for his replacement to be up to speed with the setlist. I've just recently joined a swing/blues/funk band after they were getting frustrated with their old keyboard player, whom they wanted to dump. Before the audition, I had attended one of their shows and really got a sense of the vibe from the people around me. For me, that tells me a lot more of this band than any picture would: the sound, energy. The dance floor was packed and the place was lively that night. The frontman/singer was very engaging and everyone there seemed to be having a ball. The audition went great for everyone in the band and myself. I played my first gig with them a few weeks ago and it turned out to be one of the most fun gigs I've ever played.

 

 

What a coincidence, I had the same experience down in Binghamton back in 2001.

 

Yeah, if they are an established gigging band then checking out a live gig incognito is a great way to audition the band.

 

Anymore I look for personality rather than talent. I've been in bands with awesome talent but it doesn't translate into a popular band.

 

Just two months ago I joined a southern rock band. Small format four piece, good personalities, competent musicians, perfect for my needs. Well there was an argument and suddenly we were three piece. Then I showed up for two rehearsals that were cancelled at the last minute and I have a one hour commute each way. Guitar player wouldn't return my calls. By the second cancellation I packed my stuff and left.

 

Sometimes you can't see stuff coming, but I immediately recognized the non-communication issue as a red flag.

[tucktronix]

What a coincidence, I had the same experience down in Binghamton back in 2001. Yeah, if they are an established gigging band then checking out a live gig incognito is a great way to audition the band. Anymore I look for personality rather than talent. I've been in bands with awesome talent but it doesn't translate into a popular band. Just two months ago I joined a southern rock band. Small format four piece, good personalities, competent musicians, perfect for my needs. Well there was an argument and suddenly we were three piece. Then I showed up for two rehearsals that were cancelled at the last minute and I have a one hour commute each way. Guitar player wouldn't return my calls. By the second cancellation I packed my stuff and left. Sometimes you can't see stuff coming, but I immediately recognized the non-communication issue as a red flag.

 

 

Absolutely!! It's like a marriage. If there's no connection, emotional or otherwise, or communication, the marriage will surely fail. It works the same way when joining a band. For me, the personality factor HAS to be there. Glad you got out of there. I would definitely jumped ship as well.

 

That was one of the things that got me sold to this band. No negative attitudes/ego's here, every seems to be very easygoing and just plain fun to be around. I see a definite balance of fun and professionalism, a happy medium that I've missed with a lot of bands. Great communication during rehearsals, quick email responses, focused rehearsals, and a setlist that seems to be getting a lot of people to the dance floor, not to mention fun to play. This must be some sort of dream. It's been about 3 weeks and everything's good so far. Will this surprising state of band bliss continue? We'll see.

[Janx]

I think kramer's points are spot on for finding initial warning flags. After that, you gotta ride it for a while to look for a few more...

i'd never show up at an audition with a bunch of originals and ask everyone to play them... if a band has 30 songs (covers or originals), why cant I suggest 1 within the first 2-3 practices ? Would it be too much ? it is better than spending 2 months learning those 30 songs just to confirm that you are not gonna have any input (although in the beginning they said you would). as someone said, if you want a sideman, show me the money ! and i am in this for fun, not for money. and tell that upfront. seeing the band live is a great idea - much better than myspace.

I think the key is everybody hates it when the new guy chimes n with stuff. Whether it be work or a band, it's damned annoying. He's only been here 3 weeks and he thinks he knows our business better than we do...

As the new guy, you gotta ease into things. Prove you know the job they hired you for first. Become the go to guy who knows how to do stuff or knows people. When you are the guy they rely on, then you are the guy they trust. When they trust you, they trust that your ideas are a sound fit for the band, because everything else you've done has been a sound fit for the band.

Avoid saying "in my old band, we did it this way, or used to do this..." type phrases. Always stick to talking in terms of the current band. Don't propose changes to do things the way your old band used to. Propose solutions to problems the band is talking about.

Let's say your old band used Google Calendar to organize schedules and stuff. This new band uses voice mail messages. If the band isn't complaining about missing gigs or getting messages lost, don't bring up Google Calendar, and don't complain about the process because it isn't broken.

When the band does start complaining about how hard it is to coordinate, do not say ", well, in my old band we used Google Calendar to organize everything." Instead, say, "If we've all got regular internet access, we could use one of those free online calendar tools, like on Yahoo or Google to organize our schedules easily." Now you're restating what the band is seeing as a problem, and proposing the rough idea of a solution. If it gets traction, the band will come to the conclusion that you already reached.

I picked a technical, non-music example. The same principle applies for adding songs. Don't pull the "what you used to play" shtick. In fact, in a cover band, if you want to add songs, add songs YOU don't know how to play. That way you're not adding songs just for your comfort, you are focused on adding songs for the band. In all of this, these should be songs that are a fit for the band. Don't try to re-image the band.

With originals, there's a lot of different takes on who writes the songs. If its always just one guy, then don't expect to write songs in this band, you are just a player of his music (which is the same as playing covers, really). If its only one guy doing the singing, don't expect to sing a song. Only after passing those 2 barriers should you consider writing a song for the main singer of the band. And then, you probably want to make it a collaboration, so that way you get him to buy in on it. Remember if the singer don't like it, he ain't gonna sing it, which mean it ain't gonna happen.

[Austincowbell]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBpjRDqZuhw Pro players and bands have video of them playing...mine is above...see their video and you will decide in 3 minutes to move forward or not...