Members cre8ivjay Posted September 29, 2005 Members Share Posted September 29, 2005 HUGE blow to our band. We'd only been together for about 1.5 years but still... Hard to swallow. We haven't had a gig in awhile and now we have one in about 5 weeks and no singer! Question(s) How do you keep the spirits of the band up? How do you keep any momentum you had? What do you look for in a future singer? There are the obvious things things and then there are the soft skills... What do you think? Thanks! Jay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ulank Posted September 29, 2005 Members Share Posted September 29, 2005 Please define "lost." That may really change the landscape of this thread. Did he quit? Is he somewhere in the couch cushions? Or did he die? If it's the last one, then my condolences. Otherwise, if he's in the couch cushions, put a fresh bag in the vacuum cleaner and start working that hose. If he quit, kill him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cre8ivjay Posted September 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 He just quit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 I'm of the opinion that... If you don't have a singer, you don't have a band. Just a few jerkoffs makin' racket. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by squealie I'm of the opinion that... If you don't have a singer, you don't have a band. Just a few jerkoffs makin' racket. Well that kinda depends on who's doing the bulk of the songwriting, if you're an original band that is. I mean... Roger Daltrey's great and all, but the Who would still have been the Who with a different singer. And if it's a cover band... well, it should be easy enough to find another singer that knows or can learn the stuff you do. It is REALLY discouraging to lose an important bandmate, though. I guess the thing to do would be to sit down with the rest of the guys and get a game plan together, lay out some real goals. First (especially if you're an original band) you should continue getting together to play, even just to jam once in awhile so you don't get rusty. Then you should decide what to look for in a new singer. Do you want somebody more or less like the old guy or do you want to head in a different direction? Or maybe keep it somewhat open and figure you'll know the right person when they come along. Then start networking, hit the classifieds, put up notices at the music stores, go to clubs and scope out other bands, and ask other musicians if they know anybody. Most of all, to keep your morale up you should be sure to re-affirm your commitment to each other. Like I said, have a meeting, go out and get drunk together afterward or hit the 24 hour diner or whatever you guys like to do for fun. If one person leaves it can get everybody paranoid about the future of the whole band, so it's always good to reconnect and make sure everybody gets on the same page and wants to move forward. Good luck and feel free to keep leaning on the forum for moral support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ulank Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by cre8ivjay He just quit. Oh. Ok then. You may proceed with my instructions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier but the Who would still have been the Who with a different singer. Of course. But with NO ONE singing, they would have gone NO WHERE. The Who? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 LOL... well true. But the point was to cheer up our friend here. Lots of bands have singers who aren't irreplaceable, is all I was trying to say. Hell, the Doors even did some gigs in Europe with Ray Manzarek singing because Morrison was too wasted to perform, and nobody knew the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ulank Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier LOL... well true. But the point was to cheer up our friend here. Lots of bands have singers who aren't irreplaceable, is all I was trying to say. Hell, the Doors even did some gigs in Europe with Ray Manzarek singing because Morrison was too wasted to perform, and nobody knew the difference. The advantages of having a wasted crowd. We pass out 'ludes at the door for our shows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Locke Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by cre8ivjay How do you keep the spirits of the band up? How do you keep any momentum you had? What do you look for in a future singer? Losing a singer can be a big thing and it can be nothing depending on how you deal with it. What you should do now is:find atleast 5 new singers to try out for your band. Look for someone who has the best mix of three things: 1. the ability to sing 2. general attitude towards music 3. how he/she gets along with the band. Avoid snobs. I'd rather take someone who's a little bit less capable but is a great person than someone who can sing like hell but is otherwise {censored}. Anyway, if you don't know any free singers search the net. There are loads of sites with singers looking for bands. Just send some e-mails, make some calls, arrange meetings right away and see who fits the crew best and voila, it's done. And yeah, I'm speaking from experience. It's really not that big a deal with 5 weeks to the gig. That is, if there ARE available singers where you live. If there's only one singer in town and they quit your band then the situation might be worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zookie Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by cre8ivjay HUGE blow to our band. We haven't had a gig in awhile and now we have one in about 5 weeks and no singer!How do you keep any momentum you had? Well, the glass is either half empty of half full. From your choice of words I get a hint that you're really taking his quitting hard. If you haven't gigged in awhile, though, what sort of momentum was there? Look at this as an opportunity to reform the band to be more aggressive with gigging and self-promotion. Show your old singer he was a damned fool to quit. Finding a replacement singer will require all the usual steps; check musician classifieds, local music stores, ask all your friends, etc. Meanwhile, is there anyone in the band now who could get through 3 sets for the upcoming gig? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sleepin' Deeper Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by squealie I'm of the opinion that... If you don't have a singer, you don't have a band. Just a few jerkoffs makin' racket. You mean jerk offs like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock or Mozart? Yeah, instrumental music blows arsehole! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by Sleepin' Deeper You mean jerk offs like Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock or Mozart? Yeah, instrumental music blows arsehole! Well, they HAD a singer, so I made the wild assumption that they were not an instrumental act. Why don't you pay attention? Besides, last time I checked, Mozart wasn't a band. {censored}wit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted September 30, 2005 Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Originally posted by Lee Flier LOL... well true. But the point was to cheer up our friend here. To that point, I've seen dozens of bands lose their singer, and then someone else in the band would step up to vocal duty. They were often a stronger act for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cre8ivjay Posted September 30, 2005 Author Members Share Posted September 30, 2005 Thanks for all the responses guys! It totally helps.. We will get the band together and regroup. I see us being a stronger act because of this. Thanks! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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