Members Nick the DSM Posted August 10, 2008 Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 Ok, I made a band about 2 months ago, my bro on guitar and me on drums, we found another guitarist within a few weeks. we make a name, write a song or two and jam for 4 hours. we kept in contact with the guy for like over a month but everytime we try to get a practice together, he ends up not making it. i talk to him again and he's like "dude, i can totally make it"! a few days ago i called him and told him that we have been invited to a local battle of the bands and asked if we were ready to do it. he said yes because he wrote a few songs and found a singer. so i call and tell the people that we will be ready. the gig is at sept 22. later on yesterday he calls me telling me that he has to quit(personal) reasons. so now, we have nothing! we are trying to get another guitarist and vocals( right now bassist will take too long to find.). i think i might have another guitarist but he has a wee 10 watt amp and we still don't have any songs... am i screwed or what?! i don't have the balls to tell the guy we can't make it, plus i don't wanna pay the $25 exit fee... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cearleywine Posted August 10, 2008 Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 good luck, few are ready for what it takes to get a band started. If you have that drive you'll end up with like minds. Just keep working on interesting instrumental arangements with your bro, at least you'll be progressing and maybe you can play a whole show with just the two of you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cheeseadiddle Posted August 10, 2008 Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 And... never trust a player to follow through with anything if they can't even show up to practice. The ones that show up whenever you schedule a rehearsal are probably the ones that will show up for gigs too. Conversely, if they show up all the time, everything sounds groovy, but yet they say they aren't ready to put the time in for a real band, and don't want to gig... take them at their word. They won't magically change their tune when you decide you have a real band. The matching attitude and commitment level has to come first. Not their skill level. I'll take a lesser player with the right attitude and commitment level over the chops meister with the poor attitude and lack of commitment any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members marko46 Posted August 10, 2008 Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 +1Muscians, ESPECIALLY GUITAR PLAYERS are bizarre to say the least. When the dude stopped showing up for rehearsal, you should have known he's a chump. In one of the "bands" I attempt to play in, we have yet to find a bass player who can actually play bass to even a mediocre degree, or a singer who can sing the same. we have had several people say they'd be there and never show up. The Bass player that stuck the longest was fired 5 months ago. His cabinet is still where we rehearse. Just left it. He's a huge pot head, not that there's anything wrong with that, so hell he should sell it and cop a half an ounce or something. We'll keep it for the rent he never paid. You need to call the guy holding the B of the B's competion and gracefully back out. It's not your fault at all, so tell him what happened. I doubt you'll find some one else and have your set-list down in 6 weeks and be ready for a competion to boot. JMO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Carminemw Posted August 10, 2008 Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 Welcome to the music business son...let grandpa tell ya how many times that happened to me. Well way back in "ought seven" I remember a time when... Find yourself a new player, make sure he's dependable as well as talented, and just move on. Gigs always come and go...it's never the end of the world...just seems like it at the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GCR Posted August 10, 2008 Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 This kind of scenario is more the norm than the exception... that's just the nature of start-ups... they take a LONG time to get the right people in place. Don't book gigs until a solid line-up and set list in place... Networking is your best defense... musicians playing in the scene are the best people to get to know... every hack that owns a instrument will put an add on CL or MySpace... but more times than not, they are flakes or just out right poor musicians. Start to frequent your local original-only clubs (Clubs w/ cover bands will be of little help.. and who want to listen to {censored}ty cover music anyway) ... not only to network, but to look at what established bands are doing on stage... (Don't ever ask a band if you can come up and play w/ them... they worked hard to get where they're at... you have to do your own work) Just introduce yourself as a musician, and let the band know you enjoyed their set. Maybe mention you're looking for a Bass Player (or whatever) and do they know anybody out of a project at the moment. Don't expect a person to join "your" band and be a hired gun... You can state you goals on the sound your looking for, but allow room for the "concept" to evolve as a product of it's members and their personal influences. Bands are a relationship of personalities. The more personalities, the more chance for conflict. It's an exercise in psychology as much as it is in music. I've had the best luck w/ my bands by finding and working w/ a single guitarist/singer/songwriter... the two of you can write and work on songs & structure and add the other needed members as you see fit. A big catch22 is, "real" musicians want to hear stuff you've been recorded on (Good recording, not basement bull{censored}) before they bother to waste your/their time. However, thats hard to do if your trying to get your first Start-Up off the ground. Also, I second what cheese said. Musicianship can be learned together... attitudes are much more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Nick the DSM Posted August 10, 2008 Author Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 ...crap! i really don't wanna back out but it almost seems like i must. i'm suppose to jam with some guy on saturday who says that he might be able to get a bassist and vocals. hopefully this will work out, if it does we're practicing hard for the next 6 weeks. if not, i'll call the guy and tell him we can't do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members cheeseadiddle Posted August 10, 2008 Members Share Posted August 10, 2008 Took us going through many, many auditions, ads and phone calls before we found a bass player that had the same commitment level and attitude. The guy is pretty good on the bass too. But now I'm looking for a lead guitar and either keys or a harp. So more of the same, no doubt. Like has been said, putting together a project is not easy. It's a lot of headaches. But we've at least turned the corner on it. We got a solid three piece if nothing else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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