Out of Curiousity...

Who else on these Forums is/was a high school performer. I'm looking for advice on getting gigs, getting stuff recorded, and working in rehearsals around school better, since so far we're only doing once a week and it's still not even every week cause stuff comes up. Plus I hope I'm not the only member of this demographic here. I don't wanna be held responsible for my generation's shortcomings

Floophead, get ready for the kick-in-the-nuts of a lifetime--life gets way more complicated once you leave high school. People might get a little less flaky as they get older, but it is always hard to get 4-5 people together regularly in one spot.

I can't help you with the rest of it. Good luck.

Yeah, I used to play with people a lot back in high school. In the real world, though, it's hard as hell. I'm at an extra disadvantage because I work late, which ties up all weekday evenings, but even outside of that I've played with people much much less than back in school. It sucks, 'cause I'm a hell of a lot better at playing than back then, too.

Good luck, though. Always keep playing, even if nobody is listening or playing with you.

Well I graduated in 1998, does that make me too old to fit in to this categorie.

I think you will find more dedicated people after high school. At least I did. When I got to college I found people who really wanted to play and not just be a friend through music.

but as far as getting gigs you have the best chance to do it right now. Being in school exposes you to a ton of people who will be more likely to go see your band because (believe me on this) they think it's real cool. As far as shows you can always hook up with another band and some cool places. Maybe rent out the old american legion hall, or school gym. Depending where you live you might be able to even play at a bar-I played several at the age of 16.

If things are getting in the way of band practice then these people probably aren't very motivated to play. You may need to find new musician's to jam with.

good luck

I graduated in 1994, but I remember well trying to fit rehearsals in with school. School takes up quite a bit of time, especially if you are involved in any kind of extra-curricular activities. It can be way more time consuming that a 9 to 5 job.

I remember that my bands biggest problem was not actually finding time to rehearse though; our biggest problem is that we had a bass player whose dad was a real prick. Every time without fail that we had a gig, his dad would find some reason to ground him. I remember that it got so frustrating that at one point we asked another friend to play with us, and do the bass parts on a crappy Casio keyboard. It was terrible. I also would not trade it for anything in the world. These are some of the best times I have ever had. Life does get extraordinarily hard once you are out of school.

Oh, and we used to play at parties. Someone throws a party, ask if they want some live entertainment. Also, I don't know where you live, but lots of small towns have little street festivals and they love young local talent. In other words play anywhere they will let you.

Good luck

i gotta say, i play out pretty regularly on other peoples' work and we NEVER rehearse. i just get the CD and am expected to play the guitar on it with minor embellishments here and there. it would actually be nice to rehearse once or twice!

just keep recording your tunes and playing them any chance you get. if they are good enough, people who play will come to you. that was my deal, anyway. i never 'recruited'. i would make rehearsal tapes for a GOOD ENOUGH PLAYER to learn on, but if i had someone a bit wet, i would always sit with them on the tunes. a lot of times, it gets totally frustrating, but that's part of it. i really believe there's a 'rites of passage' here.

the best advice i could give you (although probably not fiscally good!) is to get credit while you're still young and you haven't f'ed it up yet, buy a mac, buy some mics and an interface, and just record your own stuff to the absolute best of your ability. if you start now, by the time you graduate from college, you'll really be super-prepared to shop yourself (and you'll have made some kick-ass recordings on the way)

insightful points here guys, thx. And cause a lot of you asked, I live in the suburbs of Virginia outside DC. Buttloads of people around here, my high school has like 3000 people in it or something rediculous like that. I've got some gigs lined up at my singer's church, but I'd like to play at some venues in the area by the end of the year. Senior year will be a lot easier since less work, more money available to us, we'll all be driving, and college won't really be an issue after the fall.

First of all, this is my first post so whoo. I am a high school performer, and I share some of the same issues. Luckily I've got some really good bandmates, all who are dedicated to music (Compared to being in a band where you're the only one who gives a {censored}, which has happened to me). So far we've just been doing stupid open mics and school benefits to get our name out, but we finally have our first REAL (kinda) gig coming up next month at an actual club/restaurant. So I guess just getting your name out is probably the most important sort-term thing you can do. But who knows, all I've really learned in the last year of performing is to enjoy it.

The only thing about High School that I really hate is that classmates will most likely think you suck because you don't play Green Day or Breaking Benjamin (shudder).

My advice? Move to a town with a healthy music scene with serious musicians.

Austin, Athens, LA, Nashville, New York, maybe Minneapolis...

You are way ahead of the curve then. Never lose site of the fact that music is supposed to be fun. You seem like you have a real good head on your shoulders and I am looking forward to seeing more of your posts.

Glad to see I'm not the only high school performer on these forums. I'm starting to get pissed off with my singer, I just don't think he's taking this seriously enough - he skipped another meeting, and really I think the only reason I'm keeping him is he's my friend and he has some gig spots lined up. This should probably be in another thread but I'm lazy so it's gonna be here.

high school is a great time of life enjoy it while u can.... where u live (i know the area, as i am on the other side of the bridge on the eastern shore) u have sooooo many choices for musicians and gigs!

what you really need to do is keep on keepin on, (not too many clubs for young kids, maybe some private things and under 21 clubs)

learn all you can learn, by the time u are of age you should have a heck of a knowledge of playing and actually being able to change chords quicker than before and cheat at some chords .. hehe... then u put up ads to either join or form a band... once u become established .. get a manager, or an agent... then all the band has to do is practice and show up. finding gigs is a pain and takes all your time away from playing.

i had 3 agents and a manager, we played 7 nights a week and sometimes 2 gigs a day, while others were in the music store all day whinnin about having nowhere to play... (more gigs for us with a mind like that) a manager can be a retired lawyer or retired salesman with good sales track records... just someone to sit and ramble on the phone with these clubs u get the names and numbers give it to them and they take care of getting your foot in the door...

besides dont sweat it, if its to be it will be! i was a music major so all i wanted to do was play... only later in life did i worry about having a real job cause i made plenty off the music! now i had my real jobs and they paid off, i own my place and everything is paid for now i'm back to just playing music again and writing my own.

If you're looking to be a star there are many ways to attempt that and my friend, most of the time it takes a lifetime to accomplish it or not... you will know if this is what u want, because u will go after it! everyone is born with a native talent to do anything, but what u persue is what u will be the best at....

Johnny X

you only have two choices ... ditch the dead heads or complain about it... you cant move on if u dont change the situation!

so heres and idea!! get rid of him!... *laffin*

Actually I had a similar problem with a friend as a lead singer...but it was a whole lot easier to get rid of him because he was lazy and bad at singing.

My advice to you is just lay it all out on the table, what can they say no?? so what, in your area there is plenty of singing musicians .... do what u have to do, and make it very clear up front u will indeed do that... just keep learnin and dont worry about it! live your young life ! it will all come to you when u get out of school and start lookin for it.

it wont come and tap u on the shoulder u have to work at it as u do your homework.. start going to open mic jams theres lots of musicians there looking for people... we have a place here on wed they hold jam sessions... thats the kind of place when u get your guys/gals together to go do 3-4 numbers then let them know u are for hire because thats why they hold them to see who they can hire from it... thats a NO BRAINER.

friends dont count cause they wont sit in your garage and pay you 100-100+ a night EACH just to listen to how great they or u think u are....

Alright, thanks for some of the advice. The only problem is the singing musicians part. There's not a whole lot of singers in my area which is unexpected and unfortunate, and the few who do sing only want to scream or cry. But you're probably right in that if I look hard enough, I'm sure I'll find someone by spring. Until then my drummer and I are splitting the singing duties. I hope that goes well...

BTW I wasnt sure if this was aimed at me or floophead, but nonetheless