Ok I haven't spent much time on Bandmix, just got reconnected, but I spent some time reading through replies to post:
Having so much trouble finding band members... SamanthaScarlette 2011
I've been playing forever and have done some band-work but mostly made my living doing biz software. I have ever been on the lookout though for good band situations & chemistry but, like so many of the posts/replies in these forums, the success rate is pretty low. Lots of musicians looking, and very few bands being put together from the seekers (although there sure are a lot of bands out there trying to play, look at the L.A. Weekly ads for clubs, 3-4 bands in a night, yikes). Anyway, don't everyone get offended, but it's my conclusion that to be able to get the band you want you have to pay for it, like Zappa always did. Hire the people and tell them exactly what to do.
Since I make enough dough doing the software thing, I can potentially do this, now. I'm just curious to know if there are enough people out there who can rise to the occasion without letting their own "vision" get in the way. It's amazing to me how many players I see listed in a given city (I've scanned L.A. & Birmingham, for starters, working on Seattle now as I'm here for a spell) who all a) play great and b) are (ostensibly) looking for bands. But they can't mesh, or maybe they have and just haven't changed their status in their listing to "not looking anymore". It's so easy now to sit at home and record your stuff forever until it's just right, but then to gig the stuff is another world. It seems to me a good way to find out whether another player(s) is/are a good fit for you is to trade "favorite set lists" of covers you'd do. Even if you want to do originals, make up a cover set list. If the same tunes come up on your lists, or if you like eachother's set-tunes, that should be a good indicator that you'd be able to do a band. If you really wanted to GIG those tunes, as a band, your personalities should not get in the way. That's real professionalism, as I understand it. Zappa, for example, used to hand a new guy a set list (with 200 tunes to one guy, I read), and said "come back when you've learned these". That would be my tactic, if I was paying someone for rehearsals, and gigs. If the players could do that, with no personal issues (all things being the same, skill-wise), I wouldn't worry about losing money paying them to rehearse, etc, as I would know it would eventually pay off (assuming initial response was good, or I'd scrap the project fast). So, the magic hypothetical question is:
How much would I have to pay you to play my set list (whatever it is, within your skill level of course) exactly like I tell you to play it?
There was a guy in our lil 'ol Lakeport, CA, recently who hired a few guys to play a classic rock gig (or rather, a few gigs) and he paid them all a pretty ridiculous amount of money, for the gigs they were. I won't say how much, yet. I don't know if they all played them exactly the way he wanted, but they played the gigs and all got paid. Back to the Magic Question above. As everyone's in agreement these days that music is a business, can you have your vision and obey orders too? Thoughts and curses folks. BTW I'm in Seattle, ready to give orders. maybe. contact-at-grimydiner-dot-com. Cheers, jack
Having so much trouble finding band members... SamanthaScarlette 2011
I've been playing forever and have done some band-work but mostly made my living doing biz software. I have ever been on the lookout though for good band situations & chemistry but, like so many of the posts/replies in these forums, the success rate is pretty low. Lots of musicians looking, and very few bands being put together from the seekers (although there sure are a lot of bands out there trying to play, look at the L.A. Weekly ads for clubs, 3-4 bands in a night, yikes). Anyway, don't everyone get offended, but it's my conclusion that to be able to get the band you want you have to pay for it, like Zappa always did. Hire the people and tell them exactly what to do.
Since I make enough dough doing the software thing, I can potentially do this, now. I'm just curious to know if there are enough people out there who can rise to the occasion without letting their own "vision" get in the way. It's amazing to me how many players I see listed in a given city (I've scanned L.A. & Birmingham, for starters, working on Seattle now as I'm here for a spell) who all a) play great and b) are (ostensibly) looking for bands. But they can't mesh, or maybe they have and just haven't changed their status in their listing to "not looking anymore". It's so easy now to sit at home and record your stuff forever until it's just right, but then to gig the stuff is another world. It seems to me a good way to find out whether another player(s) is/are a good fit for you is to trade "favorite set lists" of covers you'd do. Even if you want to do originals, make up a cover set list. If the same tunes come up on your lists, or if you like eachother's set-tunes, that should be a good indicator that you'd be able to do a band. If you really wanted to GIG those tunes, as a band, your personalities should not get in the way. That's real professionalism, as I understand it. Zappa, for example, used to hand a new guy a set list (with 200 tunes to one guy, I read), and said "come back when you've learned these". That would be my tactic, if I was paying someone for rehearsals, and gigs. If the players could do that, with no personal issues (all things being the same, skill-wise), I wouldn't worry about losing money paying them to rehearse, etc, as I would know it would eventually pay off (assuming initial response was good, or I'd scrap the project fast). So, the magic hypothetical question is:
How much would I have to pay you to play my set list (whatever it is, within your skill level of course) exactly like I tell you to play it?
There was a guy in our lil 'ol Lakeport, CA, recently who hired a few guys to play a classic rock gig (or rather, a few gigs) and he paid them all a pretty ridiculous amount of money, for the gigs they were. I won't say how much, yet. I don't know if they all played them exactly the way he wanted, but they played the gigs and all got paid. Back to the Magic Question above. As everyone's in agreement these days that music is a business, can you have your vision and obey orders too? Thoughts and curses folks. BTW I'm in Seattle, ready to give orders. maybe. contact-at-grimydiner-dot-com. Cheers, jack