General Music Chat

Have you ever thought of forming a band playing originals? Not just a jam band playing variations on a theme, but a band playing regular, structured songs, with intros and verses and bridges and choruses and endings.
And original songs, taking non-intuitive directions . . . (no “1-3-5" progressions) . . . harder to learn.
Well!
. . . lost the interest of most musicians, already!
What I’m saying is that you should expect to be looking for members for a long, long time . . .
Invite 100 people to try out.
. . . IF you can find them . . .
You will find that:
- a % of them who will want to do only 2 - 3 styles of music, and
- a % of them who will only want to do cover songs, and
- a % of them who will have a grasp of harmonies, and
- a % of them who will have the available time, and
- a % of them who will just be fans with no training
- a % of them who will be experienced enough, and
- a % of them will be not already be too busy in another band and
- a % of them who will be eventually prove themselves unreliable, lazy, drug-ridden or . . .
And . . . and . . . and . . .
.
Of course this is true with ALL bands, in all styles of music, eh?

I was told 30 years ago, if you want to succceed in the music biz, you need to move to either Nashville, New York City, or Los Angeles..

Have you ever thought of forming a band playing originals? Not just a jam band playing variations on a theme, but a band playing regular, structured songs, with intros and verses and bridges and choruses and endings.
And original songs, taking non-intuitive directions . . . (no “1-3-5" progressions) . . . harder to learn.
Well!
. . . lost the interest of most musicians, already!
What I’m saying is that you should expect to be looking for members for a long, long time . . .
Invite 100 people to try out.
. . . IF you can find them . . .
You will find that:
- a % of them who will want to do only 2 - 3 styles of music, and
- a % of them who will only want to do cover songs, and
- a % of them who will have a grasp of harmonies, and
- a % of them who will have the available time, and
- a % of them who will just be fans with no training
- a % of them who will be experienced enough, and
- a % of them will be not already be too busy in another band and
- a % of them who will be eventually prove themselves unreliable, lazy, drug-ridden or . . .
And . . . and . . . and . . .
.
Of course this is true with ALL bands, in all styles of music, eh?

i've played in several bands that played only originals or maybe just sprinkled in a few of our takes on cover tunes for a particular venue.

i've been playing originals w my buddy val in our duo (sometimes trio) since the early 90's.

http://www.viddler.com/v/9bbffa66

yeah, it is harder finding the right musicians for originals but it's worth the work. don't give up hope!

What got me thinking about this was that I'd mentioned to a friend that I had a female vocalist coming over, interested in singing, and that I also had a Djembe player who expressed interest in coming over to jam..
.
So, ok, she's congratulating me for 'starting up a new band!'
Sheeesh . . . .
. . . if only it was that easy . . .

The original bands I know who have " made it " have one thing in common
- They had a primary vision guy or core who the rest of the band bought into.
My one buddy's band is going on 20 years of playing as a unit.
I find that impressive. Originals just come out of him.
In my 20's/30's I tried the original band thing and it was fun .... It was hard to come up with enough material .....
Getting people on board - learn stuff they have never heard before .... can be challenging.
My old drummer from the old band and I are going to record some of the old tunes with a new bass player. Should be fun .....

I think a successful original band has to be at least two guys who share the same vision. My original band (The Farleys) is now 13 years old. Rasta and I have been through several drummers and a few bass players but the band remains consistent because he and I are on the same page. The main thing we do is communicate that vision to any prospective member.

I've done it several times and I'm trying hard to do it again. We'll see.

it does sound however, like you are trying to cover more territory than might be feasible.

Additionally - your chances increase exponentionally if you are in LA, NY or Nashville. Sucks but there it is. You'll find the players in those places more apt to buy into a project than your local bands where the players are jaded and sadly, often boring. (ducking the stones that will fly my way

ultimately your band must have a sound that makes it unique. That sound is s function of the songs you write and the singer who puts them across.

That's right oh guitar players of the world - it's about the vox.

Talbot

Yeah, when talking to any prospective members, it's extremely important to know exactly what they expect.
If everyone knows each other's goals - right up front - it makes the selection process smoother.
If you play a wide range of music, it gets harder and harder to find musicians.
And, yeah, a singer can make or break a band.
(And usually the singers don't even have their own equipment, either!)

Keep the covers, they are boring and only as a last resort.

Why wouldn't you write your own music, it's not as hard as you might think.

To learn a complicated cover is harder than writing your own tune. (imo)

I have been noticing that musicians (here at home) are approaching me if only to chat. They invite me to this and that...I attend and meet more friends that are basically on the same page.. The open mics are turning into 'Lets get together at my place and jam" or "Come to this party and Play your songs..."

Suddenly I have musician friends, whom I have started to build a trust with and they like my material and they want to be part of it... I'm saying yeah, lets do it... and there we are, having some fun.

I think what culminates there is that there will be those friends who will always be available for a project...and some friends will be sparse but will still be there at important occasions.

In a nutshell...If you want to start a meaningful band

- Have the musical offerings to attract the attention of other musicians
- Let affiliations 'happen' and let them organically unfold into solid meaningful friendships.
- Work up a play list...over many beers and trust sessions
- Roll out the wagons and go gig.

well, w all due respect to those who do the cover thing and take the approach of trying to cop as close a vibe to the original as possible (yes, i do recognize that does take talent and skill)...that's just never appealed to me.

i prefer trying to bring something new or a little different to "the hits"....both when playing and when seeing some band do a "cover".

I have been noticing that musicians (here at home) are approaching me if only to chat. They invite me to this and that...

grant, maybe they look at you in that cool brim and think...hey, i bet this guy's holdin'!

I have been noticing that musicians (here at home) are approaching me if only to chat. They invite me to this and that...I attend and meet more friends that are basically on the same page.. The open mics are turning into 'Lets get together at my place and jam" or "Come to this party and Play your songs..."

Suddenly I have musician friends, whom I have started to build a trust with and they like my material and they want to be part of it... I'm saying yeah, lets do it... and there we are, having some fun.

I think what culminates there is that there will be those friends who will always be available for a project...and some friends will be sparse but will still be there at important occasions.

In a nutshell...If you want to start a meaningful band

- Have the musical offerings to attract the attention of other musicians
- Let affiliations 'happen' and let them organically unfold into solid meaningful friendships.
- Work up a play list...over many beers and trust sessions
- Roll out the wagons and go gig.

.
Yep.
I've gotta agree with this.
. . .
And also the previous observation that 'where you live' can make a huge difference, too.

most locals won't even want to be a part of a project that isn't already taking off. People are lazy and unmotivated. Musicians are even worse.

I agree that you need to be in those places if you truly want to increase your talent pool and success chance- although begrudgingly .. You can still make it in other towns, but are far less likely to.

For a flip-side of the point of view- I generally won't sign onto original bands anymore, for a few reasons, here some off the top of my head-

little to no pay
little to no creative input- or all creative input passed over because it doesn't fit the leader/visionary's extremely narrow restrictions.
Lots of effort and time needed to do it right
Leader/visionary not always willing to put in the effort the expect from their bandmates
Playing to crickets
expensive and useless promotion efforts
gigs often happen during odd times, such as daytime events, causing the use of personal days from work (and can create all new problems there too). Cover bands generally play weekends, and dont interfere with work.
Touring... sucks if you aren't famous. Eating ramen and staying in roach motels (on the good days).

There's more.. but thats the basics