General Music Chat

I believe you have to have a leader, period. Ussually this amounts to economics, who owns the equipment and has the rehearsal space. If someone owns a pa system that the band owns, should everyone else who just shows up with their own amp have equal power. I dont think so.

Otherwise you have a bunch of people spinning their wheels.

If I start another band, I am going to write out on a peice of paper what the bands mission is, be it original or cover. Ill go farther and say that the percentage cut will be established up front understood and all participants will have to sign something. If you play in the band you get say 10%, normally bands Im in have had 4 to 5 members so that accounts for roughly 50% of the take. I think whoever owns and sets up the pa should get roughly 30%. The remaining 20% would go in a band account for misc expenses.

Another money maker is merchandise. To get in this I think you should invest money into buying the merc up front. A band needs someone to hawk the goods at gigs. Give this person 10-20% of the merc take so the band members dont have to deal with it. If bandmembers want to get paid for merc sales they will have to have put money in to buy the goods upfront otherwise they dont participate.

Maybe Im being harsh but most bands Ive been in dont address this stuff. I had a band once, I owned the pa, paid rent on a rehearsal room, did the booking, paid for all the merc and at the end of the night everyone wanted an equal cut. I feel like someone has to guide the direction you are going or you will just spin in circles.

Joseph as far as your original deal is going, I think you should just plan on hiring guys to play at gigs to get your music out there. Ive been toying with the same idea you have lately and realize that getting a group of sub par musicians to practice and present my music to the public is not going to happen. Ill find some good local talent give them the music and pay them what ever it takes to get the music out there.

If you are really serious about your music you need to approach it like a job. You need a written plan of action and what you want to do and how to acheive it. Make your plan and work your plan. Check your plan every so many monthes and make sure you are progressing where you want to go, set some goals either monetary or playing certain venues or building a fan base.

If all you want to do is jam out just stay in the garage. I think that far to many people just want to make noise. When you face the public you need to have your act together whatever that may be, you only get one shot at impressing an audience that you are worthy of thier attention, dont blow it.

Whoa, I didn't realize things were that bad...

THe keyboardist: A relative with little musical experience in general, strong desire to get somewhere, but I've basically run out of ways to show him the songs aside from putting his fingers in the right places-EVERY TIME! He just doesn't seem to catch on, and when he's playing the wrong notes, he doesn't notice. I'm sure the audience definitely will notice.

They will. It's a shame, but you will have to force him to leave the nest and see if he can learn to fly on his own.

The drummer: Has put a decent effort into the band, though he has yet to accurately learn any of my songs, and for the third week in a row, we won't be practicing due to his other plans.

Fire him. Seriously. We all have lives to live and stuff, and having to miss an occasional practice is expected, but when it's 3 weeks in a row, I think that combined with the lack learning the material (seems like a lack of motivation/discipline) just screams "I don't really care".

Finally, the bass player: A veteran of 25+ years on his instrument, yet I'm nearly having to do the same finger-placement deal with him as with the keyboardist. Worse yet, he's the Joker of the band, and I've watched helplessly while he wastes away valuable practice time with stupid jokes and endless non-musical conversations.

Again, a double whammy. you should NEVER, EVER, have to show a 25-year veteran how to play something finger by finger, note-by-note, and still have them just "not get it"..

I just don't get it. If they are really going to be this apathetic towards the band, why not just be honest about it? I feel I've my intentions clear to them. I guess it just pisses me off so much because replacing them is nearly impossible. I think nearly everyone on Bandmix is or was trying to find new musicians, so you all know what a pain that can be...Okay, okay, I'll stop whining...Thanks for listening.

Actually, this is a very engaging discussion. I'm happy to see topics like this out in the open. If I were you, using the info you've provided so far, I would disband the entire project and start over. But that's me. I have a very low tolerance for flakes, which you have probably noticed from other threads lol.

Best of luck to you in your decisions, I hope whatever you do works out.

Joseph, Hire some studio players to back you at some showcase gigs. Your music is pretty basic from what Ive heard. Pick your best 12 songs and get some good players, not noise makers. You want to make a good impression when you present yourself. Can you get the guys that play on your demos?

There is one word that I notice seldom appears in the "Rock Musician Lexicon"

The "T" word!

You know......As in April 15th

Need another clue? ... sounds like the name of the state were "Kilgor-George" and "Hunter" lives.

It's the word that really separates the Amateurs from the Pros.

The word really sucks, and I can't bring myself to utter it myself.

Any of you big time money makin' creative Strat slingin' godz of Rock wanna' venture a guess?

I can tell ya this much, "The bad ol' "T" Word will getcha' in the end if ya don't watch out!

(sorry BandMix minstal Brothers and Sisters, don't mean to upset y'all. Methinks all this pain medication is havin' an adverse effect on me, and ol' Howlin' is sinkin' down )

er......

umm..

*shrug*

I think as far as an original band goes... hire musicians if you have to, record 'your' songs, then try to find competent players that show genuine interest in your songs to play with.
Band member input can come later if you get the right lineup together.

As far as leadership issues are concerned, I think everyone should defer to the chief songwriter. (If there is one)
"He who makes the songs, makes the rules."
After all, without good songs what have ya got?

I just wanted to thank everyone for their insight, and wanted to comment particularly on the additions of jw123 and Kramerguy...You guys are right on. Basically, I've had a sub-par group of musicians trying to re-create my songs. What started out as an verbal understanding of what we were working toward has now diminished into total crap. The drummer and the bass player are suddenly in a hurry to play live, regardless of how it sounds-refusing even to actually learn the songs, but rather, get a basic idea of the various song parts and then have me scream, wave or otherwise signal them when it is time to change. WOW! What dedication! (Smell the sarcasm?) I've argued with the drummer online now for three days, and apparently the band is done. Maybe it's for the better. As you guys had mentioned, it was probably time to drop a couple of them anyway. The good news is that the keyboardist is on the same page as myself. He's coming along nicely, and looks to prove himself a vital part of my live band.
I have connections to find the proper musicians (it's just affording them that becomes the next issue!) Thanks again, everyone!

I am pulling for you joseph6. I know you can pull it off if anyone can.

Zip;

Good point ==>"He who writes the songs makes the rules"

What do you do when the band is 4-5 piece, & there's 3 members writing?

I was in that clusterflook.

One guy wrote in such a personal viewpoint that no one would get what he was writing without explanation, unless he was promoting his political view.

The other guy was way political with views quite contrary to my own.

And then there was me, trying to write lil stories or general stuff.

Obviously, I had to quit. Wasn't gonna promote views I didn't agree with, no matter how cool the songs sounded.

Still, I noticed a wierd tension the whole time we recorded & even learned the songs. It was like we were going in 3 different directions. We had left it to the writer to decide about arrangements, etc. But the band was at odds in terms of overall direction.

It was, musically, one of my my best experiences, but it ended rather badly.

Still, I learned a lot from it.

And I've decided to keep myself OUT of other ppl's political views onstage or on CD's from now on.

I feel so free!

My old band"Tentative Relationship", (which, after all, is what all bands are), composed as a group very successfully. When you're flyin' with eagles, there's to sense in peckin' each other's eyes out.

Keep your head up Joe, y'all got the music in ya.
Howlin'

Band leaders?

Bass player Friday night related an interesting anecdote. He once played for a while with a sax player who had worked with both James Brown and Ike & Tina Turner. He told him at some point the difference between Brown and Turner.

James Brown would fine you $50 if you didn't shine your shoes. Ike Turner didn't care if you even had shoes.

Who was around longer? Who is now a household name and who is almost forgotten?

'Nuff said.

James Brown was a serious showman, and treated his crew appropriately for someone with that sentiment. Ike was a showman too, but not nearly as much the businessman that Brown was.

James Brown would fine you $50 if you didn't shine your shoes. Ike Turner didn't care if you even had shoes.

I jammed with a relative of Ike's a couple of times, and he invited me to go play in Europe with him. I declined, I had heard he had another love besides his music and might take your shoes and sell them to support it".

interesting topic and everyone has good points. my band mates always say I'm the leader, but I jokingly tell them I'm not the leader, I'm a manger. When it comes to a creative aspect, we all have a say so and we're all open to each others suggestions. Usually we won't go through with something unless all members are happy.

I think a band needs a leader to be the spokeperson for the band itself when doing promotions and booking. However when it comes to creative input you'll have some sour apples if everyone doesn't throw in thier 2 cents.