General Music Chat

As I've mentioned in other posts, I'm suddenly busy, & that's very cool.

I had an audition yesterday, & I showed up unprepared.

They had sent me a song list, but I've been working on this gig for this Friday, & didn't take the time to work on anything, as much of the material is such that I've heard it to the point that I figured it would be okay if I just winged it. Fatal last words, right?

I was there on time, met the guys & tuned right up.

Then, of course, I had to tell them that I wasn't rehearsed in their material like I should have been. There was that awkward pause as they all looked at each other, & then back at me. I told them about my prior commitment, & how I was working on it to be ready for the gig in a few days. They seemed to sorta understand, with extreme reservations.

I just shrugged & said lemme see the list. I scanned it & read some I knew I could pull off, & told them to play whatever, but gimme the key to play in.

They felt weird about me from the get-go, I know, I would have, too. To be honest, I don't think I've played any of the material before, except "The Breeze" at an open mic. We started with that, & I think I nailed it pretty well. "You Got Another Thing Coming" went pretty well in spite of the fact that I never listened to that stuff, but I got through the changes & all just fine. All in all, I think I did exceptionally well, considering my lack of knowledge about their songs.

Still, there's this guilt I feel about being unprepared...LOL

When they wanted to do some of their more complicated bass stuff, I had to admit that I didn't know it well enough to wing it...like the Zep stuff, & that was a dirty shame on me! But whatcha gonna do when the bass gives all the cues on a song? I need to know it!

They said I was good, though, & want me to get together with them again in three weeks, when the drummer comes back from his vacation, so that's a pretty good sign, I suppose. Or maybe it's that they have 3 weeks of auditions to go through before they make up their minds. Eh...I can live with that.

Hey - doo-doo occurs, right? I DO hafta get this Friday's gig done as well as I can, so I can probably cut myself a little slack over it all.

Still, it wasn't my finest moment when I had to admit I hadn't done my homework...LOL

After this gig is done, I'll just hafta get cracking on the stuff & really wow 'em if & when I see them again. That's all I can do, & I hope it's enough.

They weren't bad at all. The drummer started off slow on the songs the guitarist kicked off, but maybe he was trying to take it easy on me, or felt awkward playing with the new guy. We'll see how it all pans out in the coming weeks.

It's funny how many "rock bands" I've been in that didn't play any of this material. I think it's due to the general lack of good tenor voices. I did hafta tune down to E flat, but that's certainly no biggie.

Just had to admit that I was a bad boy...but I'll do better, I promise.

Hey Philby,

I just went though the same (almost exact )situation..BUT, I had to have my tunes down to perform this past weekend, BUT, I was also workin on tunes for a BG gig NEXT week.. Those tunes with specific lines will TELL on ya everytime.. ..Yeah ,just be sure YOUR taking note of THEIR shortcomings as well.Granted, you shoulda been ready to execute those tunes for both yours and their sake, BUT what Ive noticed and it can be something to watch out for(since ya dont know these cats) is you will be learning your sheduled parts but the rest of the arr. is kinda loose, or has been changed o fit "Their" style..Sometimes to the degree that the bass line and other parts from the cover wont work..I know youve seen this , just givin ya a reminder.Yeah , I had to go back and make adjustments to Radar Love , Born to Run, and others with very specific parts to fit the style and groove of this band..Yeah, ya been playin as long as we have, you DO take for granted that alot of this will "come to ya" once things get going... ...Your forgiven... ...Ya might wanna call them in a few days telling them that the ZEP and other vague tunes are ready to go...Man ,3 weeks, thats a long time???...Are they not in any hurry to get workin?..Ya dont need everyone to part out a tune and get the harmonies?..Yeah , your the new guy, they'll kinda expect more for you...Bite the bullet and start woodshedin now..Even if it doesnt work out with them , you may need this stuff in the future...

John

I've lost count of how many people show up unprepared to auditions. I'm at the point that I won't give them a second chance unless they show an impressive amount of desire and aggressiveness.

Even full members who flake out, no matter how much I prod, they normally don't change their ways. I've tossed many a bass player out for that (just citing recent example, not saying anything about bassists )

Glad to see you at least had a decent reason philby. If you go back for a 2nd try, you need to be 2x as prepared to gain some trust in that regard.

Good luck!

One of my side groups has been trying to find a singer. Weve auditioned 3 in as many weeks. Last night we had another guy come in. His name was Biff Danger, for real. I thought this has to be a joke. Anyway he shows up and looks ordinary enough. We do a few songs and hes doing a great job. We get ready for Roadhouse and he says let me go to the car and get my harp. He comes back in with this bullet belt filled with harps. Turns out hes great on the harp. He doesnt have the range I would like to have but he knows what he can or cant do. He has what I call stage charisma, in that I think I can see him getting people into it. He came prepared, he knew his stuff. Seemed to fit right in with what we were doing. I think they still have a couple of more people they want to try. But it went pleasantly well.

Philby not to be critical, but when someone comes in and is not prepared after Ive sent a songlist it is a major turnoff to me. If you get to go back you need to blow them away if you want the gig.

When someone sends me a songlist, I try to be bruttaly honest up front and a tell them exactly what songs I know and or have played enough to jump right in. Ive been sent some list recently for what I think are some great groups, but I just wasnt familiar enough with the songs to even jump in. If I cant do around half of what someone hands me up front I will generally pass on an audition. Its funny cause I did a live gig with a group a few weeks ago and a guy that had gotten in touch with me was there. He asked me afterwards what was the deal. I said what. He said did you not think our group was good enough for you or something, he said you sound great in this group. He got all defensive. I said look I just didnt know the material well enough and I dont want to come in and sound bad. Then you would be bad mouthing me behind my back. This guy has e-mailed me twice since then trying to get me to come in. Kind of helps the old ego some, but I couldnt see cramming 60 songs, I have enough trouble with the ones I "KNOW".

Oh yeah Philby, you might want to brush up on the ole Zep.


Whether you like em or not they pop all the time on peoples list that I get.

Well...I certainly have my work cut out for me...look at this list;


Figured you out - nickelback (drop d tuning)
bad name - bon jovi
talk dirty - poison
sweet emotion
smokin in the boys room
helter skelter
enter sandman
shakin - eddie money
you really got me
walk this way
living after midnite
gimme 3 steps
you got another thing comin
everybody wants you
pour some sugar on me
every rose has its thorn
cat dragged in
tnt
nothin but a good time
gel
cheap sunglasses
crazy bitch
dirty deeds
hard to handle
man in the box
hair of the dog
tie your mother down
dead or alive
never again (drop d tuning)
simple man
sharp dressed man
good times bad times


& that isn't all, either. I think I've only heard SOME (most?) of this stuff on the radio - never even live. Never played a note on any of it but maybe 2-3 songs at open mics. I did sing Shakin' when I was the front man for a band back in '91, though. I don't have a single song in my CD collection, or on tape or even LP. Hmmm...maybe utube?

Loved playing the stuff we did. They only went about an hour - perhaps I DIDN'T pass the audition...well, that'd be ok too, I guess. They also told me they knew a guy that would love to use me in his studio, so there might be something there as well.

The reason they gave me for not practicing for the next 2 weeks is that their drummer is leaving on vacation.

The guy I'm playing with Fri called & said he & the drummer want to make this a permanent thing...we'll see...I just don't know about those vocals yet. The drummer's really good, though. He's been playing this metal stuff in the area for a few years, & he has a lot of other things going on as well, some of which he wants to drop. So if he wants to drop some stuff to get something going on with me, that's like a HUGE compliment, I figure.

That drunk guitar player I'm so pissed about was scheduled to play at the local pub Sat nite. I was gonna do some nite fishing & ordered some subs from there. I'd forgotten that he was s'posed to be playing. I got there & saw Dddonnie, who told me that the guy didn't show - for a SOLO gig!?!?!? I cracked up & made fun of him for showing up to support the bum. He noticed that I was there as well, & I told him I was just picking up food & beer. I can't figure out why he likes that drunk so much. It's beyond my comprehension.

JW - looks like you got yerself a real prize with that singer. While he may not be able to hit those high squeaky notes, remember that the guy can probably hit harmony notes, & the audience will never know the diff. If he can wail for 4 hours, & play harmonica that well without being a step-on-ya kinda guy, & ENTERTAIN the folks, he's the guy I'd go with for sure!

Philby, I used to think it was all neumetal kids out there playing, but the songlist you put on here is almost identical to 2 or 3 list Ive been forwarded over the last few months. I like when someone can hand me a definite song list so I can get a handle on what they are doing.

Yea Im hoping in the Strange Hombre band that we can find a decent singer to front us. This latest guy was pretty decent. If we could find someone thats half as good as my singer in the Aint Yo Mama band I would be tickled pink.

Hey good luck it sounds like you have some neat stuff going on over there. Your playing with guys that play my sort of music.

Just off the top of me head, those are some pretty easy songs on the ole Bass philby. The Zep and the Aerosmith and Bon Jovi are probably the busiest.
I say start with anything other than Zep and Aerosmith and learn it note for note, then you'll have a bunch of the songs under your belt in one or two sittings.
I reckon just getting familiar with the arrangements will do ya wonders, but some of those parts are so simple (yet essential), that jazzing them up or winging it will sound 'not good'.
"heavy metal" and or hair band stuff is not exactly like jam band or blues band stuff. The fans get a little whiney if you change things.

See you probably werent really sweating that audition, so no preparo.
Be prepared. It makes you look like youre awesome even if you dont end up working with those people.
(I already knew you were awesome, but they need to be shown. And shown GOOD!)

Don't Sweat it Phil! I just went to the studio w/a throat infection (got it the day before). didn't pick up new string's. hadn't been playing at all because everybody is so full o shitt down here that I'm just conditioned to thing's not happening. (basically not 1 promise kept in music) so I go there w/a bad throat, unpracticed, playing a guitar w/dead string's (and out of tune too I might add) and just threw a turd out. I apologized and just felt like a total poser. well you should hear how well he polished that turd! of course I want to just trash it, so I know how you feel bro....
THE SONGS.........you can load em all free from aries (file sharing site)..thats actually a pretty kind list. most of em are pretty simple and easy to remember. I've heard em all plenty though.

Been reading all the posts on this thread, isn't anybody doing any originals? Cover, cover, cover, cover, COVER. I can only eat so many pizzas in a row before I want to throw up. Don't get me wrong, I play covers too (not necessarily like the record though.) Aren't even a few originals "allowed" in your repertoires? I get recruited by new bands fairly often and the first question I ask: Is anybody writing originals in your band? If the answer is no I don't even audition. Throw one or two originals in your repertoire, maybe later in the gig. Don't even say they're originals. If they're good songs nobody will even know the difference. Don't you have any creative impulses? I can't believe it when I get together with a very experienced player and they never once wrote or wanted to write at least one original song. I'm bewildered by very experienced bands that have no desire to write their own stuff. Sorry for the diversion on this topic but I felt the need to say this. Hey Philby you catching any fish? Later...good luck with the band...

Well, in retrospect, I'm actually rather glad I didn't work my ass off to get the job...part of it's due to what Bob just said, & part due to the fact the drummer didn't really wow me. The thorazine version of "The Breeze" kinda nails it home in my headbone. The singer seemed kinda laid back for this type of material, too. There was evidently some vibe I got that told me I shouldn't put too much hope or effort into this.

This isn't sour grapes talking. There was something there that just doesn't feel comfortable to me, the more that I think about it.

These guys want to be part-timers who only want to play once or twice a month, & I really want more than that. I knew about that going in, so it isn't surprizing to me that I figured I'd wing it.

After talking with you guys here, I also figure that I need to be playing material that allows for more personal expression than this stuff does. It's good stuff, but I'm used to writing my own bass lines, except in a very few cases. I have a style of my own that I like to use when I can, & I think it gives most stuff either a very melodic ring or a very hard drive. I mean, if they were playing every week for good money, then yeah, I shoulda & woulda worked my lil butt off for it. But they were talking about one place - just one - that they could play at, & I know it doesn't pay for crap. Of course that was only after I got there. I think I shoulda asked more Q's before agreeing to go in the 1st place.

Original material is gonna be an issue for me as well, Bob, now that I really think about it. I like that personal expression in a band. Just my own preference.

You know...I'm 53...I've been doing bass for over 11 years & rhythm & vocals for well over 30...& this was the 1st time I ever went into an audition cold. I don't usually even need to audition, cuz I usually get snagged by ppl who hear me & want to start up something new with me right off the bat. I think I've only had to audition 3 times in my career, & I nailed every one of them. But I've been playing so infrequently that this wasn't gonna happen, & I was willing to jump into almost anything just to play. That, me good friends, ain't the way to go for me.

I know I played pretty well, but if they say they want me, I'm afraid I'll hafta tell 'em that I'm going in another direction, musically.

Another learning experience. It wasn't wasted time, if only for that.

Bob - last weekend I tried my hand at night fishing again. Got bupkiss. Gonna try again this weekend. Maybe early in the AM this time. There were storms all around us when my son & I went, but neither of us got so much as a nibble. He was bored, so we left after 6 hours...LOL

One of my earliest posts on here was about a very similar situation in one of the flaky musicians threads.

Showed up for an audition with no sing list sent, just an idea what they were into. No problem there. Drummer didn't show, car trouble. (legitimate, 1st missed practice in 3 months) Did sax and guitar parts on a song I'd never heard, recorded it and it sounded very good. Band leader told me I was the front runner. Gave me a CD to work on, I told them I had practice with my regular band the next night then an out of town gig the following night, wouldn't have a chance to practice but would be able to listen to the CD and get familiar with some of the material. This was a Thursday night.

Fast forward to next Tuesday...

Get to the second "audition", drummer is present, immediately all 3 are on my case because I don't have any of their material down. EXCUSE ME???? Drummer starts telling me how to practice and learn songs, which I've already been doing since before he was born. All 3 stayed on my case all night, even though I toled them up front I wouldn't have time for any serious practice.

So I went ahead and started working on the material but got madder every day, after A week I finally said hell with it, I'd never get along with the drummer and I didn't like their attitude, they knew ahead of time I wouldn't be able to work on the material. And my parts in the song we recorded were barely recognizable, the 3 part sax section in the chorus was lost in the mix, my originally mostly clean guitar ended up drowned in chorus, everything had too much effects...

Overall I think It wasn't a mistake to drop the thing but I probably should have contacted the guy and told him I was out...

I had a legitimate reason, they knew it beforehand, so it was a little different than your situation but you still did have a reason for not being fully prepared. Looking at that list I can play about half of it right now, I see a half dozen songs I've never tried but could wing it with no real trouble, tell me what key, and the rest I'd have to work on. I think with that list I'd have a good chance at getting hired if they called me out of the blue and I had to audition that night with no prep time. Very little there that's difficult, most of it wouldn't be too tough on bass, so you should be able to pick most of it up in 3 weeks and show them how it's done.

But if you have misgivings about the band in general, you're probably right to be wary. I think it would be a good idea to go ahead and work on some of them anyway, it will expand your horizons as a musician. if they don't hire you or you decline, you still got something out of it. I did, I found out I can still play things I've never heard and do well enough the band considers me their most likely choice as lead guitarist.

JW, you'll be glad to hear that I WILL learn that Zep stuff, anyway, for future stuff if it should turn up again. It is pretty good & ppl like it a lot, even if I'm not crazy about it. I have played some Who that was pretty intense, but I put my own spin on it, & ppl loved it, so it is possible to do it my way, I guess, as long as I know the song. Now for Good Times Bad Times, of course, I WOULD hafta do it pretty close to the original, cuzza the signature lick on the bass for the cues. I have no problem with that.

They only ran through each song one time, which I thought was strange, but the guitarist called a lil while ago & told me that the drummer wanted him to call me & cancel as I was driving there, so I suppose that I had no chance anyway...LOL...evidently he wants his own guy in the band & was against even trying out anyone else. Sheesh! He also said that they tried out another guy, gave him high hopes & then never even called him to say they weren't gonna use him, so I guess it's better that I worked through him. I had told him about my upcoming project, so I doubt if he was that surprized to see that I was unprepared. He says he doesn'tt wanna burn any bridges with me, & may even be interested in working in the Flamingo Road Band, which would be VERY cool! Somthing might come outta this anyway. He seemed to like my playing.

At least I know what was going on & I know I don't need to bust my butt to learn anything to wow anybody now.

Told ya I had weird vibes from them. No wonder they put so little effort into the stuff when I was there...thorazine version indeed! Time wasters...eh...it happens. It ain't like I put a lot of effort into it or anything, & boy am I glad!

I still have this other thing to do for this weekend, & maybe more after that. Dunno yet. And that solo next weekend...I can look forward to that, too. So it's all no biggie, really, other than wasting the gas to get there, & the time spent, & I might get a guitarist out of it, too, for the rockabilly band. I can live with that just fine.

Oh yeah...an afterthought...I ain't ever gonna go into an audition cold again, cuz I never wanna see those looks on anyone's face when I have to own up to the fact that I am unprepared. That, my friends, was hell!

Thanks to all for the kind words, the advice, & the scoldings...I deserved every bit of it!

Moving on, with another little life lesson learned.

Hey Philby good luck fishing at night. Use black lures. Sounds crazy but think about this, white is a reflection of all colors of the rainbow, black is the opposite. At night white and light colors virtually disappear to the fish. Fish can see black objects much better at night. In general black is very underutilized by most fisherman. Most times in daylight and at night the first lure I tie on has at least some black on it. Getting back to your post (this is a musicians website, not a fishing website), I'm glad you like to play your own bass lines. I'm pretty much the same. If I hear a really interesting bass-line occasionally I'll learn it note-for-note. Doesn't happen very often though. I usually hear something I think I can improve on. Or if I'm singing the song I may have to change a bass-line to be able to sing the song better. If I can't sing and play the bass at least adequately I defer the vocals to some other band member. I have an open mind. In my thinking the vocals HAVE TO SOUND GOOD, the bass is secondary. I'm not either a stubborn lead singer or a stubborn bass player. I'm open to constructive criticism and want what's best for the song. I auditioned for a part-time cover band this evening, some of the songs I never played before, some I did. In the last fifteen years or so I've always been asked to join whatever band I audition for. Not to brag or nothing, I can hold my own in almost any band (except metal or jazz). The note-for-note cover bands don't do much for me. I want to hear some creative musicianship. I've heard so many different songs over the years played EXACTLY LIKE THE ORIGINAL. It gets REAL OLD. I'm NOT a LIVE JUKEBOX. I'm NOT a MYNAH BIRD. I don't try and sing a song like the original singer, I sing it the way I feel comfortable. That may include changing the key to fit my vocal style (although I have no trouble singing in any key usually). I even change the words sometimes, or adlib vocals (yeah I'm human, I can't remember every word to every song). In any band situation you have to feel comfortable with ALL the other members and vice-versa. Any discomfort with anybody and it usually doesn't work out. Anyway good luck....