General Music Chat

Hey. So far I'm a one man band... I can only pull off my music in the studio due to lack of a band. I play and record everything myself. My myspace page has attracted more attention than I ever thought possible in less than 6 months, www.myspace.com/livingafterashes , and I'm just starting to think I'll never be able to play out. I'm pretty frustrated because I think if the pieces ever come together I might have something people might want to listen to. I've done the acoustic set at a coffee shop thing, but thats not what I want to do. Its not the kind of show I really want to be playing. How then do I find the right people to get on board with to really do the "BAND" thing I so desperately want to do?

Please... for anyone thats been searching for more than a year... is there hope for me and my dream of getting all the right pieces together?

I'm pretty much starting from scratch here... check out my music and give me some feedback...

Thanks!
livingafterashes

Man I cant believe I actually have to tell a fellow Christian musician not to give up.
Are you nuts?
If in fact you know Jesus is the light the truth and the way, how could you even consider giving up. No matter what happens we win in the end.
Keep the faith and the dream alive!

You may have to modify your goals, I don't know.
.
But - more important is to be in front of people when you play.
Do the 'meet-n-greet' thing at least once a week.
Become known; maybe you haven't paid enough dues, yet . . .
.
As far as giving up . . . that's up to you, man.
Either you'll do whatever it takes to succeed, - or you won't.
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But you're not doing enough of the right things, yet, whatever that may be, for you.
How much more time are you willing to put into:
> goal setting and planning?
> traveling to new venues??
> learning a new style of music?
> learning 1 new chord every week?
> writing 1 extra song every month?
> practicing an extra 15 minutes every day?
> expanding your driving radius to see new musicians?
.
Do more . . . Do something new . . . Do something differently . . .
Rather than waiting for your ship to come in - row out to meet it . . .

Preaching to the choir, dude (excuse the expression, guys). I'm in the exact same situation as you, my friend, right down to how ya feel about doing the acoustic shows. It's really frustrating to work your butt off in the studio and create something that you believe in, only to be left feeling that no one will ever get to hear those songs-live and the way they are supposed to sound.

And I've essentially been searching for about 15 years...

It's tough, but if you have passion for what you do (and you certainly sound as though you do), you can't give up...the music won't let you.

Just keep your eyes open and never lose your focus.

If you look down the list a little ways, you'll find a thread that I started callled "deal or no deal". These guys made some great points (as always), and it might be worth your time to check it out...just a suggestion.

Also, it doesn't hurt to keep everything in perspective. Bands form & break up all the time over everything under the sun.

If & when you DO find that "perfect blend" of musicians, don't be too surprized if it breaks up over a gf or someone getting a new job or whatever. It happens all the time, & yeah, it's a shame when it does.

But when this happens to another band, you can be there to pick up the pieces to form your own, too, if the chemistry is right.

Go out & check out the playing acts. Get yourself known. Play open mics & coffee houses. Meet ppl at the local music stores. It may never happen for you, but you won't know if you give up. Chances are that you'll eventually get a referral or meet someone who thinks along the same lines as you. You must network a lot to accomplish your goals.

Talking negative will surely tend to make others step back a bit & wonder about you, though, to see if you have that stick-with-it-ness. So stay positive, do what needs doing, & keep smiling so you can get those great happy wrinkles when you get old & decrepit.

hey all thanks for the comments... all very wise advice. its just hard to keep things in perspective sometimes. joined a band last year at this time in WV and I thought it was the one... but like someone mentioned before... we broke up shortly thereafter... its just sometimes hard to stay positive when you haven't had any ups recently. Thanks for the replies
peace

There's so many ways to market yourself and search for musicians. If you're not having any "luck" you need to start doing some serious guerilla marketing. I've been in bunsiness for myself for 18 years. It's not easy succeeding in any business, and music IS a business. Here's some things that might help: 1) Tell everyone you know and people you meet for the first time who you are looking for. You'd be surprised how many people know musicians and how many people ARE musicians. I found the best drummer I ever played with when I asked a delivery driver to my warehouse if he knew any good musicians. He referred me to the drummer. 2) Do you have any open mikes or karaoke in your area? Go to as many as you can. If you hear anybody interesting introduce yourself. 3) Go see bands in your area that are playing the kind of music you like to play. Talk to the band members between sets or after the show. Tell them who you are and what you're looking for. Musicians know other musicians. They're most likely happy to refer you. Some of those band members you talk to may not be happy with who they are playing with and might join forces with you, or they may have time to play with you part-time. 4) Call the music stores and ask to talk to the music instructors. They may have a star pupil or two who might be interested in your project, or THEY might be interested in your project. 5) Get to know some of the best studio owners and technicians. They know A LOT OF MUSICIANS. And some of THEM are also musicians who might be interested in your project. REMEMBER THIS IS A BUSINESS FIRST AND FOREMOST. YOU NEED TO GET TO KNOW AS MANY PEOPLE IN THIS BUSINESS AS POSSIBLE. 6) There's other music sites (Forming Bands, Musician Forest, Community Musican, Craig's List, etc.) that may help you. Bandmix has worked pretty well for me (three current band members are Bandmix members) but I've gotten a LOT of response off Craig's List and it's FREE. You might want to read Jay Conrad Levinson's series of business marketing books about Guerrilla Marketing. Start approaching music as a business and you might have better luck. DON'T QUIT. YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SCRATCHED THE SURFACE YET. Now get to work. Later...

living,

When I was in high school I couldn't hardly walk down the street without forming a band. Now, at 54, I couldn't form a band if I had multiple personalities. I've considered the matter at length and this, I think, is the reason:
When we were young we made friends in the neighborhood and at school. We didn't choose our social environment - it chose us. As we get older and are more in control of our own destiny, I think we carve out a space for ourselves that is full of restrictions. In other words: our inability to do what we wish is a direct consequence of our ability to do as we choose.

I have answered ads, and placed ads, and auditioned for people, and had people over to audition - and did this for almost a year. I couldn't get anything going with anybody. I finally gave up and decided to go solo. And I'm enjoying myself more than ever before in my life. I hope that some day someone in one of my audiences finds it impossible to resist the urge to say, "Man, I really like what you're doing. I think we could do some sh*t together." I'd love to do a duo with a strong emphasis on harmony.

If you think about it, going solo forces you to pull your own weight. A pair of solo artists then, would be like a two-show act. Three would be a three-ring circus. And four would be a supergroup. I'd be content with that: to be a member of a supergroup.

So I recommend you keep progressing on your own, however you can. I haven't had anyone express any interest in playing with me, but if that happens I'll let you know.

r

Rick, I went to your page to listen to you play . . .
. . . nothing to listen to . . .
While you're here, you can increase your chances of finding musicians to work with, if you post a few songs . . .

I didn't realize you could post songs here. I guess I just assumed you had to be a member. Thanks. I'll check it out.

r

Okay. I managed to post a recording from a rehearsal, warts and all. Looks like I'll be able to fit one more song in.

Nicely done Rick. You can compress your songs more I believe.
I have 11 tunes from our band on our site and room for more.

Thank you, sans.

I don't know how to compress them. I record on an H2, in MP3 format at 192k, then dump that into iTunes, where it becomes an AIFF file, then right-click and select "Convert Selection to MP3". Can you tell me how to compress them?

r

Generally you can adjust the bit rate at conversion to shorten the overall file. Unless I'm mistaken though as long as it's small enough to down load on the Bandmix at 10 kb's you can download multiple tunes, Your bandmix manage music option has a counter that will dispaly remaining kb's. I think I remember the total is 10 gb's.
Forgive the vaugness, computer lingo aint my thang

lol i have had 2 guitar players come out for my band one was a 60 year old that over played and had a colostemy bag and the other was a young guy that couldnt even play as good as me i had to show him where a fricken A bar chord was lol so its just me i play guitar and bass and joe our singer that plays some guitar sometimes yup where pretty much a myspace band to but we do pretty good all in all

http://www.myspace.com/chaoscom <<<<<click here