I guess since everyone else on here is ranting I'll join the party.
Lately whenever I post up something Im doing musically it seems like its met with negativity. I know that I can be an asshole and sarcastic, but ussually its said cause I care about the other person.
I came to bandmix, a year or so ago. Like most of you looking for a musician or two to from a band. I did what everyone did tryed to make contact, and most never returned the contact. A couple I did get with were not what they advertised, in fact I wondered if it was the same person.
I have made one valuable contact thru here a bass player who is cool as anyone Ive ever met, and organized a band called Strange Hombre that I am a part time member of. This band consists of drums, bass, 2 gtrs, female vocal/keys,male vocal/harp, its a lot of people but man we can cover so much music with this lineup its unbelievabl. So Rich if you read this, Thanks for finding me here.
Te other thing about bandmix was finding other people trying to get something going and reading about funny things that have happened to others and things not to do.
Ive shared something about the marketing of my band Aint Yo Mama, that seems to have pissed off some of you for some reason. But u know in the end, I dont guess it really matters cause other than a screen name I will probably never meet you and you will probably never buy any products of my band or even support my band for that matter.
So why am I on this soapbox, cause I think in life you should give something back to other folks. And that what Ive been doing on here the past few months. People say I cant get in touch with other musicians or they sign up for the site and in 10 minutes are complaining that the site sux cause noone is getting in touch. Well Rich the bass player I mentioned did get in touch after I contacted him and said he was involved with a project last fall but if something happens he would be in touch. This started last fall, we finally met in June and formed the Strange Hombre band, my point is that you have to make and keep contacts and over time the quality ones will come back to you. Treat people like you want to be treated and life will go much smoother. I remember one guy on here who post some got in touch with me about playing, I said what do you want to do, he says I dont know, duh what are we talking about. Tell me your musical plans and I'll tell you.
And for all the people saying post some audio. The best people Ive met on here dont have anything posted, this is simply a place to initiate contact. Im sure a lot of quality musicians have come to this site and taken off because everone treat them like sh**.
My deal these day is to get the name of my band Aint Yo Mama to wider circle of people.
See the logo what comes to mind when you look at that logo?
The origianl idea was a good looking women and when you saw her you knew she aint your momma. It started as a joke but it became a brand.
Why do I bring this up? If you are making a name for a band make something that you can live with for a while. AYM has been an active name in my local area since 1988. I can go into clubs in my area looking for gigs and the owners if theyve been in the business for a while know who I am. So chose your name carefull and make sure its catchy in some way, I am bragging about our name cause it is catchy and works. I have sold t-shirts to people who have never heard of our band, just because they think it looks cool. And I love to see goodlooking women wearing our shirt, even when I can see thier adams apple.
If you are involved in music, get out there and get in involved. The only thing you can do behind the computer is the 2 Bs, Blog and Bitch. At least thats all I can figure out to do, and remember nobody likes a bitch.
Get involved with local music. Last week I volunteered for a Girls Rock Camp. I taught beginner bass and had the time of my life. I helped 2 little bands get their acts together for a showcase that was recorded for a DVD last sat night. The girls parents all came up and thanked me for helping thier daughter look good on stage and believe me no hype my 2 groups were the hottest live acts there. So what did I get, uh I got a t-shirt, a free lunch each day, a lot of Redbulls(Thanks RedBull for supplying all those drinks, I couldnt have kept the energy level up with out you). But I also got invited to Ardent Studios in Memphis(Smashing Pumpkins were there the week before tracking on an old analog tape machine for whoever cares) to sit on the mixing of the audio for the showcase DVD. I met a couple of cool local producers and engineers who gave me their personal cards and phone numbers and said call them for anything I need, and believe me I will. I also made a lot of industry contacts that I will use over time to publisize my band.
When I put on here that I was teaching at this school, a lot of people said thats sexist???????????? Wake up folks dont shut doors in front of you before you even step inside and look whats there.
I guess what Im trying to emphasize with all this is that life is what you make it. If your musical life is filled with negativity and slamming folks it cant be much fun. Music is about joy, creativity and entertainment, TRY TO EMBRACE IT AS SUCH.
Alright I feel much better and have to get to a bank meeting so go ahead and slam me if you want. But hopefully there is a musician on here that will see this post and get one or two ideas on how to get a little further down the road, and if I helped for me that is priceless.