A strange audition...

[warwickhunt]

Just been for an audition for a dep job in a local pub/club rock band.

Went well prepared (i.e. learnt [with the aid of my own hand written notes] all 24 songs that the band do rather than 'just a few' that they recommended I learn) and I took spare bass, amp, cab etc. turned out I didn't need them as we'd be plugging into a mixer/cab and the drummer had electronic kit through the mixer... no problem. However, one of the guitarists wouldn't be able to make it... and after the drummer received a brief phone call it turned out neither was the other one!

So a strange audition with just me the drummer and the singer.

Anybody else had a similar experience?

[JTUK]

[sup]No, but I wouldn't be doing those gigs after that waste of time. Bit disrespectful for pub sort of money.[/sup]

[northstreet]

Not as mad as that, but I did audition once where I was specifically told to learn the second half of the supplied set list (which I did) only to spend the evening busking my way through the first half. Got the gig, though!

[SteveO]

Once auditioned for a 10 piece soul band. 2 guitarists, keyboards 2 vocalists, 2 saxes, trumpet and drummer. The only ones to show for the "audition the new bassist rehearsal" was the drummer and the 2 sax players, no messages of apologies from the others. Went pretty well considering. Vocalist called the next day saying the drummer was full of praises and offered me the gig, but told them that there was no way I'd be wasting my time with a band that couldn't be arsed. Felt pretty good at the time although it was about 9 months before the next offer

[mep]

A few years ago I auditioned for a well known local band as their bassist was unavailable for a gig or 2. A mate of mine was asked first but was not given much time and he passed and so did the 1st gig. For the next gig they asked me. I power learnt the set list and went for the audition. We got through a load of songs and I felt confident I could pull the gig off with minimal trouble. It was at a local pub that didn't have a good reputation and it was only covers.

After the practice the singer and his father (who managed the band) went off for 10 mins. They came back and said the pub had called and knew of their predicament and said if they don't want to do the gig they didn't have to. The manager took their offer and cancelled the gig! I was gobsmaked and suspected something. The timing was coincidental and I had just nailed the set. They said that they didn't want to go out not sounding like themselves so passed on the gig. Why bother to ask 2 bassists to try & learn a set for some crappy local pub gig if they felt like that.

They later tried to get it on as an original band and failed as that.

[icastle]

Yep.
I had an audition like that once.

The three who actually managed to get there looked a little taken aback when I told them that they'd not managed to reach the standard that I felt was appropriate.

[Zachary Critchell]

Sounds like all my session work i've done resently
but sounds better then a few i've heard, like having just the backing vocals their or worst yet just the lead guitarist (Joking)

[JTUK]

Here is one..a friend wanted some help learning a pub set. The band gave him 44 songs, although the set would have amounted to 25 or so, max.
They also said their bass player might actually be able to make it back from holiday, but in effect they wanted him for stand-by.
He gets pretty stressed out by this sort of thing but put time and work into being happy with the numbers...even though they didn't see fit to write the set
in advance to cut down that work.

So...for 44 songs work, they promised no actual gig at the end of it, no mention of any money, and didn't help cutting down the load of about 15-20 songs they weren't actually going to play...

Their bass player made it in the end so all that fraught concern for nothing.
I told him right from the start not to touch it unless they paid him up front ..just for being on standby...or at least agreed to pay for the stand-by.

hhhhmmmmmm...

[Lozz196]

Can work other ways as well. Apparently Johnny Rottens first rehearsal with The Sex Pistols, only he turned up! The others apparently couldn`t be bothered.

Got to admit though, I think I`d be dubious about joining anything where the others couldn`t turn up for my audition.

[chris_b]

[quote name='warwickhunt' timestamp='1323637962' post='1465357']
....So a strange audition with just me the drummer and the singer.....
[/quote]
[size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial]The last audition I did was just me the singer and one guitarist. No one else turned up and neither of the guys knew the numbers! [/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font][/color]
[size=4][color=#222222][font=Arial] [/font][/color][/size][color=#222222][font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font][/color]
[size=4][font=Arial][color="#000000"]I did. A fact that wasn’t lost on their management! [/color][/font][/size][font=Arial][size=2] [/size][/font]
[size=4][font=Arial] [/font][/size][font=Arial][size=2][/size][/font]
[size=4][font=Arial][color="#000000"]I was too old and nowhere near their “image” so I was never going to get the gig, but I was happy that I played well, in spite of them.[/color][/font][/size][font=Arial][size=2] [/size][/font]

[Monckyman]

I`ve had three this year with another coming up after xmas.
First was a shambles, drummer and keys, no singer, I knew the tunes better than either of them, and they just noodled a couple of bars of each tune then announced" yep that`s ok then".
Whole thing lasted about 30 minutes.
Should have had "AROOOOOGAH" sounds going off in my head but I accepted their invite and every new tune to be learnt has been like pulling teeth with a clothes peg.
They gig every week, which is the only upside, but we are on singer 3 in the space of a month,possibly because they didn`t properly audition any of them,just invited them down and off they went.
I have a new years eve gig with them and then I`ll bail.
Second was a pub/dadrock type bands, I thought might be fun and they had gigs on the calendar.
The audition was fully attended and they had all been gigging the songs so "knew" them. Their old bassist was also present.....
Again I should have gone with my instincts when they tore into the tunes without any direction about intros and no visible tuning going on etc
I did one gig which was a shambles and walked when they revealed that one of their "paid" gigs was actually an unpaid gig on a Sat night,possibly involving hotpot and all the beer I wanted.(I would have had to drive so no beer for me). Followed by another unpaid gig the next day, a Sun afternoon...
That`s why I attended another audition, which was exactly right. 3 songs, everyone there, a little chat then down to it, they all knew the songs too even though they had only played them together 3 times.We played the 3 songs 3 times and had another chat.
I didn`t get that one,prob cause after the other dickheads I really wanted it and was nervous.
I`ll know better for the next one
I think as an essential rule of thumb, if the people auditioning you either don`t all turn up and/or know the songs well, you should walk away.(run, I mean).

Edited December 12, 2011 by Monckyman

[chaypup]

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1323688094' post='1465705']

See thats why you can get mini cameras that go into hats and Bluetooth headsets. So you can record the looks on their faces for [u][b]prosperity[/b][/u]
[/quote]

If that's intentional then you're a genius If not, then it's posterity

Edited December 12, 2011 by chaypup

[algmusic]

I think the key is the always be prepared and positive. It's about your reputation not theirs.. I've had a similar thing. I didn't join the band as it was very unorganised, I made my excuses to decline and afterwards the band member who turned up offered me another gig, because I had a positive attitude during my audition and played very well.

The lesson here is you really don't know where you next gig will come from

[Monckyman]

Johnston, you are definitely better off outta there. I know. It just gets worse till you`re sat there grinding your teeth at every late arrival,or failure to learn the tune (despite YOU) printing the lyrics/arrangement,providing the CD) or "Yeah I thought that song we rehearsed for 2 hours last week after you worked out all the chords, arrangements and then transposed it into 3 different keys was a bit dreary, so here`s one I prefer...Can you transpose it to..The lyric sheet? I forgot it, dunno where it is.Did you need it then?

[steve-bbb]

first port of call is check out joinmyband.com and similar local websites (and your local muso shop noticeboard etc) - ive nearly approached a couple of local bands but then decided against it after a cursory check reveals that they are constantly and repeatedly advertising for band members

Edited December 12, 2011 by steve-bbb

[tonyf]

[quote name='Johnston' timestamp='1323693446' post='1465817']
Oh I forgot to mention I the first words from the Guitarist. "I thought you'd have brought a precision". [/quote]

Eh?!

[Johngh]

What about when you are given a list of songs to learn for audition and then when you turn up they can't remember which songs they asked you to learn, and then say well we can't do that one anyway, the drummer don't know it.

Or, learning the song's for audition and the guitarist don't know them because he is useless, "well he don't know them because we haven't played for six month's. To which i said, it's no excuse, he's had six months to learn them then.
Same band, same audition. The singer comes to see me on a short break from the rehearsal and asks if my other band needs a singer, because he's tired of this lot.
Same band, same audition. The female key player and the guitar player are constantly arguing. Turns out they are father and daughter. I am asked to join the band, I tell them I'll think it over. Before the next rehersal I phone them to tell them I'm not interested. They say it's OK as they are folding the band as the father and daughter Guitarist and Keys don't get on and they can't stand the sight of each other. Spinal Tap at it's best.

[Norris]

[sub]A couple of years ago our Pink Floyd tribute (since folded) was auditioning for a second guitarist.I've never had much experience of auditions, having always played with people I know. Some of the shower that turned up though, like:[/sub][list]
[*][sub]Guitarist that didn't play a note throughout, but stood there staring in awe of the rest of the band[/sub]
[*][sub]Guitarist that brought along a rig that could've filled a stadium - a rack of about 12U of flashing lights[/sub]
[*][sub]Guitarist that turned up with a wedge monitor as his backline (no pod or effects)[/sub]
[*][sub]Guitarist that brought along a home made guitar that was probably his lad's school project[/sub]
[*][sub]Plus about a dozen uber-twiddlers, very keen to show how fast they were, but hadn't bothered to learn the songs[/sub]
[/list]
[sub]Then eventually the guitarist that got the job left about 2 months later to go to university. I'm kind of glad the keyboard player eventually got fed up and jacked the whole band in, after rehearsing for 3 years without a single gig![/sub]

[algmusic]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1323695939' post='1465875'][list]
[*][sub]Guitarist that didn't play a note throughout, but stood there staring in awe of the rest of the band[/sub]
[/list]
[/quote]

I remember depping on a gig with a keyboard player. We both learnt the songs and had charts in case. The singer didn't like the keys player and she got a lot of unnecessary flack when things 'didn't sound right'. After we rehearsed a few songs we worked out that it was her friend would played rhythm guitars badly and at points both guitarists would stop playing during the 'tricky parts' of the song leaving us (bass and keys) to play with the drummer and singer and the singer HAD NO IDEA!!... It got me thinking, as this was a function band, should be all be paid the same?? the sad thing was the two guitarists were really nice, but not up to par

[allighatt0r]

Only ever been to one or two auditions. The most recent one was basically a band rehearsal, however they invited two other bass players along to the same audition...!?

I was the only one who arrived on time and with my own equipment. One guy didn't bring an amp, just a bass so spent the night playing through their knackered looking mixer. He made sure he was louder than everyone else (including playing when it was someone else's turn to play bass on a tune).

The other guy didn't even bother to bring a bass, and remained silent throughout (except for playing a couple of songs through my gear, just very lightly...)

Unsurprisingly, I got offered the gig but turned it down as the guitarist played widdly, tapping and dive-bombing tremolo solos over rubbish like the Word Up and the bloody Proclaimers.

Also, they had a local paper journalist and photographer as they had made some sort of donation to the village hall we were practising in!

[leftybassman392]

All the above sounds horribly familiar, but just to make the point that it sometimes works the other way round:

The first decent band I was in (as a guitarist I should add) was a covers unit doing the usual round of pubs & clubs in the Northants area. 5 piece with 2 guitars and a singer who didn't play anything (despite holding a harmonica to his mouth from time to time ), and for a couple of years things went smoothly - plenty of gigs, nice venues, etc. Then the second guitar left and we had to recruit a new one. The guy we chose seemed fine with the band ethos, appeared to know what he was there to do and could play well enough to do the job. So far so good, but once we started gigging it all went horribly wrong. It quickly became clear that he had no real comprehension of live performance, sound balance or band dynamics. He never turned up to consecutive gigs with the same instrument, and on one occasion pulled out a Flying V - only he didn't realise that this particular model hangs differently on your shoulder from most other guitars, and went the entire gig anything up to 2 semitones off key. During his (mercifully short) stay with the band we spent some pre-booked studio time doing a demo, and as luck would have it he had no clue about that either - the sound engineer was pulling his hair out trying to get him to stop constantly fiddling with the amp settings. A session that should have been finished in around 8 hours wound up taking 14!

The last straw came at a festival gig we were invited to. Nice P.A., Marshall stacks, etc. After the set the drummer and bass player had to be physically restrained from lynching him. I was around 30ft away on the other side of the stage from him and kind of busy with my own job, and was a bit confused about it all. When the other guys had calmed down enough to talk coherently they told me he'd cranked his stack up full and flatly refused to turn it down (this was a 100w Marshall stack remember, sited next to the drum riser and pretty much right behind the bass player), despite several interventions from one of the sound guys. is parting words were 'That's ok, I've moved on from you guys anyway...'

Moral? For a band to work, everybody involved needs to know why they're there, and work at making it work.

[BigRedX]

Where do you find these pathetic excuses for musicians?

In almost 40 years of playing in bands I've never come across anyone as bad as those described and on the few occasions when the pre-rehearsal meet up didn't weed out some who would be unsuitable for the band they were discarded after a single rehearsal.

[JTUK]

[quote name='algmusic' timestamp='1323688321' post='1465710']
I think the key is the always be prepared and positive. It's about your reputation not theirs.. I've had a similar thing. I didn't join the band as it was very unorganised, I made my excuses to decline and afterwards the band member who turned up offered me another gig, because I had a positive attitude during my audition and played very well.

The lesson here is you really don't know where you next gig will come from
[/quote]

This is true. I turned down a position of a young hopeful as I can't be doing with being at beck and call for someone else' career..plus the work I expected to be invloved in would have been too much like hard work with the band he was proposing and I told the manager exactly this. I told him I would put a band around her but that it would cost him. It wouldn't have worked in those early days for that reason but at least I was upfront with him and he appreciated that.
We get on fine..talk often and I wish her well. She is getting very positive responses in town and we parted company on good terms.

[Machines]

Went to one where I had to show the guitarist how to turn their amp on then had to tune their guitar for them too .

[MusicJunkie]

I had an audition once where one of the singers turned up late and utterly hammered. Mildly shambolic! On the other hand, I had learned the wrong Beatles song...