Bass Player Wanted Ad, Your Initial Reaction

[skankdelvar]

I had three thoughts in quick succession

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1415812884' post='2604041']
[i]"We are looking for a “Bad Ass Rockin Bass Player” in the Milwaukee area. We have almost 3 sets of material, and want to play out soon. The format is mostly 80's metal. We are not concerned with playing dance music. We are focusing on playing the music we like. [/i][/quote]

Thought: Deluded

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1415812884' post='2604041'][i]This band is a blast to be in, and everyone has an equal say! [/i][/quote]

Thought: No, it will be deeply frustrating.

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1415812884' post='2604041'][i]Give me a call and let's set something before you say no. You have to experience the good time that this band has to offer!!! I can't justify the fun in a phone conversation"[/i]
[/quote]

Thought: Way too desperate and possibly more interested in slipping auditionees a roofie.

[Lynottfan]

true 100% Initial reaction, if they had included the line "no cold play dirge crap" I would have thought "I'll give this a go!"

[redbandit599]

I'd give it a bash too, sounds a lot better than an over serious, money-centric band. Which for a hobbyist like me would be purgatory. A few select gigs playing in places that like 80's metal with mates, rather than giging every weekend would suit me fine.

Maybe they haven't gigged, maybe they've had rubbish bass players before and that's why?

After all, it's just a 'dating' ad. You ring 'em up or meet and that's when you can really tell.

[redstriper]

[size=4][quote] We are looking for a “Bad Ass Rockin Bass Player [/quote][/size]

[size=4]Who talks like that[/size]

[quote] in the Milwaukee area [/quote]

OK

[quote] The format is mostly 80's metal [/quote]

Oh dear

[quote] We are not concerned with playing dance music [/quote]

Shame

[quote] Give me a call and let's set something before you say no [/quote]

No

Edited November 12, 2014 by redstriper

[Norris]

Another take: After rehearsing for ages with no prospect of being gig-ready, we are looking for another person to join the succession of bass players that have got bored and quit

[peteb]

I can get no real indication from the ad if the band has any potential or not. Exactly how do you sell a new band to a prospective bass player in an ad anyway?? Word of mouth is always better.

If you are the sort of person who likes 80s metal (and I do know a few) then it might be worth a telephone call...

[blue]

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1415838696' post='2604459']
I can get no real indication from the ad if the band has any potential or not. Exactly how do you sell a new band to a prospective bass player in an ad anyway?? Word of mouth is always better.

If you are the sort of person who likes 80s metal (and I do know a few) then it might be worth a telephone call...
[/quote]

I'm not sure how you sell a new band for 80s metal.

I think, at least here you might want to sell it as a solely [i]"for fun"[/i] band and make that clear. Anybody from the area knows there is no gigging market for metal bands around here.

Blue

Edited November 13, 2014 by blue

[blue]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1415837233' post='2604456']
Another take: After rehearsing for ages with no prospect of being gig-ready, we are looking for another person to join the succession of bass players that have got bored and quit
[/quote]

Unfortunately I really think your on to something here. Thing is, there are guys that love metal but don't understand how good you have to be as a musician to pull it off. The pros do it and that's great. I have seen local metal bands and my reaction has always been;

[i]"My Stars, don't these kids have a clue of how much training and wood shedding goes into being able to present this genre live?"[/i]

Blue

[hollywoodrox]

What type of 80s metal I wonder, if its 80, s hair metal sounds like my dream band. I live for 80s hair metal, I only have barely enough songs for 1 set at the moment though
Love playning def lepp, ratt , jovi etc

[discreet]

[quote name='Norris' timestamp='1415837233' post='2604456']
Another take: After rehearsing for ages with no prospect of being gig-ready, we are looking for another person to join the succession of bass players that have got bored and quit
[/quote]

It's not just 'no prospect'... there are people who just like to rehearse and [i]never [/i]gig. But they won't let on because obviously this would make it difficult to find band members, so they just rattle on about how good it's going to be to 'get out there' but they have no intention of ever doing so.

[blue]

[quote name='discreet' timestamp='1415844067' post='2604470']
It's not just 'no prospect'... there are people who just like to rehearse and [i]never [/i]gig. But they won't let on because obviously this would make it difficult to find band members, so they just rattle on about how good it's going to be to 'get out there' but they have no intention of ever doing so.
[/quote]

I know what you mean, but hard for me to understand.

As a product of the 60s, when I was coming up everything was about getting with a good band and getting out there gigging. You know, [i]"oh man The Centurions are playing at this place and Red Bread is playing at that place".[/i] Everybody wanted to gig. So that has always been my thing. I'm so fortunate to be in a band with a lot of bookings.

I was talking to a younger guy, late 20s, and he was always telling me about his band, a metal band on a daily basis. And so I finally asked him, [i]"so, where are you guys playing and gigs coming up"[/i] he looked at me like I was talking a foreign language and said; [i]"Oh we just record"[/i]

So yeah, there are guys out there, even in this forum that have no connection to or desire to gig.

On the rare weekend we are not booked, I go into depression mode.

Blue

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1415838696' post='2604459']
Exactly how do you sell a new band to a prospective bass player in an ad anyway??
[/quote]

[b]Bass Player wanted[/b]

Age / gender immaterial. Paying gigs booked every week up to 2016. Guitarist will turn volume down on request / drummer is never late and sets up in ten minutes flat / singer welcomes critical input. Play whatever you think best suits the song, we don't mind.

[blue]

[quote name='skankdelvar' timestamp='1415848803' post='2604482']
[b]Bass Player wanted[/b]

Age / gender immaterial. Paying gigs booked every week up to 2016. Guitarist will turn volume down on request / drummer is never late and sets up in ten minutes flat / singer welcomes critical input. Play whatever you think best suits the song, we don't mind.
[/quote]

Where do I sign!

Blue

[lojo]

Do you think the last bass player wanted to play dance ?

Why state we are 80s metal then say we are not interested in playing dance music ?

Never seen an ad for a disco / soul band say we aren't metal

[Norris]

Does 3 sets of 80s metal = extended widdly guitar solos?

[EssentialTension]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1415813528' post='2604055']
My initial thought was, the guy that wrote the ad is new to gigging and is probably under 25 years old.

Blue
[/quote]
People under 25 (in the UK and in my experience) just do not speak like that. It sounds more like a forty to fifty year old living in the past.

[peteb]

[quote name='blue' timestamp='1415840574' post='2604462']


I'm not sure how you sell a new band for 80s metal.

I think, at least here you might want to sell it as a solely [i]"for fun"[/i] band and make that clear. Anybody from the area knows there is no gigging market for metal bands around here.

Blue
[/quote]
Strangely enough I've just started a new band playing local pubs, etc that plays a mix of 70s & 80s hard rock / metal (WASP, GnR, Cult, Kiss, etc). We have only played 6 or 7 gigs, but one thing for certain is that there is certainly a market around here! We are doing a Steel Panther cover that I thought that no punters would know but I was completely wrong on that one - it goes down really well.

An agency backed band playing Lady Gaga tunes will get more gigs and make more money, but there is certainly a market for 80s rock in many areas if you're any good. Despite what many here would like to think, a lot of 30/40 something punters love that stuff...!

[lojo]

Sounds like the perfect gig for Colin Grigson

http://youtu.be/W5YJKuKT3jo

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='hollywoodrox' timestamp='1415842653' post='2604468']
What type of 80s metal I wonder...
[/quote]

+1, this was my only initial thought. There's a lot of difference between Poison and Cannibal Corpse for example.
And it IS possible to get regular, reasonably well paid gigs playing metal covers in the UK.

[Iain]

Initial thought was Milwaukee is a bit far to travel to from NW England...

[JTUK]

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1415868167' post='2604544']
Strangely enough I've just started a new band playing local pubs, etc that plays a mix of 70s & 80s hard rock / metal (WASP, GnR, Cult, Kiss, etc). We have only played 6 or 7 gigs, but one thing for certain is that there is certainly a market around here! We are doing a Steel Panther cover that I thought that no punters would know but I was completely wrong on that one - it goes down really well.

[b]An agency backed band playing Lady Gaga tunes will get more gigs and make more money, but there is certainly a market for 80s rock in many areas if you're any good. Despite what many here would like to think, a lot of 30/40 something punters love that stuff...![/b]
[/quote]

Same here...as well as some grunge bands.... but it is VERY hard to get more than pub money so they are stuck in pubs and some pubs just wont have them either.
The market here is 80's clasic rock..but again no one does it well enough to do more than pubs and cheap parties,
Bigger gigs want more modern stuff and too much AC/DC and Muse puts people off. You have to be a lot more imaginative
with the set than that....which isn't hard as there are so many songs.... but initially bands go for what they think works with the majority
of other bands...( which means the sets are pretty samey ) but the limitaion is a £450 party gig no matter how well you do it...IME.

[peteb]

[quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1415869983' post='2604577']


Same here...as well as some grunge bands.... but it is VERY hard to get more than pub money so they are stuck in pubs and some pubs just wont have them either.
The market here is 80's clasic rock..but again no one does it well enough to do more than pubs and cheap parties,
Bigger gigs want more modern stuff and too much AC/DC and Muse puts people off. You have to be a lot more imaginative
with the set than that....which isn't hard as there are so many songs.... but initially bands go for what they think works with the majority
of other bands...( which means the sets are pretty samey ) but the limitaion is a £450 party gig no matter how well you do it...IME.
[/quote]
Of course you're quite right, except that it's more about the same old songs rather than bands. There is a massive audience for AC/DC stuff (one of the biggest acts in the world) but do they need to hear yet another version of Whole Lotta Rosie. You have to be more imaginative in your set lists to stand out from all the other bands on the circuit.

Also you need to be good, like pretty much any other genre! If a band is doing AC/DC or GnR then the singer needs to be able to hack it. If you're also doing Whitesnake type songs, then there is a good chance that the singer will not be able to do both convincingly. Also, FFS get the arrangements right! So many bands of this type cover well known songs and don't relies that sometimes the arrangements are not as simple as you might think. It's getting the details right that make a band stand out and attract a decent following.

Edited November 13, 2014 by peteb

[discreet]

[quote name='peteb' timestamp='1415888258' post='2604863']
FFS get the arrangements right! So many bands of this type cover well known songs and don't relies that sometimes the arrangements are not as simple as you might think. It's getting the details right that make a band stand out and attract a decent following.
[/quote]

Tell me about it. This is why I don't play in covers bands any more - just impossible to shake the 'that'll do', or 'it's close enough' attitude. If you're going to do covers they have to sound as exciting as the originals, or at least as close as you can possibly get under the circumstances. I think people imagine that covers are the easy option as the songs already exist and you don't have to write new material, but I really don't agree.

Edited November 13, 2014 by discreet

[Jenny_Innie]

My initial thought is the person who wrote the add didn't put too much thought into it - busted blurted it out. That's neither a good nor a bad thing though.