julietgreen Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 So this happened: We had a fun little rock covers band - female led - always popular on the local gigging scene. A couple of years ago the backing vocalist left to have a baby and then last year, the rhythm guitarist for similar reasons. The vocalist invited her mates to come and take on those roles and we did a few gigs. We then had a hiatus while the vocalist herself went off to have a baby. Not long after we started rehearsing again, the two newbies said they didn't really want to be bothered with it, and that prompted the lead guitarist to say that he was keen to give up playing guitar and focus on jazz keyboard again. Since it was only the vocalist and myself, on bass, that still seemed interested, she decided there wasn't much point in carrying on - it was meant to be fun after all. Oh well! All that practising of Muse 'hysteria' not much of a waste of time then! On to new things, I suppose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 One door closes and another will open. Looks like time to move on. Always a bummer when band splits after all that hard work and effort. Good luck with whatever comes along. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 Thanks Dave. And yes. It was never the same after our old backing vox left. Just got to think of how not to let the bass playing drop off altogether now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrig Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 I feel for you Juliet as I have been going through similar problems, although not with muso's going off having babies as I've always played in all male bands so far. It's just that so many people just don't have the necessary drive, dedication, and commitment to make a band work long term, I've played in around ten bands in the past ten years, and in that time I must have learnt at least 250 songs but only a few ever got played live I'm afraid. I do hope you find another band soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 [quote name='thebrig' timestamp='1498333563' post='3323944'] I feel for you Juliet as I have been going through similar problems, although not with muso's going off having babies as I've always played in all male bands so far. It's just that so many people just don't have the necessary drive, dedication, and commitment to make a band work long term, I've played in around ten bands in the past ten years, and in that time I must have learnt at least 250 songs but only a few ever got played live I'm afraid. I do hope you find another band soon. [/quote] Hi there and thanks. Well at least one of the maternity leaves was a paternity leave! Band spouse pressure - I bet you get some of that sometimes! This was irksome because I felt like the newbies didn't really have the right to say 'Yeah it's probably time to pack it in!'. The crux was our lead guitarist, though. He was very accomplished and so would be hard to replace. On the other hand, as you say - some time to find a new band. Wow! 250 songs! That's a lot of effort if you haven't gigged them. Still, it gives you a very strong starting point for any bands you do in the future! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrig Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 [quote name='julietgreen' timestamp='1498335410' post='3323956'] Hi there and thanks. Well at least one of the maternity leaves was a paternity leave! Band spouse pressure - I bet you get some of that sometimes! This was irksome because I felt like the newbies didn't really have the right to say 'Yeah it's probably time to pack it in!'. The crux was our lead guitarist, though. He was very accomplished and so would be hard to replace. On the other hand, as you say - some time to find a new band. Wow! 250 songs! That's a lot of effort if you haven't gigged them. Still, it gives you a very strong starting point for any bands you do in the future! [/quote]I suppose in truth, over the ten year period, I suppose I probably played about 150 of them at least once "live", but like many bands, a lot of songs only get played in the rehearsal studio until the band splits up due to non-comittment by some members unfortunately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 Hey - it [i]is[/i] disheartening when things come to an end and it can definitely be a faff putting a band together, but potentially a lot of fun too and you do get to put your mark on the new band's direction and style as it's founding member. I've found StarNow a good place to find vocalists and Gumtree for musicians - we've had a few line up changes over the years in both my covers bands but we've been very lucky in often getting better musicians in to replace the ones leaving. Kinda amusing just how often it falls to us bass players to keep the show on the road! But if you've mastered Muse's Hysteria (which got my vote for "best bass line ever" on another thread) then it doesn't sound like your time spent has been entirely wasted! Any clips of your old band playing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 I had a band that broke up when kids came along in the early 2000's, shame cos we weren't too bad at all, origionals, a record out etc but thats to be expected. Now its 3 old farts in our late 40s, early 50's, kids now teenagers, playing covers in the pubs, a little following, 7 years and counting, it gets easier with advancing years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted June 24, 2017 Author Share Posted June 24, 2017 [quote name='Al Krow' timestamp='1498339583' post='3323987'] Hey - it [i]is[/i] disheartening when things come to an end and it can definitely be a faff putting a band together, but potentially a lot of fun too and you do get to put your mark on the new band's direction and style as it's founding member. I've found StarNow a good place to find vocalists and Gumtree for musicians - we've had a few line up changes over the years in both my covers bands but we've been very lucky in often getting better musicians in to replace the ones leaving. Kinda amusing just how often it falls to us bass players to keep the show on the road! But if you've mastered Muse's Hysteria (which got my vote for "best bass line ever" on another thread) then it doesn't sound like your time spent has been entirely wasted! Any clips of your old band playing? [/quote] Hmm well this popped up on my timeline the other day. Old line up. Crap quality. Gives away who we are too. [url="https://www.facebook.com/jugreen1/videos/10151964899829186/?permPage=1"]https://www.facebook...186/?permPage=1[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Dare Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 You take all the skills you've acquired with you. So it's not all bad. Good luck with finding a new gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Al Krow Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 [quote name='julietgreen' timestamp='1498343573' post='3324016'] Hmm well this popped up on my timeline the other day. Old line up. Crap quality. Gives away who we are too. [url="https://www.facebook.com/jugreen1/videos/10151964899829186/?permPage=1"]https://www.facebook...186/?permPage=1[/url] [/quote] Hey thanks for sharing that - good old fashioned "proper" rock! +1 to Dan Dare's comments about taking all the skills you've acquired PLUS plenty of fun memories too. And plenty more to come down the line, I'm sure. Get that ad out on Gumtree for a decent guitarist plus drummer and vocalists will surely follow as night, the day. Look forward to hearing your updates on pulling together your new band! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 24, 2017 Share Posted June 24, 2017 (edited) One (slight...) advantage to being old: my current band [i]is [/i]our kids..! Our eldest on guitar 1, our youngest on bass, I play the drums, with buddies Vincent (guitar 2...) and Stéphane, a mightily good singster. Soft(ish...) rock-pop covers (we're no good at writing good, playable songs an audience would like to hear and that we'd be proud of presenting, so we bend the works of better than us to our formation...). Stuff like Midnight Oil, Radiohead, SOAD, Bowie, Bashung, Noir Desir and more. A hiatus for the last year or so, for various medical reasons, but we're now planning on rehearsing again soon, maybe letting a couple of gigs find us, we'll see. Music doesn't [i]have [/i]to [i]end [/i]with kids, it can [i]start [/i]with 'em, too..! A sample... http://youtu.be/nM_u1XEOPbY Edited June 25, 2017 by Dad3353 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 (edited) Me, stay away from gigging bands where band members have young families unless they do it for a living. Definitely stay away from bands that feature young females that are recently married. You'll find another opportunity. Blue Edited June 25, 2017 by blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bazzbass Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 the one time a band says they broke up due to musical differences.....and it's true. Keep your chin up, you will find people that want to play Hysteria with you. At my late stage in life, I'm STILL looking for someone to play all those Led Zeppelin songs I learnt on bass, but have to settle for playing my bandmates gentle acoustic originals. In the end, it's PLAYING music that matters, playing what you want to play is a bonus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 (edited) The band you had sounded pretty good too. As someone said it was good old proper rock music. Its taken me until my late 50's to find a band that i'm truly comfortable with No pressure, no ego's, no attitude and altho its not my typical style of music i've never had more fun and enjoyment. Only been with them 6mths and played one gig and have since been asked to play 3 other venues in same area. Over the past 6-7 yrs i've been in several bands all of which just didn't work out for various reasons usually guitarist ego or attitudes but some just not having the drive to gig even after rehearsing for a year (originals Prog). Since turning 50 i've probably had more offers to join bands than i did as a youngster. That's no great help for you Juliet. There are more bands out there loking for bassists and i've seen quite a few younger female bands looking for female bassists too playing rock so never give up and just keep going. I only play for enjoyment these days and as long as i'm happy with a band i'll stay with it but there needs to be a drive within the band to keep pushing for perfection and gigs. After hearing your clip i'm pretty sure you'll find another band soon. All i would say is to be a bit picky with any new bands and make sure they are what you want from a band. Dave Edited June 25, 2017 by dmccombe7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 Bands don't last forever, and it's worth reminding ourselves of that fact. Some last long, but they're the exception. My main band, for instance... it looks like it'll be over in just over a year, after 8 years together. A key member is taking a few months to go explore the world and although it wasn't announced as the end and he wants to return and for us to carry on then... it's really pretty much the end. If you stop for 6 months or whatever, people drift and start doing other things. We all have other side projects to satisfy our itch to make music... so they'll naturally take first spot, and it's hard to go back to normal after a break like that. It's life. People change their goals, life is dynamic... things happen... their focus shifts... I think it's important to keep that in mind and live the moment for what it is worth. It feels like a drag to start fresh with a new band, as we know it takes time to get things right and the right people etc... For that reason I like to have one or two 'low demand' projects on the go on the side. It keeps me interested as it adds variety, it softens the blow of any one band dropping, and it also exposes you to more people which is good for your playing but also for networking, which makes it easier to get into new projects. Don't lose heart. Remember the good times. Do you still like playing bass? Then carry on, there are a lot of great opportunities out there, you just haven't found them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted June 25, 2017 Author Share Posted June 25, 2017 Hi all, again. Thanks for the feedback - and the positive comments! Yeah - one of the reasons we went down well is because people liked hearing the good old fashioned rock. I like the idea of having 'low demand' projects on the go - I will need something to keep it going, otherwise, with normal job workload, it would be easy to let it drop. You're all right that other things will come along. Thanks for posting your vid, Dad3353 - you reminded me that we had this! http://youtu.be/JcUphKIbLm8 How do I embed video on here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 (edited) [quote name='julietgreen' timestamp='1498410489' post='3324378'] Hi all, again. Thanks for the feedback - and the positive comments! Yeah - one of the reasons we went down well is because people liked hearing the good old fashioned rock. I like the idea of having 'low demand' projects on the go - I will need something to keep it going, otherwise, with normal job workload, it would be easy to let it drop. You're all right that other things will come along. Thanks for posting your vid, Dad3353 - you reminded me that we had this! [url="https://youtu.be/JcUphKIbLm8"]https://youtu.be/JcUphKIbLm8[/url] How do I embed video on here? [/quote] what I do is: - paste the link - remove the 's' from the 'https' bit - add 'media' tags at each end. That is the word 'media' (no quotes) surrounded by [ and ] characters, on the first tag. And for the second (end) tag put '/media' instead, surrounded by the [ ]... I'd type it here but then the forum software tries to use it and won't display it The result is: [media]http://youtu.be/JcUphKIbLm8[/media] Edited June 25, 2017 by mcnach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 [quote name='julietgreen' timestamp='1498410489' post='3324378']... Thanks for posting your vid, Dad3353 - you reminded me that we had this! ... [/quote] Good stuff..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted June 25, 2017 Author Share Posted June 25, 2017 [quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1498411558' post='3324387'] what I do is: - paste the link - remove the 's' from the 'https' bit - add 'media' tags at each end. That is the word 'media' (no quotes) surrounded by [ and ] characters, on the first tag. And for the second (end) tag put '/media' instead, surrounded by the [ ]... I'd type it here but then the forum software tries to use it and won't display it The result is: [media]http://youtu.be/JcUphKIbLm8[/media] [/quote] Oh! Not completely straightforward then! Cheers for that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dad3353 Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 [quote name='julietgreen' timestamp='1498416767' post='3324430'] Oh! Not completely straightforward then! Cheers for that. [/quote] The 'straightforward' way is to copy the 'Share' link from Youtube, paste it into your post, and simply remove the 's' from 'https' at start of the link link. That's it; that's all. It works for me on a humble PC; no guarantee concerning other devices, though. Try it..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
julietgreen Posted June 25, 2017 Author Share Posted June 25, 2017 Thanks, mate! I wasn't being cheeky, by the way. I just wondered if I'd missed something on the bass chat icon bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted June 25, 2017 Share Posted June 25, 2017 It's the way of bands that they end one day. None of the effort you have expended on learning material is wasted - you gave a repertoire, you have become a better player, and you are a valuable commodity to your next band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thebrig Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 [quote name='JapanAxe' timestamp='1498424274' post='3324557'] It's the way of bands that they end one day. None of the effort you have expended on learning material is wasted - you gave a repertoire, you have become a better player, and you are a valuable commodity to your next band. [/quote]Spot on, as I stated in an earlier reply, I must have learn't about 250+ songs over the last ten years with various bands that didn't last that long, but I don't see it as wasted time, I now have a repertoire of songs to fall back on, and if/when I join another band, there's a good chance I will already know a fair amount of their set, of course I might need to dust the cobwebs off the songs I've not played for a while, but they soon come back to you once you start playing them again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcnach Posted June 26, 2017 Share Posted June 26, 2017 (edited) [quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1498417810' post='3324449'] The 'straightforward' way is to copy the 'Share' link from Youtube, paste it into your post, and simply remove the 's' from 'https' at start of the link link. That's it; that's all. It works for me on a humble PC; no guarantee concerning other devices, though. Try it..? [/quote] no need to add the tags??? [media]http://youtu.be/YPhO5g39vpg[/media] edit: whoa! it works! and when you click edit you can see the forum software added the tags itself... couldn't be simpler! nice one Edited June 26, 2017 by mcnach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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