Happy Jack Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 As with most things in life, it depends. Trying to play in three busy bands would be a nightmare, in two busy bands would be challenging. But I find playing in one busy band, plus two which only gig once a month each, plus two more which are one-off project bands for specific gigs (things like Swanage Blues Festival) is actually very easy to arrange. That's five bands. Deciding that One Band = Good and More Than One Band = Bad is a mite simplistic, if everyone will forgive me saying so. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 1 hour ago, chris_b said: It can be if you know good players. We used a dep drummer yesterday and he was better than the regular guy. Agreed. I have found that getting drum cover is the easiest. Our band doesn't go out if myself or the guitarist are not available. It's never the same with a different drummer, but we can get by respectably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12stringbassist Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 55 minutes ago, Happy Jack said: Deciding that One Band = Good and More Than One Band = Bad is a mite simplistic, if everyone will forgive me saying so. If you can do it and your diary works, all is good. It may play hell with someone else's diary, but best of luck. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petebassist Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Keep as many projects going as you can manage time-wise - let natural selection determine which ones survive and which ones die off. As long as you're open about it I don't see any issue. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 It depends on what your in this for, the creative outlet of the bluesier band or the gigs of the cover band. I always contend you can't be in 2 bands that gig a lot without big schedule conflicts. There's only so many Fridays & Saturdays. Blue 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 19 hours ago, petebassist said: Keep as many projects going as you can manage time-wise - let natural selection determine which ones survive and which ones die off. As long as you're open about it I don't see any issue. The big issue I can see is if you get fired from the best band because your unavailability is holding them back. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 It can be a lot of work doing more than one band. You need to put in the additional time learning the songs, the rehearsal time with the bands and as long as everyone is aware of when the gigs are there shouldn't be too many problems. Most guys i know in several bands will be first come first served with the gigs. If a band puts a gig in the diary then the other bands need to be able to accept that. Maybe that's why we have so many Deps available these days I have no issue with guys being in more than one band altho i find it just takes up too much of my own time. That's just a personal priority for me tho. My current band the singer is in 2 bands and also does solo with backing tracks. Guitarist also in 3 bands and drummer in 2 bands. Some of their gigs are festivals gigs thru the summer so they don't gig regularly as an Ozzy Tribute. Just remember to be up front with it all. Might be worth casually asking if it woukld be an issue for the rest of the band. You might find they are already doing it themselves and haven't told you Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Jack Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 7 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said: Just remember to be up front with it all. Might be worth casually asking if it woukld be an issue for the rest of the band. You might find they are already doing it themselves and haven't told you When I was invited (by the singer) to join my Tex/Mex band the BL (call him Rik) was not keen initially because I already played in another band. After a couple of months I discovered that Rik also played guitar in a Country band. And that his Country band was looking for a bass player. So I put myself forward for the slot. Rik liked the idea of me playing bass in the Country band, but advised me not to mention the Tex/Mex band to the BL of the Country band because "he doesn't like it when people play in more than one band". You couldn't make it up ... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 41 minutes ago, Happy Jack said: When I was invited (by the singer) to join my Tex/Mex band the BL (call him Rik) was not keen initially because I already played in another band. After a couple of months I discovered that Rik also played guitar in a Country band. And that his Country band was looking for a bass player. So I put myself forward for the slot. Rik liked the idea of me playing bass in the Country band, but advised me not to mention the Tex/Mex band to the BL of the Country band because "he doesn't like it when people play in more than one band". You couldn't make it up ... You gotta laugh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 Back in the day, it was unthinkable to be in more than one band at a time. These days, it seems to be pretty much standard. I don't see any reason why a band should dictate what I do on the days when I'm not playing with them. My own experience is that it depends on how busy the bands are - tricky with two bands that are rehearsing a lot and playing a load of gigs, but when one is busier than the other, it's fine. the only time i did it for a long a period it matched up quite nicely - everybody in band #1 were in other bands, most of them in another band that was fairly busy so we never got that busy, and they liked to practice midweek. Band #2 was much busier, but liked to rehearse at the weekend. never any rehearsal clashes, and whenever a gig for either band came up it was flagged good and early, and it was down to me not to accept anything that clashed. Which was fine because everybody else was doing exactly the same, balancing their own gigs before accepting any new ones. I can see that it would become a sore point if one band member's diary meant that the band had to turn down a lot of work, but I don't see that as any different to a band member who doesn't want to play when Arsenal are at home, or when the gig is more than twenty minutes drive away. In band #2 one guitarist made it very clear from the start that his other (signed) band were his main priority, and if there were any clashes then the other band would always win. We were happy with that, and did a couple of gigs without him without anybody falling out or getting upset about lack of commitment/playing gigs without him. What then did become an issue was when the same guitarist announced that he didn't want to play any low level or midweek gigs...but that's another story... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 2 hours ago, Stylon Pilson said: The big issue I can see is if you get fired from the best band because your unavailability is holding them back. The guys who are playing in multiple bands are telling you that organising the diary and getting agreement is critical. As I said there has to be a pecking order. Obviously there will be limited success if you join two bands playing every Friday and Saturday. The only sensible solution to getting fired, when you don't want to be fired, because you've joined a second band. . . is. . . don't join the second band. Easy. Deps and multiple bands doesn't bother most of the guys I play with because they are all working musicians and none of them are selfish enough to make a professional player turn down work and sit at home on a gig night, just in case they have a gig come in. These guys have their diaries worked out many months in advance, so there are no surprises and there is always a solution to line up problems. If you can't put a dep in for the first band, put a dep in for the second bands gig. Easy. I understand we are in different musical worlds, but a dog in the manger approach doesn't go down well with anyone I know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 4 hours ago, chris_b said: Deps and multiple bands doesn't bother most of the guys I play with. Depping is quite different than the guy trying to be a member of 2 busy gigging bands, right? Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmccombe7 Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 32 minutes ago, Bluewine said: Depping is quite different than the guy trying to be a member of 2 busy gigging bands, right? Blue For me the Dep is the guy filling in because the full time guy has another gig with his other band(s) If we all stuck to one band we wouldn't need Deps. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 1 hour ago, Bluewine said: Depping is quite different than the guy trying to be a member of 2 busy gigging bands, right? Blue The subject of deps or subs only come up because you'll need someone to do one of the gigs when you're off doing the other, ie both bands gigging on the same night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 11 minutes ago, chris_b said: The subject of deps or subs only come up because you'll need someone to do one of the gigs when you're off doing the other, ie both bands gigging on the same night. Depends, there are bands that won't use deps. We'd cancel before using a dep. We're not a professional band, I think pros use deps. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluewine Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said: For me the Dep is the guy filling in because the full time guy has another gig with his other band(s) If we all stuck to one band we wouldn't need Deps. Dave I see deps mostly in pro, functions, wedding, and corporate bands. Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted August 28, 2018 Share Posted August 28, 2018 (edited) 43 minutes ago, Bluewine said: Depends, there are bands that won't use deps. We'd cancel before using a dep. We're not a professional band, I think pros use deps. Blue I'm surprised at that your band would cancel rather than use a dep. I'm sure that I could dep for your band with no problems and I imagine you could do the same in most of my bands. Generally, if want to play with decent players, you have to expect that they will have a few projects on the go and sometimes you will need a dep. It isn't just full time pros that work like this. Edited August 28, 2018 by peteb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EliasMooseblaster Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 13 hours ago, dmccombe7 said: For me the Dep is the guy filling in because the full time guy has another gig with his other band(s) If we all stuck to one band we wouldn't need Deps. Dave I used to play with a band that was comprised entirely of deps. It was a singer/guitarist who had a reservoir of friends he could call on who knew his songs (yes, it was originals) and obviously liked to fly by the seat of his pants! It became his running joke to say to the audience, "...and at this point, I'd like to introduce the band...", then turn around and introduce us to each other - fair enough given most of us had literally just met for the first time. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
casapete Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 My old function band used to have deps to cover illness etc. However, one time there was a massive mess up with the diary, which meant we were double booked for a prime Saturday in July.This resulted in us splitting the 8 piece band into two bands, each with 4 original members and 4 deps. We got away with it too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted August 29, 2018 Share Posted August 29, 2018 12 hours ago, EliasMooseblaster said: I used to play with a band that was comprised entirely of deps. It was a singer/guitarist who had a reservoir of friends he could call on who knew his songs (yes, it was originals) and obviously liked to fly by the seat of his pants! It became his running joke to say to the audience, "...and at this point, I'd like to introduce the band...", then turn around and introduce us to each other - fair enough given most of us had literally just met for the first time. I did a dep for a pub gig once where everybody on stage apart from the singer was a dep! A few weeks later, they did a gig where even the singer couldn't make it and the whole band comprised of deps without a single actual member on the bandstand... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheddatom Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 I'm in 6 bands. It's just first come, first served, however one of my bands is pretty successful and the band leader books gigs months in advance. We have bookings up to November 2019. This means the other 5 get to pick from my very meagre list of free dates, and they turn a lot of stuff down. I wouldn't mind if they replaced me or got deps or whatever but they don't seem bothered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiophonic Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Unless the music was very demanding - either in terms of quantity or technical complexity, I doubt one band would be enough for me musically. I'm careful to not over-reach though. I'm currently in three bands. Only one them is proprietorial about my time and that's the one I'm leaving. I'm in a start-up band that is fairly intermittent and mostly about writing and arranging at this stage, which isn't heavy in terms of time commitment. I've also recently joined a fairly busy local originals band who are deliberately pushing their live schedule and have made that clear - and they already knew I played with other people. Provided I'm free to rehearse in their regular slot, there's no issue. Everyone has a job and a life, so they are just as likely to be unavailable as me if there's a gig at short notice. The band I'm leaving are very rigid and tend to interpret external demands on my time as lack of commitment, even though nothing has ever clashed, I've never missed a gig and it's their rehearsals that are the biggest pain in the neck because they insist on Saturday afternoons for their own convenience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 Has anyone come across the opposite, a band member who could not make gigs but refused to allow deps to be used? I haven't personally, but it happened in a mate's fairly successful tribute band, not because of competing bands but because the lead guitarist decided that he wouldn't travel more than a few miles for gigs, and wouldn't commit to playing every weekend for (understandable) family reasons. The band tried to work with him, and suggested that they get a dep in for any of the gigs that he couldn't make. He threw a complete strop and took it as an insult, how dare they consider playing without their lead guitarist? They pointed out that he was costing them all money, but he wasn't having it...didn't end well for him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickeyboro Posted September 3, 2018 Author Share Posted September 3, 2018 Hello - OP again. My main worry is telling band one I won't be available as much... I hope. They build their social lives round the band and any withdrawal/unavailability is already frowned upon. I can see it all getting a bit sticky! Guess the other alternative is to use the threat of another band to make this one more satisfying, eg changes in repertoire etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiophonic Posted September 4, 2018 Share Posted September 4, 2018 (edited) 18 hours ago, Mickeyboro said: Hello - OP again. My main worry is telling band one I won't be available as much... I hope. They build their social lives round the band and any withdrawal/unavailability is already frowned upon. I can see it all getting a bit sticky! Guess the other alternative is to use the threat of another band to make this one more satisfying, eg changes in repertoire etc. There's the problem, right there. We get on fine but unless we're at a gig, I don't really hang out with the bands I play in. Edited September 4, 2018 by radiophonic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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