Band Forming Hassles

[BassAdder60]

So my old “new” band split due to job changes and the usual issues 

 

New function party band plan isn’t happening either !!

 

one last try to put my rock covers band together as soon as I find a decent drummer in Suffolk 

 

So few musicians around, lack of good singers and drummers making it near on impossible to form a band !!

 

If this is the future then it’s likely all my gear will be sold off and I will pack it all in … so frustrating grrrr 

[musicbassman]

I feel for you mate, these things happen to us all.

Finding the right people to play in a band is always the No 1 issue.

In my experience, potential musos for semi pro bands are likely to fall into 4 categories:

A. Bl**dy good – and they know it. Likely to disappear at a moments notice if they get a sniff of something better.

B. Good, but 'mature' -and they stopped listening to music around 1980 and haven’t progressed since.

C. Good, but completely flaky and unreliable – chances of them turning up at a gig (a) on the correct day (b) with all their gear in working order and (c) having learnt all the material = zero

D. Absolutely tone deaf apart from one or two show-off party pieces they always trot out.

 

I hope you manage to find better. 🙂

Edited September 2, 2021 by musicbassman

[uk_lefty]

Similar experiences here I'm afraid. I think all the decent bands got their stinky poo together in lockdown, rehearsed and recorded remotely, refreshed their set lists and now have more gigs than they can shake a stick at. Those who wallowed and waited have gone stale and been left behind... Like my band who had 1 terrible rehearsal and now expect to do gigs without rehearsing 😣

 

I've been looking for an established band in my area that needs a bassist and I'm finding it harder then ever before. There's a lot of 1 or 2 people from an old band who want a bassist but they also want a drummer and guitarist and a singer and a.... So it's not really an established band! 

 

Stick at it, some bassists will have a diva strop before the Christmas and New Year gigs and leave you an opening. If you keep trying to form something, join something, then at least you're learning new stuff and learning how to play with different people. 

[gjones]

I joined a band just before lockdown.

 

It had just been formed by the guitarist and was in the first rehearsals stage.

 

The guitarist didn't want to be the organising force for the band, so it appears that I'm going to have to take over that role.

 

I know organising bands can be like herding cats sometimes but this lot seem very keen.

 

I hope the power doesn't go to my head.

[BassAdder60]

I’m also running things and don’t mind it really if I find the right people 

 

This is probably my tenth band and my very last !! 

[Triumph_Rock]

Unfortunately these are the times we are living in. It must of taken two months or more to get a drummer, he was worth the wait. 

 

The rhythm guitarist says he can sing, I hope so, as you've found out, it takes ages to find anyone decent or at all. 

[ubit]

Another area that annoys me is the fact that some people tell others that they are in an original band and use that as some kind of badge of superiority over cover band members. Sometimes it is a total accident of  location that can decide whether you meet a singer or guitarist who is just that something extra and can write decent tunes that get noticed. Other times decent musicians are lost in the mire of mediocrity.

It can be a chance meeting with a guitarist or bass player who writes great songs that can carry drummers and other bass players on the road to fame. 

Look at some famous bands and look at the rhythm section and see if they are all incredible musicians or just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

[Stub Mandrel]

8 hours ago, ubit said:

Look at some famous bands and look at the rhythm section and see if they are all incredible musicians or just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

 

The quality of many covers bands shows that plenty of 'ordinary people' can play 'hit tunes'.

[SPHDS]

Oh this is all all too familiar......

My band (formed on the verge of lockdown 1, by me and a guitarist I've played with on and off for ages, a drummer I played with years ago, and a new singer/guitarist) are now on the search for a drummer and frontman after those two suddenly 'weren't sure they wanted to go the direction the set was going (having helped write/build most of it during and between lockdowns.....) and decided to walk, just as we had been offered our first post lockdown gig......!

Suddenly the drummer's 'old band', which folded when the singer moved away, has reformed (albeit 'looking for a bassplayer') with 'a new singer/guitarist' (I have no idea where he came from......!?!)

Onwards and Upwards !

[BassAdder60]

Might of found a good drummer 👍

[Bassfinger]

My old band folded during lockdown. It had been slowly dying through lack of interest anyway and the enforced lay off did what none of us could be bothered to do and put it out of it's misery.

 

Then during the 2nd lockdown Mrs Bassfinger saw on Facebook a local guitarist looking for musicians to form a new rock covers band. I don't do Faceberk, so she kindly responded on my behalf and before we could say, "blimey, we're a band" we were a band.

 

So it can be refreshingly easy, although that might depend on which part if the country you are in. If you're one of only 6 people on some hebridean island then it might be a little more difficult.

 

But keep smiling and keep an eye on all the available information channels, and hopefully it'll come good for you.

Edited September 7, 2021 by Bassfinger
Terribal speeelin

[BassAdder60]

I agree it can be easy at times but my new band in Suffolk has been searching for a singer for ages 

 

Such a lack of singers around excluding You Tube Wanabees !! 

[obbm]

Here we go again. When we moved west last year I was pretty convinced that my band days were over however I kept an eye on Bandmix, etc. just to see what was going on.  Nothing much of interest apart from the usual metal, punk and function bands.  That was until a couple of week ago when something interesting came up.  A guitarist looking for vocalist, bass and drums to form an Americana style band. I met up with him yesterday and we hit it off straight away.  Like me he's retired and has very similar musical tastes and ideas - Tom Petty, John Fogerty, Linda Ronstadt, Steve Earle, Jackson Browne, etc. .  It was interesting that he didn't want to dip into the pool of exisiting local musicians as he knew that they would drag the venture back into rock covers so as a newcomer to the area I was very welcome.  He has a second guitarist lined up so now we need to find a like minded vocalist and drummer. I'm not holdng my breath but it's a start.  Next step is an initial jam.

[Waddo Soqable]

1 hour ago, Bassfinger said:

 

 

Then during the 2nd lockdown Mrs Bassfinger saw on Facebook a local guitarist looking for musicians to form a new rock covers band. I don't do Faceberk, so she kindly responded on my behalf and before we could say, "blimey, we're a band" we were a band

Cool!

And if it all goes t!ts up you can just say to the Mrs .. "This is all your fault.."

[Stub Mandrel]

It took me a couple of months to find two bands.

 

Apparently bass players are most in demand, guitar heroes are ten a penny - around here, anyway.

[gjones]

I was pushing the band to get up to speed with our set, so we could start gigging ASAP.

 

Then our drummer told me that, because of his underlying health issues (diabetes, recent heart attack) and the risks of Covid, he does not want to gig before 2022

.

Perfectly understandable in his situation but he drums for my 2nd band too.......sigh.

 

My 3rd band's singer is seriously ill, so I will have to wait until she has recovered fully before we'll be gigging again.

 

Things are not looking good.

 

 

[Supernaut]

I'm taking a break from music but was thinking of starting up something again next year. 

 

The ads on JMB are beyond depressing...

 

Guys who I've jammed with still trying to make something work but they're the ones with classic excuses such as: 

 

"£5 is too much for practice."

 

"My SO/child/dog has had an accident so I can't make it tonight."

 

"My car needs a lot of petrol and I'm choosing that over practice."

 

Argh!!! 

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 15, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[yorks5stringer]

Just packed up rehearsing with 3 others after 2 meetings.

 

It was the usual, experienced Guitarist too loud ( yeah, if you don't know the chords just play it so loud no one can tell) who had only half prepared for this the 2nd rehearsal ( not  the nuances but chords), Singer unsure what she wanted to be, a bit  pitchy and unsure, and me and the drummer who had done our stuff. Despite it being really convenient I could see it would be a long and for me unstimulating battle to work up anything to gig readiness, so bailed! I've stuck with bands  on the basis it would get better but know the warning signs for me, luckily I wore my mask so maybe did not show my displeasure so much, although my body language may have betrayed me!

 

If it's covers I'll learn the song/changes 90% ready for the next rehearsal and expect everyone else to be on that same page. If I have to start to explain the  chords, or where the choruses/solos are played I know I'm going to be doing the heavy lifting and it does not suit me. I'm all for making the song one's own or doing an arrangement but if others have not even bothered to do their homework, then I'm off.

 

I'd love to be proved wrong by them but I'm 66.....!

[musicbassman]

11 minutes ago, yorks5stringer said:

If it's covers I'll learn the song/changes 90% ready for the next rehearsal and expect everyone else to be on that same page. If I have to start to explain the  chords, or where the choruses/solos are played I know I'm going to be doing the heavy lifting and it does not suit me. I'm all for making the song one's own or doing an arrangement but if others have not even bothered to do their homework, then I'm off.

I could have written this myself, my friend.

I've been there so many times with bands over the years I know exactly where you're at !  😏

[Downunderwonder]

On 07/09/2021 at 19:26, obbm said:

drummer

A cajon player with or without a foot pedal and a cymbal can be plenty.

[yorks5stringer]

1 hour ago, musicbassman said:

I could have written this myself, my friend.

I've been there so many times with bands over the years I know exactly where you're at !  😏

It took me quite a few years to take on board the saying,"If you do what you always do, you get what you always get'.

Luckily I'm in another band which is very predictable, most of the basslines are root- 5th, but we gig quite frequently and I get to wear a cowboy hat...!

[StickyDBRmf]

I dropped a line to a guitarist I hadn't heard from since Covidiffication, someone that could actually play and write songs with. He replied he was living with a girl and had a 10 mo. old child.

I asked, "So that means you sold all your guitars for a crib and bassinet?" 

Haven't heard back so the answer is probably...

What is with these people that think there is life without music?

"Band Forming Hassles" would be a great name for band.

[uk_lefty]

9 hours ago, yorks5stringer said:

If I have to start to explain the  chords, or where the choruses/solos are played I know I'm going to be doing the heavy lifting and it does not suit me.

I feel your pain. It doesn't take much to listen to a song and write down "4 times the intro riff... Verse (G C F, G C F, F#) Chorus..." on a bit of paper! 

 

I'm auditioning for an originals band next week where the EP was recorded with the guitarist playing all guitar and bass parts. He has recorded videos of him playing each song all the way through on bass and sent them to me. I have absolutely zero excuses for getting a note out of place, given its three songs and I have 2 weeks to learn them! If I turn up not having got the songs 90-100% then I don't expect to be asked back. It really is that simple! Yet I've had "band mates" not learn the chord changes, and even sit out whole songs saying "this works with just bass and drums, you don't need me" the song? Wherever I lay My Hat. It's a bit empty without any keys or guitar!! 

[Stub Mandrel]

I've been blessed that the bands I've been with of late have all had the attitude that rehearsals are for  arranging, polishing up your timings and getting tight.