Do you Play in a Band?

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barlowdog said:


That's not bad. I see you're from MD. Will the band be playing any east coast dates?

Nah, nowhere big. :wink: It's just a hobby right now anyway. But...I've already got a drummer for the band now (it was all drum machines before), a bassist, I play guitar...I think we're all set. I should start looking around for gigs. :)

Maybe do that flyer thing. :uhoh:

The_acrobat said:
I play lead guitar in a band. There are 5 of us, and 4 of us are really good. We write original songs, and honestly I think we could have a real shot at making it if it weren't for our singer. But our singer is my best friend, has been since we were 5, and now we're 25. He isn't any good, and we've been playing together for the past 5 years. He's a good lyric writer, but he can't sing OR play guitar, but he insists on doing both very loudly. We've played a few gigs, and everybody says "you guys would be great if you could lose your singer." It's a hard situation, and the rest of us have begun writing songs in private without him that also have potential. But we all have careers and girlfriends, and those are the 2 things that kill bands.

Also, our drummer's girlfriend is a bitch who controls his life in every way. She's there at practice, and she gives us 3 hours and then we're done. He doesn't hang out with us anymore, his life is just work, girlfriend, and band practice for 3 hours every sunday afternoon. It's sad. He's a bitch too for letting it get that way.

The band for me is really just a hobby. At least that's what I tell myself, even though I do see the potential and secretly wish I could do something in music.

Wow, tough situation indeed. I say that if your singer really is that bad, and you want to get serious...cut him. Good lyric writers are dime-a-dozen, and the same goes for singers, especially when it comes to palatable rock singers. :yes:
 
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I'm bass player in a band, we have 2 demos with sucky audio and lots of flaws, but we're about to record 2 songs and sign with a company... if everything goes well
 
Jack In The Box said:
I'm bass player in a band, we have 2 demos with sucky audio and lots of flaws, but we're about to record 2 songs and sign with a company... if everything goes well

How were you able to do this??!?!?! :drool:
 
I got one, but it really hasn't gone anywhere which is a shame. I play guitar keyboards sing and write songs, and record stuff by myself whenever I can. Written about 10 great songs, but that don't mean jack if we can't play em live and I want to play some F***IN GIGS!!!

Every single person in the group is always preoccupied with other stuff. Got one guy who's involved in 5 extracurricular activities!! (Yet he shows up the most!). Have a songwriter/guitarist who does a lot of talking about how he's gonna do this and that but never does anything to back it up and has never finished a song and can only sing about girls and talks about being dedicated when he hardly ever shows up. Have a drummer that is absolutley incredible, but has transportation problems and a bass player who really isn't that good and won't show if the lead guitarist wont show.

They're all good friends and for the most part good musicians, but are very unreliable to show up to practice and I've had so many confrontations with the other songwriter, and when dealing with music we cannot get along.... We were supposed to practice today (we already arranged it) but 3 couldn't show up ARGH!!! I'm honestly thinking of just playing some solo acoustic gigs....

^ That's pretty long but I just had to vent some of my frustration, cause it sucks when all your dedication and perserverance doesn't pay off.
 
LemonMelon said:


Nah, nowhere big. :wink: It's just a hobby right now anyway. But...I've already got a drummer for the band now (it was all drum machines before), a bassist, I play guitar...I think we're all set. I should start looking around for gigs. :)

Maybe do that flyer thing. :uhoh:

Yeah, man. Get out there. Baltimore/DC, Philly. I hit club shows regularly in these places. Lots of venues to gig. Enjoy!!
 
HolyMeximofoJoe said:


They're all good friends and for the most part good musicians, but are very unreliable to show up to practice and I've had so many confrontations with the other songwriter, and when dealing with music we cannot get along.... We were supposed to practice today (we already arranged it) but 3 couldn't show up ARGH!!! I'm honestly thinking of just playing some solo acoustic gigs....

^ That's pretty long but I just had to vent some of my frustration, cause it sucks when all your dedication and perserverance doesn't pay off.

I know how you feel... like I said before, our singer never shows up, and a lot of times for some reason either the bassist or drummer can't show, or even if we're all together we just hang out instead of practice :shrug: I always want to play music but I don't want to push anyone else into doing something they don't want to do soooo...yeah

Perhaps you could try to find another band? The thing that makes it difficult is when the people in your band are also your close friends... maybe you could practice with your current band less - only when everyone really wants to and is able - and then find another band to take more seriously? Of course it's hard to find good musicians that you can mesh with. Argh, this is why not every person that can play guitar is famous :wink:

The_acrobat - I agree with LemonMelon, you should ditch the singer. If he's the only thing holding you back, then it's time to move forward. Unless he can get better - but if he hasn't gotten better in 5 years, he probably won't. I can see the problem though... he's your best friend. But sometimes you gotta be blunt with your friends. Maybe you can get another singer but still have your friend write the lyrics?
 
AtomicBono said:

The_acrobat - I agree with LemonMelon, you should ditch the singer. If he's the only thing holding you back, then it's time to move forward. Unless he can get better - but if he hasn't gotten better in 5 years, he probably won't. I can see the problem though... he's your best friend. But sometimes you gotta be blunt with your friends. Maybe you can get another singer but still have your friend write the lyrics?

From his description, his singer reminds me of Wayne Coyne:

1. Writes great songs.
2. Isn't much of a singer.
3. Can't get rid of him...he's far too valuable. :wink:
 
You don't like Wayne Coyne huh? I don't think he's bad. I can probably think of twenty singers worse than him.
 
LemonMelon said:
Wow, tough situation indeed. I say that if your singer really is that bad, and you want to get serious...cut him. Good lyric writers are dime-a-dozen, and the same goes for singers, especially when it comes to palatable rock singers. :yes:

Really? Then why are there so many crappy lyrics out there? I find this more bothersome than technical singing abiltiy which I don't care a great deal about.

One of my life's regrets is not picking up a guitar when I was younger, I only started playing an acoustic guitar about 4-5 years ago. I've got the wife and kids thing going so she isn't crazy about me getting an electric. The father of one of my kids friends plays drums and was in several bands in his youth so we occasionally joke about finding a bassist and starting a dad band, even though I confess that I'd be the weakest link.

Gibson Girl- Awesome vid, what are you playing? I can tell from the headstock it's not a strat but the lighting is too dark to see the body of the guitar.
 
LemonMelon said:


How were you able to do this??!?!?! :drool:

obviously I'm talking about a very small record company, but... ah! finally we will have that kind of "protection", it's just luck and know the right people

we're very excited :hyper:
 
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