I'm bandless! Help a poor noob out?

Jam nights at local bars are good places to start, its a good place to learn the 'real' skills of playing with other musicians, stagecraft and so on, with no pressure of being the hired act and having to deliver. Swap numbers, arrange separate meetups / rehearsals, its an organic thing. Also local musical instrument stores are good places to peruse the boards (this way you get to know people who are really local) 

So it goes

Hope this helps and good luck on your musical journey

Garry Kiosk

Jam nights are always good.
A bit of free advice - you won't find any musicians in here ;)

Well...it's been a long time since I was in a live band but we used to advertise in the local music rags. In my turf (back in the Pleistocene Epoch) we put an ad in BAM (bay area musician)and always got hits. You've mentioned ways to connect with others already but have you checked the music stores in your area for any bulletin board ads of those looking for the same as yourself? I haven't had anyone locally for so long I'm used to writing/recording solo. I'm little added help but you got a bump for others to chime in. The above comments are also great ideas. Good luck on your quest.

See, I would have thought that AOR meant Any Old Rock.

Prolly best for me to stay out of music stores unless accompanied by my business manager The Bouy.

jamesg1213


I once joined a band via an ad placed in a local music store. A singer was advertising for people to play 'AOR/Blues rock'.

It turned out later that said singer actually thought 'AOR' stood for 'American Oriented Rock'...not only that, but he thought the 'Oriented' bit meant 'East Coast'.

As it happened, the other guys were pretty cool, and after the singer left, we had a half decent band..

.....................if I got a dollar for the amount of times I heard this*.........bloody primadonnas
 
 
Nearly as bad as bass players
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
*I would have 2 dollars

bapu


See, I would have thought that AOR meant Any Old Rock.

Am Only Recordings ? ;)

I just keep staring at Bill's avatar...

My feelings are not hurt. really ...they're not...really   

I've been called near man and numerous other names but I shirley wouldn't mind an honourable mention as a near musician OR AT LEAST A NEAR GUITARIST! Ok I realize I'm stretching it by saying singer too cuz of my diffeculty  spelling and froming words but that 's beside of the point! ...what was we talking about?

TysonC


Hey, all.

I recently moved to the big ol' city (Phoenix!) in the hopes that I'd find work and a group of fellows with whom to play music.

Well, I found a nice little job, but now there's the issue of getting the band together!

I've never been in a real band before (just messing around with friends), and I feel like I'm ready to play with the big kids.  Does anyone have any tips for meeting fellow musicians and getting a group together?  I'd rather form a new band than join an existing one, but I've never done that before and I can't imagine where to begin!

Craigslist?  Bandmix?  Classifieds?  How do I avoid being skinned alive in a madman's basement?  How do I find people of a similar level of skill and enthusiasm as myself?  Are there any rules of etiquette that I should be aware of?  What prerequisites should I line up before searching for people?

If you'd like, go ahead and share some of your band-hunting experiences.  I'd love to hear about how others got started.

Thanks for any and all help, my friends.

Are you doing cover tunes or original music? It's going to make a difference on where to look and who to trust. Go to the Palms bar and ask around.

Phoenix eh? I lived and played there from 79 to 88. Alot of the good clubs are gone now, but it's still got a good live music scene. Depending on which side of town you live in, check out the music stores. Alot of band and musicians will post cards on the boards looking for players. The New Times has a good section in the classifieds also you can check out. I'd also suggest getting a demo recorded of you playing. Alot of bands these days want to hear what you can do before meeting you. Cuts through the chaff if you know what I mean.

Now a little story.

I was in a band in Phoenix, and our lead guitar player went wobbly over a girl, and left the band at the worst time. We had a 3 month tour of the Southwest and up into Colorado booked and contracted. We ran an ad in the New Times, and setup 40 auditions over a single weekend. On Saturday, we heard one terrible player after another. If they could play, they had the presence of a lamp, or they were all over the stage like cockroaches on crack, and couldn't play a lick. Very disheartening. Sunday wasn't much better, but late in the afternoon a kid came in, with his hair hanging down in front of his face so you couldn't see his eyes. He spoke in a mumble and wouldn't look any of us in the eye. He sets down his guitar case, and pulls out a Gold Top Les Paul, and its got this huge gouge in the back from this belt buckle he wore that looked like a sprocket from a motorcycle wheel. He plugs into the 100w Marshall half stack we had setup, does a quick tune up, and mumbles "Whatyawanmetaplay?"  Uh.....How about Rock Bottom?

Now this whole time this kid is looking at his shoes, and we are not expecting much, so I figure we'll run him through this, and send him on his way. Drummer counts it off, and the kid does this cool thing where he whips one leg behind the other and then steps forward into a typical rock guitar god pose and proceeds to just rip the hell out of it. Head banging, hair swinging, hips swaying, and off we go. He just kills it! He's got moves for every change in the song, making eye contact with us and sneering at the wall like he's in a stadium show and never missing a note. We end the song, and he's right back to standing still looking at his shoes. We did a couple of more tunes and each one was like flipping a switch. As soon as the song started, he transformed into a rock god, then to a statue as soon as it ended. We left him inside and went out for a quick meeting and it was all thumbs up.

We go back in and say, "You got the gig". I handed him a stack of cassettes with about 70 songs and said "Learn these, we leave Thursday for Hobbs, New Mexico". He says okay, and starts packing up his stuff. No smile, thanks, grin, nothing. As he's walking to the door, he turns and says, "Can you guys pick me up on Thursday?" I say "Sure", and he mumbles something about meeting his mom. 

So come Thursday we drive the truck over to pick him up, and his whole family is there. Grandparents, cousins, there is like 20 people standing out in the driveway, as our former Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer truck that has been painted flat black pulls up, with my 69 Cadillac Sedan De Ville closely behind. We all pile out, and the look on those peoples face was one of shock and utter horror. Here was this nice family and here we are all long haired, torn jeans, half tshirts, come to take little Davey on an adventure. After a little chat with his mom, we assured that he would be fine, and we would be staying in nice hotels (lie), and our meals would all be provided (lie), our manager (lie) would be looking out for us all, especially little Davey (lie), and that we would be back in 2 weeks (lie).

Dave played with us for over 3 years. A great guitarist and an absolute road warrior. Even that time we thought it would be a good idea to let that guy Parker, Arizona setup his pyro and run it during our show. Who knew Spandex was that flammable?

Randy 

Randy you need to write a book about your band stories!  I love reading your adventures!

TysonC I’ll give it a shot…
I started playing guitar in bands and getting paid in 1968 and quit in 1985.
Reasons to be in a band may be something you may want to decide.
1.       To play cover tunes for money.
2.       To play original tunes and try to play for money or just to record with hopes of “making it”.
3.       To play with other musicians for the fun of it.
 
 
Visions you may have.
1.       Other members that share your same interests in music but also musical abilities.
a.       They need to have some reading and theoretical knowledge/abilities.
b.      They don’t need anything but equipment and some playing skills.
c.       They share the same interest of a specific style of music.
d.      They need to have interest and playing skills for all types/genres of music.
 
Location.
1.       Where will the group practice.
2.       Where will the group prefer to perform live.
3.       Will the equipment need to be moved for every practice session or will it be secure left set-up.
4.       Will all the members be local and available.
5.       Will the members not be localized and require “special” or other means to prepare the material.
 
 
There are many more details such as legalities, auditions, control of group, playing contracts, property rights such as name of the band and all pertaining to.
 
Being in a band can be just a fun thing like meeting the guys at the court for a game or it can be a person with a very serious motivation to fulfill a vision of sight and sound.
Like anything, the time and direction to choose is based on how clear your vision is and how well you understand it and how well you handle acquiring the “needs” to complete the steps.
 
Of course this is just a very quick page off the top and may hit on a little something that may help you.
Good luck.

bitflipper..... "I have my own horror stories of unstable, unreliable, unhygenic musicians, road trips from hell, near-death experiences, being stranded, stiffed" Well I'll be dipped in sheet....I didn't think I was the only one....ha. Yes...'tis a crap shoot (bordering impossible) with band endeavors and trying to hook up with like minds. I would endorse never being hasty with such commitments even though they are entered with the best of intentions. Best of luck OP.....carry on.

TysonC,
Fortunately my desire to play had me playing with much
older and more experienced when I was young.
I could play most anything on the radio or what my friends
listened to so at 13 I got to join the top rock band in the area
which by the time I was 15 work had traveled and I got hired
to play in the largest club in town house band.
The way that was handled by the "older folks" was they had
a legal guardian for me in every club in town.
So I was gigging with a rock band with guys older but closer
to my age, a country/rock nightclub house band and
could walk into any club in town and jam with the circuit bands.
I was also going to a private music instructor, and had been for years,
so man my plate was full. The only really bad part was I couldn't play
what I was studying because nobody was really into classical jazz in the area.

Although I had the guardians it wasn't much of an issue. I was there
to play and that's what I did.

Don't let obsticles slow you down. If you want it...go and get it.
I have plenty of stories but something tells me to shut-up.

I'm not 21 for another couple of months, though, so I wonder if that'll be an issue anywhere.

 
For what it's worth, way, way back in 1979 in Lompoc, CA, our band had a guest guitarist for a few weeks. He was only 15 (and could already play better than our 2 guitarists).
During our semi-regular Wednesday night gig at the Aquarius Room (in the bowling alley ), he could play with us, but when the sets were over, they made him leave the club and wait in the snack bar of the bowling alley.