I flip the script on bands seeking members

dobro said:
The one you drum in, or the one you play guitar in?
Click to expand...

The one I guitar in.

The drumming gig is solid as can be.

In all fairness though, the "band partnership agreement" we all signed does say that a resigning member has to provide written notice. So I did.
 
Every band I was ever in had like 1 or 2 people who just wouldn't show up regularly or really commit, so I just stopped trying. Lol
 
acidrock said:
It's a musician thing, non musicians just want to hear good music, covers or not.
Click to expand...
ummmm ..... I'm a musician. So how's it a musician thing when I disagree with it strongly?

Anyone who isn't an idiot wants to hear good music , covers or not.
Further ALL live music is covers ..... unless you're making it up on the spot it's a cover. Of course, good players do lots of imrpov on everything so they do make it up on the spot other than the lyrics .... and that's why the generalization of "I hate cover bands' is dumb and offensive to those of us that do that.
Virtually ALL jazz is covers with lots of improvisation and I bet moresound is all impressed by any jazz greats he does sound for .... the same guys that simply improvise over covers.

I truly hate the prejudice against covers ...... it's just a 'musician' trying to show how cool he is because 'he hates covers' so he must be cool and creative.
I play covers all the time because that's how to make the most money on a local level and it doesn't bother me even a little bit.
It would never occur to me to think, "Oh poor me ...... I'm only playing covers' and I'm as good a musician as anyone anywhere.
The way I play them has tons of room for creativity.

Now ...... if you just don't WANT to play them ....... that's different. I don't want to play metal ...... i's just not a music style that interests me ...... but I'd never say anything disparaging about it ...... just not my thing.
And your tastes can change ...... I used to not like The Ramones but eventually got educated about them and changed my tune.
A closed mind for a musician is a road to stagnancy.

Hell ..... even moresound admitted that he became a better keyboard player because of that band and then slams them as something he hates. Great ....... you didn't play well before and then you did but oh my, I hate that band.
Sorry but you owe them a debt for increasing your keyboard skills.
 
Lt. Bob said:
ummmm ..... I'm a musician. So how's it a musician thing when I disagree with it strongly?
Click to expand...

It's a generalization, musicians on average are more against covers than non musicians. I agree with everything you said, but this conversation always keeps popping up. Personally, I separate the performance from the content. A cover can be used as a benchmark for a groups ability.

I've also got to say that the most shitastic bands I've ever heard never played a cover, probably because they weren't talented enough to do it.

BTW, I'm a musician too, and I'm all for covers.
 
I used to really hate cover bands. Not because I think they're less of an art or anything like that, but because they take gigs from original bands. It's a problem in my area.

But I've since really laid off that stance and have relaxed about cover bands. I don't hate cover bands or the fine folks that play in them. They're just playing songs and making some money. No problem. I've refined and honed my hate and now direct it where it really belongs - at the people that go see cover bands. Those mindless dummies are the reason cover bands exist. They are the bane of my existence. Cover bands are like beer or cigarette companies - they fill a need for dummies. Someone's gotta do it and cash in on it.
 
Since April I've written 24 songs and culled 12 of them. I'm sitting of 12 of the best songs I've ever written, but if I played them for anybody live, I'd get nothing but polite applause for playing in time and in tune. And that's cuz people like to hear songs they're familiar with. Cover bands supply that need. So I don't even hate people who like cover bands, cuz I think it's understandable and forgivable. I draw the line at tribute bands though. And unless they've got a well-developed sense of the absurd, the people who go to tribute band gigs are nutballs.
 
dobro said:
people like to hear songs they're familiar with. Cover bands supply that need. So I don't even hate people who like cover bands, cuz I think it's understandable and forgivable.
Click to expand...
Are there really that many people that go out specifically to listen to covers bands or is it more a case that if you're going to have live music in your venue, you want songs played that people are familiar with ?
The irony of fifty years of successful original music fused with the changing times is that original music that one is hearing for the first time, by it's very nature, is hard to digest and process in a single live sitting where punters are talking, eating, drinking, making eyes at each other, concentrating on multiple things, whatever. Whereas a song you know, even if it's played in a somewhat different way, has already connected, to a greater or lesser extent.
 
dobro said:
Since April I've written 24 songs and culled 12 of them. I'm sitting of 12 of the best songs I've ever written, but if I played them for anybody live, I'd get nothing but polite applause for playing in time and in tune. And that's cuz people like to hear songs they're familiar with. Cover bands supply that need. So I don't even hate people who like cover bands, cuz I think it's understandable and forgivable. I draw the line at tribute bands though. And unless they've got a well-developed sense of the absurd, the people who go to tribute band gigs are nutballs.
Click to expand...

You're right - and it's that simple, people want to hear songs they know. You can sneak in an original tune every once in a while, as long as you bring their attention back with covers. So until you get to that point where your songs are played regularly on the places that the audience listens to - Spotify, radio, Sirius, whatever ....
 
Greg_L said:
I used to really hate cover bands. Not because I think they're less of an art or anything like that, but because they take gigs from original bands. It's a problem in my area.

But I've since really laid off that stance and have relaxed about cover bands. I don't hate cover bands or the fine folks that play in them. They're just playing songs and making some money. No problem. I've refined and honed my hate and now direct it where it really belongs - at the people that go see cover bands. Those mindless dummies are the reason cover bands exist. They are the bane of my existence. Cover bands are like beer or cigarette companies - they fill a need for dummies. Someone's gotta do it and cash in on it.
Click to expand...
that's basically it.
If you want to make money you have to appeal to people who aren't really all that into music. The hard core music lovers may not want to hear covers but there's not enough of them to make any money.

Also there's a HUGE misconception that the only way to play covers is note for note recreations of the covers.
I play covers all night and have a songlist of 600+ songs and there's not a single one of them that I do note for note and , for that matter, there's not a single one that I'll do the same way tomorrow as I played it today.
 
I have been toying with the idea of doing a cover band along the lines of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Take weird songs like showtunes, TV themes, commercial jingles, etc, and turn them into punk rock songs. Or take famous standards that no one would dare fuck with and butcher them to shit. It's easy and fun and no one in my city is doing it.
 
Greg_L said:
I have been toying with the idea of doing a cover band along the lines of Me First and the Gimme Gimmes. Take weird songs like showtunes, TV themes, commercial jingles, etc, and turn them into punk rock songs. Or take famous standards that no one would dare fuck with and butcher them to shit. It's easy and fun and no one in my city is doing it.
Click to expand...
I like that idea a lot!
 
I tend to think of "covers bands" as being bands who simply "cover" the songs pretty much as they were recorded and that's all they do. No interest, at all...
 
I like doing covers, and I like doing them fairly closely to the original. It gives me pleasure, and if other people like to hear me do that and give me money to do so, then all's good. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top