patsplat
Member
lol...no doubt...distortedrumble said:
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the edzell
New member
distortedrumble said:
That’s a great point. I was in a band in college and we started out doing talent shows and free parties. We did 80% original music (primarily because we were too lazy to learn cover songs) and a few caught on with the crowds that came to see us. Now make no mistake they were there for the free beer and women and we were just added value. Still a few songs caught on and were requested, which was great at first. But even those became like covers when people wanted you to play those songs 20 times a show. And of course we would still get the comments “ your original’s rock, but why don’t you play this or that cover.” (Usually what the hot cover bands were playing at the time)
Still anyone that is starting off and wants to guarantee a good crowd, play the college / Greek parties. Play for free or reduced rates. If they like you and want you back, up the price. Now don’t go too high or they’ll go out and get the hot cover band. But most Greek houses and looking to save a buck or two. And you can catch them over a barrel at times because a lot won’t try to book a band until the last minute or are stuck if the Hot Cover band gets a wedding gig that pays twice as much.
Of course playing for free (or just for the booze) gets old after a while. Especially when you hear what the hot cover bands are pulling in. There was this cover band that drove me nuts, not because they were a cover band but because they did the same exact show for three years. No new songs, no derivations. You could set your watch by it. As a musician in a band I had to ask people why they would go see a band 3 or 4 times a month when it was the same thing over and over again? It became a social event.
But that finally caught up with them and there I learned one simple rule: every “original band” wants the crowds that the cover bands bring in, & every cover band wants to be respected for their originals. By the time this band got serious and wanted to be known as a “original” act no one would take them seriously. They pigeonholed themselves and became a victim of their own success, eventually having to break up & do separate projects to get their originals heard.
The sad fact is that 50 – 70% or more of people who go out to the clubs could care less if it is a live band or a DJ. I know most musician’s don’t get this and probably never will. It doesn’t make sense that people want to hear the same songs they just heard on their radio but that is the way it is. I overhead a conversation that pretty much sold me on how most people decide if it is a good band or not:
Dude: Your eyes sparkle like…. Hey, I know that song
Chick: Oh, I love this song
Dude: cool song… really good band
Chick: oh yeah, the singer is cute. I think my roommate is going to hit on him when they take a break.
Dude: (looking up at the band) yeah, these guys are great…. So baby, do you want to dance or do you want to finish that drink and go back to my place?
As Bruce Hornsby said "It's just the way it is"
S
Sir_Matthew
Member
You forgot the next line: "Ah, but don't you believe them..."
distortedrumble
all up in yo grill!
cover bands wanting to do originals need to figure out early on in the game if they want to go "legit" or not. The Patrick Rock Band where i live is one of those bands....i swear they have about 5 hours worth of covers and about 2 and a half hours worth of originals...each show is a good blend of both and the crowds know most of the originals so it ends up being extremely amusing when people scream for every song that they play.
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cyberdomino
New member
Being part of a coverband has been one of the high points of my "career". Here's the true story, I try to make it short:
One Sunday afternoon I got a call from a couple of fellow musician who had been booked to play a month later for a big corporate company. At that time no band even existed, just the two of them... A very risky situation indeed! But that was part of the fun/challenge...We met that same evening to audition a drummer... He didn't cut it, so we called another one and started rehearsing the week after...Two weeks later we were joined by two beautiful and very talented female singers. In the meantime we had started playing with a third drummer! Things were pretty hectic but we managed to learn 18 songs. We did the gig and we had a ball! 18 month later we had been booked 62 times and made approx. 20,000 $ per musician. We played all over the country and abroad to private partys, weddings, classy hotels and even VIP events for rockstars! Needless to say that we were always very well treated, nice foods, free drinks, appartments etc.
As musicians we gained a lot of exposure and we were in steady demand for session or production work.
The band still exist today but I left after two and a half year because that was a lot of work and I couldn't find the time to work properly on my own stuff. Besides it's hard to maintain a healthy and descent social life when you're always playing... But that's another story.
The band sounded very good and we were very respected because we were as profesional as can be. Stage presence and all...
I learned a lot more in those two and a half years than I had in the previous decade... When I left the band we had 74 songs in our repertoire. I would recommend this path to any young musician.
D.
One Sunday afternoon I got a call from a couple of fellow musician who had been booked to play a month later for a big corporate company. At that time no band even existed, just the two of them... A very risky situation indeed! But that was part of the fun/challenge...We met that same evening to audition a drummer... He didn't cut it, so we called another one and started rehearsing the week after...Two weeks later we were joined by two beautiful and very talented female singers. In the meantime we had started playing with a third drummer! Things were pretty hectic but we managed to learn 18 songs. We did the gig and we had a ball! 18 month later we had been booked 62 times and made approx. 20,000 $ per musician. We played all over the country and abroad to private partys, weddings, classy hotels and even VIP events for rockstars! Needless to say that we were always very well treated, nice foods, free drinks, appartments etc.
As musicians we gained a lot of exposure and we were in steady demand for session or production work.
The band still exist today but I left after two and a half year because that was a lot of work and I couldn't find the time to work properly on my own stuff. Besides it's hard to maintain a healthy and descent social life when you're always playing... But that's another story.
The band sounded very good and we were very respected because we were as profesional as can be. Stage presence and all...
I learned a lot more in those two and a half years than I had in the previous decade... When I left the band we had 74 songs in our repertoire. I would recommend this path to any young musician.
D.
G
glynb
Balladeer
"I would recommend this path to any young musician."
I'd agree with you for a musician who is only that. But for a musician who wants to write and perform original material it has limitations as you described, not least of which is the limitation on time to write and perfect original material. Also the lack of time to promote your original stuff, which is a major task in itself and not least the factthat all toyour musical 'energy' is spent performing and rehearsing covers leaving little energy left for originals.
But I agree that for someone who wished to learn the art of performing to an audience, gain confidence on stage and see something of life on the road, playing with a covers band for a year or two is a great learning experrience, just don't get sucked in to the lifestyle and money if you are serious about persuing your own stuff.
I'd agree with you for a musician who is only that. But for a musician who wants to write and perform original material it has limitations as you described, not least of which is the limitation on time to write and perfect original material. Also the lack of time to promote your original stuff, which is a major task in itself and not least the factthat all toyour musical 'energy' is spent performing and rehearsing covers leaving little energy left for originals.
But I agree that for someone who wished to learn the art of performing to an audience, gain confidence on stage and see something of life on the road, playing with a covers band for a year or two is a great learning experrience, just don't get sucked in to the lifestyle and money if you are serious about persuing your own stuff.
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cyberdomino
New member
You're right glynB,
All your energy is spent doin' it!
Toward the end of my experience the hassle/satisfaction ratio wasn't... Well... satisfying anymore.
But I heard/hear the same thing from musicians touring and performing with original material. They often end up not finding the time to write either.
So I guess it's a fine line... Never to much of one thing. Keep it fresh and have fun!
The problem today is, we're in a, play cover and get booked or play originals and struggle, situation.
D
All your energy is spent doin' it!
Toward the end of my experience the hassle/satisfaction ratio wasn't... Well... satisfying anymore.
But I heard/hear the same thing from musicians touring and performing with original material. They often end up not finding the time to write either.
So I guess it's a fine line... Never to much of one thing. Keep it fresh and have fun!
The problem today is, we're in a, play cover and get booked or play originals and struggle, situation.
D
distortedrumble
all up in yo grill!
yeah too many things leads to burn out....i had an original and covers band before and somewhere between learning covers, writing new songs, recording and booking shows(i was the manager too) i was worn out. when the singers ego got too big..the lead guitarist left, the drummer refused to play with him anymore than thus ended it all. 2 years later I'm back at it again but with a few new twists....i play in church which is about the least interesting playing i do, i have the recording equipment in my room now so i choose when i want to record and dont have to pay anyone. and the cover band is a better brand of musicians. so maybe the third time's a charm
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the edzell
New member
Maybe this is just me, but it seems that the second year is when most bands break up. I think when most bands start off everyone is gun ho and ready to give it their all. But after the band gets some success the egos start to develop and band members aren’t as eager to compromise. Either that or they don’t get as successful as they think they should and want to give up and go another direction. After playing the same songs over and over for two or so years it tends to get old, but if you’re getting booked week after week you don’t want to spend too much time learning new songs.
Just my two cents.
Just my two cents.
distortedrumble
all up in yo grill!
bands dont even need success for egos to start...it starts when someone isnt willing to comprimise on their thought or position. it starts with musicians telling other musicians how to play their instrument(thats a classic). it starts with "you're too loud, i can't hear myself". .......... somewhere around the plateau starts: "whats your commitment level to this band?", "what do you mean you can't make it to practice? we all have other stuff to do but we're here", "man, I'm tired of these shows that don't pay anything" "as many times as we've practiced this song, how can you still not remember the words to it!?" and of course the always famous "whatever" coupled with eyes rolling and sitting in a chair or on the amp when the person used to stand up during practice.......when the band stops hanging out outside of practice..i think thats also an ominous sign too.....but then again if the band never hungout outside of practice anyway, then it wouldnt matter too much
patsplat
Member
Very true...Been there and done most of that... 
E
Elusion
New member
Hell, my entire band was against doing covers, but the crowds in town are so dead that to piss them off and wake them up we would throw in a funk metal version of britney spears' "hit me baby one more time" It definitely woke the crowd up, and then the attendance at our shows and practices started to grow. so covers have their place.
distortedrumble
all up in yo grill!
lol britney spears cover...yeah i did a version of that too....i got the biggest response doing "nothing but a G thang" acoustic at an open mic night.
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the edzell
New member
We did a hard rock verison of Madonna's "Material Girl." It got a good laugh.
Still not as popular as "Get Down tonight." Not as fun either. We could strech out that song for close to 20 minutes with added solos and repeated verses. People didn't seem to notice. Better to strech out a song than start playing a song three or four times. Streach out a song and a band is using their imagination. Play the same tune three or four times and it's "shouldn't they have more material before they go out and play."
I saw one band that was hyped for a month, they came to town and played "Brown Eye Girl" eight times!!!!
Still not as popular as "Get Down tonight." Not as fun either. We could strech out that song for close to 20 minutes with added solos and repeated verses. People didn't seem to notice. Better to strech out a song than start playing a song three or four times. Streach out a song and a band is using their imagination. Play the same tune three or four times and it's "shouldn't they have more material before they go out and play."
I saw one band that was hyped for a month, they came to town and played "Brown Eye Girl" eight times!!!!
Lt. Bob
Spread the Daf!
If you want to make a living and you're not a star, then you're gonna be doing covers. That's just the way it is and it has always been that way.
My favorite band that I play with is comprised of really good players and one thing we do is never practice. We'll tell everyone this week what 2-5 songs we're gonna add to the list for next week and then everyone learns their parts on their own and we just count it off and go.
We end up doing the song however we do it. The audience is happy 'cause all they really want to hear is the hook line for the most part.
And we're happy 'cause we never play the same old song list.
A year of doing this and our song list is running around 400 songs.
There is never a gig where we don't have at least a couple of songs we've never played before and with such a big list, we rarely play anything into the ground.
And we almost never try to play anything "just like the record."
My favorite band that I play with is comprised of really good players and one thing we do is never practice. We'll tell everyone this week what 2-5 songs we're gonna add to the list for next week and then everyone learns their parts on their own and we just count it off and go.
We end up doing the song however we do it. The audience is happy 'cause all they really want to hear is the hook line for the most part.
And we're happy 'cause we never play the same old song list.
A year of doing this and our song list is running around 400 songs.
There is never a gig where we don't have at least a couple of songs we've never played before and with such a big list, we rarely play anything into the ground.
And we almost never try to play anything "just like the record."