#1625846 - 07/26/00 05:30 PM
New to being in a band. Help
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Housebiltinspace@aol.com
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Registered: 07/26/00
Posts: 2
Loc: Lake In The Hills,IL,UNITED ST...
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Hi, My names Rich and im in a band in northern IL called "Standard Faith". We are extremely new, meaning we have never played anywhere but our basement. None of us have really been in a band before and we had several questions as to...how to start out? what to do first? how to book gigs? how to find places to record our music? and whether you can rent, or should buy concert equipment (ie. larger amps. etc.)?
answers to any of these questions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
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#1625847 - 07/27/00 02:16 PM
Re: New to being in a band. Help
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c.cash
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Registered: 03/17/00
Posts: 321
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
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Hmmm. Well here's some things I found universal. Learn about 10 songs inside and out. Whether they are your own or cover songs. That way you can open for established bands. The risk is small for the headline band and the club, so openers are easy to get (plus every band loves to know they're not going to get stuffed by the opener). Open for people for as long as necessary, and forget about making a cent.
If you feel you're ready to record, another route is to do a three of four song demo and send it around with a nice letter, addressed to the person who does the bookings, asking for a chance to play. Of course don't play at a country-western bar if you're a death-metal band. It's simple. If you're good, people will like you, and you will get gigs. If your'e not, don't worry about it! Stay humble. Don't get a chip on your shoulders. Realize you just have to pay A LOT of dues. And try to stick together! The longer you all play together, the better your chances of success ( the chemistry thing). So compromise with each other and "don't sweat the small stuff (it's all small stuff)" - David Lee Roth, with an unusual stroke of wit).
Anyway, you will be tempted to buy your own PA. All you REALLY need is something to hear the vocals through in practice. Even though a huge PA in the practice place is pretty inspiring, it's a lot of work. You WILL be constantly screwing with it. And you will have neverending questions. But, if you're interested in sound, it's a great way to get the fundamentals. Of course you'll need a sound guy at live shows, even if the PA is yours. We trained a friend who was very eager to learn. It was cool because our sound was always consistent with the same rig, same guy. But I'd wait. If you're opening, the headline will take care of the PA. If it's a festival or something, they should provide the sound. And many clubs will either have or get a PA for you. Go see lots of area bands and if you hear great sound at one of the shows, talk to the sound man and see if he's for hire. Network to find out who's good and what their rates are.
If you hope to headline, you will probably need quite a few cover songs. Not too many like to listen to three sets worth of unprofessional, original songs they've never heard before. If your music is cutting-edge at all, learn a bunch of cutting-edge covers and try like crazy to get into a decent-sized college frat (or sororiety!) party. Have a stack of fliers by the sound board so that people from other frat houses can contact you if they like you. We were busy all the time just with a few colleges. The bars can really suck, so be prepared for that. Good luck and definitely, absolutley, HAVE FUN!!
Curt
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#1625848 - 07/27/00 04:17 PM
Re: New to being in a band. Help
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Housebiltinspace@aol.com
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Registered: 07/26/00
Posts: 2
Loc: Lake In The Hills,IL,UNITED ST...
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Thank you. We appreciate the help. If anyone else has something theyd like to ass, wed appreciate all the help we can get.
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#1625850 - 07/28/00 01:06 AM
Re: New to being in a band. Help
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Doctor Al
Senior Member
Registered: 05/05/00
Posts: 192
Loc: ,,US
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when we were kids and just starting out, we played gigs at school, church & temples and we got paid. In 1957-8, we got between $40-60 to split between 4 of us and that wasn't bad back then. Figure out what that would be with inflation now $150 perhaps? We mostly played for dancing so there werent many ballads and ALL we did were cover tunes. That was my first band, The Aristo-Cats and it lasted three or four years.
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#1625851 - 07/28/00 06:19 AM
Re: New to being in a band. Help
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alphajerk
MP Hall of Fame Member
Registered: 03/06/00
Posts: 7950
Loc: asheville nc usa
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we would usually get $300 a show. and the BIG plus to playing at bars is FREE BEER. and some of our band was underage at the time. they never ask the talent for their id for some reason. if youre going to play frathouses, learn some pretty cheesy stuff. and all the latest hits. bars you can play older stuff that everyone knows. we would have a couple well known covers [picked carefully and nothing cheesy] and mixed it in with our own stuff. that made our stuff easier to digest.
and be prepared to "pay dues" for at least 10 years. unless you are very lucky, that seems to be the going rate for original bands until they START to break in. cover bands you can always play at weddings too. it really depends on what you want to do and how far you want to go.
look for PA's at pawn shops, they always seem to have tons of them [maybe from all the failed bands]. all you need is something for your vocals really as said several post above.
and above all, keep doing it. be persistant [and know the line where you start bugging people and DONT cross it]
_________________________
alphajerk FATcompilation "if god is truly just, i tremble for the fate of my country" -thomas jefferson
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