The "Going To An Audition" Thread

[la szum]

Sounded good until you dropped greta van fleet…

That Highway Tune main riff is kind of tricky to play right. Odd timing and quirky bends.



I still don't have it down as well as I would like to.

 

[la szum]

Mutual tap out, so this chapter of the Saga is officially closed, and another begins.

The other guitarist somehow decided he wants to now be the lead
guitarist, and pummel people with the Metal Zone into Crate
combo--even while doing Zeppelin and Tom Petty.

He's the weakest link, in my view. I get the other guys (especially
the singer) having some loyalty to him. That's often how bands roll. No
beef with that. It'll play itself out how it will.

The singer and I are going to stay in touch, though, and are parting on good
terms. I told him the song choices didn't always highlight his voice anyways
(some strategic ego stroking on my part ), and that we should do some
writing/recording in the future. He seemed hip to that. Told him I didn't want
to do fucking Gin Blossoms and Goo Goo Dolls when he can nail Plant, Cornell,
and Perry. WTF??!!

What a waste.


When so few people can sing like that why the fuck are you not
showcasing it with tunes that suit your style and skill?

The other guitarist has his ear more than I do at this time, so me
bowing out, while still being cool about everything, and also sharing
my honest opinion, seems like the right thing to do.

And like Drew I am fucking relieved I don't have to learn 15 more
shit ass tunes, to be played in a dump on a Saturday night for mostly
disinterested patrons.

 

[la szum]

Ideally, and just thinking out loud here, working with a guy like that I'd want to
do covers you can't do with just any old singer. No reason to beat Cumbersome
and Kryptonite into the fucking ground like every other rock cover band seems to.

I'd do some choice Maiden, Queensryche, Priest, Badlands, Zeppelin, Journey, Alice
in Chains, Rush, Soundgarden/Audioslave, and put Mustang Sally and that overplayed
crap on Perma-Ban!

Stand the fuck out and be different for fuck's sake. Cookie-cutter covers can go fuck
themselves!! Been there. Done that. Not going there and doing it again, and again,
and again. Going to embrace my judgmental, teenage, inner self!!

 

[Warmart]

Sorry, Dave. Disappointing, I'm sure - and even for me sort of "living vicariously" and all that - but wanted it to be everything you thought it COULD be. Such are the way things go, probably better now than later.

You can always move down here . Figure with a few years of training, we'll be good to play in public about the time we're both knocking on 60.

 

[la szum]

Thanks! It's all good, Dave. I appreciate the thoughts, and the humour, though.

Ultimately, we just were not heading in the same direction right now, and it wasn't
going to work out until you know who is out of the picture completely.

I refuse to do the typical cover material, and beat to death the same tired songs. The original
ad on CL I replied to didn't make it seem like what it turned out to be. That ad mentioned
doing original material, and also recording. But we never worked on anything like that and
my ideas for some fresh cover tunes didn't sit well with everyone else..... apparently.

But I met some new people, and you never know how things like this will work out. I am still
welcome there, and may drop by on my Harley some night when they are playing, so I can
heckle them like a true fan!

I will miss playing the Zeppelin tunes. That was a blast!

 

[la szum]

You can always move down here . Figure with a few years of training, we'll be good to play in public about the time we're both knocking on 60.

Retirement Home World Tour.... and by "World" I mean, Florida.

 

[Byrdman]

Retirement Home World Tour.... and by "World" I mean, Florida.

I'm in FL, come on!!

 

[Byrdman]

Sorry, Dave. Disappointing, I'm sure - and even for me sort of "living vicariously" and all that - but wanted it to be everything you thought it COULD be. Such are the way things go, probably better now than later.

You can always move down here . Figure with a few years of training, we'll be good to play in public about the time we're both knocking on 60.

Are you in FL? If so, where? I'm in Winter Haven

 

[la szum]

I'm in FL, come on!!

I lived in FLA for a few years in the mid to late 80s.

Have a few musician friends who relocated there in the past few years. One in Punta Gorda,
and a couple in the Ocala area.

 

[Warmart]

Are you in FL? If so, where? I'm in Winter Haven

I'm in extreme N GA. Can be in TN or NC in 10 and 20 minutes respectively.

 

[Alex Kenivel]

 

[Byrdman]

I'm in extreme N GA. Can be in TN or NC in 10 and 20 minutes respectively.

I use to live up there in Rome, GA from 87-92. In 30 you could be in Alabama or Tennessee.

 

[Warmart]

I use to live up there in Rome, GA from 87-92. In 30 you could be in Alabama or Tennessee.

Ahhh, sweet. Been past there exactly once in the 5 years we've lived here - near Blue Ridge, GA.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Mutual tap out, so this chapter of the Saga is officially closed, and another begins.

The other guitarist somehow decided he wants to now be the lead
guitarist, and pummel people with the Metal Zone into Crate
combo--even while doing Zeppelin and Tom Petty.

He's the weakest link, in my view. I get the other guys (especially
the singer) having some loyalty to him. That's often how bands roll. No
beef with that. It'll play itself out how it will.

The singer and I are going to stay in touch, though, and are parting on good
terms. I told him the song choices didn't always highlight his voice anyways
(some strategic ego stroking on my part ), and that we should do some
writing/recording in the future. He seemed hip to that. Told him I didn't want
to do fucking Gin Blossoms and Goo Goo Dolls when he can nail Plant, Cornell,
and Perry. WTF??!!

What a waste.


When so few people can sing like that why the fuck are you not
showcasing it with tunes that suit your style and skill?

The other guitarist has his ear more than I do at this time, so me
bowing out, while still being cool about everything, and also sharing
my honest opinion, seems like the right thing to do.

And like Drew I am fucking relieved I don't have to learn 15 more
shit ass tunes, to be played in a dump on a Saturday night for mostly
disinterested patrons.

Good move on the ego stroke

Ideally, and just thinking out loud here, working with a guy like that I'd want to
do covers you can't do with just any old singer. No reason to beat Cumbersome
and Kryptonite into the fucking ground like every other rock cover band seems to.

I'd do some choice Maiden, Queensryche, Priest, Badlands, Zeppelin, Journey, Alice
in Chains, Rush, Soundgarden/Audioslave, and put Mustang Sally and that overplayed
crap on Perma-Ban!

Stand the fuck out and be different for fuck's sake. Cookie-cutter covers can go fuck
themselves!! Been there. Done that. Not going there and doing it again, and again,
and again. Going to embrace my judgmental, teenage, inner self!!

You kinda got bait and switched. The Goo Goo Dolls and Gin Blossoms are hell on earth. If you want to do different things; a cover band just isn't the way to go about it. Keep singer dude on the line and find some more like minded people to start a rock project with.

 

[la szum]

I am thinking I have psycho-analyzed the whole situation more than enough at this point.

Hard, if not impossible, to read people's true motivations. After a couple of days sitting
with it there are a few more things popping up that I couldn't live with long-term. One being
rehearsal volume. Cool to use real amps and cabs. Cool to have subs firing. But the volume
the last time there got so hot that everything was a mess and it would be hard to hear the
details. In my experience, if you can't hear the nuances and details (in order to make corrections
and adjustments) then you are not going to be as tight, or sound as good, as you can.

Another being the background vocals. They were trash. Singer mentioned how important they
are and then they don't work on them---and neither the bassist nor other guitarist helped much
even though they had live mics.

The last being the drummer (who was otherwise pretty good) and his Hi-Hat work. He Lars Ulriched
the fuck out of his Hi-Hat. Always open? Hello??

Great drummers have super tight, articulate, and dynamic Hi-Hat work. Always!

Singer also owns the massive PA, but he didn't appear to have the skills, knowledge, or ear to dial
it in as well as he may think. That's a tough one. Many PA owners are closed books, in my experience,
and take advice about dialing in instruments and a mix like you are violating their personal space. As
long as it is as loud as it will go seemed to be the only goal.

Given the singer's pipes (gear, and space) I'd set my goals and aspirations higher, but that's not my call to
make, and they seem more than content doing what they are doing.

 

[la szum]

Ahhh, sweet. Been past there exactly once in the 5 years we've lived here - near Blue Ridge, GA.

In 1988 on my way back to base in Florida (off of a week of leave) I blew the engine in
my car on I-75 near Tifton, GA. Talk about a walk on the wild side. Every stereotype about
a "Dry County" in the South you can imagine was revealed to me to be true, and then some.

I never did get my car back.

RIP Dodge Omni.

 

[JiveTurkey]

I am thinking I have psycho-analyzed the whole situation more than enough at this point.

Hard, if not impossible, to read people's true motivations. After a couple of days sitting
with it there are a few more things popping up that I couldn't live with long-term. One being
rehearsal volume. Cool to use real amps and cabs. Cool to have subs firing. But the volume
the last time there got so hot that everything was a mess and it would be hard to hear the
details. In my experience, if you can't hear the nuances and details (in order to make corrections
and adjustments) then you are not going to be as tight, or sound as good, as you can.

Another being the background vocals. They were trash. Singer mentioned how important they
are and then they don't work on them---and neither the bassist nor other guitarist helped much
even though they had live mics.

The last being the drummer (who was otherwise pretty good) and his Hi-Hat work. He Lars Ulriched
the fuck out of his Hi-Hat. Always open? Hello??

Great drummers have super tight, articulate, and dynamic Hi-Hat work. Always!

Singer also owns the massive PA, but he didn't appear to have the skills, knowledge, or ear to dial
it in as well as he may think. That's a tough one. Many PA owners are closed books, in my experience,
and take advice about dialing in instruments and a mix like you are violating their personal space. As
long as it is as loud as it will go seemed to be the only goal.

Given the singer's pipes (gear, and space) I'd set my goals and aspirations higher, but that's not my call to
make, and they seem more than content doing what they are doing.

So 1 skilled noob and a bunch of pedestrain noobs. Kinda sounds like a bullet was dodged in this situation.

 

[TSJMajesty]

Many PA owners are closed books, in my experience, and take advice about dialing in instruments and a mix like you are violating their personal space.

So true!

We had a nice outdoor gig once, and one side had no sound at sound check. My first thought was to reverse left and rights to see if it's the signal or the power, which I suggested. "We got this."

'We' being the bass player, because he ran sound for the army band on some old-ass analog console, but didn't know jack about a digital board, and the singer/owner/bandleader.

Crowd is gathering, tensions getting higher (not me, btw), yet no amount of troubleshooting could find the issue, partly because they were trying too many things at the same time. About 20 minutes later they finally tried my suggestion, which led them right away to discover it was just a bad cable! Which is usually the first thing you wanna look for anyway.

Why can't people realize they can learn something from anybody? Be a little more open-minded maybe?

That's too bad when you've got talented people along with other things that make it so it won't work out.

 

[la szum]

I am SO relieved I am not having to spend my Sunday learning/working up some cover tunes
for that band.

Instead I can do something much more funner.

Like laundry and mowing the lawn.

 

[State of Epicicity]

I just hate the idea of any band where there are "subordinate" musicians. Like, play your instrument, but keep your mouth shut and do what I say type thing. I'm very egalitarian when it comes to that stuff. I never want to be in a band that feels like a shitty day job with a manager who doesn't care that more than half your musicianship is what you think, how you contribute ideas, not just how perfectly you can cop a famous solo or how well suited to the part you look. To me, it should feel like an entirely collaborative thing, like we all potentially have the right idea for the next section; if you have something to say, put if forward and we'll see together if we should use it, modify it, incorporate it, or try something better. I never think anyone should accept my musical ideas, but I do think that my ideas should be heard and I should hear and work with everyone else's. The idea of a dictatorial band leader, so to speak, just always bothers me to a level I can't deal with, not in music. It just means too much to me, and I feel like that mindset just cheapens the whole thing. Even if it's a cover band, it can be approached collaboratively, and there's still plenty of room for creativity in different ways. Just my two cents.