New band, first rehearsal

@LeftyChad

Hey Chad: glad you got a band thing going as well! I think my most recent ad was just pretty straight forward and included a lot of details- since with Craigslist you can get swamped with responses if you are too vague. I always give out our age ranges, level of experience, type of music we are playing (even a short set list of 5 or 6 songs). Also make a point to say its just a once a month rehearsal. I always ask people to let me know what their background is, level of experience, etc.

Probably 80% of my responses are usually very brief, such as “saw your ad, I am interested- hit me up.” No other info- so of course I normally don’t follow up with those. I will respond back to people that actually take the time to provide info, especially if they react positively to the specific music style.

For the ad looking for female vocalist, I think I even mentioned that no experience was required- and out of about 12 responses the one I went with had never sang with a band before. But she was very enthusiastic, said she has been singing her whole life and always wanted to be in a band. We’ve rehearsed twice now, and I think she is awesome. Of course if she showed up and things didn’t work out- really would not have been a big deal. I would have been diplomatic about it and followed up afterwards- then just made arrangements to try someone new at the next rehearsal.

The only limitation I see for you is: you might need to cast your net to a larger area. Nextdoor site was perfect when my little Beagle got loose and spent about 20 hours gone. The entire area was looking for her and thankfully she was located a few miles away the next day. (after crossing several major streets and busy intersections!) But I don’t know if you will be lucky enough to find a new band member that is right in your area. Nothing wrong with looking at people that maybe live 30-45 min away. You might be surprised at how far interested people might drive if they like the possible opportunity.

The 2nd guitarist that played at our last rehearsal actually drove 3.5 hours from Louisiana to Texas just to play with us! He was looking at Craigslist ads farther from home to try and find the right opportunity. I had 7 or 8 people that answered the ad, but thought I would give him a shot first. (he has family in Dallas so he was able to spend the night) He played great, but since the band has decided to start trying to play some open mic opportunities in addition to our once per month rehearsal- we mutually decided it just won’t work out. Most of those open mic gigs will be 3 or 4 songs- so not worth the drive!

Good luck to you, hopefully you will find a talented someone that is into what you are doing! (but you may have to kiss a few frogs first, haha)

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Well, this is what I put up on Nextdoor:

Anybody sing and play guitar? Want to jam? The Cheddington garage band recently lost our singer/rhythm guitar player. Turns out that none of the rest of us can sing worth a damn. We get together once a week or so (if it’s not too hot) and play classic rock, alternative, a little grunge & some 90s stuff — Bob Seger to Foo Fighters to the Decemberists. If I have my way, we’ll add some rockabilly and a little punk, but that’s just me.

It’s more of an organized jam than a rehearsal… We’re not going to be playing Lollapalooza any time soon. Maybe a neighborhood cookout if we’re feeling ambitious.

There is beer involved (I probably should have led with that). And we are dads in cargo shorts, but it’s not a requirement :sunglasses:.

So, if you can play and sing at the same time and like this kind of music, let me know!

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I posted on Nextdoor because we’re trying to keep it neighborhood specific. It’s a 400+ home subdivision, so there’s some hope we’ll get a bite. If that doesn’t work we’ll expand our reach.

BTW, please keep posting videos of rehearsals. They’re a lot of fun to watch.

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Third rehearsal. Still need a 2nd guitarist since our last guy lived too far away. Just placed a new craigslist ad yesterday, so hopefully we can get someone for our next get together.

Here are a few tunes we are working on:

Seether/Veruca Salt
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fLkKpRl30EwaWKMB2Jcg1oFnJ-gfKNRx/view?usp=sharing

Santa Monica/Everclear
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dc65c3Sd7z67n_cD5SA3eN5-0JuBZoeA/view?usp=sharing

Only Happy When it Rains/Garbage
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZuPtkCUFNRzrOhsJKsKqEbCJgf3UBa8z/view?usp=sharing

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You all are sounding really good @lee_editorial!!
Keep going man, you are on it!

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@John_E

Thank you sir, I appreciate the encouragement! We are up to about 8 songs so far. Really hoping to get on stage in a couple months at an open mic venue- but things in Texas are starting to take a negative turn now with the Delta virus so those “rock star” aspirations may be put on hold for awhile!

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Wow!

Great to see you guys still playing. :sunglasses: :+1:

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Finally rehearsed again last week. New drummer and new lead guitarist. (both really good- far better and more experienced than myself)

Drums were often so loud, I couldn’t hear the PA very well- and in some cases, I couldn’t hear myself! Will have to work on the mix a little more next time. This was the first time in this space. Really big room with nice A/C, so no complaints in the Texas heat.
(even now into October)

Seether
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hFA_3H8MfwDcYskYWk9Z3Td39miSwIBu/view?usp=sharing

Only Happy When it Rains
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14bdbPPwJFQXYLYKu7lCUoMrswetomREY/view?usp=sharing

Volcano Girls
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lFvVUTgnBXiptmAC13yVJSJcjSLcwiqi/view?usp=sharing

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Sounding good @lee_editorial
And three great songs that go great together.

What made you all decide to face the loud, loud drummer vs. sticking him in a far corner?

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@John_E

Haha, live and learn! Yes, I plan to move him into a far corner next time. I just don’t have much experience yet. We typically face each other in rehearsals, just for communication purposes and not set up all facing forward as if we are playing to an audience. (but I am sure it will make sense to do that at some point once we get closer to trying to get a gig)

Never played live before- just doing these occasional rehearsal projects. (and got sidetracked by the pandemic)

I’ve played with probably 5 or 6 drummers so far, at two different rehearsal spaces, but never experienced anything that loud before! I typically will setup fairly close to the drums on one side and its never been an issue. (but for whatever reason, this dude was making a lot more noise) I loved his energy, but I am finding out that everything level-wise seems to start with the drums. (since its just a natural sound and not amplified) Everything else can be adjusted- but I realize you also don’t want everyone to keep turning up. For example, the guitarist can’t hear himself, so he raises his level a little bit, now the vocals can’t hear so the PA level is increased, etc- and pretty soon we all have ear damage!

I have no idea the monitor level variables we might run into once we actually try to play out somewhere. I think the ideal solution would be to get those in-ear monitors but I am sure those are pretty expensive.

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Awesome @lee_editorial - Seether is one of my favourites and it sounded really good. You’re all gelling really well by the looks of it. :fire::guitar: (PS as a drummer, I highly recommend Alpine Partyplugs to try to prevent the tinnitus lots of other people are talking about on this forum).

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Oh yeah, i was going to say, you need earplugs!
Protect those ears.

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Man, that is a HUGE practice space!

Your singer sound much more confident than in early videos. I would pay money to hear you guys do a show.

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I noticed this too. She is very good but seems to hold back.
Tell her to go for it and belt it out!

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@eric.kiser

Thanks Eric. I appreciate that! Yes she is gaining more confidence- never been in a band before, but she loves 90s music so it was a good fit for me. I’m still “faking” my way as a bass player, but surrounding myself with talented guitarists and a drummer seems to be working.

That room is crazy big- we are probably only using about 2/3rds of it. All we need are some big stacked amps on the walls and it would look like we were prepping for our next North American tour!

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It’s so hard to just let it go and not hold back while you are singing. But it sounds so much better.

I am handicapped here by doing music stuff in a room sharing a wall with my neighbors too.

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November rehearsal…
Singer quit a few weeks ago, after I (very nicely) offered up some advice partly on a few comments of this thread from the October rehearsal, haha! I was actually thinking a lot of the same thing I saw here- she was good, but really needed to let loose a little bit and try to become more of a focal point for the band. (but she just decided it was not for her) This was her first band, and I thought her confidence would increase along the way- but after probably 5 get-togethers she was just not feeling it.

I called up another singer from my previous attempt at a band and she came out the other night. The other style was more blues/rock concept… we were playing things like The Black Keys and The Record Company, so I was not sure how her style might mesh with this 90s alt rock. She has kind of a deeper, Janis Joplin style voice, but I think its going to work based on this one rehearsal. She was not familiar with the tunes, but overall did a nice job and I expect Dec session will be even stronger.

Our drummer was in the hospital for awhile after some bad reaction to medication and is still recovering- so we brought in a replacement for the next month or two. (nowhere near the same energy, but just glad we got someone on short notice)

Headphones recommended… otherwise my bass will probably be non-existent on cell phone speakers. (but maybe thats a good thing! :rofl:)

Santa Monica/Everclear
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1xeEo2e8ty56MP-GcOTPWz3a8-7FqyglV/view?usp=sharing

Bitch/Meredith Brooks
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OIimK3yok-HyOzCh1GFswlJzzAy-wuNr/view?usp=sharing

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Ooooh, I dig her voice a lot, and she seems to know who she is as a singer.
Very cool!

Well done on the basses too @lee_editorial

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Drummer has returned for the bands 4th rehearsal. (Hes still not 100%, but rockin!)

We still need work but are developing about 12 songs so far. Depending on how the Feb get together goes, we may try to find a venue in March or April that will let us play 30-45 min set.

We finally have a band name: “My Bad”
We wanted some type of 90s slang since we plan to market to an audience that came of age during that era.

You won’t hear any bass on phone speakers
(may not be a bad thing based on my abilities :grinning: which I keep repeating in this thread). But if you listen with headphones prepare for the thunderous tones of my Mustangs, haha!

Also just realized for anyone late to this thread, all my earlier links are dead. Unfortunately ran out of free Google drive space, so I had to clear stuff)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XkHiWxHp8t_5GlW12j6jwf2fiWfyA5z7/view?usp=sharing

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Very difficult news…

Our drummer unexpectedly passed away 2 weeks ago today. Nathan was only 41 and had a medical issue that he kept private. Still trying to get over the shock of it all.

I’ve only played with maybe 7 or 8 drummers since starting this musical journey about 4 and a half years ago so my sample size is small. He was by far the best damn drummer I’ve been lucky enough to play with. Great personality, always prepared, always happy to be there, great energy and enthusiasm.

Got me thinking about why he was so good: he had really steady tempo, not a lot of drifting either too slow or too fast. He was always in charge: got us into and out of songs cleanly. Used the whole kit depending on what each song called for- so everything didnt sound the same.

We started this once a month get together back in Oct. He was out Nov/Dec with illness- but seemed to be getting stronger since then.

Our major challenge has been vocals and we still have not solidified that yet after going through a few so far. My biggest regret was not getting the opportunity to play live with him. We were getting really close to that… setlist is up to about 14 songs.

A tribute show is being planned in the Fall and his father has asked us to be apart of that- so that may be our stage debut. (His farther is a bass player as well)

Still hard to believe. He will be greatly missed- and I expect it will be difficult to find another person that brings as much to the table as he did.

This video montage was from our last rehearsal, only 5 days before he was gone

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cl4BOS2XHSW2kTIfdFE9miiGW7BRdEak/view?usp=drivesdk

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