mrtcat

Yeah, my pest control business is plenty profitable enough to support us but the gigs mean we have a nice little extra income for a decent family car, good holidays and a buffer for maternity leave.

I have a 5yr old daughter, we're expecting another arrival in December and I also run a busy pest control business. I'll do about 100 gigs a year and with the exception of blocking out two weeks around my wife's due date I won't miss any other gigs in 2019 / 2020. That said, all my gigs are well paid and will allow my wife to have 18months off work when baby comes.

I met Mark today to buy his Ashdown ABM head. He made everything really easy for me and very kindly met half way which meant a good 2hr round trip for him. Amp was absolutely perfect and Mark was a really nice guy to buy from. Recommend 100% Thanks Mark.

Yeah our adverts seem to help but funnily enough it was a "we'll be live in 10 mins" type post that Jamie put on his fb that most people saw. Bloody fb algorithms at play. I used a fairly cheap wide angle lens on my camera for the second stream and that really helped to bring us all a bit closer to the camera. We're using a Canon Legria HF-G40 and it seems to be ok. The limiting factor in terms of image quality is of course the broadband speed (I live in a village with no fibre and we stream from my shed) rather than the camera.

All well and good if band is earning reasonable cash and it's fairly standard stuff. Might be tricky if the fee is £50 per man and you need someone to learn 30 originals or obscure songs.

Always loved Sonny T when he was with The New Power Generation. Still got it too.

Absolutely with you on this. If you join a band you simply can't mess venues or other band members about like that. It never works and leads to a bad reputation and resentment amongst members. A simple online diary (google calendar or similar) allows holiday and gig dates to be entered for all to see. Once a gig is agreed by all then holidays have to be worked around it. If he can't commit to gigs he shouldn't be in a band.

Great stuff mr zed. I enjoyed that and it was well produced.

This was the last one (only our second) . Obviously a work in progress but if you like our FB page you'll be able to see our next one. Apologies for the poor jokes, mostly due to nerves but should get better as we go.

Absolutely 110% agree with this. We are in the learning phase but it definitely really helps to have a strong steer on the topic. EBS_freak's input has shaped the next live stream and given us great ideas. It's too easy to fall into making "clique-y " jokes that alienate people and to just drift. Our next live stream will be at 9pm weds next week if anyone wants to check it out. Lasts about 20mins.

Jamie is worse. He's still not convinced lol.

Custom iem co (and EBS_freak) sorted me a cracking deal on a pair of ue6 at the London drum show at the end of last year. 77 gigs later I still get blown away every time I put them in.

We do whatever the contract stipulates. We're a function band so it depends whether the client wants us to. I joined my current band in January and it still amazes me that my band mates just stand on stage gawping at their phones before, between and after sets. Looks terrible if you ask me. We are booked solid for good money but I think this really lets us down.

I don't have any feelings of nerves, worry, dread or excitement before gigs. It's just like going to work in a job I quite enjoy and don't find to be desperately difficult. Long journeys and repetitive load in and out is a bit of a chore but I like the guys I play with, the band is well organised and everyone is committed and good at problem solving. Therefore there's rarely any insurmountable issues and we earn well from about 100 weddings a year.

I had some interference issues in my in ear monitors last night and had to take one out mid song until I had a chance to switch channel at the end of that song. We don't have any backline at all so only drums making noise on stage. It was absolutely astonishing how loud it was. I can't even imagine playing with full backline and no hearing protection these days.

Now you're talking like a pro.

Maybe but switching off phantom power certainly resolved the issue.

Had an issue with shocks depping last year. Turns out they had one of those old desks where phantom power was either on every channel or no channel. They were using it to power overheads so was coming to my mic too. As soon as they turned it off the shocks stopped. Worth checking there's not anything sending 48v up your channel.

If I wasn't gigging I'd probably barely play. I currently play around 100 weddings / functions a year (I refuse to play pubs - not my thing at all) and when one is finished, I'm already looking forward to the next. I'm fortunate enough to have a really enjoyable day job that allows me flexibility to gig lots and a hobby that I adore which also pays well. Yeah there are moments when people get a bit annoying but that goes with the territory in any job.

They sound like total idiots. I'd be off on a heartbeat to find some grown ups to work with. I really really don't get this "we need more volume" mentality. THAT'S WHAT THE PA SYSTEM IS FOR!!!!!!! As long as a guitar amp sounds like a guitar amp, the bass amp sounds like a bass amp, the drums sound like drums and you can either mic or DI the relevant parts then the PA can make it all sound huge and the control is in the hands of the person mixing the FOH sound. If you don't do it this way you'll almost always just sound like a mess and people won't want to hear you play.

I've got two FR800 and an LF1400 (essentially 2 powered BB2 and 1 powered Dubster 2) to all intents and purposes that's just like having a PA system just for bass. I only ever use them together as PA for the whole band. That much bass on stage would be a pain. Even if I was playing reggae I'd want to leave that sort of low end to the foh system.

Exactly this. Using backline to generate high volume levels is such an outdated way of thinking. Guitarists are by and large pretty rubbish at moving with the times. We don't have any amps on stage at all and our foh sound is huge, full, balanced and comfortable to listen to. PA and monitoring are the future. Huge loud amps are just a sign of not moving with the times.

Backline is for monitoring. Put your bass into the pa if volume is an issue. If your pa isn't up to it then that's where I'd be looking to invest.