mrtcat

My experience with demo material is that video is way more likely to get you bookings than audio. If you have a digital mixer you can do a live video where you connect a laptop to the mixer and multitrack record whilst simultaneously filming from various angles. The music can then be mixed nicely and synced to the video edit. You could record a whole set and then just cut together clips of loads of your songs. People rarely listen to a whole song as a demo so a short burst of clips can have a much better impact. Edit to say that this approach only works if you are good live. If you do video and look bored / nervous / awkward etc it can do more harm than good.

At the time when I left school, becoming a musician seemed a complete impossibility. I was a fairly average bass player who seriously lacked self confidence. My mother was pretty unpleasant and criticised me at pretty much every opportunity and that just made me less confident. After uni I took a rubbish job just to keep her off my back. After 2 years I was so sick of it that I jacked it in and followed my then girlfriend out to Greece where she had found a job with one of the big tour operators for the summer. She hated her job and we fell out so she left for home. I took her job, which i had been helping her with anyway and stayed for the rest of the summer. I loved it and at the end of the summer I was offered promotion and winter work in ski resorts which turned into full time year round work eventually working as a snowboard instructor in Europe and then the USA. I did it for 11 years and saw the world, meeting my wife along the way. By this point my confidence was sky high and, when we returned to the UK in 2008, I quickly picked up music again. I now earn half of my income from music and set up my own pest control business that allows me to make up the rest of my income whilst being flexible enough to gig multiple times a week. I couldn't care less whether anyone thinks music is a valid form of income. It works well for me and my family and I'm happy. I know plenty of people with "proper" jobs who can't honestly say they are happy.

That is really poor. For a shop that specialises in basses not to spot that and describe it properly is pretty shocking.

Haha good call. I'm in Whittlebury so it's good to hear there are other basschat members in the shire.

Turns out @Muppetis in my neighbouring village. Small world as it says he lives in the pub which is where my band played just a few weeks back.

I use fusion urban (both single and double) gig bags. Used to use Mono M80 but the fusion just feels like a step up in terms of protection. 35 inch scale is no problem at all and fusion customer service is top notch.

Marcus was working there when I visited 3 weeks ago so was almost certainly him that emailed you.

You can't play on when there's a fight happening at a wedding. It just wouldn't happen. If a crowd gets violent the band has to stop playing altogether end of.

Almost identical on all 3 occasions. 1st was punters climbing on stage mid set and trying to sing into mics and grabbing our spare guitars out of the rack. 2nd we had someone get on stage while we were getting changed who decided he wanted to try drums. He hit the snare so hard that by the time we got to him he had gone through the skin. That was the start of problems but the clincher was when lads were on each others shoulders on the dancefloor and barging into each other until one of them fell onto stage and took out 2 mic stands and cracked the screen on guitarists helix. 3rd one was a fight broke out on the dancfloor (rugby lads) and then spilled over into all our gear resulting in broken lights and a toppled PA stack. We video all of our gigs on the offchance we actually do something worth sharing on social media. This is cracking evidence when we walk off.

PLI is a must for all gigs but in this instance a watertight contract would have been even more useful. I'm sure your existing standard contract covers most things but, with events like this in mind, it should definitely include: * Band requires a safe, firm and level stage and footing for all equipment (include minimum dimensions). * Client accepts full responsibility for damage to band equipment caused by avoidable behaviour of client's guests. * Client is to ensure that no guests enter the bands performance space or interfere with the bands equipment. There are loads of things you can add to suit your needs. Breach of agreement needs to be highlighted on the night and you must reserve the right to pack up and leave if you feel there is a danger to you or your equipment. We have packed up mid gig 3 times since covid restrictions were lifted and on each occasion the contract has backed us up. Our agents are ace too and have backed us each time too.

If you have a professional approach and understand that function work is 100% about the crowd's enjoyment then it shouldn't be an issue. If you want to take the money, you have to be able to play a set list like this well and with enthusiasm. I play many of those songs at over 100 gigs a year and can still say I thoroughly enjoy what I do.

The term function band just means a band that plays functions. You get all different types within that bracket. Funk bands, disco bands, rock bands, tribute bands etc etc so the range of "standard" tunes is quite wide.

Will vary slightly depending on band. I only do functions but we are pretty much just indie pop rock so have never done uptown funk or get lucky type stuff. Client never gets to pick the set list. At most they can suggest 3 songs from our repertoire. If they want us to learn something we don't do then it's £100 per song. Any band worth it's salt will have live recordings of every song they do so that a dep can learn from those and avoid surprises on the night. We have a folder on google drive that we share with anyone who deps for us. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vYKwbcL6hY5ZeXbuSmDlhoTh0aPvlFBM

I think that quite often the band with a bassist, where you can't really hear much other than low end mush, are more victims of the venue's acoustics than an engineer's failings. Bass can be a nightmare to mix if a room is really bad. Sadly some of the biggest venues are just appalling for bass. RHCP at the NEC was a standout gig I went to where the bass was pretty much inaudible. It also depends where you stand in the room. If it's awful when you're standing right next to the sound engineer's booth then its quite possible the venue is a bass nightmare.

IMO al bands should have PLI that specifically covers the activities of the band. As soon as a band is playing in a public space then there are endless eventualitites, no matter how unlikely they may seem, that could see the band and its members liable for damage to people or property.

Thing is, if you're playing around 100 gigs a year then there's little to be gained from rehearsals other than the social side. We spend hours and hours each week in a van travelling the motorways together, another few hours in a rehearsal room won't make us like each other more. As for adding new songs unrehearsed, it really depends what you're adding. If its something really complicated then yes, a rehearsal would be beneficial. If it's something well known and straightforward and you trust the rest of your band to have done their homework, then its a fun way to work.

Yeah we add new stuff all the time. Essentially a version is agreed on then the singer confirms which key he wants it in and then we just discuss and bits that need agreeing (endings, which guitarist take which part, who sings what) then run it at sound check and it goes straight into the set. We get lots of requests for first dances and favourite songs from clients at the time of booking and these all have to be added.