Monkey Steve

On 11/06/2019 at 15:31, Richard R said:

Interesting question on whether a band can discriminate on grounds of age. An employer absolutely can't, and any company that explicitly said that a candidate was too old would be walking into court and out again a lot poorer.

 

In a legal sense, the band would not be an employer, so the legislation does not apply.  The exact circumstances haven't been tested by the Courts, but a similar case on discrimination against protected characteristics (actually on the basis of religious belief and for an artist wanting to be included in an exhibition, but it's covered by the same legislation as age discrimination and is generally held to apply to all "artists" whatever the medium) ruled that an artist is not applying for employment, but is offering their services as a freelance contractor, and so isn't covered by the Equalities Act

For my old covers lot, at the end of the gig I'd always switch off the amp, unplug the bass and put it into it's case,  Drummer starts packing away his kit.  I'd also switch off the PA

Because we knew that this meant that those wanting to have a go on something would have to bother the guitarists

From the auditioner side of the fence rather than the auditionee, there are a few criteria.  In order of importance:

• Talent - are they up to the job?  Doesn't matter how good they are on all the other points, if they can't actually perform to the level required then they won't get asked back.  Note: not necessarily the most talented person who tries out, as long as the one you pick can clearly play the style you want with the right feel, etc.
• How well have they prepared/how seriously have they taken the audition?  Have they learned all of the songs you gave them, or just one?  Can they remember the tune and play all the parts in the right places?  Have they prepared the songs which stretch them technically so you can see whether they have any gaps in their playing, or have they just gone for the straight forward stuff?  Is it reasonable for the length of time they've had to prepare?
• Enthusiasm & commitment.  Do they really want to be in your band, or do they just want to be in a band, any band and you'll do?  Do they match the rest of the band in terms of commitment - can they rehearse as often as you want them to, how many gigs will they commit to, do they have other stuff in their lives that will hold the band back?  Where do they want the band to get to - regular paid gigs all over the country, recording albums and touring, or an hour in the Dog & Duck once or twice a year?
• Are they a d#ck?  Is this somebody you can see yourself spending time with in the band?

On 29/11/2019 at 14:28, Jimothey said:

Two of my mates both play in bands but with kids, work, gigs etc it’s hard trying to get time have a jam and the other thing is not that I think my one of my mates would ever say your not good enough or anything but he is an awesome guitarist and I feel a bit intimidated to jam with him!

Nah, it'll be fine.  All guitarists love showing off how much better they are than everybody else in the room, so don't worry about it, he'll be pleased to have you there to show off to

22 minutes ago, Jimothey said:

I hope this isn’t too off topic with the OP but it’s kinda related but how did you know you were ready to join a band?? I really want to join a band but fear my playing ability wouldn’t be up to scratch and if I audition I’ll just get laughed at and told to jog on!! I don’t know if it’s a confidence thing or I’m just not good enough??..........

I'm not sure I can be of much direct help here as I've never auditioned for a band in my life, it's always been an organic thing, starting with school mates and then through being asked by musicians I've played with before

However,  @flaxholmelis is spot on - use every opportunity you have to get out and play with other musicians without it being an audition, and jam nights fit the bill, even if it's not the music you really want to play

The other thing I'd suggest is to see whether any of your guitar/keyboard/etc playing friends (assuming you have some) are free to get together to run through a few songs.  It does somewhat depend on how good a guitarist/keyboard/etc player they are, but when I was starting out a guitarist mate of mine suggested it and it improved my playing no end, just getting used to playing with another musician

what's the issue with the remaining band members, or have you just had enough?

I once quit a band (because I'd had enough of the lead guitarist) and the drummer chose to follow me out (for the same reason) but I'd done it on the basis that they were free to replace me and carry on.  I immediately got a reply from the rhythm guitarist and singer saying "well, that's the end of that then". 

I'm still not sure why they didn't want to find a new rhythm section, possibly a combination of having similar feelings about the lead guitarist, and possibly because it was me and the drummer who had originally formed the band and we were seen as the BLs

21 minutes ago, Rexel Matador said:

 

great album (though the recipient I gave a copy to in the Secret Santa at work a couple of years ago disagrees)

@Barking Spiders is completely correct

best name of any band I was ever in:

Exploding Monkey

I once spent more time than I wanted to looking into this issue, because five of us in my then band couldn't agree on the name, and whenever we found one we were even luke warm on, it had been done.  Always a great excuse when somebody becomes very keen on a name you think is terrible - sorry, it's been taken.  I do that while you can get away with a rubbish name (I mean, Rush, how bad a name is that?) it does need to let the potential audience know what sort of thing you're playing

Comes down to "passing off" and whether there is any chance of your death metal band from south London being confused with the ska band from California, and  whether they have an established reputation that you are likely to tread on.  So we went with the one band name we all thought was pretty good as there was no likelihood of confusion, and importantly nobody with that name had ever released an album.  Then we were in the pub and a much better name  which hadn't already been taken came out of a drunken conversation,  so we went with that.

Currently in a band with a name that has been used, many, many times, although the top Google result shows them to be a bar band from the USA, so we're not anticipating a law suit any time soon.

49 minutes ago, mcnach said:

A drummer friend of mine and myself were getting together to jam, and we realised we both liked the RHCP. So we started learning some of their songs and that led to "let's start a RHCP tribute!".

We needed a guitarist and a singer.

We got a so-so singer, and a guitarist, to show up once.

Singer sounds spot on for a RHCP tribute band - why did you keep looking? 🤣

Similarly guitarists who come and go...

21 hours ago, LeftyP said:

Not wishing to prolong the left handed v right handed debate that seems to have taken over this thread, but I've just tried to play my violin bass as a left hander.  I am naturally left handed and do everything, except using a knife and fork, left handed.  As I stated earlier in this thread, I was advised to try playing guitar (classical at the time) right handed.  I am glad I did and it feels fine to me.  However, this line of discussion got me thinking again so I gave it a go as a left handed player.  I was all over the place!  Allowing for the strings being upside down, I could not even fret notes correctly and the whole experience felt alien to me.  I'm not sure that persevering with it would make much improvement as I had very little control over the instrument even without trying to fret some notes.  It will be different for each individual, but if you have never played a guitar before (as in my case) then playing right handed eventually just seems normal.

I was taught to use my knife and fork in the "conventional" way when I was young and that is normal to me.  I do, however, cut bread and spread butter with the knife in the left hand and the soup and dessert spoons also go in the left hand.  I move side plates and glasses around in restaurants to accommodate my left handedness and that can cause great confusion for the people sharing my table!

I know three "lefties playing right handed" guitarists and all have a different story.  the best one by far is very much at the left handed end of ambidextrous, and as mentioned by others, when he wanted to start playing the bass at school, it was a right handed guitar or nothing.  In fact he hates the term ambidextrous, because a lot of it comes from being forced to do things with his right hand at school, and is proudly left handed.

The worst by far had got a guitar as a teenager when all of his mates were starting to learn, and although he was dreadful, reasoned that playing the guitar was difficult enough anyway so doing it right handed didn't make it any more difficult, and anyway look at Gary Moore.  Although this also seems to be justification for him having spent a lot of money on a specific Fender Strat model which wasn't available as a left hander.  In fact, he was a good example of the left right stringer/weaker hand issue - he really struggled with picking the correct strings and his right hand technique, and had awful tone.  

The knife and fork thing...I can distinctly remember having to learn which way round knives and forks were set when you lay a table when I was a kid, because until that point I had no preference for which hand held which implement.  I think that the other way round feels "wrong" because of 40 years of repetition, teaching myself to hold the knife with my right hand, and it all comes from the fact that knives go on the right hand side of the plate, nobody's ever told me to use them that way round

give them a ring and ask

The policy may have some assumptions around the place where the gear is kept - lockable doors, that sort of thing.  Doesn't necessarily mean that they won't provide cover for storage elsewhere, but if it's not a standard term then you will want them to make a specific exception, and to put that into the policy documentation.

It starts at my grandmother's funeral...

My cousin is a lead guitarist, has played in some reasonably well known bands within small ponds, and when I first moved up to London aged 19 we used to bump into each other and hang out a fair bit, when his first signed band was taking off.  The life happened and i didn't see him for a good few years.  Then our grandmother died, and we were both at the funeral, and it was just like old times.  Life was no longer in the way so we started meeting up a lot, drinking, going to gigs, talking bollox, etc.  Basically he's one of my best mates.

His two then current bands weren't really doing much (and have long since split up, although the final album by one of them has recently been released, almost a decade after they recorded it) and he fancied doing something quite different from the extreme metal he is known for.  He still insists it was classic rock, whereas it sounded like heavy metal to me, but, whatever.  So he pulls together some musical acquaintances and asks me if I want to play bass.  Had an absolute blast - much higher standard of musicians than I'd been used to playing with, playing better gigs.

That band then split up after a couple of years due to the singers substance abuse issues, and cuz is asked to reform his best known extreme metal band, who have been going strong for the last three or four years.  One day I get a Messenger request from that band's singer saying that "we've got to talk".  Turns out he was putting together a classic rock/metal covers band, which is most of the extreme metal band except the bass player, and did I fancy it?

In fact I've done more gigs depping for the extreme metal band (who seem to find themselves in between bass players quite a lot, although I've only played with them twice) than I have with our covers outfit (just the one, earlier this year) but that may change next year.

another vote for it depending on the audience - 40+ rock fans will want CDs, 20 year old pop fans will want streaming.  Personally I'm extremely unlikely to download anything and will always look for a CD as my first choice, with vinyl second.  ideally vinyl with a download code so that I can then burn a CD copy

anecdotal evidence, and very genre specific, but chatting to a couple of mates in different extreme metal bands (including one who's logo our own @Grahamhas as his phone's wallpaper) they tell me that they are getting a big chunk of their merch money from vinyl sales these days, including pressings of old albums which haven't previously been available on vinyl.  Possibly because the fanbase have already got the CD and downloaded versions.  That said, they both have record deals, so don't have the expense of having to press a load of stuff at their own expense which might then sit in a box for years to come

The only issue I would have is if you've been promoting it as a pub gig, open to everybody, and any fans of the band arrive to find that they can't get in because it'd a private party - the band doesn't look great

If there's a party happening but it's still open to the public, no problem, just extra punters

confirmed here:

https://www.surreynanosystems.com/vantablack-sample-request/purchasing

Isn't the issue with Vantablack that you can't just buy it and paint it on anything you fancy?

48 minutes ago, Mattbass97 said:

I spoke to New Moon and they said cover any unattended items in a vehicle so long as all security features are enabled and windows are closed (provided you can’t fit it in the boot).

ooh - that's quite a lot better than most

22 hours ago, wateroftyne said:

It's worth pointing out that New Moon includes public liability, and for a small up-charge also cover theft from unattended vehicles.

Yes...but worth adding (as I have done on similar threads) that "unattended vehicle" doesn't mean stolen from any car or van, it means stolen from a locked boot,. glove compartment, or other area in the vehicle that is not visible from the road.  Often quite tricky with a bass, so check the terms before paying extra for the cover

My musical purchases this year have been limited to two guitar pedals...I should have joined the abstinence thread.  I haven't even paid for any strings (a band i depped with this time last year donated a small supply that has seen me through).  technically one of the pedals - an MXR 10-band eq - does cover the same range (and more) as my Boss Bass eq pedal, and looks much cooler, so that may get transferred to my bass pedal board in time...

So my best actual bass purchase of the year, purely in terms of shelling out cash, is the latest instalment I paid towards my new Wal

The worst purchase - the same, given that I won't actually be getting the bass until 2020

On 13/11/2019 at 16:34, stuckinthepod said:

What are good lyrics? Everyone will have a different view. Witty, rhyming, poetic, evocative, tied in well with melody??

I love poetic lyrics.... I also love Black Sabbath who managed to rhyme "masses" with ... "masses"

In fairness to Sabbath, they were using the word for two completely different meanings: first to mean a lot of people, and second to mean a religious ceremony.

In their drug addled state they probably thought that was quite clever...

If You Want Me To Stay by Sly & The Family Stone, although the version I learned it from was by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  The riff itself is a little complicated, and there is a bit of variety in how it's played, but it is the same riff repeated, and a good win once you've nailed it

Just listening to one on my walk home - Sanctified by Nine Inch Nails

Soul Limbo by Booker T & the MGs is a good one for a beginner - prominent riff, everybody knows the tune, and it sounds more difficult than it is

One from left field for all satanists learning to play the bass - The Promise by Akercocke from the Antichrist album

complete thread hijack, but I once had a few pints with Paul Cornford's son - he plays guitar in Chris Slade's band (when Slade's not in AC/DC) as does a mate of mine.

Once it had been explained to me that he was the son of the amp manufacturer, I expressed surprise that he was playing through a very high end amp that wasn't a Cornford (I think a Diezel, but I may be misremembering).  He told me that it originated from his dad's workshop where they are used as reference models to see how Cornford's compare, and in the past he's always been able to borrow one if he had a gig.  However, because of the ongoing flimsy finances of the company (which have since become terminal), whenever finances were circling the drain, he'd get the nod from his dad to come down and liberate all the amps to keep them out of the clutches of the creditors, to then be made available when the new Cornford amp company rises like a phoenix from the flames.  Basically he had a room full of top end amps at home that he hadn't paid for, the swine