Franticsmurf

Good luck.

The Hulla band organises and plays a festival for charity every year. Last year I put together a scratch band to play a support slot and it went down well. Unfortunately, that scratch band didn't make it through the year so this year I've grabbed a few unsuspecting Hulla band members to play a short support set. I've got the drummer, the guitarist and an extremely talented young girl who is my bass dep for the Hulla gigs I can't make. She sings and plays guitar, bass, keys, a bit of drum and ukelele but her main instrument is trombone. When we ask if there's anything she can't play her response is "I don't do reeds". Last night was our first rehearsal as a four piece and it went really well. There's a lot of potential there and, importantly, a lot of enthusiasm and motivation. We are fortunate in that the drummer has his own rehearsal/recording studio and while there's room for 4 people, I decided to take my Ibanez EHB 1000S to minimise the chances of clouting the other band members in the head with a bulky headstock. It's definitely a work in progress but we have 4 months to get things sorted. Our multi-instrumentalist has exams in May so the aim is to get things to the point that all we need to do in May and June is polish the final set and have a couple of full band rehearsals with the Hulla sound man present to do a sort of pre-gig sound check. As we use a Behringer X32 desk for the Hulla he will be able to set up a rough mix and save it into the desk as a base for minor tweaks on the day.

Several old and decrepit dogs, same old tricks. 😃 Ironically it seems that I may be getting back to play with the drummer again. Early days but we're talking about a kind of reunion/reboot/rehash. It'll be good to play with him again as we used to lock tight as the engine of the old band.

Technically, I'm the bassist in a band called 'New Dog Old Tricks' which formed in 2022 and played one gig. While we never formally disbanded, all four of us are in other bands and haven't got together as a quartet since August 22. I sense the opportunity for a reunion gig sometime in the future as we're all still on friendly terms.

And you could claim it as legitimate expenses. Winner, winner... er... bass guitarrerr.

The Insiderz are playing at a local venue on Friday. If it wasn't for the kit, I could stroll along to it.

The Hulla band rehearsed for a gig I can't make last night. The dep bassist (from within the band) took on the bass role so I stepped behind the mixing desk. We use an X32 and our regular sound man (on holiday at the moment) has set it up using the scene option so that all I had to do was press the correct button. And yes, I did successfully press the correct button! 😃 It was good to hear the band from a different perspective. I've taken to using IEM simply because in such a large band (13 assorted instruments) the monitor speakers are competing with the live instruments. From the front I could see how everything worked and how much work our sound man has done to get everything mixed nicely. Rather worryingly, the dep bassist (a gifted multi-instrumentalist at only 16 years old) was good. She may have to go.... 😂

I have small feet and still find hitting the right notes hard! It takes a lot of practice but the results are worth it.

I guess the ambient pedal is for those new age/chill-out cross over jams one often has while waiting for the water to pour. The cold pedal is for if the jam is strictly chill-out only.

Fretless again. I'm sensing a theme. 😃

Thank you , m'lud. I promise to reform/attend therapy/rehab and I do still play bass regularly. 😃

As I understand the rules, I think I have failed on tier 2 (i.e. non-bass gear). I have mentioned elsewhere in this parish that I have recently taken a rhythm guitar role in a mate's band. As a result, I have swapped a guitar for another guitar (no cash involved), plus I have on order a Squire Strat and a HB Les Paul kit. I throw myself at the mercy of the court and beg the fact that I am now a practising geetard is not held against me.

I formed my first band with the intention of 'making it' (which was the equivalent of 'turning pro' for us although we didn't think of it like that at the time). If we hadn't had that ambition, I doubt I'd be playing in bands now as it gave me the motivation to learn and improve on my instrument, to write songs and record them and to play live. But with the gift of hindsight we were never going to get far as we didn't have the all out dedication and energy. We gave it a few years and although we gigged regularly, it wasn't really happening the way we wanted and as an originals band, the money was dire. For most of that time, we also held down jobs and I decided that when I was making as much money from gigging as I was getting from the job, I would quit the mainstream and be a 'professional' musician. Still waiting for that trigger 😂. When I moved on to play in covers bands and duos, I realised that I didn't want to be a professional musician (I was playing guitar and bass depending on the line up) as although I liked the performance element, playing a limited set list was dull and I struggled with maintaining the level of enthusiasm required. So apart from a few years in the mid 80s, I have never wanted to be a pro player. For the most part I've enjoyed the level at which I play and I think had I gone down the pro player route it would have ruined the simple pleasure I get from picking up the bass and tinkering with my effects boxes and amp.

And how are you finding your fretless 'fridge'? 😂

New Fridge Day - pics or it didn't happen etc etc. 😂

I've done that before now. The key to it is, as you say, dancing around and looking like you know exactly what you're doing. 😃

I'm usually one of the first to finish packing up at the end of the night. I like to get all my kit out of the way so that the others (mainly the drummer) have space to move. I always get my stuff out and into the transport first, too. But I will always help whoever needs it afterwards. Last night we had a long carry out and we all lent a hand. I'm aching this evening but we're a band and part of that includes helping out where we can.

To be fair, most of the gigs we do are on postage stamp stage areas (rarely a raised stage) with public rights of way through them. One of the reasons I started using a headless bass was because I was tired of people knocking the headstock. The Hulla band has it's own portable staging for festivals and other outdoor events but as it's such a large band (13 at the last count) even that isn't really big enough. And when we play some functions, the band is three deep, four wide with the drummer bringing up the rear. 😂

A traditional rock n roll gig last night with the Insiderz at a large hall for a ticketed event. With an hour to go before we were due onstage the drummer called in with a family emergency and as I drove us to the gig, my mate was ringing around trying to find a replacement for the night. Our regular dep was in Pompeii and refused to fly home for the gig 😂. My mate from my other band had been watching the rugby and drinking. In the end, a call on Facebook produced an outstanding drummer who appeared at the hall and was set up in record time. We went on about 30 minutes after the planned start time, but that only helped as the crowd (around 100 or so) had been dancing and drinking. It was a good night with people up and dancing right from the start. The audience were mostly there for the dancing so there was a lot of very accomplished moves on the dance floor. So much so that it became distracting at times watching the moves, particularly the hand jives. 😃 The host/organiser got up to do a couple of songs with us and he was actually quite good. I was on rhythm guitar duties and as punishment for that my amp died with about 5 songs left to go. I was able to plug in to the PA through my Plethora X3 which had it's cab sim option enabled. Our bassist was using a Jazz through a Trace Elliot 4x10 combo. It's usually very punchy but last night it boomed a lot and we suspected it was the hollow stage acting as a resonator. He also used a fretless Jazz bass for the section where the host played with us. A good night despite (or perhaps because of) the challenges. And we've been asked back. No photos of the band yet but here's one of the stage before we took over. Edit: A video has appeared. I'm closest to the camera on stage. Edit 2: A couple more photos.

I use stick on (and removable) fluorescent dots I picked up cheaply from Ebay after having experienced this a few times. I love dark fretboards so these really helped. I also find that stage lighting can dazzle and cause problems so I always check out any lighting before hand so I can adjust them or change where I stand. I remember once playing 'How Long' (The Eagles song) which I was also singing. Quite quickly I realised the guitarist was out and his backing vocals were off key, as were my vocals and the other guitarist. But at least my bass line was ...er... oops! I was two frets above where I thought I was. Big smile, nod to the rest of the band, carry on in the correct position, celebrate my jazz improvisation. 😂

The Insiderz are playing a rock n roll night at Tumble Hall tomorrow night. The reception we get will depend largely on the result of the Wales v England rugby match earlier that evening as the area is very, very rugby orientated. 😃

Rehearsal with the Hulla band last night was the usual mix of chaos and good fun. Three new songs (Smells Like Teen Spirit, Love Story and 17 Going Under), one we had a go at last week (Town Like Malice) and a few oldies from the set list vaults (Let's Stick Together, Heroes, Getting Away With It, Sweet Child of Mine) just to keep us on our toes. I'm finally getting a decent mix from my In Ears through the P16 monitor mixer and it's making a big difference, mainly to my backing vocals. Not only can I hear myself, but I have a good mix of the other BVs to help me pitch.

January is a slow month for the Hulla band - it tends to play weddings, anniversaries and other private functions locally and they tend not to happen in the cold, dark months. That said, we're playing the village 'Full Moon Party' in Feb. As the band is based in what is effectively a village of retired folks, gigs are all word of mouth/friend of a friend stuff and are usually well paid. By mutual agreement the band plays for a nominated charity every year so we collect the fees which go mainly to the charity with a small percentage being used for band gear and expenses. Last year we collected enough for the local school to buy a much needed minibus. I want to gig more frequently than they do (last year they played 8 gigs), so I'm also available for other things; I'm on the dep list for two bands and I'm currently dipping my toes in the rhythm guitar role in a mates band. The latter has five gigs lined up between now and July with more on the cards. Those gigs are usually obtained by the singer and bassist who between them have a lot of contacts in the area. While I wouldn't say I was in it for the money, I believe strongly that bands should be paid what they are worth and have rejected playing gigs where the reward is 'exposure' or 'beer tokens' as this undervalues me and makes things harder for the next band. The money from gigs goes towards kit and expenses. I definitely couldn't live off it.

I bought my first bass from one of the shops in Denmark St (I forget which one). It was a 2nd hand short scale Telecaster style Jedson. It was truly awful but as a guitarist at the time, I knew no better. I remember as I was handing over the cash, there was an almighty fuss in the shop and people went charging out of the door - it turned out some bloke had come in to pay for gear with a dodgy credit card and had legged it pursued by a couple of staff. It ended its days coupled to an old Kay Les Paul copy as a twin necked guitar - my dad did the carpentry, which was good, and I did the electronics, which were rubbish. The first bass I played was a Colombus Jazz copy and I remember it had matt black strings. It was actually a nice bass to play (I used it mainly for recordings) and it had a great thumping sound on the demos. I played it live a few times in a band where I shared bass duties with the singer. Although I don't recall with any certainty, I believe it went in part ex for my first 'proper' bass - a Hohner Jack headless - which I played as a full time bassist in several bands. That got sold during a break from playing in the early 2000s. I recently acquired a much nicer looking version of The Jack from this very parish.

Music really can be therapy. I hope your dad is on the mend. I went through a couple of low points last year (nothing in your league, but low enough) and band mates offering help and support and returning to rehearsals really lifted me. 😃