EssexBuccaneer

I’ve been told that I’m not like most bass players, because I’m “not the boring one standing around looking serious” 
 

Well it’s not last night, but I’ve learned this evening that we’ve been booked to play at The Pappillon in Southend on Dec 1st. It’s one of the more important venues to get your foot in the door in the area, and it’s a pretty hard gig to land, so we’re all stoked!

Not expecting an enormous crowd on Southend seafront in December, but if we can impress the owner/booker then maybe we’ll be able to swing a night or two next year!

What do you guys do with the cash? Do you split it for pocket money? 
 

We stick it in the band kitty, currently saving for the PA, but broken strings and stuff all comes from the ‘band money’

Pubs round this way pay 300-400, we’ve played a charity event for free, and had a couple of ‘cheaper’ nights as a favour to a friend of the singer (around 150 per night) so we could get some good footage for social media.

Moving forwards we’ll be asking the going rate with the exception of charity events. It’s not about the money as much as it is not undercutting anyone else in the area. Musicians deserve to get paid adequately for their labour.

38 minutes ago, Mickeyboro said:

Do tell your band name and style of music - rig too, if you like!

We’re called MLC (mid-life crisis) and our set is full of 90’s-2000’s rock/grunge with some metal thrown in. Stereophonics, Green Day, The Offspring, RATM and Metallica all make an appearance! 
 

We’ve tried to stay away from doing a setlist of *all* hits and gone niche with soem artists but we may have to rethink a couple. Example: we play Green Day ‘Longview’ rather than American Idiot or Basket Case, but on its first outing last night it was clear that the audience lost a wee bit of interest before picking up again with Nickelback ‘How you remind me’

Its a fine line in creating a set that doesn’t sound identical to other covers bands, whilst also keeping an audience happy!

Had a great gig at the Chadwell Arms in Essex last night. Had the option of playing their hall or the pub and we opted for the pub as it was more intimate and the crowd was enthusiastic but small. Totally the right decision, felt like a proper pub gig with the punters just a couple of feet away. We went down a storm and the landlord wants us back 3-4 times in 2024. Our first full length set (90 mins) and were asked for an encore. Am still buzzing this morning! 
 

I remember laying down a demo many years ago. My guitarist was getting stressed out because he couldn’t nail the timing on an intro (came in on an off-beat, and was generally a bit weird tbf). Anyhoo, time was ticking on and he was getting more and more worked up.

In the end I picked up his guitar and laid it down myself while he went for a smoke. He was over the moon that I’d done it for him. I can’t think of anything more mortifying than someone else laying down my part in a studio 😲

I’m distinctly average. I’m technically poor and I make mistakes unless I’ve practiced a song a zillion times, but I can keep time and do the basics that I need.

One thing that being in a covers band has done, is taken me out of my comfort zone. In my originals band I wrote basslines to my own (low) ability. Playing ‘pro’ bass players lines has definitely improved my playing.

Had a decent rehearsal last night, one of our newbies (Stiltskin - inside) is ready for Friday’s set. The other two aren’t far behind. Wanted to add a little clip as a tickle but the file size is too big! 

I worked for the British Boxing Board of Control for a wee while, was great to get ringside seats for any show I chose. Met loads of boxers including several world champions. 
 

Pete Waterman thanked me when he got off of the train i’d just driven to Paddington. Matthew Pinsent once asked me if I was the train driver and after replying in the affirmative, told me I had a cool job. (Well yeah, but it’s not as cool as being an Olympian, Matthew)

2 hours ago, Muzz said:

Over the years (playing in covers bands, and especially in this current one) I've become completely immune to the levels of indifference shown by punters during the sets (especially the first set), mainly because the mithering buggers are all there at the end when they're drunk and we're dying to get packed away, with their 'One more song!' nonsense...

 

As long as I'm being paid, I'll play to an empty room and not think twice about it... 🙂

I mean getting paid does take the sting off of a near-empty room a wee bit, but (and perhaps this is because I’m only just back into the scene), without the crowd it’s hard to enjoy the night. That’s why we play live, right? 

7 hours ago, Bluewine said:

 

Out of all the obstacles we all face I think poor turn out is the hardest to deal with. It is for me.

 

Blue

Yeah I agree 100%. Ironically I played as well as I ever have, but watching the videos back I’m definitely not my usual self, I’m not bouncing and moving around, not stamping my feet like an idiot. I guess we all play off the crowd to a greater or lesser degree.

Just now, MacDaddy said:

 

 

Does The Hobbit still have the outdoor stage? It looked like a mini version of the main stage at Glastonbury 😎

It looked like there was something down there in the corner, yes! It was a bit cold to venture out, if I’m being honest! 
 

You know you’re getting old when you’re inside and commenting on passing students saying ‘They’ll catch their death in that!’

We played in Southampton at ‘The Hobbit’ on Friday night, and a social club called ‘The Martin Club’ on Saturday. Annoyingly we had to shorten our set on Friday due to time constraints, but had a great time with a small but enthusiastic crowd. Saturday however was nothing more than a paid rehearsal in front of the other band (Mutiny on the Beach) - I felt bad for them because they invited us down and we’re embarrassed by the poor turnout. We made the most of it though and had a great laugh all weekend. Mutiny on the Beach are gonna head up to Essex to support us at some point, so it’s great to make new friends if nothing else. 
 

1 hour ago, Mickeyboro said:

And the band name?

MLC - Mid Life crisis 

(yes, one of many 😀)

11 hours ago, Mickeyboro said:

Where in those towns exactly?

The Hobbit in Southampton on Friday 13th, and Martin Club(?) on sat 14th.

Looking forward to rehearsal on Tuesday. 3 newbies to try out. Inside (by Stiltskin), Slither (Velvet Revolver) and Higher (Creed). With travelling gigs next Friday and Saturday in Southampton and Bournemouth (yes, we’re calling those two dates a tour 😀)

I’ve got 3. A five string Harley Benton in standard, 4 string Ibanez in drop D and a 4 string unbranded custom thing that’s half a step down. I chop and change throughout a gig.

2 minutes ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

So that's all settled.

 

What about tribute bands?

SPLITTERS!!!

I started playing in my early-mid teens. Originals only, because that was what music was about. Making your own material and putting it out there. Hoping to make it. I put my heart and soul into a couple of bands in the hope of being the next big thing. That generally took the form of playing gigs to anywhere between a dozen and two hundred people, for barely any money, and a lot of sunk hours in writing and rehearsal, not to mention studio time and money. 
 

Now I’m a lot older (43) and accept that I’m never going to tour round the world and have platinum albums. So what can I do to enjoy my music? Play in a covers band. The crowds are bigger, the money is better, and the gigs are more fun and far less stress.

I’d just like a powerful bass amp that doesn’t require a forklift to move from home-car-venue and back again. 
 

One day I’ll invent one and make my millions. 

Hi guys, 

I recently bought a Harley Benton 5 string stingray-like thingy and I’d like to change out the pup for something a bit better. Most likely a Seymour Duncan or suchlike.

My question is will the new pickup be held back by the existing (presumably budget) wiring/pots etc? i.e will the sound quality be held back by the weakest part of the electrical gubbins? 

I’ve not experience what you have, OP - but I have been known to enter a strange state that I call ‘the zone’ - I become hypersensitive to what I’m doing, be it writing, playing bass or suchlike. 
 

Basically outside noises and distractions reduce to a hum. Voices, music etc all become irrelevant. I remember it happening in an exam once where I could clearly hear my pen noisily scratching across the paper as I wrote. When I’m playing in this zone I have time to think about every fret I’m fingering in real time, and hear my basslines above the rest of the band clearly.

It seldom lasts for more than a few minutes, in fact I think it stops as soon as I consciously become aware of it.

It’s a strange but not unsettling feeling.

I’m a big fan of leaving it alone. Guitars and basses are *meant* to be used, they *will* get dings and scratches. They’re what makes it yours and yours alone. 

I’m not gonna lay into anyone who’s brave enough to put their singing/playing online. I’m far from the greatest bass player/guitarist or singer out there but I enjoy what I do and that’s all that matters.

if social media had been a thing when my first bands were on the scene I’d probably have been shamed into giving up music altogether. 
 

Be kind.