JamesBass Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 I've come to the conclusion that I'm ready to take on a function band after spending the last 5-6 years trying to play original stuff exclusively, sadly I've had FAR too many changes to really make any significant progress, though I still want to be involved with original bands and to write and develop my own music. I've only ever done function/covers bands with mates before and that was a while ago now. Where can I find a dedicated and fairly professional function band? I've tried Join My Band etc as well as local music stores where else can I try? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Start your own and learn on the way! Might take a few years to get to the standard you want but you'll get there with enough investment and hard work I've been in covers bands of various guises for 7 years. Only in the last few months have I felt that I've known the right people and have enough financial backing to get into the functions and corporate market. It'll be extremely hard to find a band at that level that will advertise generally for a bassist. They'll have a pool of deps to choose from and most likely they'll find someone without needing to advertise. Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JapanAxe Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 You will often find function bands advertising on joinmyband.co.uk However you may find some of these are pub bands hoping to get into function work. It's worth asking what their last few gigs were. Some bands use pub gigs as a shop window to pick up private parties as a way into functions. Nothing wrong with any of this, just something to be aware of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delberthot Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Facebook - add all your musician friends, you'll then get automatic suggestions of other friends that they might have who are also musicians. I sometimes just chance it and add friends of friends that @ don't know personally but I do know that they are musicians When my last function band ended I nearly jacked it all in after trying long and hard to find a new band. I changed my status one day to read that I had enough with all the time wasters, dreamers, cr@p musicians and egos and that if I didn't find anything soon I was going to sell up and take up stamp collecting or something. I got a reply back from a keyboard player i know who has one of the busiest wedding bands in Scotland to say "don't be silly, here's some gigs" I think I ended up playing 30 gigs with him that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassnut62 Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 (edited) I'm three years into having set up my own function band and only now feel I have gathered good enough musicians, who genuinely feel and understand the groove, to be serious contenders for function work. We're starting to break through and get the gigs we want...at last! I nearly gave it up before Summer 2014 after much hard work and frustration; but thought give it one more go and some great people appeared from nowhere!! Along the way we had some individual great musicians who had the feel right; but never a whole band's worth at same time. Edited December 26, 2014 by Bassnut62 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1419624465' post='2641438'] Start your own and learn on the way! Might take a few years to get to the standard you want but you'll get there with enough investment and hard work [/quote] I see this suggestion, [i]"start your own"[/i] quite often. and it's thrown around like it's a viable option for everyone when it's not for several reasons. First of all most start ups never see their first gig, it's just the way things are. Second, it takes a lot of different skill sets to start your own working band. How are you going to attract good musicians when you have nothing financial to offer. Most good seasoned players are going to look at what a band has on the books before anything else. Most start ups have nothing on the books. A lot of newbies , might not have the experience needed for a working band. You have to have deep pockets,, resources, a large network of established musicians and incredible organizational skills to start your own band. Many of you have these qualities and that's great.But on the other side of the coin, many don't. Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 (edited) [quote name='JamesBass' timestamp='1419623197' post='2641418'] I've come to the conclusion that I'm ready to take on a function band after spending the last 5-6 years trying to play original stuff exclusively, sadly I've had FAR too many changes to really make any significant progress, though I still want to be involved with original bands and to write and develop my own music. I've only ever done function/covers bands with mates before and that was a while ago now. Where can I find a dedicated and fairly professional function band? I've tried Join My Band etc as well as local music stores where else can I try? [/quote] "My Band" is a start but if the UK is anything like the USA, working function bands hardly ever post opening to the public. Go out and see some of the better functions bands and talk to them. Ask the bass player how he found the opportunity, stuff like that. also talk to the agencies that represent these function bands. They might give you a lead. Blue Edited December 26, 2014 by blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesBass Posted December 27, 2014 Author Share Posted December 27, 2014 I've been the organiser and the MD and Band leader and still want to retain that with my original projects, but right now I've had my fill of being a full time band leader and MD, I now need to join an experienced bunch of guys who are committed as much as I am. Agencies are my next call and I'm busy setting up my own personal website, directed at showing a sample repitoire and advertising me as a session/dep player, original musician, and teacher, so I'm fairly full on and really don't want the hassle of being responsible for organising the band etc. I go to jam nights but find there are some large egos or a very run of the mill musical style, covers often played note for note and no real musicianship has gone in to things, I guess I'm looking for a band that can change songs up a bit and don't do a note for note cover of Sex on Fire every weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 [quote name='blue' timestamp='1419633335' post='2641542'] I see this suggestion, [i]"start your own"[/i] quite often. and it's thrown around like it's a viable option for everyone when it's not for several reasons. First of all most start ups never see their first gig, it's just the way things are. Second, it takes a lot of different skill sets to start your own working band. How are you going to attract good musicians when you have nothing financial to offer. Most good seasoned players are going to look at what a band has on the books before anything else. Most start ups have nothing on the books. A lot of newbies , might not have the experience needed for a working band. You have to have deep pockets,, resources, a large network of established musicians and incredible organizational skills to start your own band. Many of you have these qualities and that's great.But on the other side of the coin, many don't. Blue [/quote] Totally agree, just pointing out that it's really hard to find bands at that level that look for musicians publically. If I were looking for a replacement bassist for my band, I would be after someone who already has years of experience playing covers. There are many reasons for this but it's mainly because playing covers at any level requires a different skill set to playing original music. A skill set that takes a few years to develop. Someone in the OP's position may find it hard to get function work because of this. Ergo, it'd be better for him to start his own band. IMO! Truckstop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 [quote name='Truckstop' timestamp='1419679613' post='2641809'] Totally agree, just pointing out that it's really hard to find bands at that level that look for musicians publically. If I were looking for a replacement bassist for my band, I would be after someone who already has years of experience playing covers. There are many reasons for this but it's mainly because playing covers at any level requires a different skill set to playing original music. A skill set that takes a few years to develop. Someone in the OP's position may find it hard to get function work because of this. Ergo, it'd be better for him to start his own band. IMO! Truckstop [/quote] Good point, and maybe the OP has what it takes to start his own thing. http://basschat.co.uk/topic/252068-your-musical-ambitions-plans-goals-for-2015/page__st__30 Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Starr Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 When does a covers band start being a function band? One of the better places to look for genuinely working covers bands is Lemonrock.com , essentially a site for covers bands to advertise their gigs and tout for more. They'll range from weekend warriors up to professional function bands but they are all pretty much gigging bands as they pay to join, which cuts out a lot of the dreamers and bedroom players. I suspect the fully pro function bands expect you to read and advertise elsewhere, but there are plenty of the more professional covers bands doing mainly functions and charging good money for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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