The world of depping

[kiat]

2 minutes ago, TimR said:

Drummer: We are sounding pretty tight even with this dep guy.

Guitarist: Listen to my playing, I'm on fire! ...as usual.

Singer: Something is off somewhere, just can't quite hit the notes.

Punters: This band sounds great.

Bass player: Must keep smiling, Must keep smiling. 

 

🤣

Perfect summation 😉 Are you a mind reader?  🤣

[TimR]

2 minutes ago, kiat said:

Perfect summation 😉 Are you a mind reader?  🤣

 

Been there... Many times. 🤣

[Burns-bass]

Did yesterdays gig with zero rehearsals, setlist changed around and some called out in different keys. Was a good workout.

 

Turns out the guys are all pit players and have been doing this for 20 years so lots of eye contact and trying to fit in.

 

Sounded good and some great players. A lot of fun (and £250 so pretty good).

[jazzyvee]

I had one of those gigs last night with a Tribute band and same thing, some different keys as the singer was also a dep, different arrangements,starts, endings etc.

Kept me on my toes trying to guess what and when the breaks would be and how the songs would end. The most uncomfortable was that many of the starts were different to the original records which you only discover when you start playing what you know and it turns out that they don't start like that anymore. Makes starting the next song an anxious moment. 🙂

But overall it was a nice gig. 

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Before last night's gig.

 

Guitarist (in jest) "I forgot to tell you were detuning by a semitone tonight"

 

Me "Don't worry, if the bass is off it's everyone else who sounds out of tune"

[Franticsmurf]

3 hours ago, TimR said:

Drummer: We are sounding pretty tight even with this dep guy.

Guitarist: Listen to my playing, I'm on fire! ...as usual.

Singer: Something is off somewhere, just can't quite hit the notes.

Punters: This band sounds great.

Bass player: Must keep smiling, Must keep smiling. 

 

🤣

Were you watching us last night. 🙂

[Franticsmurf]

Being relatively new to this depping lark, one thing I have noticed is that I have spent more time learning the actual bass part to the songs, rather than working out my own versions which I do with my main band. I have always been someone who thinks that a covers band (but not a tribute act) should be bringing something new to the set in terms of arrangements so that there is an identity to the band regardless of the actual songs played. To me this includes tempo, instruments, solos, fills etc and I try to personalise the bass lines within the context of the song. I think that in some ways this has made me a little lazy in terms of learning parts as I can always use my philosophy to fudge over difficult bits. 

 

But over the last couple of months I've done a lot more depping and I've made a point of learning the original parts, as regardless of the way the band plays the song, the original version provides a good starting point and usually a reference should things go wrong. In preparing for dep gigs, I think I've become a better bass player and certainly my self confidence in being able to play the proper parts has increased. That in turn has given me the confidence to take on the depping roles. 

[Burns-bass]

1 hour ago, Franticsmurf said:

Being relatively new to this depping lark, one thing I have noticed is that I have spent more time learning the actual bass part to the songs, rather than working out my own versions which I do with my main band. I have always been someone who thinks that a covers band (but not a tribute act) should be bringing something new to the set in terms of arrangements so that there is an identity to the band regardless of the actual songs played. To me this includes tempo, instruments, solos, fills etc and I try to personalise the bass lines within the context of the song. I think that in some ways this has made me a little lazy in terms of learning parts as I can always use my philosophy to fudge over difficult bits. 

 

But over the last couple of months I've done a lot more depping and I've made a point of learning the original parts, as regardless of the way the band plays the song, the original version provides a good starting point and usually a reference should things go wrong. In preparing for dep gigs, I think I've become a better bass player and certainly my self confidence in being able to play the proper parts has increased. That in turn has given me the confidence to take on the depping roles. 

I agree. There are some songs where the baseline is the song (or at least a huge part of it) and you can’t mess with that. But for others, you just need to find what works.

 

Thats the difference between a cover band who play an interpretation and a tribute band, I guess.

[Stub Mandrel]

6 hours ago, Franticsmurf said:

Being relatively new to this depping lark, one thing I have noticed is that I have spent more time learning the actual bass part to the songs, rather than working out my own versions which I do with my main band. I have always been someone who thinks that a covers band (but not a tribute act) should be bringing something new to the set in terms of arrangements so that there is an identity to the band regardless of the actual songs played. To me this includes tempo, instruments, solos, fills etc and I try to personalise the bass lines within the context of the song. I think that in some ways this has made me a little lazy in terms of learning parts as I can always use my philosophy to fudge over difficult bits. 

 

But over the last couple of months I've done a lot more depping and I've made a point of learning the original parts, as regardless of the way the band plays the song, the original version provides a good starting point and usually a reference should things go wrong. In preparing for dep gigs, I think I've become a better bass player and certainly my self confidence in being able to play the proper parts has increased. That in turn has given me the confidence to take on the depping roles. 

 

Depping and jamming are excellent ways to improve confidence and ability. Deps force you to learn new stuff. I'm sure this insanely busy summer has made me 'level up'. 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

I've just been sent the set list for a gig on 27/9 for a band I dep for.

Three songs in there I've never played before and they don't rehearse.

I wasn't informed of this when I said yes, but the singer is also a dep and everything will be tuned down half a step for him.

There's a song in there that should be played on a 5. That's not going to happen if everything is being tuned down.

They can put up with me playing the low stuff higher on that one.

Plus....I've also got the full house in cover band bingo....Play That Funky Music, Summer of '69, Sex on Fire, Chelsea Dagger AND Mr.Brightside!

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

Oh, and Long Train Running as well I've just noticed. Lucky me 😎

[casapete]

31 minutes ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

Plus....I've also got the full house in cover band bingo....Play That Funky Music, Summer of '69, Sex on Fire, Chelsea Dagger AND Mr.Brightside!

Nearly a full house surely? No Brown Eyed Girl, Mustang Sally or Sweet Caroline? 😅

[Mickeyboro]

We encored with Mustang (our soundcheck only number) on Friday. Audience loved it. I put it down to the added organ…somehow legitimises it

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, hiram.k.hackenbacker said:

I wasn't informed of this when I said yes, but the singer is also a dep and everything will be tuned down half a step for him.

 

I'm not the world's best singer, but the chance that tuning down a random selection of songs half-step will make a meaningful difference to more than one or two songs is negligible.

[tauzero]

7 hours ago, casapete said:

Nearly a full house surely? No Brown Eyed Girl, Mustang Sally or Sweet Caroline? 😅

 

Also missing All Right Now and Sweet Home Alabama.

[chris_b]

All good crowd pleasers. That's what Top 40 cover bands are for.

 

I have no problem depping with these numbers in the set. At least I don't have to learn 15 songs that I'll never play again and suffer a lukewarm response from the audience. One song which always raises the roof is Hi Ho Silver Lining. We only have to play the first verse and the audience sings the rest of the song, louder than we're playing! I'm sure the band gets rebooked once a month on the audience reaction to that song alone!

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

10 hours ago, tauzero said:

Also missing All Right Now and Sweet Home Alabama.

No escape for me….

 

[BigRedX]

If you don't want to play songs that you don't like write your own.

[Stub Mandrel]

4 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

If you don't want to play songs that you don't like write your own.

 

Not a way to get ahead with depping... 😁

[BigRedX]

I see depping for bands the same way as I see my graphic design day job.

 

I am there to serve my client. If I think that they are VERY wrong I will politely suggest an alternative. Once. If my client chooses to ignore that advice I will produce them exactly what they want without further comment, take their money at the end and thank them for it, and ask what other projects they have for me. I won't have a moan about it, because it's not worth the effort. I might even use the work in my portfolio if the client is an impressive enough name or if their brand is relevant to attracting potential new business. It's gratifying when I do produce something that I can also be proud of from a creative PoV, but first and foremost I do it for the money, so I can pay the bills.

 

However I think it is telling that the one piece of graphics work I have produced that will live on in the public domain after I am gone is something that I did for myself and not to any client-supplied brief.

 

So, for me music is too important for me to waste my time playing songs I don't enjoy. Aside from the fact that I'm simply not talented enough to take on any depping job, I don't want to do that. I've played in covers bands enough to know that for me it's a route to hating songs that I used to enjoy. If I was good enough to be a dep I'd play the songs, take the money and leave it at that. 

Edited 5 hours ago by BigRedX

[Burns-bass]

14 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

I see depping for bands the same way as I see my graphic design day job.

 

I am there to serve my client. If I think that they are VERY wrong I will politely suggest an alternative. Once. If my client chooses to ignore that advice I will produce them exactly what they want without further comment, take their money at the end and thank them for it, and ask what other projects they have for me. I won't have a moan about it, because it's not worth the effort. I might even use the work in my portfolio if the client is an impressive enough name or if their brand is relevant to attracting potential new business. It's gratifying when I do produce something that I can also be proud of from a creative PoV, but first and foremost I do it for the money, so I can pay the bills.

 

However I think it is telling that the one piece of graphics work I have produced that will live on in the public domain after I am gone is something that I did for myself and not to any client-supplied brief.

 

So, for me music is too important for me to waste my time playing songs I don't enjoy. Aside from the fact that I'm simply not talented enough to take on any depping job, I don't want to do that. I've played in covers bands enough to know that for me it's a route to hating songs that I used to enjoy. If I was good enough to be a dep I'd play the songs, take the money and leave it at that. 

We all get you’re a slave to your art and that’s great.

 

I work as a writer and my job is being destroyed by AI. In August I earned nearly £1000 from depping which enabled my family to eat and enjoy our holidays. I earned £500 from my writing work. (Thankfully it’s picked up now.)

 

Depping is a job like any other. Can you pick and choose your clients? I assume no. It’s the same thing.

Edited 5 hours ago by Burns-bass

[chris_b]

I get  that some can'/won't do this, but IMO we should all be able to separate work from play and, if we do it properly, enjoy both. 

 

I depped for a cover band on Saturday and it was a thoroughly enjoyable evening. The set, band, venue and audience made it a great night.

 

On Thursday I'm gigging with my old fashioned R&B / Rock n Roll/ Ska band. It not really my thing but I expect everyone to be dancing and having a good night, so I will too. Saturday is a dep with a pickup band and, as yet, I have no idea what songs we will be playing. I'll probably find out when we get to the gig!! The jury is out on this one! Sunday is my regular Blues Band. That will be a good evening with an appreciative audience, sitting and listening.

 

Variety and good players keeps it interesting, a happy audience and getting paid makes it worthwhile.

[FretsOnFire]

Where do people find dep gigs? 

[Franticsmurf]

6 minutes ago, FretsOnFire said:

Where do people find dep gigs? 

At first I was depping for a band I used to play in - I knew the guys, even the bass player that replaced me. That was easy as the set hadn't changed and effectively I was just playing in 'my' band. But recently, they've started coming from an ex bandmate and I've had four in quick succession as a result of two recommendations from him. I don't go looking for them as up until recently I haven't felt competent enough to do them. 

[hiram.k.hackenbacker]

2 hours ago, BigRedX said:

I see depping for bands the same way as I see my graphic design day job.

I don’t. I get asked to play the set that they want played. I don’t get a say in it.

I wasn’t expecting everything to be dropped a step, to be playing with a dep singer, to be learning three new songs in a day (I know it’s a few days until Saturday, but I only have one day free that I’ll be able to do it and refresh on the others I haven’t played for a while) or to be playing to a rammed club celebrating their 50th anniversary (I’ve played there before and it’s not usually that busy). As a dep you have to roll with it or stop doing it.

The set content doesn't bother me at all. If that’s what they want, I’m happy to go with it.

I do find it very odd that bands still play Long Train Running, Sweet Home Alabama, All Right Now, Play That Funky Music.

The other more recent ones like Sex on Fire I kinda get, but I would not lose a moments sleep if I never Long Train and Funky ever again.