We are a three piece rockabilly band doing covers with a bit of an attitude and edge. The drummer and I are over 50 with several bands under our belt. The bass player is in his mid 20s and this is his first band. We have been together just about a year and doing gigs since September.
The drummer and bassist are wanting to now start working on original numbers "to take things to the next level".
I have issues with this pursuit:
1. Our current act is badly in need of polishing up. Some songs are almost ragged with a confused tempo here, unsure ending there, the drummer sometimes asks "How does this start again?" before a few tunes. And there is too much downtime between songs with little interaction with the audience.
2. I've asked them what they mean by "the next level" and still don't know what they mean, other than a vague reference to splitting up the list between half originals and half covers. To me, doing originals means hitting a studio eventually which is an expense my disposable income can't cover and the band is still paying off PA equipment.
3. The originals are frankly just not that good. I have tried my hand at songwriting with mixed results. The bassist is cranking them out every week or so and wanting us to check them out and see what we think. In time, he may grow into something special. But for now his songs are very much the work of someone new at this.
4. Does an audience in small town middle America even want to hear your own songs?
I am totally against working on these for the reasons stated, but I've been wrong before and agreed to add our two "best" originals to the list as a compromise. After settling on which ones, the bassist wanted to keep adding more and is using his method of non-stop talk to drive me crazy until I cave. To be a good sport and not be negative, I went along with rehearsing two more songs. Neither one worked out.
I think what burns me most is, while everyone agrees the act needs tightening up, we've used up a number of rehearsals spinning our wheels with these songs instead of putting our heads together and improving what we're already doing now. Maybe after six months or a year of work we can be more effective with this, but in our current state I feel original material is a conceit we can ill afford.
Up to now, this has been the most fun I've had with a group. But this is turning into an aggravation.
Hey 3gtrz, I know what you mean we haven't got to that point yet but I feel it coming too. I think there are alot of musical snobs that look down on cover bands as being "inferior" musicians or something, but I've alwyas felt and this was is way before I was ever even playing music that I'd rather hear a good cover than some lame original and to be honest the times I've heard any decent originals you can count on less than one hand. But that's me everyone has different ideas.
In my area it's very hard to find venues where it's mostly originals because unless you can write some really catchy tunes no one is going to come and that means the bar doesn't make money and you never get another call back. Even though the amount of clubs doing live music has definitely declined the majority are still covers cuz they bring the people in and if you are tight you get gigs regularly.
Obviously you know what the band needs, getting the band tight should be job #1, after that maybe you can try 1or 2 originals at a gig and then be honest with yourselves how you think they went over with the crowd. Jumping into originals from where you are I think would be a mistake.
But no you get into the bandmates with different musical ideas which could pull you guys apart, it's a slippery slope just have to use your judgement and hope for the best.
Do you have someone that you all respect that could come by when you practice the originals and give an unbiased critique, maybe that would help.
"It's all about stickin it to the man!"
It's a long way to the top if you want to rock n roll!
Back in the day (a million-plus years ago it seems now) bands would go with the mantra "covers sell drinks," meaning that covers were good for business and would get you hired. But we'd also write our own material, too. The trick was writing to the style of the people we covered. For instance, we'd write a "Neil Young" style song or an "Elvis Costello" style song or something that would compliment two or three of the cover songs we already did. Often we wouldn't even say that they were cover songs until people started asking us who wrote them because they liked the song but couldn't place what group did it. Audiences like to hear good music. And if an original reminds them of a song they like, then they're more than okay with that.
For most bands, "getting to the next level" isn't about playing originals. It's about being so tight as a band that you sound like you've been playing together long enough to read each other's minds. This can be all about arranging - starting and stopping at the same place or running two or three songs together in a row or dropping out to just the drums and vocals at one point and then bringing in the bass and then bringing in the guitar. Being together (musically) as a group is always where the main focus of the group should be regardless of whether you're playing covers or originals.
And that's also where the focus of practicing should be. Not that you shouldn't be trying out new songs (again, doesn't matter if they are originals or covers) - you have to constantly be bringing in new material. But you also have to make sure that the material you have is down cold. That doesn't mean just knowing it to play it - it also means that the performing of it, just as you would in front of people - is so solid that you can handle any kind of miscue that's bound to happen.
How many rehearsals do you typically do? If it's two a week, for example, pick out one rehearsal every other week (or even just one a month) specifically for trying out new songs and originals while using the other rehearsals to nail down the arrangements of songs. At least one rehearsal a month should also be dedicated to performance - write out a set and play it just as if you were playing live in front of an audience. If you can talk someone (or a couple of someones) into being your audience, that would be even better as you could have them take notes and give you unbiased feedback.
Hope this helps. And looking forward to hearing more about how things are going.
Peace
We haven't been playing long enough where we've reached that nice 'musical telepathy' stage. I know we can get there, we just have a ways to go.
We practice weekly if there's no gigs or prior commitments. 5p-10p.
The bassist and drummer work together in a factory setting, so they spend a lot of time getting each other geeked out about the band. I wonder if its a case of them starting to drink their own Kool-aid.
I don't know who we would bring in who would state a truly objective opinion. Most folks don't want to be the person who tells you a song sucks. And a spouse will either love everything unconditionally or go too far the other way in an attempt not to be biased.
The bassist just dropped off recordings of us working on the songs and wants feedback. So here goes... :|
The end all and be all in a successful music career...IE: putting your own stuff "out there"...is simple: write a hit. If you do...you'll know it...you won't need your Uncle Fred's intoduction to his neighbour's cousin's accountant's pastor's janitor's uncle's friend in the music bizz. Like that better mousetrap...the world will beat a path to your door.
Get tight, musically...most helpful tip I can give is to have the drummer's foot follow the rhythm player's pick and the bassist to do the same thing. Also...like "duh!"...no-one stinks. This is completely Darwinian...but, if you want to get somewhere...make sure you got all your wheels on the band bus going around.
Get right, musically...work on your hooks. If someone forgets your music as soon as you finish playing it, they'll forget about you along with it. Virtually all the songs I see...and review...by wannabes...are long, bland, dirges that go nowhere. However, the group manages to play these long, bland, dirges that go nowhere perfectly...so "someone should sign us"!!! The A&R guy (or gal) needs to be transported away from their world for a few minutes by what you've given them. Try the car radio "click test". Go ahead...click rapidly through any radio dial. Why is it that you've stoped where you did??? The company needs to smell money.
Get together often. If you are rusty or are still learning what's going on, that's okay, just do it together. A "band" needs to be just that...
Also...RECORD EVERYTHING!
Cat
"Feel what you play...play what you feel!"
Cat said it: Record everything. I've been recording our practices for several weeks now, and we learn a lot from them.
And everyone wants a hit, which is defined as something that someone else covers! David said it right, if your originals fit with the rest of the music, then you should be fine. Since none of us write songs, we play David's older stuff, and call it "unpublished".
