Problems finding a Frontman/woman

[bratfink]

You know in this era of 'American Idol' where everyone gets to realise their dream of being on stage I am surprized I am having so much trouble finding a frontman for my band!

Backstory:
I have a band named 'Red Dot Horizon'. We are new, writing original material and gearing up to record and play out in the local area - possibly beyond. We play and write Melodic Death metal, we aren't as melodic as some of the Gothenberg stuff and we aren't as death as some of the Florida stuff. So we probably sit somewhere in the late Carcass/Arch Enemy vein, with a bit of extra thrash.

Every so often we will go to open mic/jam sessions and blat out some bars of our material and improvise a bit (like you do at jam sessions) partly to get our faces known and partly to advertise for the need for a frontman. Everyone is very complimentary and comes up to us and wants to get involved. Right up till the point where they have to perform for us.

We even had one guy come over to audition, hold the mic for 4 songs and not utter a single word into it. Then comes up to me after the audition and say "that was great, when are we practicing again?"..... We are, you aren't!

When I started this venture a little over a year ago I figured the hardest places to fill would be guitar and drums. That was easy! But I'll be damned if I am gonna find a frontman/woman worth hiring.

What's kinda funny is that I trawl bandmix and the local music forums for people looking for frontman gigs and I email each and every one of them a fairly detailed run down of what we do, who we are etc. I have not had a single answer back from any one of these people (must be 150 of them!). You would think if they were advertising themselves to be a front man in a death metal band that they'd at least want to reply to an offer!

Anyone else have this problem?

[Rsmacker]

Should have stayed in Coventry, it's teeming with dickheads, um, I mean "charismatic frontmen".

Your problem is mailing them with a detailed run-down of what you do. No frontperson (fucking hell, go me, Mr Politically Correct!) wants to join a band and do what some wankstain guitarist tells him (unless it's Ozzy, who stood on one side of the stage because Tony Iommi said it was his band, and he should stand in the middle. So there.) If they are bandless, it's because they are arrogant, inflexible, childish, and petulant, and think that an audience is there to see them, not the rest of you, you are a minor part. He/she is sitting there, waiting for the perfect backing band to elevate him to stardom.

This is actually not a bad thing, these are all the traits of a perfect frontperson. They need to be parachuting into gigs, hanging out of the back of groupies during drum solos, biting sheeps' balls off in press conferences (for Farmers Weekly, I guess) and wearing trousers so tight they cut your circulation off.
What's worse than seeing a band who are equals? You end up with Take That (or the Beatles, but everyone still thought Ringo was a twat). I don't care how good the rest of you are, I like to watch the frontman being a tit and rabble-rousing, putting on a SHOW.
Unless, of course, you have a really cool party piece while you are impressing me with your superior guitar skills. If not, I stand there and think "I'm better than that" while you lot, dressed in black, with black guitars, shake your head a little bit. Yawn

The other plus point is that if they make a tool of themself, no-one really remembers the embarrassed bandmates standing up there with them, they remember that twat who thought he was DLR but ended up more like DLT (on Noel's House Party).

You need to "suggest" the things you'd "like" to do, list your influences, and lie that you have loads of gigs lined up at a national titty bar chain, sponsored by Montana Llello Importation Co, and serious interest from Polymer records. Doesn't matter if you think his ideas are shite, and you know exactly what you will do and not do, let the frontperson think it's their band. Hook him first, then exert your control, in a way that doesn't cause confrontation.

"Melodic death metal" sounds like "gay not-really-death-metal-because-we-are-pussies" to me, I'm afraid. I like Carcass, but I have no idea what "with a bit of extra thrash" means. It's like saying "with even heavier guitars", it means nothing really. You are influenced by Carcass and (insert thrash band name here) , leave it at that. That may mean though that your potential vocalist thinks "I'm nothing like Jeff Walker" and so doesn't bother even trying out with you, so put plenty of influences down. Unless he's looking to join a generic clone band, the influences mean little anyway, it just shows you aren't totally at odds with each others' musical tastes.

Finally, "Red Dot Horizon" sounds to me like Mrs Patel's Red Dot Forehead, maybe think of another name.

Just my honest two-penn'oth, best of luck.

[RacerX]

Rsmacker

[Larz]

Not all that surprising to me, there's hundreds of millions of people who can't sing, including people who think they are phenomenal.

Plus that sort of vocal style you're looking for diminishes the talent pool available even further.

[Ward]

Not surprising to me either. I always thought a frontman/singer was by far the hardest thing to find. Especially a good one.

Rsmacker - That was amazingly accurate and funny as all hell.

[clifffclaven]

Rsmacker- that is dead on. Musicians in general are pretty flaky, singers are the worst.

[lerxstcat]

LMAO at RSmacker's post! Very true and humorously so!

You are probably being too specific, and giving these potential applicants the idea that they aren't good enough for what you want from the gate. Remember that behind every huge ego is an inferirity complex that doesn't want to get popped like a pimple. As Rsmacker said, be a bit more general, so they feel like they might fit in, and once you've found one you can work with, guide them in such a way that they feel like it's their ideas they are expressing.

A few years back i was playing with some guys, mostly MOR 80s metal covers like Dokken and Tesla, stuff like that. Not perfect, but i really liked the drummer, the singer had a good voice but was a baritone trying to sing tenor stuff, it was tough for him. One day I am shooting the shit with the bass player on break and Immigrant Song by Zeppelin came up. He said "That bass line is unreal, dude! I could never play that!" I asked if I could see his bass, played the part for him, and said "It's just a major scale in A, B and C with a chromatic run on the D string at the end of the riff. This is why I say all bass players should learn the scales. But I'll be gladd to teach it to you, man!"

He never came back! I guess I intimidated him by playing something he couldn't play on his bass! Meanwhile all I was trying to do was show him he COULD play it. But that illustrates the point that a lot of aspiring musos are very sensitive, and if they think you are are looking for something they don't think they can deliver, they may not show up to try.

Not very metal, but all too human....

[markD]

i have always found it difficult to find a vocalist to fit into a band i have already created. whenever i need to find a new front person, i "break up" the band i already had (i keep any good musicians if they want to stay). then i run an ad looking for a "vocalist/songwriter to work with a songwriter/guitarist". at that point, i usually get dozens of hits on my ad. from there i actually schedule interviews with the prospective vocalist and we talk influences/musical direction. what the person does not know is that they are basically coming into an already established sound...i have my style and way of writing, that person just has to work within it.

i had to take this approach because singers are usually the most arrogant bunch around....especially if they write. as hard as it is to do, one often has to feed the ego in order to land the singer. once that happens, you can begin to manipulate the situation to your advantage. it works best with a singer that doesn't play an instrument. if that person wants their song to be performed then they have to find a way to make it work within the context of YOUR writing style.

i had to do this when i began working with my current vocalist. she is a real diva and starting out was kinda rough. luckily i had the experience so she, more often than not, followed my lead. there have been instances where she plants her diva boots in the dirt and won't budge. oh well. it is gonna happen.

good luck to you and your search. i hope you can attract the right person for your band. it is hard, but everyone that has posted thus far has given usable advice. take heed, use it as you can, and find that singer!!!!!

[markD]

oh, i forgot to mention.....most singers are arrogant enough to refuse to sing any lyrics they did not write. be prepared to be flexible on that one. a good working band is all about compromising, and if you CAN land a singer but they want to write their own lyrics, you may want to let that happen. i guess it all depends on how personal your lyrics are....

my band has been together about 6 years now, and our singer has JUST started singing lyrics she did not write....

[Soap]

Rock n roll died not too long ago, didn't it?

I'm told the talent is on American idol, voice, america's got talent and etc.

[bratfink]

RSmacker: Excellent reply! and good advice to boot... It's funny, because I had no trouble finding front men in Coventry! I guess the MidWest is a bit different, there is no shortage of shitty country singers!

Bit harsh on the band name but I see your point. Rather than 'Mrs Patel', I was thinking more along the lines of that nice Para sniper who picked off 2 Tali-tubbies at a mile and half and the imagery goes with it. There are plenty of great death metal acts that can't get a gig due to a ridiculously offensive name, each trying to outdo the last. I didn't really want to join that rat race.

You are exactly right though, we need a frontman who will act the fool and be everything a frontman is supposed to be (including drug induced premature death - but we don't pay extra for that).

I'm not with you on the 'pussy metal' though. I was there at the 'Gods of Grind', I saw it all start. Do you remember what Carcass, Bolt Thrower and Napalm Death (with Lee Dorian) actually sounded like back then!!! The best thing that happened to death metal was when Carcass and Entombed decided to actually start writing melodic riffs. Granted there are harder and more polished acts out there now, but that isn't the market I am aiming at. The young kids these days haven't done their metal history, they think that each and every offensive noise ridden band is new and groundbreaking. For me it is 5th time round (in some cases) seeing the same sound come back as 'new'.

That doesn't mean I don't write/play aggressive metal, but I won't join the one-upmanship of being the fastest, most extreme band ever. I want some critical acclaim at least. Linking back to your point - the frontmans job is to take care of the one-upmanship dept, they are the ones to be the most extreme and ridiculous ever, I'll take care of writing good music to add a soundtrack to the frontmans antics.

MarkD: Luckily, I actually want the Frontman to write the lyrics. All the songs we have currently finished have no lyrics attached to them, which makes them sound strange since the verse patterns are all structured as if there were lyrics.

Thanks everyone: Notes taken, massage ego. "I want YOU to give us guidance and direction, it is YOUR band". Small print: play my songs, do as I say, show up to practice and shows on time, act as depraved frontman on my command.... lol.

[markD]

Thanks everyone: Notes taken, massage ego. "I want YOU to give us guidance and direction, it is YOUR band". Small print: play my songs, do as I say, show up to practice and shows on time, act as depraved frontman on my command.... lol.

hahaha, yep, that's the game plan. sad, but true....