Too old to start a band?

[xenophobe]

I do get on CL and post ads and respond to them, but so far it's proven not to work. There are many reasons for this, but it mostly boils down to the style of music I want to play. I want to play more of a traditional hard rock/metal, whereas most kids my age want to play hipster indie stuff that I'd rather rip my own fingernails out with a pair of needle nose pliers than play/listen to. And even when you do connect with people, it never culminates. You'll talk to them once or twice via email or text (or sometimes phone), and then you'll never hear from them again. I'm not sure what to do.

You're probably being way too picky. Your first band isn't going to be your dream music unless you start it yourself. Being in a band is a compromise, on so many different levels. Find a band that's remotely close to the genres you like or want to play and have grooves you dig. You can't really be too picky, just hope that you're skilled enough and can find people that will let you integrate your own style into the music you're playing.

I've mostly gigged thrash / tech death metal. I've been in an epic / heavy metal band and a punk/ska/reggae band. My desire to perform outweighed the particular genre that I would think ideal. I've played bass and guitar and switched whenever necessary. Hell I've even helped friends roadie.

Everyone in this thread has given you good, solid and bluntly honest advice. I would just keep at putting up ads, responding to them, and the modern thing is exactly as been described, write and release your own... If you can write well, maybe you can find some locals in a band willing to play a few of your songs after you learn all their material and show competence and get along.

[kamanda]

^ Another good piece of advice there, and throughout this thread. You think we're being dicks but we've all been there to some degree. With the CL...man its tough, you do get ALOT of flakes. And if you're responding to people with the attitude you have against other types of music, you're probably turning off a lot of them right away. I've kicked great players out of bands just due to them being so egotistical and impossible to work with.

With that said, your first step is to write some tunes. You can say you want to be in a classic hard rock / metal band all day but people are going to want to hear what you can do and the style your writing. Where are your demos?

[VitaminG]

You're probably being way too picky. Your first band isn't going to be your dream music unless you start it yourself. Being in a band is a compromise, on so many different levels. Find a band that's remotely close to the genres you like or want to play and have grooves you dig. You can't really be too picky, just hope that you're skilled enough and can find people that will let you integrate your own style into the music you're playing.

I've mostly gigged thrash / tech death metal. I've been in an epic / heavy metal band and a punk/ska/reggae band. My desire to perform outweighed the particular genre that I would think ideal. I've played bass and guitar and switched whenever necessary. Hell I've even helped friends roadie.

Everyone in this thread has given you good, solid and bluntly honest advice. I would just keep at putting up ads, responding to them, and the modern thing is exactly as been described, write and release your own... If you can write well, maybe you can find some locals in a band willing to play a few of your songs after you learn all their material and show competence and get along.

^ this

Even if the music you're playing isn't what you dreamed of playing in your epic stadium filling band, it's still giving you experience dealing with bandmates & their shit, playing music with others, hopefully loads of gigging, maybe some writing & recording. Take what you can from that experience so that when your dream situation turns up (or you create it), you'll be that much more ready to go with it. Wouldn't it suck to find your dream gig right out of the gate & it all fell to shit because you weren't equipped to deal with it?

[leftrb]

The simple answer to your question is: No, you're not too old to start a band.

[Larz]

Seems like the Nashville scene is one of the last best places to make a mark as a musician, songwriter, touring act......obviously not for metal and ultra competitive.......but not like you’re gonna break out on the sunset strip either anymore

[AgentX]

Seems like the Nashville scene is one of the last best places to make a mark as a musician, songwriter, touring act......obviously not for metal and ultra competitive.......but not like you’re gonna break out on the sunset strip either anymore

This is exactly right. Which is why I'm currently looking for a different city. I was thinking about possibly looking for somewhere that isn't known so much for music, but still has a scene. Nashville sucks. It's almost like a church in that it has a single style that people want and a built in audience for it. You ain't gonna bring no metal through the door. Especially if you're a young original band. A country band playing twangy versions of Gnr and Def Leppard covers at honkytonk central is as close as it gets. East Nashville has a different scene, but it's hipster, and I'm not a hipster. God!!!

[xenophobe]

^ this

Even if the music you're playing isn't what you dreamed of playing in your epic stadium filling band, it's still giving you experience dealing with bandmates & their shit, playing music with others, hopefully loads of gigging, maybe some writing & recording. Take what you can from that experience so that when your dream situation turns up (or you create it), you'll be that much more ready to go with it. Wouldn't it suck to find your dream gig right out of the gate & it all fell to shit because you weren't equipped to deal with it?

Absolutely. Not to mention all the rehearsals and getting along without drama you'll need to deal with. All the garage days type stuff. It can take 6 months to a year just rehearsing a new member well enough to play a solid 15-20 minute set, depending on technical difficulty of the music. People don't just 'drop in' to a new gigging band without a lot of experience and work. It certainly doesn't happen with a first band.

[AgentX]

Three calls today. One was a younger band needing guitarist. All their material was in drop C, so I just don't think I can join them. The other guys seemed very nice, but didn't really seem like fits. I think I should keep looking. I want to be less picky so I can actually get something going, but some of it just comes down to my not being able to play some of these styles. I have no experience with drop C for instance, and the other guy wanted to play Tool-like stuff. That's all just a different skill set altogether.

[AgentX]

I think Nashville is a lost cause. I've run across the same three guys responding to my ads multiple times. They've all three met each other too. They're all old farts. Nashville is NOT a big city. It's a very small town, and I honestly don't see what the appeal is here. Everyone is the most pretentious stripe of a musician (or person for that matter), and everyone is a lame fuck. Their music is lame too. I guess that's why they make a killing off of mentally challenged tourists.

It's unbelievable that guys my age don't want to form rock & roll bands. They're nowhere to be found. They'd rather be DJs or hipsters or some other lame ass shit like that.

[VitaminG]

Drop C isn't a style. It could be metalcore, it could be technical death, it could be stoner metal, it could be a QOTSA or Mastodon tribute band. It's probably hard rock or metal though. As is Tool.

Is it worth just trying it out anyway? They might dig what you bring, you might find that you can apply what you do to their thing. And if it all still doesn't pan out, at least you'll know from experience. Rather than dismissing it after a phone call.

The 3 phone calls you received today seem to contradict your complaints that either no one wants to start bands or they are all country and/or hipster douches. In the end, it seems to be you just killing every opportunity that comes along.

[AgentX]

The 3 phone calls you received today seem to contradict your complaints that either no one wants to start bands or they are all country and/or hipster douches. In the end, it seems to be you just killing every opportunity that comes along.

I know. It's always my fault. I must be all over every offer or it's just my bad attitude.

[pianoguyy]

Nashville and Austin are two places that people assume are country. But they actually have very large music populations. This includes rock/metal.


And, FYI, yes, it is absolutely your own fault and your bad attitude.
Do you think Jimi Hendrix wanted to play for Little Richard. Or Quiet Riot wanted to play at the nudist colony. How about the night I got Warrant to "play for the door". You got bills to pay - you either take the job, EVERY JOB, or you work 9-5 for your father's dry cleaning company.
And no matter how much you hate the gig, you put on a show like you've never put on before. Not only has the crowd paid money and deserve their money's worth, but you never know who is in that crowd and is looking for someone.

The hardest thing for me to do is walk into a room full of people I don't know and audition like everyone else. My playing isn't the problem. My attitude sucks. I have standards (some call demands). And the autism prevents me from being social.
But I don't worry about doing too many cold auditions because there is always someone who has seen me or heard of me and are willing to take me. BUT ONLY BECAUSE of the fact that I took jobs 30 years ago and impressed the shit out of everyone (which is why I am allowed to have standards/demands). You think I want to put ultraviolet paint all over myself and be the guitar player that solos over a DJ at a Rave. Yet, I've done it. Someone needed a guy. Someone knew a guy. Boom, I'm there. No audition. Someone saw me and was so impressed that they remembered me.

TAKE EVERY JOB

[AgentX]

I have no problem taking any music-related jobs in any style. The aforementioned calls were not offers for jobs. They were startups for garage bands basically.

[Jackson8090s]

Tool = hard rock/ metal? guess I'm old cause there is no fucking way those guys fit into the hard rock or metal scene's I grew up in... they came in with the alternative & grunge groups that are being called metal today, for god sakes people are actually lumping Nirvana into metal. Plz kill me now.

The hard rock & metal scenes need purging.

[AgentX]

Tool = hard rock/ metal? guess I'm old cause there is no fucking way those guys fit into the hard rock or metal scene's I grew up in... they came in with the alternative & grunge groups that are being called metal today, for god sakes people are actually lumping Nirvana into metal. Plz kill me now.

The hard rock & metal scenes need purging.

They're more like retarded "mathcore". Don't even get me started.