Forming/Joining A Band

[MikeStrat]

Why is it so freakin difficult to find 3-4 musicians to get together and play. Years ago I was in a couple of locally popular bands. The last band I was in was about 18 months ago. It lasted about 6 months until the female singer wigged out.

I live between Baltimore and Washington DC where there are 5 bazillion people and I can't find a few "normal" fucking people to start/join a band. I'm not trying to be a rock star, I just want to play out again. Christ, I can play better than most of the guys around here who are 40 something, playing in cover bands and still holding onto the dream.

Is it this way in other parts of the country?

[Axewielder]

It's pretty bleak down here.

[rjohnstone]

Sucks here too... haven't been in a band since Aug. 2005.
I'm going nuts!

[AfterForever]

It's very hard to find some cool people to start a band with.. I tried so many times.. and failed many times. I've given up on being in a band again.. it takes much time, playing the same stuff over and over again gets boring, your gear gets damaged by jerks etc etc..

[Joe_Steeler]

Mike,
It is like that everywhere, it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Just this coming saturday we have a get together of some playing fellas and see how the chemistry goes.
I met this guys at a Rush concert and got along well. Similar taste of music, women and beer. Good start but we have not layed down a beat yet.

A couple of years back I met a GREAT drummer with almost exact musical taste as mine, we talked about things but could not find a singer and a bass player to complement. That was the end of that.

Now we have two guitars (including myself) a bass and a drummer. We are starting with a jam and will see what happens.... got some songs scheduled and plenty of booze.

[JACKSONFREAK]

I havnt been in a band since 83/84. I can't seem to find the right situation. Or they have huge egos. Oh yeah and i suck that could have something to do with it..
Gil

[scotty]

My current situation is great. I am playing with guys I have know for 25 years. We are like a family. The only thing we need is a great vocalist.

[skorb]

living in LA I have a built in advantage.
I'm in two bands right now and both have talented people who show up generally on time.

[Pigsnatcher]

Here in West By God Virginia it seems there are tons of people to jam with. Its been hard to find people with similar interest and some what normal but there are people out there. Drummers are what is hard to find. Mikestrat, where at in Maryland are you?

[MikeStrat]

Annapolis

[QuantumRider]

If you're close to Baltimore, why not check out the next SoWeBo festival and chat up whatever bands you think are cool?

I went to a show at a little club in Tokyo, saw three bands, and chatted up the one that I thought played the most interesting music. Four months later when their guitarist flaked away, they called me in for an audition. Now I'm in a regularly rehearsing (although the bass player always shows up 30 minutes late) band with a gig coming up next month

It worked for me, it might work for you

EDIT: I see now that you're in Annapolis, so getting to The City that Breeds for rehearsals might be a pain...

[El Chiguete]

I knew before I started playing that it was going to be difficult to play what I like in a band (80's and 80's rock and metal) so I was ok with that. But now I just want to find some couple of guys to set songs up and play in local bike events just to have fun... Lets see what happends.

[hippietim]

Putting a band together blows donkey balls. I've been trying for over a year.

I have a singer. That should be the hard part. Right?

Noooooooooo....

We've ended up in 3 incarnations of a band. So far we've had:

• drummers that literally hit the drums like a 3rd grade girl (I have to say girl because my 3rd grade boy hits harder)
• guitar players that can't fucking stop noodling
• a guitar player that had to quit playing because of nerve damage
• guitar players that can't play *really* simple shit
• guitar players that can't learn more than one or two of these same *really* simple songs every other week or so
• a keyboard player that when asked to bust out a Hammond organ patch responds with "which one, I've got 47" and invariably chooses the cheesiest patch in his arsenal
• drummers that drift more than sand dunes in the Sahara
• players that don't even try to learn *any* of your songs for the audtion
• guitar and bass players that always look at me for the changes because they didn't learn the tunes - I find that the thumb over the neck technique throws them off the best
• guitar players that don't know the difference between major and minor
• guitar players that don't know their tone is ass - digital multi-effect units should never, ever be plugged into the front end of an amp particularly when the fucking thing has an effects loop
• proof that a killer Les Paul and Marshall tube amp can sound like a Squier Strat plugged into a transistor radio

Our current situation is not so bad. Our drummer is fantastic. The other day he broght over a book of Rush drum sheet music - we decided to play Red Barchetta and he sight read it Our bass player can really throw down too. We've been trying for months to get a second guitarist but the prospects are really bleak. The rest of the guys want to just go 4 piece - I'm about to give up on 2 guitar thing. I would never have imagined that finding a guitarist would be so hard.

[guitarsjb]

We've been through a lot of line up changes. It sucks. Everytime I think we finally have the right mix of guys, something goes haywire. I like how our current line up works together. We've only had this singer for 3 months now, so we are working on tightening up again, but it's coming together. Hope it sticks together...

[Pigsnatcher]

Baltimore maybe a bit of a hike but thats probably your best bet. Best of luck to you, I think we all feel your pain. What I want to know is why everone who plays music is on drugs.