How does your band grow?

[Professor Riffs]

I was just jivin' with somebody about this yesterday....

I miss the way the bands I used to be in operated. We'd all get off work, rush over to whoever's house we jammed at, and spend a lot of time together in general. Might jam for hours, might just kick it for hours and shoot the shizzle. These days, even though I have great relationships with my bandmates, we rarely meet unless it's for the music, and then it's just a couple hours at a time. I think the music suffers a little from that scenario...........it seemed like a more organic process in the past. I think moving to the city and all of it's business contributes to this a bit, but it was starting to get this way even before I and all of my musician friends moved here.

Any thoughts/comments/chomp/blarg?

[smopo24]

i just get nostalgic for those stories i used to hear about bands like the stone roses rehearsing for 8 hours a day, every week; but i'm sure when you're young and "on the dole" that's a lot easier. those times where bands used to be like gangs seem to be gone; at least when you get older, or have been in a lot of bands, your priorities change. it realy isn't from lack of caring about the music, or hanging with the guys; you just kind of grow up and want quiet.....at least that's what i think.

[Nubus]

last night our new drummer announced he is moving to newyork at the end of this month.

[lukedavo]

I have a feeling Riffs you've just become numb to the whole process. Well, Ive never been in a band that has.... how do they say "made it". So I'm not sure the ingredients for success, but I do know that if you're playing music with people you like to hang out with, it makes things 1000 times easier and more productive than the latter. Focus on the elements that made it work in the first place, FUN is the keyword, money is the downfall, and keeping things fresh as a band is important. Just my opinion...

[Professor Riffs]

Originally Posted by lukedavo

I have a feeling Riffs you've just become numb to the whole process. Well, Ive never been in a band that has.... how do they say "made it". So I'm not sure the ingredients for success, but I do know that if you're playing music with people you like to hang out with, it makes things 1000 times easier and more productive than the latter. Focus on the elements that made it work in the first place, FUN is the keyword, money is the downfall, and keeping things fresh as a band is important. Just my opinion...

Nah, I'm definitely not numb to the process...and I've certainly never hit the bigtime. It was simply something I noticed after moving to the city....it eats a lot of your time, and changes the way you operate in the music world. I was just wondering if anybody who had moved to the city from a non-big city had noticed it as well. If I'm not here at work, I'm playing guitar, writing, etc., I have to in order to stay alive! Fun is always the only thing that counts (that and the sound coming out of the PA). The second I'm in it to "make it", remind me to hang myself!

[Bellringer]

Man it is a drag that as you get older people get boxed into their little section of the machine. Friends you used to play with move away, get married, become a slave to the grind and just give up. Priorities change. Finding people who have similar tastes that are fun to play with gets hard. Many of the good people/players are already busy with multiple projects.
Since I moved to the city I've been in about 4 or 5 different bands. With each one ending the feeling of dejection is like a stab wound. Like a breakup of a serious relationship. It gets hard to pick up the pieces and start again. But you do. Because you love the music. I guess you learn from every experience and try to avoid repeating mistakes. It's important to keep everything feeling fresh and spend time wisely. Everyone in the band needs to feel like their role is important. Egos make it feel like work and they will destroy a band. Blaming each other for a bad show, recording, etc. is a waste of energy. Everybody has to work to pay rent, then get that second wind to practice, play shows, record, advertise, etc. But you hang in there. Because you love the music. I couldn't imagine life without it.

[Professor Riffs]

The thing is, I don't have any problems with finding a band or writing stuff, things like that. I play guitar in a band (Nuclear Biologist Rocket Surgeons) that is exactly the music I want, and I also sing for a band (Genital Hercules) which I love. I had both of those bands back in Iowa, and they moved here with me. I was just commenting on how it changed the way we operate. I'll knock on wood and say I've never had problems finding bands that I love playing in, or dudes that I love jamming with. THRAAAAAAAAAAAAASH (IN SPACE).

[EvanExempt]

I think at a certain point a band stops growing............... Then it just Mutates.