Author Topic: Have you played in bands where you knew in advance you didn't like their music? (Read 830 times)

ed_zeppelin · « **Reply #15 on:** December 14, 2015, 11:43:50 AM »

quote:However Jazzy mentioned he would be playing guitar, so maybe not that much weight in the equation.

If it weren't so damn expensive to get last-minute flights over there (my lovely bride, the Foghorn, is from Scotland, so we've gone through this before) I'd pay to hear that.

Jimi Hendrix said that he considered that his gift was for rhythm guitar. And he was right.

Jaco said the same thing about being a drummer. He was a professional drummer in Afro-Cuban bands before he broke his right hand (probably reinforcing his opinion, if you follow my drift) and switched to bass.

I'd love to hear Jazzyvee play guitar, because of the bass he'll be able to draw upon. It'll be epic.

gtrguy · « **Reply #16 on:** December 14, 2015, 12:36:52 PM »

As BigRedBass implied, at a certain level it is about the professionalism of the band and being a pro. This remark is in no way a put down of anyone fortunate enough who does not need to earn money from their playing

If fun is one of the most important factors, or you are a gigging performer who is booked up, or you are in demand enough or even famous, than one can easily say no to playing music you might not like.

I have joined bands I didn't like the style of at first, and ended up being in them for years and having a rewarding experience. I have also been in bands (very recently) that I liked the music and was making money but the band was run so unprofessionally that it turned out to be a nightmare and I won't play with them ever again, for love or money.

For better or worse, bands are like families who almost never stay together anyway, at any level, from famous to totally unknown and unpaid. I think experienced players factor this in and decide if the money or the perks are worth the time and effort.

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #17 on:** December 14, 2015, 03:30:12 PM »

I always try to find something I like even when playing material I'm not overly fond of.

Case in point: I was playing bass for a recent project and they wanted to do Sugar by Maroon 5.

Really not my cup of tea at all as it was originally recorded, but I worked with it until I could find a tone and groove that I liked. Then I locked in with the drummer and we created our own little funk groove that drove that tune a little harder than the recording and it became fun & interesting to play. The added benefit was it also became more danceable. Win/win all around.

Sometimes you just gotta push the envelope a little bit and the material will reward you in unexpected ways.

jazzyvee · « **Reply #18 on:** December 14, 2015, 06:32:23 PM »

Thanks of your input guys. The band are all musicians I know well and so we have no personality issues and they are all good musicians so from that point of view it should be fine. The genre they are playing is also one I have been play before and I know it well.

If it was a session gig then I'm cool and not really fussed about the genre as long as I can play it competently. But this isn't a session it's joining a band who's existence is geared to the music of one artiste whom I'm not keen on at all.
I'm not sure how long I will be able to last but will give it a go with a professional mindset and aspire to an open mind about it.

As for the picture Ed, I didn't even think about whether my hand position was correct. It's good to know I'm doing something right apart from buying decent basses. :-)

If you really want to use that photo I'm cool with that and I may be able to find a larger resolution picture to send you. But please ensure the photographer name on the bottom is still visible to credit him.

Oh and trust me, i'm not good enough on guitar or bass to warrant a trip over here to watch one of my gigs. :-)

811952 · « **Reply #19 on:** December 15, 2015, 05:25:49 AM »

This is the month I ween myself off of two gigs I'm not into. Great players in both bands, but not my thing at all. The difficult part has been resolving to walk away from the situations while we all still get along (I can go to a pretty dark place when I hate the music I'm playing for an extended period). I have made it clear to both bands that I need to focus on a single project and have left the doors open to future collaboration if either of them need a sub, but walking away from a couple of popular, working bands is still tough for me.

One of the bands does Sugar and pretty much it has become a festival of funk. If every tune was able to get that treatment, I'd stay, but alas I don't ever want to play Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy ever again.

John

rustyg61 · « **Reply #20 on:** December 15, 2015, 06:05:32 AM »

I played for 3 years in country bands & I hate country music! No offense to my boot scooting brothers & sisters here, but country bass is boring to me. I got into it when a band I was playing in was approached by a country singer to be her backup band. We were a great band that did stuff like Dream Theater & Extreme, but we didn't have a PA & pretty much spent all of our pay renting PA for every gig. The singer who hired us had a PA so that wasn't an issue with her. We still did some rock tunes with her but she sang them with twangy country sounding vocals which made me cringe. Thankfully no Alembics were harmed during this period, this was before I got my SCSD, so I played my Jazz Bass the whole time.

Now I've come full circle, I play in a classic rock band & our singer is trying to get us to play some country too! I've resisted as long as I can but we may loose her if we don't give in & it took a very long time to find a suitable replacement for our former singer so I think resistance is futile!

Glynn · « **Reply #21 on:** December 15, 2015, 08:36:03 AM »

No personal offence intended to anyone here or elsewhere but all the really great bass players say that they got where they are today by playing ALL styles of music that have been thrown at them. That is why they are in demand and have a massive amount of musical experience.
People like Jaco played every hour he could with whoever he could. Just read the advice from greats like Jeff Berlin, Billy Sheehan, Lee Sklar, Stu Hamm, Dave Swift (Jools Holland) and others who figure regularly in Bass Guitar Magazine and they say the same. Neil Fairclough who plays bass for Queen recently said that his advice to young musicians is study different styles even if you're never going to play them. Carol Kaye played for everyone and all different styles.
I will never be as good as them but if that is their advice then wouldn't I be a bit arrogant to have ignored it?.
As I said earlier, basic tuning and ability to play your instrument is where any musician must start or achieve but after that it is about having big ears to not be selective and also broad minded if you want to play out live.
If you want to stay at home then you may think differently.
(Was that too outspoken?)
Glynn

jazzyvee · « **Reply #22 on:** December 15, 2015, 09:04:20 AM »

Hi Glynn, no that wasn't outspoken at all.
I can understand the advice given by those great players and if I was a young player or just starting out at a mature age then yeah I'd probably immerse myself in a lot of more stuff.

I did that when I was younger and i've done dep gigs with a punk band, a country band and and more recently a rock and was a member of an Irish folk fusion band for about 18 months.

It's all been part of learning from different genres and sometimes more experienced players than me. I think I play reasonably well and am not chasing guitar or bass greatness anymore, just trying to be a better musician than I currently am. I know my limitations and whilst I am going to give this a go I don't invisage it being a long term thing, life is too short to be doing things I don't enjoy for too long.

One of the reasons I'm still playing whilst most of my friends who began when I did have stopped , is that I really love playing music whilst they were in it for money , fame, women etc and most of them have stopped playing decades ago. When that didn't happen for them.

There is a reason my email address has notstrictlyjazz in it. :-)

Glynn · « **Reply #23 on:** December 15, 2015, 09:37:26 AM »

Good points - I seemed to have missed out on the money, fame and women when I was playing for the Mecca organisation at Birmingham Locarno, Mayfair Suite and The Tower in the 1970s!! There was a very good (if slightly unhealthy) chip van outside the Top of The World Stafford where I was based for 5 years. Now that's what I call a good result!
Take care.
Glynn

5a_quilt_top · « **Reply #24 on:** December 15, 2015, 10:29:13 AM »

Without too much effort, Sugar can be transformed into a nice little bass feast, but unfortunately the opposite is true of Save a Horse.

Although a real crowd favorite, that one is most certainly a bass famine of biblical proportions...

;-)

Good call, John.

811952 · « **Reply #25 on:** December 15, 2015, 12:16:34 PM »

cozmik_cowboy · « **Reply #26 on:** December 15, 2015, 02:21:51 PM »

Playing music you don't love for money? What can I say, except...
Funk Brothers
Wrecking Crew
MGs
Swampers

Peter

terrace · « **Reply #27 on:** December 15, 2015, 03:18:01 PM »

My first foray out of the basement in the mid seventies was with polka band which my older bassist brother told me to do.I hated it but made pretty good money , learned latin , polkas etc.which I've retained to this day.Always turn it into a learning session.

811952 · « **Reply #28 on:** December 16, 2015, 06:27:54 AM »

Playing music you don't love for money? What can I say, except...
Funk Brothers
Wrecking Crew
MGs
Swampers

Peter

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting with a Nashville session guitarist friend of mine, JT Corenflos, and we were laughing about the ups and downs of the studio gig. The take-away was that guitarists make the comment behind his back that his parts usually aren't very difficult, when the actual challenge is to come up with something that works within a song you may be inclined to hate but have to learn to love while you're tracking it at 10 am on a Monday morning while you've got the flu. I think he's played on more than 130 number 1 songs at this point, so he kind of knows that of which he speaks. ;-)

https://scarysharkface.smugmug.com/photos/i-hpsN6x5/0/XL/i-hpsN6x5-XL.jpg

He was more than a little bit envious as we talked about how I mostly just play whatever the hell I want, and that I've got the freedom to turn down anything that doesn't sound like fun.

He definitely wins the money game, but I'm pretty sure that it's spectacularly difficult to thoroughly enjoy anything that you do for a living.

John

keith_h · « **Reply #29 on:** December 16, 2015, 10:34:00 AM »

I still do a little bit of recording of backing tracks for local gospel groups at a friends studio. It is not a style of music I really care for but I enjoy being around the people so it isn't hard for me to want to do the best I can on their recording. In general the most complicated the bass part gets is the occasional walking line but for the most part it a basic root notes and time keeping. I actually find that challenging as it isn't easy sitting back when the neck has so many more notes that want to be played. I also appreciate a good rhythm guitar player more than I do someone who plays lead for the same reason and think it is why they are so rare. It takes a great deal of self control to stick to the basics and keep time that not many folks want to do it.

Keith