Life in a Band Pt. 1

 I wasn’t sure how I wanted to start this, but I have dozens of thoughts that roam aimlessly in my head around 4am every night. I’ve had trouble sleeping for a few months now, mainly because I can’t get my creative side out. It’s been 18 months since I’ve written a song, and almost just as long since I’ve recorded and played live. Since the pandemic started, I have vowed to no longer play live. It doesn’t interest me anymore. Since I’ve had all this time in the middle of the nights to reflect and think, I decided to put my thoughts, views, and experiences down into this. This is all about being in bands, writing, and the life of music in general. This will be a 3 part series in writing. At some point I’m planning on taking this to YouTube as an interview series with other musicians. Until then, here’s this… Part 1.

Bands are hard. I’ve been in bands since I was 14. I started playing guitar when I was 12. Picked up numerous other instruments along the way, but my passion was guitar and singing… and soon after songwriting. There’s no perfect band situation. Someone always feels left out whether it’s creatively, or personally. We get into bands for the fun of performing. Every band needs a leader to lead the way. It’s too hard to split decisions to 25% each. I’ve always tried to be fair in these situations, but at the end of the day I’m not happy with it because I’ve always had a vision with my music, and I end up giving in to another persons ideas that don’t go along with the vision, and soon after that the happiness drifts into boredom and resentment. Especially when it comes down to cover song choices. I usually had 3 cover songs per gig/set, and they had to flow nicely with the originals. I hated doing cover songs that every other band out there does. I tried to be different and offer songs that weren’t being covered regularly. I learned from a guitarist I played with years ago that the image is just as important. He asked me once before our first show together ‘Hey Adam, what should we wear?’. That’s the first time I was asked that. He taught me that being in a band has many different components. If you’re in a group you need to look the part and look as if you are a group. He was absolutely right! All my favorite bands had an image and a certain look. I’ve been in bands and some guys showed up in shorts. Shorts!! You don’t wear shorts to a gig! You’re supposed to be in a rock n roll band! You’re not playing uncle bobs backyard fiesta shindig for your family! I don’t care if it’s 100 degrees out, I’m always dressed for the occasion. You treat every gig as an event. That’s what I was taught. I used to shake my head, roll my eyes, and bite my tongue when these guys would show up in shorts. 

Now money: Let’s be real, there’s no money in it, and you’re not gonna be able to pay your bills by playing. I’ve had numerous responses to my ads asking how much will they be paid, or they say here’s my rate for their services for playing live. That’s great that they know their worth, and musicians should be paid. 90% of venues will not pay you if you’re an original band playing a 90 minute set. Just doesn’t happen. Sure I can go out and play the 4 hour gigs that include 4 sets of music which consists of mostly filler material and cover songs, but to me personally that’s just boring and mundane. I’ll never do it again. I’ve done it twice and stopped after 3 hours because it’s not fun.

Now we go onto the booking managers. I’ve played all over LA and parts of Nashville. One thing that doesn’t change over the past 15 years is the standard questions of ‘How many Instagram and Facebook followers do you have?’ Well my answer is this, I roughly have 100-200. They then ask ‘How many of them can you guarantee will show up?’. My answer again is this, I can’t guarantee any honestly. I don’t plan their days, nights, event schedules. Half of my followers are out of state, or old friends from high school. Why would having an abundant amount of followers guarantee you anything? I know that’s what they look at, but there’s no logic in their thinking. Then it’s the standard statement of well if you don’t bring anyone I can’t book you, because our bar/restaurant will be empty. My response is, you mean you haven’t made a name for your establishment and expect me to bring you business? How much do we get paid for this? Then they say well nothing, you get the chance to play in front of your fans… or you can charge a cover at the door of $5 a head, and after the 30th person walks in we split 50% of the $5 starting with number 31. I’ve dealt with that one a lot, and still managed to get cheated. Let not forget he said fans. Fans!!?? I have family and about 3 friends who maybe show up. That’s the reality. 

The frustration is real, and this is only part of it. In part 2, I’m gonna cover the songwriting aspect, playing in Nashville vs LA, and band members who don’t rehearse. Stay tuned!