Thursday, July 31, 2008
Bees
I just bought a Chariot CD and a Stolen Babies CD. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Listening to the first one (The Fiance) and am quite impressed so far. This is an album with personality.
Also, there's something else that's coming which I'm sure to blog about. I can hardly contain my excitement.
Spending money does make me feel better sometimes :-D
Here comes a rant. Now, Lucas, this ain't about you or Pete. Our little outfit's all about the muckin' around for our own amusement (in my eyes, anyway) with no intention of gigging and I know you have other commitments.
I was reading a forum on Harmony Central years ago which involved a discussion about the most important qualities people look for in other musicians. There were quite a few typical responses out there, but one person's entry stuck with me - reliability. For gigging bands, people need to show up to rehearsals and (more importantly) gigs. It's not just about turning up, though. It's about being prepared and planning ahead (speaking in redundant terms wasn't mentioned) to make the most of this precious time that we're burning. Preparedness means better jam sessions to go over written material and better gigs.
Now I read this well before I started working with anyone but Lucas, so at that stage what I was reading was 100.03% theoretical. Now that I've actually taken on various other projects over the past year or so, I've become a little disappointed. I've had a small number of jam sessions with bands/musos that I was writing stuff for - one has gone well. The others didn't really happen - when you've got half a band, you really can't do much in the way of rehearsal sometimes.
I've pulled the plug on three potential collaborators so far and have received what I believe to be a Long No from a two others. Not a Long No that I could identify to begin with (that would have saved time, wouldn't it?), instead it's always just a display of symptoms of people being ridiculously disorganised, making it hard to tell whether they want to work with me or not.
A month ago, I had taken on a little project with someone I work with (dear reader, you may know who this is or you may not) which I think I'll just shut down before I get too involved in arranging parts for it. The Other Half Of The Duo is not really doing much, although it was their concept. We were supposed to have a few jam sessions which just haven't happened on the basis that he doesn't feel like jamming when the day comes - well, at least he's not beating around the bush and just bloody says it. Material is written, but no lyrics put down (anyone who knows me should already know that if there's lyric-writing happening, it's never done by me). Similar issues occurred with previous experiences that I was talkin' about.
So - reliability. Yeah.
I think I've proven to myself by this point that I can keep to a schedule, so I might try pimping out my bass-playing again to an established band. I keep saying I'll just go with some group that needs a replacement or something, but I haven't really looked too hard lately. You'd think with all this whining that I would have, right? O.o
On the plus side, hopefully ZRS will be more productive than ever. Pete's taken his guitar back to his place so that he can actually go over guitar parts that I write - saving him from having to learn them when he gets over to my place. w00t!
Also, there's something else that's coming which I'm sure to blog about. I can hardly contain my excitement.
Spending money does make me feel better sometimes :-D
Here comes a rant. Now, Lucas, this ain't about you or Pete. Our little outfit's all about the muckin' around for our own amusement (in my eyes, anyway) with no intention of gigging and I know you have other commitments.
I was reading a forum on Harmony Central years ago which involved a discussion about the most important qualities people look for in other musicians. There were quite a few typical responses out there, but one person's entry stuck with me - reliability. For gigging bands, people need to show up to rehearsals and (more importantly) gigs. It's not just about turning up, though. It's about being prepared and planning ahead (speaking in redundant terms wasn't mentioned) to make the most of this precious time that we're burning. Preparedness means better jam sessions to go over written material and better gigs.
Now I read this well before I started working with anyone but Lucas, so at that stage what I was reading was 100.03% theoretical. Now that I've actually taken on various other projects over the past year or so, I've become a little disappointed. I've had a small number of jam sessions with bands/musos that I was writing stuff for - one has gone well. The others didn't really happen - when you've got half a band, you really can't do much in the way of rehearsal sometimes.
I've pulled the plug on three potential collaborators so far and have received what I believe to be a Long No from a two others. Not a Long No that I could identify to begin with (that would have saved time, wouldn't it?), instead it's always just a display of symptoms of people being ridiculously disorganised, making it hard to tell whether they want to work with me or not.
A month ago, I had taken on a little project with someone I work with (dear reader, you may know who this is or you may not) which I think I'll just shut down before I get too involved in arranging parts for it. The Other Half Of The Duo is not really doing much, although it was their concept. We were supposed to have a few jam sessions which just haven't happened on the basis that he doesn't feel like jamming when the day comes - well, at least he's not beating around the bush and just bloody says it. Material is written, but no lyrics put down (anyone who knows me should already know that if there's lyric-writing happening, it's never done by me). Similar issues occurred with previous experiences that I was talkin' about.
So - reliability. Yeah.
I think I've proven to myself by this point that I can keep to a schedule, so I might try pimping out my bass-playing again to an established band. I keep saying I'll just go with some group that needs a replacement or something, but I haven't really looked too hard lately. You'd think with all this whining that I would have, right? O.o
On the plus side, hopefully ZRS will be more productive than ever. Pete's taken his guitar back to his place so that he can actually go over guitar parts that I write - saving him from having to learn them when he gets over to my place. w00t!
Comments:
I'm reliable :D
But yes, my friend David has long commiserated over the (un)reliability factor of getting 4 musicians together in the same place at the same time regular-like.
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But yes, my friend David has long commiserated over the (un)reliability factor of getting 4 musicians together in the same place at the same time regular-like.
