It’s back from the dead! The TB Mega Thread.

[Tigerbass]

Yeah, we did some Beatles and I really dug that. It was doing sweet home alabama and that stupid kidorck version two songs later that killed me. I don't know if it was playing the songs or seeing the shitrats get excited to hear both of them...either way....

I did that once, and ONLY FUCKING once!

[nad]

Normally I hate doing covers, but I've done a few over the years:

Failure - Smoking Umbrellas (awesome)
Alice in Chains - What The Hell Have I (sucked)
Depeche Mode - Behind the Wheel (we made it sound like Sabbath, and therefore awesome)
R.E.M. - Losing My Religion (bass/drums/vox only, and last we did this I fucked up the ending mandolin bit amazingly so)
Beatles - She's So Heavy (another Sabbath sounding one, although it already does that originally)
Nirvana - Breed (first fuzz use in a band awwww)
Ween - She's Your Baby (I hate this band, but I get why my guitarist likes them)

I think that's it, at least performance wise. Oh and a few years ago I recorded The X-Files Theme on bass:

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/adrian_smith/the-x-files-theme[/soundcloud]

I tried to get an old band of mine to do New Dawn Fades by Joy Division but they wouldn't. Fuckers.

Also I started to learn Moonlight Drive by the Doors, doing the entire keyboard part on bass with whacky harmonics and shit, and that was awesome/hard, but I quit the band before we could finalize it. Alas!

[Derelict78]

Ween - She's Your Baby (I hate this band, but I get why my guitarist likes them)

If your going to cover weed dont play this!
They have all kinds of interesting music as well.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzIHkFJnLbc[/youtube]

[jumbo_steelie]

Being where i live it's hard to get a steady gig, and a covers band is really the easiest/only way to do so. Don't get me wrong, it helped my chops having to play for hours at gigs/rehearsals, so I'm thatnkful for that. Plus I threw fuzz/octave/delay in where I could, and I almost always had an overdriven tone. It was funny because the one guitarist only had a tuner and MAYBE a delay, and the other guit had a tuner and a wah. I was the only guy with a pedalboard. Listen, if I have to play Black eyed peas, I'm gonna fuzz the shit out of it....

[warwick.hoy]

Don't get me wrong,....I'm not opposed to playing well picked covers,....I just don't like the idea of cover bands.

Covers bands represent a lot of what I don't like about music culture. Rules,...structure,...marketability,...getting paid,...clinging on to dated copyright rules. I can see the appeal to both bands and venue owners. People go out the bars,...they crave familiarity with their music. Sure a lot of people will tell you that they wanna hear original music and that may be the case for some people,....but the vast majority of people would rather hear Freebird or the latest radio friendly garbage. That's why there is a Jukebox to cram you credit card in,...or a live Jukebox you can throw your underwear at. If you want people to come to your shows,...you gotta be able to bring it on Brown Eyed Girl.

The common defense I see with guys that are in cover bands is usually something to the effect of,....being in a cover band is the only way to make any money "doing what you love". That's fine if that works for you,...but I don't play music to make money. That's why I have a real job. I can certainly appreciate that in smaller towns,...the cover band may be the only way to regularly hit the stage.

My gripes are; does that mean I have to spend 40 hours a week practicing and rehearsing? Do I get fired if I miss a change or accidentally play the first bar of a song out of key? What about my bass,....does it fit the bands image and have "that" sound? What if I think we should change the setlist up mid set cause we are loosing momentum? Can I drink on the job? (these are all rhetorical questions). Can I date the hot backup singer is there a no dating co-workers policy? Can I get medical and dental coverage?

Sounds like making a job out of something that I am doing for fun,...and IMO turning it into work sucks all the fun out of it. Thanks but no thanks.

The other issue I'm seeing is the emerging reluctance of bars hiring cover bands as a result of ASCAP fees. Realistically I think most bar owners are safe from paying ASCAP licensing and royalties as a result of cover bands playing (maybe I'm wrong) unless they are hugely successful and are making a bunch of money that ASCAP isn't seeing. So you are running into the problem where being in a cover band may not be the way to get a steady gig. If that forces people to be more creative or get out of the way,...perhaps that's a good thing (not trying to be smug here).

I'm not saying that I'm immune to playing covers, I learned how to play bass by playing other peoples music. Maybe as I become an aging rocker I'll join a cover band to supplement my retirement. We'll play Tool, Muse, RATM and RHCP covers. But currently and Ideally,...if I were in a cover band,...I'd have to be in an originals band as well to balance and get my creativity out.

A list of covers I've done in various bands that I've been in.

Hang Me Out to Dry -Cold War Kids
Spanish Moon -Little Feet
Cissy Strut -Meters
Hottentot -John Scofield
Angel -Massive Attack

And that's really about it.

A bunch of Black Crowes, Are You Gonna be My Girl, The Weight, some other stuff that isn't coming to mind for a one off fill in gig. Made $200 off that show, but never really wanting to do it again cause the only band that I like out of all the selections was The Band.

[jumbo_steelie]

You hit the nail on the head Hoy. Our drummer/bandleader started to make it feel like work, and that's when shit kind of got played out. Worked out great because I poached a guitarist out of that band, and the motherfucker can play and has some solid ideas. He's in the same mindframe I am; much happier to record in the basement for now than to play out just for the sake of playing.

[bigchiefbc]

if I were in a cover band,...I'd have to be in an originals band as well to balance and get my creativity out.

That's how I keep my sanity.

The covers band I play in, I hate 90% of what we play, but I've been friends with those guys for like 15 years and it's more of a hanging out thing to me. We play 1 or 2 gigs a month, bring in a couple hundreds bucks each, and it's how I've been able to afford my effects and new bass. The only saving grace about the music we play is that some of it is reasonably challenging and it makes me keep my chops.

And I have another band which is just originals, and I love 90% of what we play. It's just a 2-piece, so there's less "band shit" to deal with, just me and my best friend Jarod. This is the music I care about and love playing, and it's my creative outlet. Just had a 10-hour writing session yesterday.

[jumbo_steelie]

Yeah man that's awesome. Me and some buddies from high school had a great cover thing going a few years ago but it never made it out of the basement. Stuff that we all at least 75% liked. Now those guys are the ones I play original music with, but its hard with kids and women and shit. Another reason for gogging was everytime I bought a new piece of gear the wife would asked, "When you getting a gig?" So supplementing gear funds was also nice. It was actually the opposite for awhile, the more I played, the less GAS I had.

[bigchiefbc]

By the way, during the course of that 10-hour writing session yesterday, I came up with the perfect pedal chain to get that stacked multiple-oscillator synth bass sound. Here is the signal chain:

Foxx Tone Machine clone (octave off) -> Behringer BSY-600 (mode 9) -> Boss OC-2 (oct 1 2:00, dry 3:00, oct 2 9:00) -> Behringer DC-2 clone (switches 3 and 4 engaged) -> (ignore the flanger, it wasn't on) EHX Deluxe Memory Boy



I'll see if I can get a short clip of what it sounded like.

[warwick.hoy]

There is definitely something to be said for justifying the gear you have. Moving beyond the basement/bedroom etc etc, using the money you make off gigs to support your GAS.

I can get next to all of that,...and I will admit that being in a good originals band can be hard work and dedication; but I don't mind saying that I'd prefer that hard work have more of a payoff than nailing Sweet Home Alabama from start to finish.

Look forward to clips Ben.

[behndy]

Big Chief BEN *******, i would like you to change your name. or spell it differently. or maybe i should since you were an ILF'er before i started spending times over here. but it's confusing me who's being talked to sometimes. i was trying to figure out what i was s'posed to be making clips for. CONFUSING.

the whole idea of "ruining something i do for fun to get a little bit more cash" is why i've always avoided doing the cover thing. like HoyBoyToy, my JOB is for my monetary sustenance. my music is for (oooOOOO! how CORNY!) creative sustenance. i'd be bummed if i started not having that outlet. and everybody i know that's done the cover band/casino circuit has quit playing there instrument after doing it for around a year. no thanks.

[jrmy]

Honestly, I'm torn about the covers band I occasionally play in. At this point, we play MAYBE once a year... so little largely because I hate it. But I love playing with those particular guys, and when we play live, it's always a good show. So... yeah. CONFLICTED.

[MSUsousaphone]

Hang Me Out to Dry -Cold War Kids

Bad ass song to cover. We're doing that one, right now.

Covers are a necessary evil down here. The only other cover we've done that I loved as much as one of our own was Got You Where I Want You by The Flys.

And maybe I'm the dick that makes it "not for fun anymore" but that's just the way things are. There comes a point where you have to decide whether it really is just for fun or whether you actually want to make the transition from good to great. The most fulfilling things in the end are usually the least fun. Now it doesn't have to get completely and totally not fun at all. There should be a mixture of fun, laughs, sweat, tears, many beers, no jager whatsoever or there will be even more tears and blood, but if there isn't a point where a wall is getting hit and work needs to be done than you're not reaching the potential you could have reached.

(That statement brought to you by the least talented person in this thread)

But yeah, I would play for free all the time, if I had to. Or at least just for gas. I know my band mates aren't in the comfy financial situation I'm in....but I love those guys. They actually let me use pedals. I mean...how many fucking douchey guitar guys will actually lay down some thick rhythm to let their bass biggin' take the reins? Love those guys. So I sacrifice for them.

[Deltaphoenix]

I play covers on my acoustic guitar in my livingroom. It's been along time since I played any at a gig. I really have only been in bands that focused on originals and any covers were done our way. Living in a college town that encourages original bands is a blessing artistically, it doesn't pay well though. I would play covers if it was the only way I could get on a stage.
Making enough money to pay for some gear would be cool though.
It's funny though, even in this town that is original music friendly, I am the only bass player that I have seen that has a pedalboard. Hell I have one of the few pedalboards that isn't mostly Boss or EHX.

[bigchiefbc]

By the way, during the course of that 10-hour writing session yesterday, I came up with the perfect pedal chain to get that stacked multiple-oscillator synth bass sound. Here is the signal chain:

Foxx Tone Machine clone (octave off) -> Behringer BSY-600 (mode 9) -> Boss OC-2 (oct 1 2:00, dry 3:00, oct 2 9:00) -> Behringer DC-2 clone (switches 3 and 4 engaged) -> (ignore the flanger, it wasn't on) EHX Deluxe Memory Boy



I'll see if I can get a short clip of what it sounded like.

Here's the only clip I grabbed on my PC. All the rest of it is on our band recording laptop that I don't have with me. And the flanger IS on for this one.


[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/bigchiefbc/synth-bass-clip[/soundcloud]