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

[behndy]

RARRRRRRRR. look at YOU. cute little BURN MACHINE.

yah. he's damn good, but i don't feel that click like with the singer. she just fits. super happy.

maybe i've just spent too long not playing with a guitar player? are they..... are they ruined forever for me?

[warwick.hoy]

Eh,...as long as you can work with your drummer the guitar player can do whatever he/she wants as far as I'm concerned. As long as it isn't sloppy or shredtastic all the time. If he can play your songs and come up with tasty parts, add to the writing process and make a mouth watering dagwood,....Bonus Pretzel.

Beyond that,...seems like he has already proven to be flaky. Did he call to bail,....or did he just not show up. Either way,...I'd keep your options open or you may find yourself in a similar situation as you did with your last band.

It's got to be tough looking for musicians in Cali. I'm willing to bet that you can't swing a deadcat around without hitting someone who plays an instrument,...and they probably all think they are rockstars (present company excluded). Here on the otherhand,...lot's of people play and only about 90% of them think they are rockstars. The 10% that don't are the ones worth making music with.

That chick is hella hot. Can't help but notice that her skin is somewhat freckled (looking particularly at her untattooed arm). I wonder if she is a ginger in disguise. I'm wet.

[Haki]

Given you were fairly excited about this guy's playing, and fairly non-excited about everything else, they're not ruined. Just need to find one that can play AND tickles your tentacle the right way.

Could kidnap the ZZZ's guitar player when they're in SF next month, if you haven't found a suitable one before then.

[D.o.S.]

Could kidnap ZZ Top's guitar player when they're in SF next month, if you haven't found a suitable one before then.

Fuck. Yes.

Live the Gibbons.

Love the Gibbons.

Get the Gibbons.

[behndy]

lol. that's an interesting point. i can't think of a guitarist that i'd LURV to play with. maybe dood from Russian Circles? so good.

it's weird. i like a lot of bands that have heavy guitar use, but i've never really loved playing with them. it always feels like it's a more of a hassle to get the toanz to match with Lotsa Effects Bass and guitar than with a keyboard. and i'm such a freak about ruining chemistry. it's only been three or four times with me and long time drummer dood and singer, but it feels GOOD. y'know? but the last thing me and drummer did i hated having all the responsibilities of writing (so BORING not having somebody to bounce ideas off of) and we needed something else to make things sound fuller.

grah. still gonna jam with dood this Monday. might be the problem. he's GOOD. but he seems more of a jammer than a writer. and he doesn't have any of that rokkstar ego bullshit, he's a nice guy. just not feeling that excitement.

lulz. yeah. not as many rokkstar believers in this hood as you'd think, it being Cali. get that attitude a LOT more in hip hop
kids that have an old pirated copy of Reasons and are now producers. weird scene.

[D.o.S.]

Chemistry, dude. It's all about chemistry. That's why so many bands made up of friends are successful and so many slapped together groups fizzle.

Of course, the opposite is also true, but for generally different reasons.

[behndy]

yah. i've only played in 2 other real bands. jammed with different peoples a bunch, but only two actual bands. and those were all friends.

me and Paul (drummer boy) are super easy-going and laid back, she fits like a glove. gutar dood is a sweetie but he's a little spacy and kinda "just tell me what to do". the whole thing i was excites about having another stringed person on board was to have somebody to write against. and that hasn't popped up yet. giggety. ERECTIONS POP UP. sorry. too many words in a row without being silly or genital referency.

how long do you guys give a rapport to develop? or if it's no there, it's never going to be?

[My name is Mudd]

IMO...and FWIW...and YMMV...and assorted other flavors of internet ass-covering...

It's a bit too early (...maybe...) to totally write him off; each of y'all is still learning how everyone else operates...think of it as the honeymoon phase, or something. If he continues to flake, however...and out of curiosity, what important piece of equipment did he not bring? If the answer is either 'his guitar' or 'his amp', I take back everything I just said and suggest the possibility of it being Cosmic Destiny that you play in a guitar'less band.

[Moustache_Bash]

Sounds like you could use a guitarist that doesn't just riff on what you do? That's the kind of band I would want to be in, bassist and drummer kick out the jams while I do little things here and there with a guitar.

Anyway, sounds like a keyboardist will deliver what you want more.

[MSUsousaphone]

Some bass players are a part of the rhythm section....as long as them and the drummer are tight, it's all good. Everyone else can fit on top.

Some bass players are like a 3rd (or 2nd depending on band size) guitar. The drummer lays down the rhythm and this guy usually focuses more on harmonizing with the retarded brother of the string family.

Never really encountered these in the "real world" but it seems like there's a third type that are like synths. They lay down the ambient sounds and drones and let the guitar take melody and drums lay down the rhythm. I'm basically having to revise my theory now that I've met you hidden gems.

None of them are wrong, to each his own, and I think everyone is different part mixtures of the three. I think I fall right down the middle. My tendency is to be the 3rd guitar because that's who I write the music with. Once the drums get added in, I'm like "oh fuck, I forgot about you" and I try to merge what I'm playing to do both jobs. And because of you aholes, I'm quickly turning into the 3rd type.


But yeah, I hear you Behndy. If everyone in Losers' Reunion were as motivated as me, we'd have been something. As it was, we never had a practice where someone wasn't 30 minutes late or didn't show up at all. There's a few songs that are as awesome as the one in my sig....they just never got finished. Sat there for months without anyone workign on then. We even had to back out of gigs I would have booked in prominant clubs in Austin and New Orleans because people forgot to clear their schedules. No one would promote the shows we did have. I actually had everyone in the band's facebook emails so that I could get on and invite their friends to events. If I didn't do it, they would just never tell people. Just fucking annoying. This new thing Jet Jaguar...we've been "a band" for a few months now and it's still like pulling teeth to get jams set up. And when we get there no one has practiced their shit.

And I'm the asshole that's married and has a masters with a fucking career. The schedule we're most having to work around is the guy that works at motherfucking Taco Bell.

Shit.

[Deltaphoenix]

LOL...
I can relate to some of that, at least in the past Sousa. I historically take the role of manager/promoter/contact person within the band. I still hold that down but not 100%. One venues deal with our singer. For the most part, this band is decent at evryone promoting.
As far as you bass player philosophy..yeah I am some mix of all 3. I got the Kaossilator Pro to add some of the Synth/ambience to our stuff, but damnit I don't think it is going to totally take the from me. I also tend to write with the guitar, to emphasize or counter what they are doing. If I bring in something it is likely to be quasi-guitar for one part and very bass/rhythmic for another.

Behndy give it a few. It is awesome to have that instant connection but sometimes it takes awhile. He might be intimidated to walk into the scene with you and your drummer who have worked together for a long time. Maybe try being straight-forward and ask him what he is thinking about the situation instead of guessing.

[behndy]

IMO...and FWIW...and YMMV...and assorted other flavors of internet ass-covering...

hmmmm. ass-covering. i'm listening.

It's a bit too early (...maybe...) to totally write him off........

yah. not totally writing him off, just not excited about working with him? like, i feel like me and the other two to do something special so it might be settling and ignoring the parts that annoy me?

what important piece of equipment did he not bring?

lol. if i remember right, the first time he didn't bring a tuner and a power cord for his amp or pedals. the second time he didn't bring the cable that connects his Moog guitar to the footswitch and POWERS the damn thing. like, without that you can't use the guitar. he hinted at using one of the guitars that were there from the band we share the space with and that is NOT my gear. ended up finding a 9 volt in the emergency tuner i carry in my bass bag so he could use MOST of the functionality of his guitar. scares the SHIT out of me.

Sounds like you could use a guitarist that doesn't just riff on what you do? That's the kind of band I would want to be in, bassist and drummer kick out the jams while I do little things here and there with a guitar.
Anyway, sounds like a keyboardist will deliver what you want more.

man. TOTALLY. i'm not trying to be conceited, but i'm enjoying being the main melodic instrument, and most stuff so far is very geared towards that. of course any part that sounds better on a different instrument and makes a better song i have no problem laying back and accenting. but realistically like 90% of the time the best match with a guitar is somebody that wants to do counter point melodic stuff and accents and overlay stuff and NEVER FUCKING SOLO. i godamn HATE solos.

Some bass players are a part of the rhythm section....as long as them and the drummer are tight, it's all good. Everyone else can fit on top.....

Some bass players are like a 3rd (or 2nd depending on band size) guitar.......

.......there's a third type that are like synths. They lay down the ambient sounds and drones and let the guitar take melody and drums lay down the rhythm.....

yah. i feel like i'm more the "replace the rhythm guitar player's usually role" type of player. i enjoy playing with people where i can use effects to do touches here and there, but i fall back on taking up a lot of space and that's where i'm more comfortable. sorta a mash-up between your three types?

But yeah, I hear you Behndy. If everyone in Losers' Reunion were as motivated as me, we'd have been something....

all this and what comes after it. i'm not trying to get people to quit their job because WE'RE GOING TO MAKE IT. but making decent music takes WORK. i want to be around people that ENJOY improving their skill sets and like putting in the effort to end up with a decent product. i just got out of a project where that was the stumbling block. i'm not saying this guy's a slacker, it just feels like he's more into having fun. and fun needs to balanced with work.

Behndy give it a few. It is awesome to have that instant connection but sometimes it takes awhile. He might be intimidated to walk into the scene with you and your drummer who have worked together for a long time. Maybe try being straight-forward and ask him what he is thinking about the situation instead of guessing.

yah. he DOES have a good attitude. he's said "just tell me what you want to do" a bunch of times. i'm not hating him, i'm just not that...... explosively excited. he might actually be a bit TOO passive. main thing i'd want from a guitar player is somebody that FITS, but brings stuff to the table to work off. i don't want to do all the primary writing. that shit gets boring having one voice. we ARE jamming with him this Monday. lol. but if he forgets some piece of gear i might be done on general purposes. again, that. shit. SCARES ME.

here's two quick and one longer rambly chunk of where we're at with just me and Paul.

[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/behndy/sable-emullsions-01[/soundcloud]
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/behndy/trans-van-iver-battle-01[/soundcloud]
[soundcloud]http://soundcloud.com/behndy/sex-accident-vrooom-01[/soundcloud]

lol. i recorded all the bass at home then took it to practice to record Paul, the first one i THOUGHT we were doing 6/4 since that's how the riff was originally, but it organically shifted to 5/4 over time just playing around, so had to clip out a beat of silence when we got there. the second one i must've had too much coffee or something because it's a good 10-20 bpm too fast, loses some of the groove. and the third is just me playing with the TimeLine and Paul being all sechsy tasty white chocolate.

but that's kind of what i'm comfy with, the more main, fill it up (giggety) approach. and SHIT. she doesn't want any stuff out there until she knows what she's doing, but listening to last nights recordings with her just working on harmonic structure has me SO fucking hard. MURDER Hard. MUSIC Murder Hard.

lulz. i LIKE this. it's like my own personal advice column. with people that actually know what the fuck they're talking about. sooooooooooo........ about the opposite of starting a thread on TB.

[warwick.hoy]

yah. i've only played in 2 other real bands. jammed with different peoples a bunch, but only two actual bands. and those were all friends.

me and Paul (drummer boy) are super easy-going and laid back, she fits like a glove. gutar dood is a sweetie but he's a little spacy and kinda "just tell me what to do". the whole thing i was excites about having another stringed person on board was to have somebody to write against. and that hasn't popped up yet. giggety. ERECTIONS POP UP. sorry. too many words in a row without being silly or genital referency.

how long do you guys give a rapport to develop? or if it's no there, it's never going to be?

I would maybe broach the writing subject with the guy and see if it can happen from the aspect you are looking for. If he can jam he can jam,...if he can help you write. BONUS PRETZEL,...but how is he supposed to know that's what you are looking for unless you tell him that's what you are looking for.

Enough about you,....let's talk about me.

Mecha Shiva works without songwriting. I absolutely suck and am so impatient and overly critical of myself as a songwriter. I think I've written a total of one song in my life I was happy with and that was on Acoustic Guitar. If I were a guitar player in a band,...I would certainly try to take a more prominent role in songwriting. I mean I can contribute ideas and be there to tell people what to do from a theory standpoint IE,..."the rules say resolve the 7th,....if you write I,IV,V I'll stab you,...let's try the 6th in this progression instead of the 5th". So rather than get pissed off and not have any fun trying to write songs,....we just jam,....we go to gigs,....and jam. ANGRILY AND FURIOUSLY; LIKE IT OWES ME MONEY.

That said Mecha Shiva has been kicking around the idea of actually writing arrangements (we've done one or two). I'd be happy with just loose arrangements that we can improv over. We've been jamming for a year and half and have so much material recorded,...it's almost like we need a producer to come in and wade through all the material and make an album for us. It's nice that we will always have the improv aspect,...but it's proving hard to break out of just getting to rehearsals and jamming.

We've also entertained the thought of writing vocals. I think that would be the most helpful in songwriting situation. Write a story or an epic or whatever,...break it into verses and get the pentameter right. Come up with a chorus,....THEN write the musics.

I will say that I think we loose our identity a little bit trying to make arrangements. One song we tried to arrange was built out of a jam. The jam was awesome when we did (I don't know if I'd call it a first take,...they are ALL first takes) but trying to recapture that, the magic is lost. Just isn't the same. We make it work and it's fine,...but at the same time it just doesn't feel like Mecha Shiva.

[D.o.S.]

I've been in bands like that, Warwickstick. Worst thing we ever did was try to play something exactly the same as we had before. Like watching a balloon slowly deflate.

Behnders, you gotta do what fits yr vision for the band best. If homeboy's not sticking like wet socks, there's no real reason to make yourselves beholden to making it work. I don't have the recordings anywhere I can get at 'em, but the last fun project I was involved with was a one off: my old guitarist, myself, a great friend of ours and his beats on loop. Throwing in any of our real drummer friends at the expense of the laptop would've killed the whole vibe.

[warwick.hoy]

Behn,....I dig that last track.