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Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 12:32 pm
by Psyre
I was just wondering how far you guys have commuted for the sake of music. I found a guy interested in starting a lo-fi/folkish/post-rock band which I have been jonesing to find but it's about 2 hours away...... I have traveled and hour and a half for a band before but it was pretty grueling.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 12:59 pm
by jfrey
45 minutes away. Well technically 45 minutes to meet up with the other guitarist, then a half hour from there.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 1:10 pm
by lions!
45 minutes here as well. Our bassist travels 1 hour and 20 mins to come to practice... :(

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 2:46 pm
by masked elwood
i was in a 4 piece band based in NJ. 2 of the guys lived there in NJ, i lived in KY and the drummer in FLA.
presently i'm just starting up a punk rock band in KY (where 2 members live), while i live in OR and the other guitar/singer lives in key west.
uhhhhh....it sorta sucks.....but rehearsals are always constructive as everyone always does their homework.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 3:12 pm
by Psyre
Wow haha

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 3:34 pm
by wozzly
Uhhh. I live in Olympia WA while the other guys live in Denton TX. We work on shit when I am in town, and do some shows. We usually only "practice" once or twice. I'm usually sending them demos (which they don't fuckin' listen to >:( ) of new ideas.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 3:46 pm
by theavondon
wozzly wrote:Uhhh. I live in Olympia WA while the other guys live in Denton TX. We work on shit when I am in town, and do some shows. We usually only "practice" once or twice. I'm usually sending them demos (which they don't fuckin' listen to >:( ) of new ideas.

Um, this.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:41 pm
by foomanfat
Two hours for me.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:15 pm
by GardenoftheDead
Driving from my house to where most venues are takes about an hour and a half on a normal day just because of traffic around the Las Vegas Strip.

I'm thinking of going to Los Angeles to see Russian Circles, though.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Tue Nov 01, 2011 10:22 pm
by kbit
I thought this was about going to see shows, more than band practices, so that's how I'll respond. I don't have a band anyways :(

I drove ~330 miles/~6.5 hours, one way, to go see The Number 12 Looks Like You's final show. Definitely worth it, especially since I hadn't seen them before.
Other than that, I don't think I've gone more than 2 hours one way.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 2:48 am
by D.o.S.
kbithecrowing wrote:I thought this was about going to see shows, more than band practices, so that's how I'll respond. I don't have a band anyways :(

I drove ~330 miles/~6.5 hours, one way, to go see The Number 12 Looks Like You's final show. Definitely worth it, especially since I hadn't seen them before.
Other than that, I don't think I've gone more than 2 hours one way.


For bands I been in think the longest commute one of us has had hovers around half an hour.

For bands I've seen, I drove Portland>Concord>Mansfield>Concord>Portland to see Radiohead (my friend lived in Concord at the time, and bought me the ticket in exchange for a ride), but the longest is definitely Burlington>Philly to see Sleep. Totally worth it, but those drives were brutal.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 3:32 am
by WayToHip
I never had to drive more than 30 minutes for a band practice, but I drove for 36 hours to see Sonic Youth in Denver.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 5:27 am
by Bassus Sanguinis
Five hours away, the singer moved from location to another every two weeks, guitarist lived with his GF who studied in another city. Since I was living too far away to come to practice even weekly - since I used to have several groups going on in here where I live - the guys always sent me demos of new songs to practice through and learn before going to rare occasion of rehearsals. Gigs and studio sessions all went always really well, because everybody cared to practice things BEFORE the rehearsals, so we didn't use hours after hours just learning the riffs.

In another band two members have lived in different cities for studies or because of living with a terminally ill relative, guys traveled weekly or bi-weekly to rehearsals by train or by car from the same 4h 30min or even 5h away. Once or twice the guitarists had to take the plane to catch the bus, and the gig pay for that day was used to cover just the expenses.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 8:46 pm
by grindonomicon
I had to drive 45 minutes when our only practice space was the top floor of a funeral home. That was back when gas was cheap tho.

I'd go @ 20 miles to one of the nearest towns now. I have friends who want to start a band w/ me @ 90 mins and 2.5 hours away, but I don't need the back pain, and don't have the gas budget.

Re: Furthest commute for a band?

Posted: Wed Nov 02, 2011 9:20 pm
by Fuzzy Fred
i jam once a week with a bassist who's like 45 minutes from me each way