AllTheCoolNamesAreTaken
Silver Member
I'm in a very frustrating position, so I'd like to vent a bit, and if there's any advice to be given, please feel free
I've been playing drums for about ten years now - I started late in life. And I've been in a few bands (jazz, swing, pop-punk (ugh) and classic rock) in that time. All of those bands had flaws and problems, but with one exception they all WANTED to play out. They were constantly looking for gigs.
For the past year or so I've been with a classic rock band where I'm the youngest guy in the band. Not by some crazy amount, maybe ten years or so. And while I really like the band and the guys and have a lot of respect for their talent (especially after that pop-punk band), it frustrates me to no end that they don't seem to care about gigging.
I think it boils down to two things: that they're older (with all the responsibilities and natural costs that go with that) and they've all been playing music their whole lives. So it's not as exciting for them as it is for me.
Every now and then I bring up the problem, and they tell me "yeah we'll look for more gigs", but nothing ever matures. Before I joined the band, when they had their old drummer, they had an agent. They don't seem too anxious to get an agent again, but nobody wants to do the legwork to get into venues.
I've tried to help by finding us venues. But I'm a little younger and I like to play to younger crowds, and I like to play in the 'happening' areas. They ... aren't. And don't. So the few gigs I've found us left them kind of unhappy, and I just stopped trying.
What can you do in this situation? I'd hate to leave the band, because who throws away something for nothing? And I've seen how hard it is to find a band you can play with, before you even start thinking about finding gigs. People are just too difficult (me included).
Any advice? Keep pestering? Or just accept limited gigging?
I've been playing drums for about ten years now - I started late in life. And I've been in a few bands (jazz, swing, pop-punk (ugh) and classic rock) in that time. All of those bands had flaws and problems, but with one exception they all WANTED to play out. They were constantly looking for gigs.
For the past year or so I've been with a classic rock band where I'm the youngest guy in the band. Not by some crazy amount, maybe ten years or so. And while I really like the band and the guys and have a lot of respect for their talent (especially after that pop-punk band), it frustrates me to no end that they don't seem to care about gigging.
I think it boils down to two things: that they're older (with all the responsibilities and natural costs that go with that) and they've all been playing music their whole lives. So it's not as exciting for them as it is for me.
Every now and then I bring up the problem, and they tell me "yeah we'll look for more gigs", but nothing ever matures. Before I joined the band, when they had their old drummer, they had an agent. They don't seem too anxious to get an agent again, but nobody wants to do the legwork to get into venues.
I've tried to help by finding us venues. But I'm a little younger and I like to play to younger crowds, and I like to play in the 'happening' areas. They ... aren't. And don't. So the few gigs I've found us left them kind of unhappy, and I just stopped trying.
What can you do in this situation? I'd hate to leave the band, because who throws away something for nothing? And I've seen how hard it is to find a band you can play with, before you even start thinking about finding gigs. People are just too difficult (me included).
Any advice? Keep pestering? Or just accept limited gigging?