zambizzi
Platinum Member
There was a thread on here, once upon a time, talking about craigslist and finding band-mates. It must have died a natural death because I don't remember anything on there breaking any rules? Anyhow, I thought I'd start something similar, again.
I'm a busy guy and I don't get out on the local music scene much...so when I look for people to jam with it's usually on Craigslist or BandMix...but mostly it's CL.
I've had a 99% disappointment rate so far but I've got a decent sense of humor, so I'm able to look back and laugh. In the past few months I've had some strange encounters, I thought I'd post them for fun and see what types of stories other have.
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Last week I had someone come over for a jam that literally had me worried for my own safety. He explained at length that he wasn't "on anything" and that his profuse sweating and ridiculous, hyper-rapid speech was due to working out for 3 hrs. straight, just before coming over. I gave him the benefit of the doubt until he got his guitar out and started playing and singing. I was completely awe-struck...I thought he was joking at first but after a few minutes I realized he had no idea how terrible he sounded. He didn't know how to tune his guitar, let alone play it...and his "vocals" were something along the lines of tires screeching, mixed with straight yelling. He clearly couldn't keep even basic time...even when I plowed through his missteps and kept the groove going. The agony continued for another 45 min. until I politely told him I had to pack it up and be done for the night. It was truly bizarre.
A few weeks ago a guitarist and his vocalist pal came by after answering an ad of mine on CL...the guy I talked to seemed pretty down to earth and he said he liked all of the same music. Great! Well, they showed up and were clearly "living the metal lifestyle" both in appearance and attitude. They wheeled in stacks of amps and got down to business...with bone-crunching volume and ferocity. I was pretty clear in my ad about *not* being a metalhead and that my gear consisted of a 4pc. kit w/ a single pedal. They proceeded to bust my balls about playing a "much bigger kit" and at least getting a double pedal, if not another bass drum. "You're a good drummer and all but that's what we need!". Thanks and good night.
About a month ago, my guitarist friend (who comes over occasionally and is quite good) located a female guitarist/vocalist on BandMix and had her come by for a jam. The playing would have been excusable if her attitude hadn't been so terrible. It was all downhill from there and every song seemed to have a middle-ages, dungeons & dragons fantasy theme...I swear she even said "unicorns" in there at one point.
There's more but those are the most interesting, so far. I realize there's no "fix" to this and that's what I get for looking online. I've found great players in the past but it's hit and miss...no way around that.
Anyone else like to share some stories?
I'm a busy guy and I don't get out on the local music scene much...so when I look for people to jam with it's usually on Craigslist or BandMix...but mostly it's CL.
I've had a 99% disappointment rate so far but I've got a decent sense of humor, so I'm able to look back and laugh. In the past few months I've had some strange encounters, I thought I'd post them for fun and see what types of stories other have.
**********************************************************************************
Last week I had someone come over for a jam that literally had me worried for my own safety. He explained at length that he wasn't "on anything" and that his profuse sweating and ridiculous, hyper-rapid speech was due to working out for 3 hrs. straight, just before coming over. I gave him the benefit of the doubt until he got his guitar out and started playing and singing. I was completely awe-struck...I thought he was joking at first but after a few minutes I realized he had no idea how terrible he sounded. He didn't know how to tune his guitar, let alone play it...and his "vocals" were something along the lines of tires screeching, mixed with straight yelling. He clearly couldn't keep even basic time...even when I plowed through his missteps and kept the groove going. The agony continued for another 45 min. until I politely told him I had to pack it up and be done for the night. It was truly bizarre.
A few weeks ago a guitarist and his vocalist pal came by after answering an ad of mine on CL...the guy I talked to seemed pretty down to earth and he said he liked all of the same music. Great! Well, they showed up and were clearly "living the metal lifestyle" both in appearance and attitude. They wheeled in stacks of amps and got down to business...with bone-crunching volume and ferocity. I was pretty clear in my ad about *not* being a metalhead and that my gear consisted of a 4pc. kit w/ a single pedal. They proceeded to bust my balls about playing a "much bigger kit" and at least getting a double pedal, if not another bass drum. "You're a good drummer and all but that's what we need!". Thanks and good night.
About a month ago, my guitarist friend (who comes over occasionally and is quite good) located a female guitarist/vocalist on BandMix and had her come by for a jam. The playing would have been excusable if her attitude hadn't been so terrible. It was all downhill from there and every song seemed to have a middle-ages, dungeons & dragons fantasy theme...I swear she even said "unicorns" in there at one point.
There's more but those are the most interesting, so far. I realize there's no "fix" to this and that's what I get for looking online. I've found great players in the past but it's hit and miss...no way around that.
Anyone else like to share some stories?
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