^^^^^^^
"FREEBIRD!"
"FREEBIRD!"
Why do some great bands make it and some don't?
- Thread starter Quadman2
- Start date
Kyluckyman
Well-Known Member
I learn of new bands from word of mouth. The owner of the Warehouse at Mt Victor in Bowling Green KY told me a couple years ago of a band he thought we should check out. That band was JD McPherson. Only seven or eight people showed up to see them but JD played like it was a full house! What a show! The next year the place was packed and standing room only! Other bands we like based on friend's recommendations are Reckless Kelly, Micky and the Motorcars and Carolyn Wonderland.
TheCityBeef
Active Member
I think things are great now days for bands. Bands can do almost everything they need, on there own.
Theres not as much of a need for record companys and thats pretty cool. Things really need to be focused towards the live show and thats a good thing.
Theres not as much of a need for record companys and thats pretty cool. Things really need to be focused towards the live show and thats a good thing.
marqueemoon
Gimme indie rock!
Well sure. We also don't have much choice. The market is so flooded booking or managing a band isn't something most people want to do. On a per-hour basis it would be more lucrative to work at McDonald's.
Yes, bands can record and release their own material for very little money and keep much more of the proceeds for themselves, but that's if anyone buys it. The old model of publicists and radio promotion people is alive and well even if labels are less important than they used to be, and although social media has leveled the playing field somewhat there is a lot of noise to compete with.
Playing original music live at the local level sucks in a lot of ways, honestly. If you're not willing to do it in the face of indifference you probably won't last long.
Farmhand
Super Member
Bingo. For the most part, people want to hear music they already know. This is why corporate radio works.
Marqueemoon, how many times has someone said to you "Why don't you do this for a living?" I hear that once in a while, and I always reply, "Because I like to eat."
GYMusic
Compression is your friend
Self promotion only goes so far. Months on the road playing wineries, fairs, street shows mostly for little $. It gets old REAL fast. It's expensive to travel, eat and hotels/motels. Some have small buses and that gets old. Shalik Berry A&R at Epic says it takes about 1 mil $ to get a pop single to #1. How does an unknown independent compete with that?
Mystic
We're all born mad
Reminds me of a quote from a a Richard Thompson live performance, one of the shows released on the original Doom And Gloom From The Tomb (ordered from RT's "Flypaper" on cassette!) series. I won't be able to recall (or record here) the quote verbatim, my memory's not that good and I do not wish to pop on the material, listen, and (most accurately) report the quip, but it is goes s.t. like this:
(Banter while Thompson re-tunes guitar)
"I need to retune for this next number. You know, Eric Clapton's got a bloke who tunes his guitars for him. I don't have me one of those. I went wrong somewhere in the Sixties."
Seldom does something new make me stop, smile, and listen, this did a couple days ago on NPR.
"When the tequila runs out, we'll be drinking champagne."
http://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2016/09/16/494260295/dawes-on-world-cafe
"When the tequila runs out, we'll be drinking champagne."
http://www.npr.org/sections/world-cafe/2016/09/16/494260295/dawes-on-world-cafe
Quadman2
Lunatic Member
Well...it was entertaining at least, and hope that it didn't reflect reality...even it 1/2 of it was, no wonder bands fold trying to express themselves with their own material getting tired of covering all the rest before them.
I now have one really clear picture of what happens out there in the wonderful world of music (tongue in cheek).
Q2
PureQuill
AK Member
RK & MMC are great bands!
I play with RK’s original bass player we started a band together 10 yeas ago & he is one of my best friends!
I know all of the Braun Bro’s 4 super talented guys & Muzzy their dad.
But at some point sleeping 300 days a year on a bus with 6 other guys + another 30 days in the studio doesn’t leave one much of a life other than being in that band.
After 20 years it flat out gets old and bands & musicians have to adapt or die.
This is a very interesting take on making it in the music business from a band that makes a living but is not “famous” or a household name.
http://www.westword.com/music/reckless-kelly-puts-business-before-pleasure-8212506
PQ
PureQuill
AK Member
Nope not anymore..Even if I could I can’t afford to do it anymore.
I have 2 ex-wives that I have to pay every month thanks to living on the road.
PQ
TheCityBeef
Active Member
Nice thread, Good stuff
PureQuill
AK Member
Well we must live & perform in 2 different orbits.
Most musicians I know can’t make a living in todays “music is free market”
As for bands doing everything they need on their own…nonsense!
No they can not!
Where do you think the Beatles would have ended up without Brian Epstein & George Martin?..
Still playing in Hamburg strip bars is my guess.
Where would Hendrix & Led Zeppelin be without Eddie Kramer behind the glass?
Pink Floyd DSM without Alan Parsons?..I don’t think so!
Yes without Eddy Offord producing & engineering & Roger Deans art work?..nowhere!
Motown without Barry Gordy?
Rock & Roll with out Phil Specters wall of sound?
Here is a link to the top 50 music producers
http://www.nme.com/list/50-of-the-greatest-producers-ever/262849/page/5
Look at what they helped recording artists create and where would music be without them?
This is the very root of the problem with todays music scene..
Todays musicians think that if they buy a $100 recording interface,plug it in to their computer & download some recording software (DAW) and buy a $99 2 pack of “Studio Mic’s”
Suddenly now they are recording engineers, song producers & mastering engineers! BS!
They lack any experience, knowledge & equipment required to make truly great records….
Very few have put in their 10,000 hours or 10 years it takes to really master any craft or job.
Yes bands can & do it all themselves today (Mostly badly I may add) with the help of pitch correction if they cant sing or play their instrument & beat detective and elastic audio if they cant keep time.
Most lack even a very basic knowledge yet alone expert knowledge of microphone & preamp choice along with mic placement ,gain staging, signal chain order EQing, dynamic’s control, room acoustics & studio design or the proper use of EQ,compressors,limiters,harmonic processors,and effects like reverb,delay,phasers & choruses.
Very few have the wealth of knowledge and tools that seasoned recording professionals have honed after decades like folks such as…..
T-bone Burnett ,Don Was, Andrew Scheps,Eddie Kramer,Butch Vig, Chris Lord-Alge,Tony Maserati,Jack Joseph Puig, & Bob Clearmountain
It is why 99.9% of music uploaded to Sound Cloud is completely unremarkable amateurish and is forgotten as fast as it was uploaded.
Writing & preforming music is a completely different skill than tracking ,mixing & mastering a great recording.
As for being focussed on the live show..
Well one must 1st be able to actually perform what they recorded live without the crutches of todays digital recording studios.
You can’t “ fix it in the mix” live on stage.( although pitch correction is used live all of the time if you can afford it and there is a digital board)
And life on the road is f*cking brutal.
The toll it takes on musicians health, relationships in the band and back home..and the temptation to use & abuse alcohol and other drugs….that with out fail always show up
(There is always a fan in every town with lots of free drugs hanging around backstage & the bus hoping to party with the band )
Taking drugs to get to sleep on a always moving bus & then more drugs to wake up for soundcheck and finally to give you a extra boost (Fill in your drug of choice here) to fuel tonights show.. Then wash rinse & repeat daily.
The list of great artist & bands lost to the road is a Who’s Who of some the greatest musicians of all time.
Touring on a bus/van traveling 16 hours from show to show endlessly.
Living on green room, hotel & truck stop food and sleeping with groupies (Strangers with possible STD’s) …
None of these are mentally or physically healthy or good for music or musicians.
Just my 2 cents.
YMMV
PQ
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chazvintage
Active Member
Killed it , you filled in the nooks and crannies, should be a help to others.
PureQuill
AK Member
Killed it , you filled in the nooks and crannies, should be a help to others.
Thanks time for a reality check..Yep bands got it great today..Streaming that pays nothing ,360 deals, Relying on crowd funding & touring to sell T-shirts ,posters & other crap just to put fuel in the van or bus to make it to the next gig.
WOW where do I sign up?
Been there done that
…. Now I am happy just being a side man & a studio cat 
I get to fix in the mix all the crap recordings that bands “that can do it all themselves” send me.
OK I admit it!…
I mostly polish turds for a living ..but its a honest living and I sleep with my lady at home most nights!
And every now then something amazing shows up in my inbox and reminds me that there are some truly talented artist out there that still give a sh*t about their music..and thats why I love what I do!
PQ
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