Finding Bandmembers sucks!!!!!

[Nik]

I feel your pain completely, so here's my piece of advice--give it time, and never give up. Keep looking, and you'll eventually find other musicians with a mindset like yours.

I've been trying to put together a band for a year now. So far I've found another guitarist and bassist. They're both extremely committed, and they think like me, and I've been fortunate. However, a full year later, we're still looking for a suitible drummer (we went through almost 10 drummers in that one year's time. Talk about a Spinal Tap moment ).

But yeah--this stuff doesn't happen overnight. Just keep searching

 

[Leon]

i'd agree that finding a skilled musician is pretty hard. hell, i can't even find one under my own nose

but, as far as trying to find someone else to fit your influences and what you want to do, that can be pretty impossible. i think the best way to go is to find someone with at least a few common interests, pool some of your favorite tracks that you both would enjoy jamming on, and see what develops. it's not always about finding the perfect guy, sometimes you'll be better off finding someone whom you have some chemistry with, and to be open to what happens.

 

[Shawn]

Set expectations with people before you jam with them.

Ask them if they can play in an odd time signature. If they say yes, ask them to explain to you what you just said. Gauge them on their response.

I've personally weeded out a shitload of musicians on the phone before ever meeting them. I don't wast my time jamming with somebody unless I have a pretty good idea they've got their head on straight.

^

I've had good luck with the band im in. I do know how it feels though, at times when we weren't doing stuff, i'd go find another band to jam with and everyone of those bands just wasn't for me. Im glad the band im in now held together strong even through tough times, that's saying something.

See if you can put an ad out there on what you want, maybe someone will come around sooner than you think. Good luck!

 

[SnowfaLL]

Psssh, try finding a drummer that wants to play in a blackened, technical, atmospheric, brutal, progressive, melodic, death metal band, with folk infulences in easter Canada.

Hahah yah really.. good luck! Its hard enough finding drummers in eastern Canada that can play rock, let alone all that..

You in a band already Carrion? Would I know you?

 

[AsIAm666]

Yea man I know how it is too unfortunately....Long Island is so weak. Speaking of which....anyone on Long Island that plays something OTHER than guitar (I already have another guitarist aside from myself) wanna be in my SERIOUS Progressive Metal band? We need a singer(clean vocals), bassist, maybe drummer, and maybe keys.....thanks lol.

 

[Ancestor]

l (all stuff about like raping dead corpses and killing zombies and all that crap)

Dude, you can't kill a zombie, because they're already dead. You can only reverse the animation.

 

[Naren]

The last band I was in was not really the type of music I wanted to do, so I quit. It was me on guitar and vocals, another guy on lead guitar, and another guy on bass, and we couldn't find a drummer. We tried searching for a long time, but couldn't find one. So, I quit and kind of started a band with another guy who has the EXACT same taste in music as me and the EXACT same vision for the type of music to make. At that time, it was me on guitar and vocals, this guy with the exact same vision as me on bass, and another guy on lead guitar. We tried to find a drummer, but couldn't. The lead guitarist had to move away because of family issues, which made it just me and the bass player. We tried to find a 7-string lead guitarist, but we couldn't find one, so last week, the bass player decided to buy a 7-string guitar and become the band's lead guitarist, seeing as it's easier to find a 5-string bass player than a 7-string guitarist (and, if we couldn't find a 5-string bass player, we could use a 4-string bass player tuned to BEAD, but we couldn't use a 6-string guitarist in B standard or in E standard). So, right now we're recording a demo to use to help find the missing bass player and drummer (all parts on the demo are recorded, though. Me on vocals, rhythm guitar, and a bunch of lead guitar. And the other guy on drums, bass, and some lead guitar).

So, yeah, finding band members sucks big time. I don't think you should compromise and get into a band you're not excited about unless you live in the middle of nowhere. But, even then... I probably wouldn't do it.

 

[ChaNce]

Psssh, try finding a drummer that wants to play in a blackened, technical, atmospheric, brutal, progressive, melodic, death metal band, with folk infulences in easter Canada.

Heh, try to find a drummer anywhere who isn't an idiot. Or insane.

You'd think in a city of 4.5 million, there were drummers (and bass players) out there that weren't head cases. You'd think.

 

[LilithXShred]

ok did the jam session with the dude i told you guys yesterday.... erm well... i think i need to search some more. Frist of all the age difference was about 7 years and i'm the oldest in the band. I don't really care about age that much but that guy simply had a serious lack of body hygiene. talking with him was a pain in the ass his, breath nearly made me throw up (i'm dead serious). He really knows stuff about music, but his style does not fit and he actually has problems with my rhythm work. Long story short : that jam was a dissapointment even though i had some fun.

 

[mefrommiddleearth]

Heh, try to find a drummer anywhere who isn't an idiot. Or insane.

You'd think in a city of 4.5 million, there were drummers (and bass players) out there that weren't head cases. You'd think.

dude I live in a country with less people than that you are making me depressed

 

[Naren]

dude I live in a country with less people than that you are making me depressed

I live in Tokyo, the biggest city in the world. If you include the entire metropolitan area (Yokohama, Chiba city, parts of Saitama and Chiba, etc.), we've got over 25 million people that are in a range close enough to be in my band (sure, a lot of them are under 18 or over 40) and I've been having trouble finding a drummer for quite a while (hopefully to soon be remedied, but you get the point).

 

[Lozek]

Keep trying everyone, you've just gotta have patience and believe in what you're doing. We're currently auditioning drummers 6 & 7. Finding a decent drummer who knows what he is doing is hard anywhere in the world, but if you have enough patience then the right guys will come along.

There's so many people out there who can talk the talk, you've just gotta keep watching until you find the people that can walk it too.

 

[thedownside]

Keep trying everyone, you've just gotta have patience and believe in what you're doing. We're currently auditioning drummers 6 & 7. Finding a decent drummer who knows what he is doing is hard anywhere in the world, but if you have enough patience then the right guys will come along.

same thing we've gone threw. We're on drummer number 7 i think for a band thats been around for 2 years. They are the hardest people to find and hardest to deal with (other maybe than singers, which we're looking for now)

 

[LilithXShred]

same thing we've gone threw. We're on drummer number 7 i think for a band thats been around for 2 years. They are the hardest people to find and hardest to deal with (other maybe than singers, which we're looking for now)

Dang, my drummer quit yesterday because he had no equipment for our rehearsal room. Nice move.... he still owes me 3 months of rehearsal room rent. I pretty much freaked out, but looks like i already have a replacement. I won't give up that fast.

 

[Black Watch]

Finding people to play with, or even more important still to collaborate with, come up with music, perform and record is a huge challenge, being made even more challenging every day.

First off, the rise of computers in music. I am a huge computer guy (it is what pays the bills these days) but the fact of the matter, look at the demo tracks submitted here these days. Mainly they are recorded by someone working on their own with a number of synthetic accompaniments. This is becoming more the norm, and the biggest thing suffering is the deep collaboration you get from a good bunch of musicians that can work together musically and rhythmically. Worse yet the "working alone in front of a computer" norm really seems to make folks more self centered, and less willing / able to work with other people to collaborate on sound. I am probably earmarking myself as an old fart, but I really cannot do good musical work on my own. The best stuff comes when I have at least one other person involved, several (the right ones) tend to make it even better.

Secondly, we are paying a heavy price for shorting music education for a few decades. Plain and simple, if you don't get kids into music, you don't get quality musicians. A small percentage of every generation has any real talent, a fewer percentage still will have the drive to do something with it. When you stop cultivating that next round of talent, it should come as no surprise that there are fewer of them to work with. Or you end up with people who have very little grasp of music structure, theory or even how to set up an effective song or why things work they way they do.

I will repeat what folks have mentioned, don't give up. If you are player who has standards, make it known to folks who are looking to jam / try out. You might be surprised but at some point the fact that you won't take anyone will probably work in your favor.

Secondly, suggest thinking seriously about if you are going to recruit people try advertising at a local music or art school, you get more luck fishing where the creative folks swim. At one point we were looking for a singer, and came across this young lady who was studying opera from a local school. We were not thinking female vocals, but she was amazing. The up side was she treated it like a profession rather than something to do when she felt like it, and always showed up ready to work. But watch out for over-inflated egos.

 

[Ruan7321]

no death metal drummers in SA.

 

[Kotex]

Well, I'll be moving soon. So hopefully I'll have better luck than I did here.
I searched for about a year with basically no luck. Every person who replied to ads or anything else was full of shit and a waste of time.

 

[Ruan7321]

Well, I'll be moving soon. So hopefully I'll have better luck than I did here.
I searched for about a year with basically no luck. Every person who replied to ads or anything else was full of shit and a waste of time.

Dude, good luck. I feel your pain. I haven't played a gig in like 2-3 years, which sux, but it doesn't help to complain about it. All the people here dont want to play double bass (drums). And the guitarists are all stuck in the grunge age. Bassists are non-existant. So Ill just keep writting songs....

 

[Zepp88]

So I'm not the only unhappy one here eh?

Yeah...I really need to find a solution...

 

[ShawnFjellstad]

i just recently found a guitarist and bassist for a project i'm trying to get going.
now all i need is a singer and keyboardist...

or a singer/keyboardist!