Personnel...makes a difference

digitalscream

Had the first gig with our new guitarist last night. For those of you who don't know the story...

We decided in April to get all the recording done for our album by 28th May. The idea was that everybody recorded their dry tracks at home, then I'd edit and re-amp them with the Eleven and...job done. Well, the bassist - who'd only been playing for about 7 months by that point - put a shitload of work in and was constantly sending us tracks, getting feedback, re-doing them etc. The drummer did the whole album in a weekend (electronic drums...a compromise for convenience). The first vocal session comes, and the other guitarist simply didn't bother putting his half of the guide tracks together (and didn't bother answering his phone or emails...which he had a good laugh about at the next rehearsal...), so the drummer and I had to cancel plans that weekend to record his for him. Every week, we kept asking him for his stems, and every week it was a different excuse - I don't have an Internet connection at home (but can happily download all the guide tracks...amazing)/my interface is broken (but didn't seem to have a problem recording crap riffs to try to get onto the album)/I was knackered after work/etc.

In the end, we decided to sack him and look for someone else. We had a few gigs with a stand-in (from my old band), but it was a bit hit-and-miss because he didn't have time to properly get into the material.

Anyway, fast forward to a few weeks ago, and our stand-in couldn't make it because he was getting married so we did it as a 4-piece. That was probably our best gig to date - much more relaxed, and we felt more like a band before, during and after the set. Played a festival like that the week after, and again...fantastic time.

Found a new guitarist, who was so terrified at the first audition that he completely fell apart; we gave him a second chance because he seemed capable and a nice guy who fit in (unlike the original guitarist, who just didn't quite gel with us), and he nailed it on the second audition so he got the job.

Last night was his first gig - I can't tell you how bloody brilliant it felt for me not to be worried about what was going on at the other side of the stage. With the original guy, I was constantly being put off by mistakes and his inaccuracy (and his screwups with his effects and channel switching), so I never really felt like I could concentrate on my own playing. Totally not the case with the new guy.

The result of all this is that it was probably our best gig yet, and it showed while we were on stage apparently. Much more energy, a great sound and overall we looked more like a band than we ever had as a 5-piece before.

The moral of this story? Patience. The original guitarist was the first one who replied to us, so in the interests of expedience we took him in. The new guy...took us a good few months to find him. If only we'd done that in the first place...

monquixote

Nice one Lee. 

It's so hard to get a full set of personnel together, but you have to get it right or the whole thing is doomed from the start. 

mike_l

Excellent.

TTony

digitalscream said:

The result of all this is that it was probably our best gig yet, and it showed while we were on stage apparently. Much more energy, a great sound and overall we looked more like a band than we ever had as a 5-piece before.

Congratulations.

bob21

It's surprising what a difference a small change can make. We just replaced our tenor player with a guy who's more up for it than the last player - even as part of 5 piece horn section, and only after two rehearsals, we had reports like 'Best you've ever sounded' after the last gig! 

VimFuego

tittter, horn section. I know it's childish and I shouldn't but I can't help myself.

bob21

Our bio used to say something like 'Our horn section will funk you right up, and there'll be brass razzing in your face'.. That you definitely are allowed to titter at!

Roland

Right, I'm calling our sax player a brass section from now on

bob21

<playground>
My brass section's bigger than your brass section..

</playground>

(for anyone interested, I'm on bass in that, not guitar!)

VimFuego

nice stuff

Phil_aka_Pip

I'm glad this thread is not another report of the personnel/HR wallah in a company telling an employee who is also a p/t muso that he must "decide whether he wants to work for the band or whether he wants to work for us".

mudslide73

Great stuff. Our new bass player is just as refreshing... no problems jamming stuff out to see if it works and available for anything.