Drag yourselves out and just do it!

DiscoStu

I'm 51 and recently started a new band after not being in a gigging band in over 20 years. 
It's been going well, it's so easy to learn songs nowadays with all the tabs and videos available and we pretty much had a 90 minute set sorted in the space of two rehearsals. Times have changed! 

The only problem is finding the time to rehearse as we all have jobs with different shifts so it's only once a month at best at the moment. Oh, and three of us have fucked backs! 

Svartmetall

Hmm..maybe I shouldn't sell my Peavey Classic 50/50 power amp after all...

OilCityPickups

DiscoStu said:

I'm 51 and recently started a new band after not being in a gigging band in over 20 years. 
It's been going well, it's so easy to learn songs nowadays with all the tabs and videos available and we pretty much had a 90 minute set sorted in the space of two rehearsals. Times have changed! 

The only problem is finding the time to rehearse as we all have jobs with different shifts so it's only once a month at best at the moment. Oh, and three of us have fucked backs! 

Yep ... busy lives are an issue ... out rehearsal this week is out as our bass player is in Bulgaria and our drummer is doing a function with an old band of his ...
I have a fucked back (two collapsing discs) two shot knees (horse riding - or rather falling off) buggered ankles (motorcycle crash in my 20s) and a bad attitude ;-)  

mo6020

Good on you for getting back at it. I’d love to start playing out again but pretty much all my musical crew are in the US or in Dorset and I am in East London…

OilCityPickups

mo6020 said:

Good on you for getting back at it. I’d love to start playing out again but pretty much all my musical crew are in the US or in Dorset and I am in East London…

As am I :-)

DavidRees

but you do have a cheery disposition Ash ...

markslade07

I left my old band around 18 months ago when I started up my business and I didn’t really miss it at all as I was just too busy…until my sister said she was getting remarried and I stupidly suggested I’d put together a wedding band for it! Now I’m actually pretty excited about doing loads of songs I’ve never played before and almost thinking about doing something else afterwards (though I’m still not sure where I’ll find the time!). Would prefer wedding/ corp type stuff than the usual pub gigs I’ve done previously, if for nothing more than a bit of a change. 

Voxman

One thing you learn pretty quickly when playing live is that at gigging volumes in a band mix, all the tonal amp, fx nuances etc that you might fuss over at home go largely out the window.

Mids become your best friend and less is more re gain and fx so your sound doesn't get muddy, washed out, and cuts through. You'll also realise that you don't need too many different tones with a good clean, crunch and higher gain typically being your starting point.  The less fx tap dancing you need to do the more you can concentrate on your playing. 

And then there's learning timing, feel, and listening to and interacting with each other, and accepting that you're going to make mistakes.  If you do, it's important to keep going, improvise or if your timing goes stop for a mo, take a breath and resynch with the band.  Trust me, the audience won't know.  Playing live in a band is very different to playing at home. You need decent gear that's reliable, easy to tweak on the fly, and where possible is reasonably easy to carry, set up and packaway. 

Taking a backup guitar in case a string breaks or other vital gear that will get you through a gig if something fails, is always a good idea. It hardly ever will, but that reassurance and lack of worry can help you to be more relaxed and play more confidently. 

And most important, relax and just enjoy it! 

Petepassion

I gave up for several years, sold the Marshall and the Les Paul, a couple of pedals and leads were put in the loft with no intention of ever doing it again.
   I got more into bikes, the adrenaline of trying to outbreak someone at 170mph was quite the rush.
   The lads kept pestering me over the years to come out for a jam, eventually I did and wow, I’d forgotten just how great it was.
   Gotta be one of the best things in the world, mentally, socially and creatively. Keeps me quite immature at 59
    Just like the sports bikes, I couldn’t understand why the majority wouldn’t take their bikes on track, as that’s where they really come into their own.
   Same with playing guitar, at every level it’s great, but jamming and gigging is something else.
   For me it’s the icing on the cake, but the whole journey is brilliant, from sitting on the sofa noodling away, then a song comes, then another. I really enjoy the buzz of writing something new. Then to take it to rehearsal for the band to learn, the buzz the first few times is great as the three of us go for it. Then to take it to a gig or/and recording. Love it!

Littlejonny

Voxman said:

One thing you leaen pretty quickly when playing live is that at gigging volumes in a band mix, all the tonal amp, fx nuances etc that you might fuss over at home go largely out the window.

Mids become your best friend and less is more re gain and fx so your sound doesn't get muddy, washed out, and cuts through. You'll also realise that you don't need too many different tones with a good clean, crunch and higher gain typically being your starting point.  The less fx tap dancing you need to do the more you can concentrate on your playing. 

And then there's learning timing, feel, and listening to and interacting with each other, and accepting that you're going to make mistakes.  If you do, it's important to keep going, improvise or if your timing goes stop for a mo, take a breath and resynch with the band.  Trust me, the audience won't know.  Playing live in a band is very different to playing at home. You need decent gear that's reliable, easy to tweak on the fly, and where possible is reasonably easy to carry, set up and packaway. 

Taking a backup guitar in case a string breaks or other vital gear that will get you through a gig if something fails, is always a good idea. It hardly ever will, but that reassurance and lack of worry can help you to be more relaxed and play more confidently. 

And most important, relax and just enjoy it! 

The first bit of your post about nuances is so true. Most of what we obsess about doesn’t make f all difference at gig volumes. In fact, most of the time, good gigging sounds don’t sound all that great at home and vice versa.

And the bit about basic sounds is so true as well. The simpler the better. That’s why pros tend not to use presets. You can get a tone of different sounds by riding the guitar controls. 

mo6020

OilCityPickups said:

mo6020 said:

Good on you for getting back at it. I’d love to start playing out again but pretty much all my musical crew are in the US or in Dorset and I am in East London…

As am I :-)

I’m in Homerton - if you ever need a sloppy second guitarist with a history in punk bands but who’s now mostly playing Americana give me a shout mate  

guitarjack66

Petepassion said:

I gave up for several years, sold the Marshall and the Les Paul, a couple of pedals and leads were put in the loft with no intention of ever doing it again.
   I got more into bikes, the adrenaline of trying to outbreak someone at 170mph was quite the rush.
   The lads kept pestering me over the years to come out for a jam, eventually I did and wow, I’d forgotten just how great it was.
   Gotta be one of the best things in the world, mentally, socially and creatively. Keeps me quite immature at 59
    Just like the sports bikes, I couldn’t understand why the majority wouldn’t take their bikes on track, as that’s where they really come into their own.
   Same with playing guitar, at every level it’s great, but jamming and gigging is something else.
   For me it’s the icing on the cake, but the whole journey is brilliant, from sitting on the sofa noodling away, then a song comes, then another. I really enjoy the buzz of writing something new. Then to take it to rehearsal for the band to learn, the buzz the first few times is great as the three of us go for it. Then to take it to a gig or/and recording. Love it!

170 mph on a glorified bicycle? Crikey.

TeleMaster

mo6020 said:

OilCityPickups said:

mo6020 said:

Good on you for getting back at it. I’d love to start playing out again but pretty much all my musical crew are in the US or in Dorset and I am in East London…

As am I :-)

I’m in Homerton - if you ever need a sloppy second guitarist with a history in punk bands but who’s now mostly playing Americana give me a shout mate  

I'm in East London too and have been looking for something after leaving my last covers band but am running into time wasters after time waster.

Petepassion

guitarjack66 said:

Petepassion said:

I gave up for several years, sold the Marshall and the Les Paul, a couple of pedals and leads were put in the loft with no intention of ever doing it again.
   I got more into bikes, the adrenaline of trying to outbreak someone at 170mph was quite the rush.
   The lads kept pestering me over the years to come out for a jam, eventually I did and wow, I’d forgotten just how great it was.
   Gotta be one of the best things in the world, mentally, socially and creatively. Keeps me quite immature at 59
    Just like the sports bikes, I couldn’t understand why the majority wouldn’t take their bikes on track, as that’s where they really come into their own.
   Same with playing guitar, at every level it’s great, but jamming and gigging is something else.
   For me it’s the icing on the cake, but the whole journey is brilliant, from sitting on the sofa noodling away, then a song comes, then another. I really enjoy the buzz of writing something new. Then to take it to rehearsal for the band to learn, the buzz the first few times is great as the three of us go for it. Then to take it to a gig or/and recording. Love it!

170 mph on a glorified bicycle? Crikey.

It’s insane just how easy it is to ride a modern motorcycle fast…too easy

BigAl100

What a cool decision to go out there and do the live circuit! A great inspiration for us all.

OilCityPickups

BigAl100 said:

What a cool decision to go out there and do the live circuit! A great inspiration for us all.

In fairness it is really only a return to my usual form for the forst 40 years of my life :-)  But it does feel good to be working at my craft again as well as just creating pickups for you lot ;-) 

Fez

That is great to hear Ash and it really is great to be playing whether gigs or jams or just in your bedroom. I just turned 65 and still love doing it but running a band is a lot of work. The other guitarist is 76 and it is what keeps him going, we often say playing in Borrowed Time is occupational therapy. 

mo6020

TeleMaster said:

mo6020 said:

OilCityPickups said:

mo6020 said:

Good on you for getting back at it. I’d love to start playing out again but pretty much all my musical crew are in the US or in Dorset and I am in East London…

As am I :-)

I’m in Homerton - if you ever need a sloppy second guitarist with a history in punk bands but who’s now mostly playing Americana give me a shout mate  

I'm in East London too and have been looking for something after leaving my last covers band but am running into time wasters after time waster.

I wouldn’t even know where to start putting something together these days, other than just chuntering on here about it…

It seems to be considerably harder to put together a semi-casual covers band in your 40s than it was to put together a band trying to “make it” in your 20s… I’ve not even managed to find a vocalist for an acoustic duo to do open mics or anything. 

OilCityPickups

mo6020 said:

TeleMaster said:

mo6020 said:

OilCityPickups said:

mo6020 said:

Good on you for getting back at it. I’d love to start playing out again but pretty much all my musical crew are in the US or in Dorset and I am in East London…

As am I :-)

I’m in Homerton - if you ever need a sloppy second guitarist with a history in punk bands but who’s now mostly playing Americana give me a shout mate  

I'm in East London too and have been looking for something after leaving my last covers band but am running into time wasters after time waster.

I wouldn’t even know where to start putting something together these days, other than just chuntering on here about it…

It seems to be considerably harder to put together a semi-casual covers band in your 40s than it was to put together a band trying to “make it” in your 20s… I’ve not even managed to find a vocalist for an acoustic duo to do open mics or anything. 

Persistence is key 

soma1975

Even those few hours of making loud noises with others at the fretboard meetup yesterday made me so happy. 

I'd give anything to have a regular band to hook up with