Starting new projects

clockwork green · February 06, 2011, 05:04:39 AM

I've been frustrated by my current and long time band The Worship of Silence for awhile. We're still going but barely functional. We rarely practice and it feels like we never have any momentum either for gigging or for song writing. We'll have a good practice and come up with a few good parts to a song and then 2 or 3 weeks of cancellations will happen and we're starting all over. I have no intentions of quitting the band and as the main riff writer I can only blame songs I don't care for on me but I want to do another project. I've always wanted to sing in a band and honestly I have no idea how it will go. I'm a little worried about it as it's something I don't feel entirely confident about but it's only of those things that once it starts going well I'll probably be fine but like asking a chick out at a bar the more you think about it the harder it is and that first move is always the hardest.

One issue though is that I have no idea what project I want to start. My bassist and drummer have said they're interested but they don't really seem like it and I figure they're just being polite. I worry about starting a project that's too similar to the other band and then I'll be stuck with trying to figure out which band gets which riffs I come up with. I kinda want to start a band that's simpler and heavier but more to the point. That could be something more along the lines of the some filled fuzz of Electric Wizard or Sleep or I sometimes feel like starting up a sort of 80's thrash revival band. I also have visions of something a little quirkier, more along the lines of Harvey Milk or the Melvins. I'd honestly be good either way but I have no idea deciding where to put my efforts. The thrash thing would probably be the most fun, the quirky thing might be the most rewarding and the space fuzz is good blend of both for me. How do you decide where to put your limited time? It's one thing when I was first starting out and I was just willing to join a band and follow what they were doing but leading a band requires more intent. I'd rather not try and spread myself too thin and do them all with this project. I've spent months thinking about this and time isn't giving me any real clues as to what I should do. I don't care about whichever project might be the most popular. I think about this constantly and feel stuck.

E9th · February 06, 2011, 09:30:06 AM

Ive never been able to sit down and premeditate the crime. they always just happen, or I join existing projects. Like you, Ive had the urge to start things with specific ideas in mind, but it seems unatural to me to say "Im gonna start an avante instrumental jazz metal band" or even "IM gonna be the singer"...it sort of just has to happen for me rather than thinking it trough beforehand.

The easiest thing is to join other peoples projects. I dont know if you live in a city that affords an abundance of those kind of opportunities but if you do, that can be fun and I always learn something from other people, even the bad ones. Its a whole diffferent thing when your not in charge. Theres good side and bad side to that, but you also learn HOW to not be the guy in charge, learn how ot be a msusician in a band really. That was a big lesson for me, one that Im still learning.

bass sic · February 06, 2011, 11:00:50 AM

I think you nailed it with the 80's thrash band. It would be fun and remind you of all the reasons you play, and give you a break from the worn out routine.

eyeprod · February 06, 2011, 11:07:36 AM

you could try joining other peoples bands, but then you have to put up with their bullshit. I tried it for awhile, but got bored really fast. It was compromising my ideals, too much. You have to really like what another group is doing, but then the chances are slim that they'll want you if they're already doing ok. If they go through a lot of members, like the band I sat in with, then you have to wonder why. Sorta like a guy that can't hold down a job. Questionable.

I think about other projects sometimes too, but I'm in agreement that it just has to happen. It's too hard to premeditate these things, but I guess that's how bands get started, so go for it if you're feeling the urge. good luck and have fun

eddiefive10 · February 06, 2011, 11:22:31 AM

Clockwork you sound like you are in the same boat as me, but Im worse off!!! I put together a band and had a good 3 year run, then the guitar player got pissed at me cause I couldnt play a gig, drummer quit due to mental stability. We were moving forward, writing new material, but I felt as the main writer I had to refresh them each practice on what we had done, practices constantly cancelled, I even tried setting up one on ones with me (bass player) and guitar player to gather ideas, and it just flopped. So now Im stuck with a bunch of material, a singer who moved back home to be in the band (so I could play bass again and focus less on singing) and no band. I feel with a new band you should just get some like minded people together, and just let the material flow without boundaries.

ROWDYBEER · February 06, 2011, 11:24:40 AM

I wish I had time to start another project. I would do it with my current bandmates.
A punk band and a blues band. Not so much a punk band as a blues band. Been there done the punk band thing.
None of us have the time. So fuck it we play a punk song in our set and have some bluesy riffs.
And now that I think about it a thrash metal band would be rad. In fact we just wrote a song that has a lot of thrash in it.
3 pieces rule.

VOLVO))) · February 06, 2011, 11:43:40 AM

One of my bands is a big genre hopping party between sludge/post-rock/Earth-like drone, the other one is an old-school black metal band. I joined the black metal band, they asked me to come down and check it out. Next week I was there with a Mockingbird and my Marshall. Cool guys, the songs could use a little sprucing up, and the bass player should be fired... BUT it's not my band, and I'm just there to have some black metal fun. I had to learn that I wasn't the boss here, quick, because soon as I walked in I started prospecting how to lay out the jam room better for sound and was giving the guitar player tips on his picking hand...

beardofcthulhu · February 06, 2011, 01:08:57 PM

I'm currently about a month deep into a "new" band, and I don't know how much longer I'm going to last. I've been friends with the singer since the beginning of time, and to be blunt, awesome voice, questionable "front" skills. I get along great with the drummer, he's pretty well schooled, and he can blast away with the best of them. My problem is the bass player (who is best buds with the singer). He can't pick up on my riffs. Can't fucking do it. he'll stand there and play it wrong for an hour, never getting any closer, and it drives me batshit. I play it for him, he repeats it...wrong. i slow it down, play it over and over...he plays it wrong. It's absolutely maddening. I'd love to tell him to get lost, but I'd be outnumbered and minus a drummer and singer. I want it to work. I really do...but I can't stomach a poor bass performance. The only way around it is to let him write the riffs and make the best of it. Don't wanna.

clockwork green · February 07, 2011, 02:07:39 AM

My current band is pretty formless into terms of genre and that's good although sometimes it feels like we bounce around quite a bit. If I'm going to start something new I'd rather keep it focused but not to the point where I want to sound exactly like any certain band or devolve into any paint by numbers sort of songwriting. Fortunately I'm in the bay area and there are lots of musicians, most of them are already in 2-3 bands and way to cool to actually go to shows or act like they care but there are potential musicians. I also think I could probably talk my current drummer into it if he has the time because if I do the thrash thing it suits his style and the hardest musician to find here is a good drummer. One minute it feels like I have idea which way I want to go then the next day I change my mind. Maybe I'll just start working on songs and see which ones I like best and go in that direction.

tomz. · February 07, 2011, 07:52:13 AM

just kinda re-hashing an old thread here...

http://riffrocklives.com/forum/index.php?topic=332.0

^^^this was/is a great idea also^^^

clockwork green · February 07, 2011, 08:28:45 AM

I'm still planning on doing that, in fact I came up with something yesterday I really liked for it. It's more of a home recording project, at least to start with and after that, who knows.