Saturday, September 6, 2008

MY FIRST BAND AUDITION - A funny story at my expense


I thought I would share with you the story of my first "real" audition for a band. Some of you have asked me how I got into a band finally, and I think you should hear about the ones I didn't get into first! The photo is of me around the time I auditioned for this band, I'd just gotten my Peavey bass, this will help you visualize my experience. It was an ad on Craigslist in the city I lived. The ad read something like this, A "Hardcore **F-ing** group of guys looking to take over the death growl metal scene in our city. You must have your own gear, transportation, be able to practice once a week and love Judas Priest, Dream Theater, Queensryche....." Now, I wasn't into death growl metal, but I could play some Judas and some Dream Theater so I emailed them. Told them I was a female (I would later be refered to as a chick...no problem) my age range (I lied), what I played. I emailed them a couple of videos of me playing the bass (I had just started and learned a couple of cover songs) I got a response back, "hell yea! We don't mind a chick! As long as you can keep up with us, we mean business". So I got their address, set up a time to meet them, loaded my Peavey bass and mid-sized combo amp and off I went. I was told we'd be playing Metal Gods by Judas, and Pull Me Under, plus another song, I can't remember. So I learned those. I drove to the seedy part of the city, was met by some guy that said, "are you here for the audition? Just go downstairs over there", I did, I unloaded my amp and carried it down the stairs. One guy talked to me, the other 3 never said a word, just looked at me. It was a little room, with a drum kit, and their amps. There were Iron Maiden, Ratt, Kiss, Motley Crue, Twisted Sister, etc. posters everywhere. They all hooked up, then and the guitarist asked me what tuning I was in.....drop D. OK, lets start with Metal Gods and away we went. I felt SO OUT OF PLACE and nervous, but I played it. I was told, nice work, (that gallop tires you out). We played the rest, the one guy spoke for everyone and said they were looking to do covers and some originals but hadn't played live yet, none of them had. They were in their 30's. The others just stared at me with their arms crossed, more of a glare as if to say..."this chick don't look the part" which I didn't. I didn't enjoy their singer's growling, I couldn't lock into the drummer, and the guitarist was trying to shred, but sort of got lost. I am sure I sucked really bad too. BUT, as I drove away, I said to myself...I DID IT. I actually auditioned for a band, and I am no where near ready to play live, but I did try! I was told they would talk about it and get back to me. As I drove home I'd already decided that I didn't want to do this and hoped that all bands weren't like this, as far as egos, ability, being realistic about playing live, and the always saying "we are going to KILL THIS CITY WITH OUR METAL!!! YEA!!" Well, in the city I lived, there are at least 500+ metal bands? I decided to wait another 6 months before auditioning again. I did get a response, they told me they liked what they heard BUT I didn't fit in with the rest of the band. I had to agree. I would need to wear death metal garb, and in my size, which is tiny, I'd have to probably get a costume catalog from Halloween and order a goth or metal kid, crow costume....maybe a Kiss costume and I could adapt it or something. But, I couldn't head bang AND play at the same time, which sucked! I tried it at home, I got lost in the song, about dropped my bass. Then I tried jumping in the air, got lost on the bass again, and twisted my ankle. I was not ready. Not even for this group of 30+ dudes that were about to make it big in the city. I saw there ad on Craigslist for weeks after that, I hope they finally found someone. But, this first audition taught me: 1. Be Ready 2. Know what tuning they play in 3. Know what they want you to play and learn it if it is a cover 4. Don't audition if you don't want to play that kind of music 5. Be honest with them about what YOU are looking for in a band, i.e., music, wanting to play live, tour? age, what they expect. 6. Take someone with you in case you end up in the seedy part of town, at least they can help you carry your amp down the stairs. As you look at my site, and see my photos, you can probably see why it wasn't the best fit. But honestly, these guys loved their metal, and were going to do it no matter what, I had to hand it to them, and I honestly do hope they got their bassist and they got to play live!

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