From: dts@qii.sialis.com (Dave Sandberg)
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers
Subject: Re: Having trouble finding musicians that can balance career and band
Date: 6 Jan 93 17:50:28 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Quality Institute International, Inc.

In article <1993Jan4.190444.12318@rtsg.mot.com> morrowjp@rtsg.mot.com (Jerry P Morrow) writes:
>... everyone I call wants to 'make it big'.  So, I'm up
>front with them and tell them I would like to do it part-time
>just on the weekends, and the conversation dwindles from 
>there.  I really get ticked when people that want to do
>music full-time don't take us part-time musicians seriously.

Are you sure that's what they're doing?  I could be interpreting
your statements wrongly, but I've been on both sides of this
fence myself, and it sounds to me like the bands you're calling
simply need people who are available for gigs/rehearsals that
don't fall neatly into a part-timers' schedule, and/or people who
are willing to give up their day gigs if things start to pop for
the band.  You tell them you can't or don't want to compromise
your day gig... fine.  So you and that band aren't a fit... big
deal.  That's not a slap in the face... it's just reality.

>Has anyone ever talked a rock'n'roll star wanna-be out of 
>attempting to pursue a full-time music gig??  I think trying
>to bring some of these people back to reality is really a 
>shot to their ego or their dreams, so it would be really tough.

Why would you want to do that?  I don't think it's your place to
bring _them_ back to _your_ reality.  If they want to pursue
something as unlikely as "making it big" and you don't, then why
are you so eager to work with them anyway?  Why don't you put out
your own ad and look for people with the same musical goals that
you have?

Also, once in a while one of these "wanna-be's" actually gets
there, you know... if none ever did, there wouldn't ever be any
new bands on the charts.

>Also, what ever happened to 'making it' by one thing leading
>to another???  A lot of the people I talk to think they should
>sit in their basement for months on end, crafting their songs,
>and they paying loads of their own money to record them, and
>hope that some record label will pick them up, just based on
>the demo tape of the band.

Surprise - that's in essence how most groups get signed these
days, thought it's not quite as simple as "just shopping a
demo".

>What ever happened to the band that
>would gig until they are blue in the face, gain regional popularity,
>and they something bigger happens??  At least, if nothing happens
>at a national level, you would have had a lot of fun playing clubs.

That hardly ever works anymore, especially when you're here in
the Midwest (as both of us are) rather than on the coast.  A&R
people simply don't go around looking for bands these days...
there are too many good ones coming right to their door with
finished recordings.

-- 
   \  David Sandberg                                 dts@qii.sialis.com  /
   |  Project Leader               Quality Institute International, Inc  |
   |   "When a man begins relying on society for everything, society     |
   /    no longer relies on him for anything.  He is then expendable."   \
Newsgroups: rec.music.makers