SydLexia.com - The Forums :: View topic

Posted: Jun 13 2009 12:05 am

My band is playing its final show in about half an hour. I'm actually really nervous.

At any rate, wish us luck! Any other fellow musicans out there in bands? Share your stories!

Posted: Jun 13 2009 02:57 pm

You're breaking up after this?

Posted: Jun 13 2009 03:38 pm

I hope it went really, really well!

Posted: Jun 13 2009 04:37 pm

I recently just formed a band actually. From the sounds of it, we're going with the name Ross and the Rifles (I didn't pick it). I feel like an old man though because I'm 20, but the singer Cassy and bassist Dyllon are 18-year-old twins, and then rhythm guitarist Dustin and drummer Terence are 15/16. I feel really confident about the whole thing though.

The first band I was ever in was called Shopping With Your Aunty, and...whoo boy. This was like 7th, 8th grade. It started off as me and the drummer AJ, and then we asked our friend Alex to get a bass. When AJ discovered that there was a guitarist kid who owned a bass, he decided to ask Ben to join, dumbing me down to rhythm guitar. AJ and Ben then asked this little shit named Eli to 'sing' for us. After enough practices consisting of playing 'Brain Stew' twice then everyone playing XBox, and someone suggesting we do a cover of 'P.I.M.P', I quit. I later saw them play at a Battle of the Bands, with Eli cookie-monster screaming the lyrics to 'Iron Man' about 3 seconds behind everyone else. I laughed.

High school was all about Chainsaw Symphony, which was the brainchild of me and my buddies Geoff (rhythm guitar) and Brandon (bass). We got our musical genius friend Connor to join on keyboards, then got a kid named Ryan to play drums. Though we planned practices for every Friday, once school was out and I made phone calls, Geoff was 'too sick' to play (ie. hungover), nobody would answer at Connor's, and Ryan hadn't come home yet. So that didn't last long.

I guess my point is that you gotta deal with bullshit and waste time before you find the right stuff sometimes. Or whatever.

Posted: Jun 13 2009 04:57 pm

I've been in bands on-and-off since about Junior year.
My first band was named Mavericka. It started off as a musically-confused rock band before mutating into a death/thrash metal band in my freshman year of college. Unfortunately, in college, we never found a drummer, so that band had to be laid to rest. To date, I've only performed live with Mavericka, and that was nothing to write home about. We covered Cream's "Sunshine of your Love" and RHCP's "Give It Away" for a high school talent show (remember when I said we were 'musically confused'?), that was back when I was the vocalist, and the only band that I've sung for to date,
In the summer of junior year, I was invited to join a punk band (unoriginally) named S.O.S. That was pretty fun, but the band basically broke up because we had nowhere to practice and no one but me could drive.
In the second semester of my freshman year of college, I formed a band called Pyramid Skies with a buddy of mine that later changed its name to Forasmuch, It had it's moments, but a lot of it was a bit mellow for my taste. It had to break up for a few reasons that I won't get in to.
As for what to do now, I really don't know. I'd like to play in a metal band, obviously, one that rocks hard, and I feel confident enough in my vocals to be able to sing (maybe just for a demo, I don't think I could sing and play at the same time live). I've really gotten into southern metal ala C.O.C lately, so I'd like to play music like that, but with a hefty thrash influence. We'll see what happens. If anything does, I'm calling that group "Argeiphontes." I've also debated forming a solo project when I get better at bass, and that will probably be called "Daubentonia." (I like being in bands that are a bitch to spell.) That project will have a lot of lead bass, obviously.
Also, me and a buddy have been talking about forming a rock band called McSalty, just for the heck of it. He'll have to get a little better at guitar, but by this time next year, we'll look to rock basements all over Pflugerville.
I hope.

Posted: Jun 13 2009 07:01 pm

I've never been in a band because, quite frankly, I'm far better than anyone in this town and it would be crime to lower my greatness by playing with these talentless hacks.

Ok, that's only partly true. I've never been in a band.

Posted: Jun 13 2009 07:35 pm

Good luck!

Posted: Jun 14 2009 05:45 am

Show went very well... despite not practicing since Saint Patrick's Day. However, over 24 hours later and I'm STILL hung over. Will share more stories when I sober up a little more.

Posted: Jun 14 2009 06:29 pm

Thats awesome man, I know how the hangovers can go from those things. But I loooove playing music.

Ross, I did not realize you formed a man, nice job, can't wait to hear some of the shit you record.

As for me, my band just had an awesome show in DC last Sunday and we have to shows in Pittsburgh next month, check us out, I'm constantly whoring it in my sig...

Posted: Jun 18 2009 11:46 am

Sorry about the delay... ended up going on vacation after I posted last.

To answer a question from way up top: Yeah, we're splitting up after that, because of a multitude of reasons. A: I, at 28, am the oldest guy in the band. The rest are mid 20ish. My bassist just finished college and might be moving to Dallas. He just got married and they're ready to start "the married life". My singer feels like he needs to move away and has already paid a deposit on an apartment in Boston. Our drummer is done with undergraduate studies and is now moving to get his Master's. Fun stuff! As for myself, I'm already married, with a child, making comfortable money... I think I'm the only one staying put.
B: This band started way before I was in it. The second guitarist and the bassist knew each other for decades, and they were starting to get into heated arguments when we'd practice and write new songs, and they pretty much agreed the only time they fight is when they're playing together, and they'd rather "break up the band than our friendship," and C: it just feels like it's time anyway. We seem to have hit our apex, we released a CD, we got many people to our shows, we've played everywhere from Houston to Gulfport and it seems we're as big as we're gonna get.

I've been playing guitar for well over 15 years at this point, but other than helping record second guitar for a band in Philadelphia and being in my (former?) current band for 3 years, I have little to no band experience and I'd been itching and this was the foot in the door.

So now, since I can play bass and drums as well, and I have a coworker who's similarly talented, we're talking about starting a two piece, where we can jump from instrument to instrument. I think it'd make shows interesting if we did that; no one else around here at least is multiinstrumentally talented, and I think in this scene at least it'd be a novelty to see the band members rotate.