Welcome back to the continuing adventures of the Rock ‘N Roll Zero. Regular readers are aware of my most recent musical journey that began in Summer of 2019 when I reunited my former punk band after more than 20 years of silence. This served to fire my then dormant creative passions to start a band once I relocated.
Of course, the pandemic occurred and I quickly realized that making music on my own was not creatively satisfying and then began to form a real band which started last October and I described in the most recent article.
THE STORY SO FAR
In that article, I discussed the very real challenges of assembling a band, particularly in a much smaller urban environment than Los Angeles. Principally, we struggled with finding a female singer and a reliable drummer. After what seemed an eternity, we found both, but alas, it was to be very short lived. Our singer, while having a mesmeric voice, had no prior experience playing in bands and, as such, quickly got overwhelmed with much of what I refer to as “bandsmanship,” which is basically everything involved outside of your specific music role in the unit. And it’s a lot. So, after a mere couple of rehearsals, she bailed.
It took a while auditioning drummers, who, themselves, are a particularly singular lot. All the drummer stereotypes have seemingly been true throughout my decades of playing music, particularly reliability. To that end, my position whenever I’ve found a competent, cool and timely drummer to to snatch them up and treat them like the extremely rare and precious unicorn they are. So once we found an insanely talented, kick-ass female drummer, she was a lock-in. This boon was further intensified by her having practice space.
My guitar player was interested in bringing in another guitarist, so we entertained all manner of suspects. I generally am not a fan of having two guitarists in a band as I’ve always found that although it enriches the overall sound, it exponentially increases the probability for conflict, specifically in the areas of ego and songwriting. But hey, I was open. In any event, we finally found one that we liked, was technically stellar and had some great songs to contribute to the repertoire. That also went fine until we quickly realized that he was, ultimately, interested in playing only his songs, thus proving my point. And onward we trudged as a trio, sans vocalist.
THIS BUSINESS OF MUSIC
Admittedly, irrespective of the seemingly never-ending process of attempting to successfully recruit players, it truly was enjoyable to write and play music with other people. There’s just something transcendent about it for me. It takes me to a very special place; a place of peace and serenity that can only be accessed in this particular way. The only challenge is that I am dependent on others to make it happen.
And while the splendor of performing music is one of the greatest joys in my life, it does come with a rather large expense. From a certain, crude lens being in a band can be reduced to the notion of suffering a virtually endless sea of shit for what amounts to a few moments of blissful ecstasy.
Being in a band is effectively signing up for a totally volitional, unpaid part-time job, where the vast majority of the activity is administrative, rather than creative in nature. In essence, it’s tantamount to starting any type of small business.
The process of product creation itself is only one small component of the larger enterprise. Outside of the creative aspects of songwriting and performing, there is all of the other attendant chores like recruiting, networking, marketing, securing shows and bookings, website construction & management, graphic design, merchandising, general management, recording, and, of course, relentless and ceaseless promotion. Again, all of this is done exclusively for the belief in and love of the art. And you’re generally spending, rather than making money. It’s certainly not for the faint of heart.
A QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ON INVESTMENT RETURN
As stated, it was pretty amazing to have met new people who I liked and we had written some music that I am very proud of. Just bringing the rock in a small basement space was resplendent after such a long hiatus. Nevertheless, I felt my passion begin to flag, primarily for a couple of reasons.
Obviously, the first of which was the now over 8-months of attempting to find a singer. I knew it was going to be difficult, but I had no idea. I often felt that the process had devolved into some surreal, Kafkaesque nightmare of being trapped in an American Idol episode where there was never a winner.
Toward the end of Spring, the lack of a vocalist was really weighing on my spirits. I then began to objectively take a look at this endeavor from a purely quantitative perspective and assessing current and likely future states. I was driving 3 hours a week to practice as well as continuing to write songs. This amounted to about 10 hours a week of time, over the better part of a year, with no singer in sight. I knew that once that occurred, if ever, then the real work would then begin. The work of launching a new band.
I was not opposed to this, but what became overwhelmingly evident was that the Inland Northwest, while an awesome place, just does not have the level of sophistication for, or even interest in, embracing an arty post-punk band. There is a reason why the area has never produced a notable, national rock band ever.
I’m generally an optimist, but try as I might, I could not envision a scenario where this band would really amount to much beyond an occasional, small show at some hipster place or being relegated to open for a cover-band. I’ve been here long enough to know that there’s just not a sufficient audience to support what we were attempting to pull off.
So, it was shortly thereafter that I gracefully bowed out on good terms with my two band-mates. They continue to move forward and have found a new bassist, but are still on the hunt for the illusive chanteuse. I’ll follow along and hope for the best, because the music is just so damn great.
DIVINATION AND DREAMS
A couple of months down the road, I’m still writing music when the mood strikes and both my former band-mates are amenable to collaborating by way of writing and recording. So from that perspective, I am of the opinion I ended up in a pretty great position – getting the creativity, mitigating the nonsense and having a sweet return on my musical investment.
As I’ve said before, performing live is my favorite part of being a musician and that’s now off the table since I’m no longer in a band. Then I got to thinking, I do have two other bands. Fully established, albeit inactive, bands that, if the stars were to align, could perform and play to a built-in audience that would be excited to see us back, if even for just a show or two. And it would be far easier to make that occur than to start from scratch and build from the ground up. In fact, I’m talking to the guys in my punk band next week when I’m visiting Los Angeles. We’ll see what comes of that.
So, what does the future hold for the Rock ‘N Roll Zero. I’m a little uncertain myself at the moment, and that’s okay. If the contents of dreams possess portents to divine the future, the story does not end here. Not by a long shot.
Until next time…
I never really thought about all the ‘behind the scenes’ work that goes into a project like being in a band, but I guess it would be obvious in retrospect. Funny, out-of-control egos don’t just disrupt the workplace, they also destroy bands! I hope you’re able to reunite the old group, this has been a fun story to follow along with.
Hey Adam and thanks for the comment. Yep, lot of work behind the curtain for sure. Agreed on out of control egos in any context – never a good thing.
Actually, it’s official that the old band is reuniting and hopefully doing some shows next year in So. Cal.!
If your goal was to start a cover band, I believe small towns/rural areas would be a treasure trove. Having been raised in a rural area, I have many times witnessed aspirations of being unique crushed by the local uncultured. But I am happy you made some new friends who share your same interests in music, and I’m looking forward to hearing how this musical story continues.
Agreed and your statement is proven by the zillions of cover bands in the INW. I never got cover bands though. What’s the point of being an artist or attempting to create by only playing someone’s else’s songs. Kinda like painting nothing but copies of others’ pictures. Just weird IMHO. Also, as a music fan, why would I want to hear a band play other people’s songs?
Anyway, we’ll see what comes next!
Well, I’ve never been called a unicorn as a drummer, but I’ll take it. That is, if I’m any good and reliable… haha. I always love this series and hearing about your music adventures. Now I think of it, it was never hard finding bands since I’m a drummer. I do remember being extremely jealous of everyone else that they had way less equipment to lug around. Ha!
Cool story and I’m sure the longer you play and let people know you’re interested, maybe you still eventually find some locals. Interesting comment you put forth on no large musical acts coming out of that area. That was something I had never thought about before.
Good luck with the reunions and can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Yes, Q-Fi are a true unicorn. I thought of you while writing that knowing you are a drummer and a corporate exec. No wonder you never had problems finding a band. Hahaha. Agreed on the downside of having all that gear to lug. Even as a bassist, I envied those vocalists.
Yeah, we’ll see what comes next. I guess the good news is any reunion activity will take place in LA and you can come check it out if it happens!
Intriguing story, even though it unfortunately didn’t work out. Not many people recognize how much behind the scenes effort must be put into creating. Your line about “The process of product creation…” is right on.
I appreciate the insight into rural living with both the pros and challenges that come along with it. I’ve always lived in a heavily populated metropolis area, either in the bay or a few short years in San Diego, and I believe I have a naïvely romantic view about rural life and how it can only be glorious with less traffic and crime. I hadn’t thought much about the challenges of socialization and the distances that must be driven to do so.
Thanks for the comment, Noel. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say. Still stoked to have met new friends and future collaborators! Starting and country band or a cover band would do just fine but the under-sophistication of the area really precludes more avant garde or challenging music.
Aw, I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out, but I relate 100% to all the administrative work versus actual creative time and output, not just from this blog but my own creative endeavors. At least you have potential with your former bands and the freedom to make things happen with them.
Hi Katie and thanks for the comment! Yes, lots of admin work in launching any new enterprise, including a creative one. Since I have well over a decade invested in my inactive bands, just makes way more sense to light them up again and bring the rock!
Ahh bands… you’re description of some of the ins and outs made me smile as I have experienced a few of those as well. In my last band our singer started cheating on the rest of us and singing with another band, mainly because they played songs he liked better. He never told us that he wanted to play different songs! It became super awkward and he eventually bowed out. It actually makes me marvel at a band like U2, who still has it’s original – and only – 4 members going strong since 1976. Talk about unicorns….
Good luck going forward, keep gettin at it!
Ah, yes, Dave! The joys of starting and maintaining a band. You touch on an aspect I really didn’t address which is intra-band interpersonal management. I also always use U2 as a gold standard as well. I think it help that they all grew up together since they were kids, but still a massive achievement. Keeping things afloat with relative strangers is infinitely more complex as you know!
that’s a bummer it didn’t work out better but at least you got to play some with people you like. my best buddy was in an original band and i know via him all the work that goes into that. his mates all had better jobs back in the day and it was more of a vanity project for them. buddy got tired of playing for free and started a few working cover bands for the reasons you mention. he got to play music people liked on stage and got paid pretty well. less artistic satisfaction but still seemed fun. rock on, mr. fate!
Thanks for the comment Freddy. Yep, lots of work involved and generally it’s been worth the effort, but I don’t think so here. Really evaluating return on my time investment, it’s clear that doing shows with my former bands is a way better proposition.