tubesNtweed
Joined: Sep 07, 2011
Posts: 507
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Posted on Apr 27 2013 12:29 AM
I wouldn't give up forever. It gets frustrating but just take a break, I always do that when I get fed up and feel like I'm wasting my time, then come back to it with new ideas. Whether it's a week or a month, but don't sell everything off, being able to play music is a dream of many everyday "normal" people, even if it's alone in a bedroom, an opportunity will come along eventually, just takes time. I sold off almost all of my gear because it was clouding my vision, so now I have just the basics and am happier than gas-ing over my next purchase.
Forget craigslist, it's flaky and if you do find the right people it takes time and location. Best is to ask around at shows and friends. Moving isn't a bad idea, I'm going to So Cal next year.
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Fady
Joined: Mar 07, 2010
Posts: 2260
North Carolina
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Posted on Apr 27 2013 06:29 AM
morphball wrote:
Or another idea- keep your gear, get yourself a cheap USB Recording Audio Interface, get a mic or two, download some recording/mixing software, maybe a drum machine or some drum loops, and start having fun on your own. Pick out some songs that inspire and challenge you, learn them, and record them. If you're proud of them, put them up on YouTube or SoundCloud, and maybe you'll get more bites. And if you don't, fuck 'em, you're still making surf music.
I realize there isn't an interest in playing anything not bass. Couldn't help but appreciate the work done by new member Johnny Zoom / "Johnny Zoom Hi-Fi Show" and think about this thread and in particular Mike's comment. Spot on.
— Fady
El Mirage @ ReverbNation
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morphball
Joined: Dec 23, 2008
Posts: 3324
Pittsboro, NC
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Posted on Apr 27 2013 06:10 PM
Onslow_Beach wrote:
I realize there isn't an interest in playing anything not bass. Couldn't help but appreciate the work done by new member Johnny Zoom / "Johnny Zoom Hi-Fi Show" and think about this thread and in particular Mike's comment. Spot on.
Now that's what I'm talkin' about!
— Mike
http://www.youtube.com/morphballio
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zzero
Joined: Jul 09, 2010
Posts: 1153
Lillian Alabama
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 01:21 AM
 think about your situation before you sell your gear. you can always play what you like at home or record your favorite stuff. i play at home and really don't mind. i just left a new band after one rehearsal because no one wanted to play any surf music!! i held out for 2 or 3 surf tunes and got cussed out and generally rebuffed for even mentioning it!!
keep your gear dude!!!!  
— Enjoying the surf,sun and sand!!
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JohnnyMosrite
Joined: Jun 14, 2006
Posts: 892
New York City area
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 08:12 AM
Star,
You'll regret "getting out" - especially with your gear sold. Hang in and in the interim, learn new material - get better at your craft. Your search for a band and the flakes you've encountered have nothing over my experiences. Like f'rinstance:
A CL response by me landed me at an audition for surf and early 60's R&R band. In the first paragraph of initial conversation, I was told that the band would be playing at union rallies and such festivals as the "Sick of Bush" festival (OK.. a "festival" about being sick over a sitting president. yes - very festive). The husband/wife team were communists; so right away (conflicting) politics got in the way. Jesus!
Another flake-o on CL in NY wanted a lead guitarist for an essentially Ventures tribute band. Ok - I'm your guy. Then he tells me that all gigs would be localized to Manhattan as he didn't have a car and wasn't interested (i.e. it was all "showcase" gigs) in even taking a paying gig anywhere in the tri-state area. They're out there.
So - I keep learning new material. I know lead guitar to over 150 tunes.
When I get bored, I turn to my gypsy jazz material. There's always something to learn on guitar.
Point again is ==> HANG IN THERE!
J Mo'
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aqualadius
Joined: Aug 30, 2010
Posts: 414
Charlotte, NC
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 10:11 PM
So I was thinking about this today, for whatever tortured reason, and I think what you need to do is write a song. Ultimately there is always a catalyst type member of a surf band that forges the band out of steel will. None of the members are actually really that into surf music other than this member, and without this member, the surf does not continue. 75-90% of the surf bands on this forum are driven by a single member, and if that member decides it's over, the whole thing dies. Typically, it's one person that is so into it, that they coerce others into making music with them, regardless of wether or not it's a punk guitarist and a country drummer. It's a passion and a force that comes from sheer determination.
So my advice is either pick up a guitar and write a song that you can teach to other guitarist's as you play bass, or come up with some ingenious "Morphine" versions of Surf, so that you can lead the way. Because in my opinion surf music is about the love of the sound of an instrument, not the sound of a voice, and nobody is going to get that in your general vicinity any time soon, if they haven't already. Unless you show them how cool it can be.
Try "Arab" from the Jesters(off of the Surf Creature CD release). That's about as close as it comes to a bass solo Surf Song that I can think of right now(other than Bass VI which I mean c'mon is just a guitar).
— Jeremy
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 10:22 PM
Dead on about writing the song bit. Non-surf fans have little interest in copying a part from a '60s surf song. People want to be able to create a part to an original song. Just tell them the chords, how many times they are played, and have at it. Don't get caught in the nuance of being 'surf'. Play how you want to play and let everyone else fall in line in the fashion they feel comfortable.
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tubesNtweed
Joined: Sep 07, 2011
Posts: 507
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 11:15 PM
Also, why SELL the gear? Besides out of frustration, is it that you could use the money? If it's not to that point, then take a break, put the stuff in the corner and come back to it when you're ready and cooled off. But once you sell it you're done, and should you realize it was a dumb thing to do, you'll have to buy everything over again...
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 11:29 PM
I'm fairly certain he was joking about selling the gear.
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PrestonRice
Joined: Oct 05, 2012
Posts: 1725
Austin, Texas
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 11:40 PM
JakeDobner wrote:
- Make Friends
- Tell them they are in a surf band
- Be in a surf band.
This the story of the 'Verb?
— IMO.
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JObeast
Joined: Jul 24, 2012
Posts: 2762
Finknabad, Squinkistan
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Posted on Apr 28 2013 11:49 PM
Absolutely, Jake. Ever watch "Let it Be" where Paul tells George how to relax the bent note? This kind of control was the thing that took the joy out of the being in the Beatles, making them all want to quit so they could call their own shots. By all means, write as much music as you are able and demonstrate how to play it but don't kibitz another player's musical expression.
I played with a fellow whose drive and ability were admirable. He showed us a tune and we attempted to render it. When we started to deviate from the feel he intended for it – jamming out on it broadly – he rightly 'vetoed' the interpretation as inappropriate. I admired that simple way he dragged us out of our pointless noodling, saving a lot of time by risking alienation. THat showed character.
But later the same fellow's drive for effectual ensemble playing morphed into something talibanesque, telling me to play my Jag rather than my Mustang because it's 'more surf', eventually indicating that rhythm guitar should just be a muted Jazzmaster played with through a reverb tank, like the Astronauts... basically I was being told that my own interpretation was not welcome and that I should get in his box. That kind of 'vision' will always rankle as disrespectful to another player's own mode of expression. I am sure he didn't notice it, but his insecurity made it impossible to form a band.
A musician has to trust his accomplices and let them discover their own voices. Otherwise he should just pay them handsomely.
JakeDobner wrote:
Dead on about writing the song bit. Non-surf fans have little interest in copying a part from a '60s surf song. People want to be able to create a part to an original song. Just tell them the chords, how many times they are played, and have at it. Don't get caught in the nuance of being 'surf'. Play how you want to play and let everyone else fall in line in the fashion they feel comfortable.
— Squink Out!
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JakeDobner
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 12159
Seattle
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 12:06 AM
Yeah, I've seen Let it Be several times, it is really quite depressing. The songs are all good, but it was not a great environment. They just aren't having fun.
And on Paul telling George what to play... All Things Must Pass, what a brilliant album. I love all of George's Beatles songs, he deserved a lot more praise. It's All Too Much, I Need You, Long, Long, Long, The Inner Light, as well as his better known songs. They are all amazing, completely wrong of Paul. In my bands, we all suggest things but we never tell each other what to play.
Preston, we were all friends many years before the 'Verb, before we even picked up non-symphonic/brass/orchestral instruments. Then we picked up guitars/basses/drums and started jamming. Eric and I in the year between high school and college wanted to start a gigging band so we wrote some songs. We didn't know what we would do, we dabbled here and there. Then I wrote a surf song, he liked it. And then we took it to the fellas. We then met Mike a couple years later at a Guitar Center.
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DNAdude
Joined: Aug 01, 2008
Posts: 404
North Carolina
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 08:23 AM
JObeast wrote:
A musician has to trust his accomplices and let them discover their own voices.>
Yes! That's part of the fun of being in a band. I brought in a tune I had written, the band learned it and then they all told me I was playing my own song too fast! But then I realized it isn't "my" song anymore but the band's song.
— Ralph
The Storm Surfers
Be at one with the universe. If you can't do that, at least be at one with your guitar.
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Richard
Joined: Mar 02, 2006
Posts: 1683
Georgia
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 10:33 AM
Hey Will, don't sell your stuff. You may not have been real serious, but it's a thought that's occurred to me in the past out of frustration too. Take everyone's cooling off advice.
Your experience with CL is typical. I've had all the things you and everyone else describes happen in some form at least once. People almost ALWAYS, regardless of where you meet them, would rather blow you off cold than say something you might not want to hear to your face. It's not at all cool, but it's human nature. The immediacy of the (irrational) fear of having an unpleasant conversation (that no real bad will come of, almost certainly) trumps the distant almost-certainty of creating ill will that likely would not have existed if they'd just been frank about things. That they'll likely never have to face it makes it the more attractive option, and while I've been pissed about it in the past I'd encourage you to tie it off and forget it.
If you really don't want to play anything else, you might be in for a long, frustrating wait. I felt the same way before I stumbled onto The Surge!, which was an existing band that I luckily and unknowingly walked into. If it weren't for Eddie K. and co's patience I would never have played in a surf band, wouldn't be in the one I'm in now, and would probably have given up being in a band after the two prior bands I was in disintegrated.
Writing a song and becoming the force that Jeremy and others suggest is, IMO, your best place to focus your energy regardless of whether you think you can or not.
— The Mystery Men?
El Capitan and The Reluctant Sadists
SSS Agent #31
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killbabykill34
Joined: Apr 03, 2010
Posts: 3201
Jacksonville, AL
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 10:53 AM
The mention above of writing songs and bringing others along for the ride really is the most honest statement made on here. If you want a Surf band, YOU are going to have to most likely create it. This means being a leader, finding members and making them excited about the project. Sure, they might not have a love for the genre at first and will most likely be hired hands. But in time, with the right leadership, chances are the project will grow in to an actual 'band'.
And craigslist has its strong points. Years ago, while living in Atlanta, I decided to put KBK back together. I ran and ad on Craigslist. The only response I got was from Chad Shivers(formerly of The Squares). No, things didn't work out with us playing together. But it was enough of a connection that allowed me to introduce him to the guys from The Mystery Men? And, he ended up producing our new record. So good things do come from CL, even if they aren't quite what you were looking for.
— THE KBK ... This is the last known signal. We offer Sanctuary.
www.thekbk.com
http://www.deepeddy.net/artists/thekbk/
www.reverbnation.com/thekbk
www.facebook.com/thekbkal
Last edited: Apr 29, 2013 10:53:25
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Tuck
Joined: Sep 02, 2006
Posts: 3166
Denver, CO
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 11:46 AM
"Morphine" surf. Sounds good. Even if you don't have a sax player. There's a local band (not surf) that consists of just a drummer and a bassist. And I treasure a memory of another local band (surf) having a fairly awkward show in which at one point the lead guitar took over the bass - the rhythm guitar was not a happy camper on bass - and played the lead to Misirlou on that instrument.
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DNAdude
Joined: Aug 01, 2008
Posts: 404
North Carolina
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 11:58 AM
killbabykill34 wrote:
The mention above of writing songs and bringing others along for the ride really is the most honest statement made on here. If you want a Surf band, YOU are going to have to most likely create it. This means being a leader, finding members and making them excited about the project.
That's actually a really accurate description of how the Storm Surfers came to exist. Mind you, the guys came to love the genre after they'd been playing it for awhile. The most important things is DON'T GIVE UP.
— Ralph
The Storm Surfers
Be at one with the universe. If you can't do that, at least be at one with your guitar.
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Staredge
Joined: Sep 27, 2008
Posts: 1149
Damascus, Maryland
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 02:08 PM
No, Jake.....I'm really kind of having the discussion with myself about it. Not so much that I NEED the money, although it would help. Mostly just because I can't stand seeing them hanging on the wall gathering dust.
All valid points, and I appreciate the input from all of you. I think part of it stems from the situation with the guys I was playing with. A big part of it is just the continuous failure to communicate. If you're not interested, just frakkin SAY SO. Don't stop replying to emails. Jeez.....you're supposed to be adults.
— Will
"You're done, once you're a surfer you're done. You're in. It's like the mob or something. You're not getting out." - Kelly Slater
The Luau Cinders
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skeeter
Joined: Feb 27, 2006
Posts: 2063
Virginia, USA
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 02:11 PM
HA!! Just wait until you start dealing with clubs and booking agents.
That's standard procedure!
Staredge wrote:
If you're not interested, just frakkin SAY SO. Don't stop replying to emails. Jeez.....you're supposed to be adults.
— Paul
Atomic Mosquitos
Bug music for bug people is here!
Killers from Space
Last edited: Apr 29, 2013 16:39:04
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dp
Joined: Feb 26, 2006
Posts: 3546
mojave desert, california
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Posted on Apr 29 2013 04:36 PM
bigtikidude wrote:
Say you wanna play all Ventures songs,
Wear bad Hawaiian shirts, and the guys must be
50 or older. And you'll have a line down the block.
I'm only 10% joking.
Hey now...I resemble that remark! 
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