Riley Jordan

The year was 1983 and I didn’t know it at the time, but I was starting to find direction. It was like I had found the current in the water and I could finally move towards midstream.

In the meantime, the cover band that I had been putting together, was not working out.  We couldn’t find a keyboard player, so in an attempt to make a few dollars, I started auditioning for bands that were already working.

For my first audition, I rocked up to Dane rehearsal studios in Brunswick.  This was a huge converted warehouse with lots of black cubicles full of crappy PAs and guitarists with the volume on 11.  If you walked by a cubicle with a heavy metal band blasting away, the sound spill was deafening.

Anyway, I walked into the the rehearsal room to meet the guys and who should be on keyboards but the bloke that we were auditioning a couple of weeks ago.  I know Melbourne was a small place musically but this was ridiculous.  Let’s call him ‘Keyboard Man’.

To cut a long story short, I got the gig and we started to work.  I distinctly remember playing the Astrodome in Traralgon.  A big barn of a place, packed to the rafters with punters letting off a lot of steam.

In the days before the Internet, play stations and .05 alcohol restrictions, cover band gigs were really popular.  It was not uncommon, for a cover band to have roadies and full production.  That is almost unheard of now except for big-name bands.

This band didn’t last long before it imploded but I got to know Keyboard Man a lot better and made a few more contacts.  The bass player had a cutting edge studio in his home and fancied himself a producer.  I needed a new demo which was really current and I had a new batch of songs ready for love.

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Who’s in charge?

The best way to answer this question is to formulate the band vision yourself or between a couple of people with the one vision.  Sort out all of the details before you find the other members.  Then you have strong criteria on which to judge who is suitable for the band.  Even if you’ve all been friends for a long time, you’ll find a challenge to blend multiple visions.

The first step is to know your own personality and look for complimentary personalities.

Here are a few other questions to ask before you place an ad to find a new band member:

• How soon do you want to do gigs?
• How often do you want to rehearse?
• Where will you rehearse?
• How much will it cost each member to rehearse?
• Are there any other costs such as photos, demo etc?
• Who’s going to get the gigs?  Who’s going to deal with the agents?
• Who’s going to ring around when things need to be organised?
• Is there a set rehearsal night?
• What happens over the school holidays? Are you still rehearsing?
• If some band members are working full time or have children to run around, who’s going to get to the gig and set up and who’s available to soundcheck?
• Who is going to pick up the PA/lights?
• Who is available to drop off the higher PA the next day?
• If one member owns a PA how much are they going to be paid for the supply of that PA for gigs.
• Are you going to hire a PA or the band going to buy a PA?
• Is the band going to be a registered partnership in which all members are jointly and severally liable?
• If one person is going to receive the money for the gig then are the other’s going to invoice that person, in which case, do all members have ABNs?
• Who is going to handle the money in the band and keep the books?
• How is the band going to handle public liability insurance?
• Who is going to maintain the MySpace site and the Facebook pages?
• Who’s going to be going out and putting up posters of three in the morning?
• The exact style of music you’re doing?
• If it’s an original band, you need to be clear on expectations of songwriting royalties?
• If the band going to be wearing T-shirts and jeans on stage or black suits?
• Are there plans to record in the future?

If you can get these questions and more answered, fully for yourself first, as overwhelming as they may seem, you’ve got a pretty good chance of knowing what to look for in a potential band member.

If this is all cool, then you may also find that they have other skills to contribute, such as video making or graphic arts.  You can then all talk about all the other stuff that you can throw into the bucket to make the project successful.  The most important thing to remember when running a band is that the balance has to remain intact, if one person becomes too dominant when that hasn’t previously been agreed upon or one person starts doing everything and becomes a martyr, the project it is probably doomed.

Preparing for the final audition:

For a cover band :

If you can present a potential band member with a list of songs, a schedule of rehearsals and potential dates for the first gigs, as a goal then they can see a clear picture and you have a starting point and negotiation.

For an original band :

If the project is a singer-songwriter with songs that are already written, then the same applies as for the cover band.

If it’s an original project where people are to collaborate then that’s a  bit trickier.  There is no guarantee here, the best thing to do is to make sure that you’ve got all the practical stuff in common with the same kind of attitudes to things and  just really go for it and have some fun with the whole thing.  The creative process can’t be predicted.  Aim to give it a short set period of time (say three months) to see if the chemistry is there and if not you might need to move on. If the chemistry is there then you can start getting together a repertoire negotiating on rehearsals and start goal for gigs.

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My life had become a revolving door and people were moving rapidly in and out.  Tallulah had cleared off for Adelaide quick smart to lick his wounds, soon after his delusional fantasies had been so unceremoniously dismantled.

I was putting my first cover band together and the audition process was driving me crazy.  It seems like you’d just find a keyboard player and the guitarist would move on.  He’d settle in then the drummer would leave.  Everybody had different motivations, different life circumstances and varying levels of dedication to their music.  Blah di blah di blah…

However, I was about to meet some pivotal people in my life.  One in particular came to audition for the position of keyboard player.  In those days, in the early 80s, keyboard players were as rare as hen’s teeth and a much coveted.

New synths were coming out nearly every month and radio was awash with the latest big fat synth sounds.  Drum machines were starting to hit the market and the once almighty guitarist was being relegated to a bit of rhythm and the odd solo.  Keyboards were expensive to buy and cheap to sell, by the time you’re ready to sell (which might have been one year later) no one wanted them.   It would set you back a quite few thousand fun vouchers (dollars), to be a keyboard player and the depreciation was a killer.

So this bloke comes to the house for the audition.  The house that I was living in at the time had three or four entrances and it was confusing if you’d never been there before.  I heard a faint knock right at the other end of the house and I went round the outside to bring him to the back studio.   When I saw him, I had a déjà vu moment that was a bit like a volcano erupting.  I recognised him, even though I’d never met him and for some reason, I went into mild shock.

I remember pasting a smile on my face and inviting him in.  The audition went well but we knew that he would not stay with us.  There were bands out there that were already established with lots of work.  We wished him well.

One thing, however, was going right.  My songs were starting to pull together and sound like the songs on the radio.

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I know this woman who complains to me, every time I see her, about how she can’t keep a gig because all the men are so sexist and she can’t cop a break because she hasn’t got a dongle.   What she doesn’t realize, however, is that she is a royal pain in the ass, and that’s why she cant keep a gig.  The secret to a successful band is to know yourself – grasshopper.

While playing ability is of utmost importance, what’s the point of finding the best player to suit your band if your personality totally clashes?  It almost never works so don’t even think about it.  The same goes for finding the best looking person to join your band, if you don’t have the same goals and aims then everyone is just wasting their time.

There is so much time invested in rehearsals and keeping your skills up and it’s so hard to keep a band together, even with people who get along, that you can’t afford to wing it.

Here is where a lot of bands come undone:

When people in the band have varying levels of experience for example mixing beginners with old pros.  Unless the repertoire and the goals are the same, this can be a big problem as beginners need to make their own mistakes and the old pros don’t want to make the same mistakes over again.

Mixing people who are money orientated with those who are art orientated.  Those who want to make money are going to want a deadline and those who want to make art are going to want their own version of perfection which takes time.  Moneymakers are not going to schlep around the clubs for nothing while you build a following.

Beware of over committed people who claim that they can handle it, that they have the time.  Unfortunately, this may include people with young families.  You don’t want to have their spouse on your back or sulking at gigs.  I could write a whole chapter on the politics of dealing with spouses and their agendas (even when children are not involved).

Beware of the time wasters.  They never turn up prepared even though they’re not over committed in their lives.

Have a really clear picture of what the band is about and where the band is going.

In part II, the questions to ask before putting in a band together or hiring a new member.

What has been your experience in putting a band together?  Please feel free to leave a comment.

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Nightingale and I found ourselves in the outpatients department of a major hospital.  Over previous couple of months, Tallulah’s behaviour had become increasingly erratic.  When Nightingale had eventually questioned him about where he was going and why there was no money in the kitty, he had become increasingly agitated and sometimes mildly violent.  He was making good money but what was he doing with it?

One day, in a fit of curiosity, she decided to tail him in her car, as he went off to do a session in a recording studio. She noticed that he parked his car in Greville Street, a super cool and funky part of Prahran.  He then disappeared into a coffee shop and she patiently sat and watched from her car as he stayed there for hours.

Back at home, naturally, she confronted him but he wasn’t ready to have his delusion shattered.  He took it badly and slammed her against the wall.  He stormed off and she rang me for help.

So, as I said, Nightingale and I found ourselves in the outpatients department of a major hospital.  But it wasn’t to see a medical doctor, it was to see a psychiatric doctor about reporting Tallulah’s behaviour to get him some help (read ‘taken away’).  Needless to say, were both pretty scared to go back to the flat.

It turns out that Tallulah was not a session singer and in fact could not sing at all.  He had never been near a recording studio in his life and the whole thing had been one big fabrication.  He was actually on the dole and using all of his money for ceramic nails, clothes, make up and socializing.

Everything became clear now.  Not just the lack of money but also  his behaviour when I invited him to record backing vocals at my home studio.  I remember him grabbing my guitar tuner to try to have something to pitch to saying ‘we use these in this big studios all the time’.  It did seem a bit strange but I shrugged it off.

Back at the hospital, there was nothing they could do for Tallulah.  He would have to admit himself voluntarily.  They could not ‘ come and take him away’ based on our testimony.  This was a dilemma.

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