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Never really come to fruition though.
Been uploading old tracks I recorded ages ago and hopefully some new noodles here.
Those gigs were amazing, and opened up just how powerful and fun it can be to play good live stuff.
But that was then - and aside from a few covers band shows, I have not been collaborating that much. But I would really like to, as it is such a buzz. Finding the time and like minded people now though - that's a challenge
I love hearing stories on here, as it's great to see others getting the same thrills, and also it helps me remember what I did/enjoyed doing.
Played in original bands from my teens to my mid 20s with no real success but a decent run of DIY touring around the UK.
Started playing covers/functions in my late 20s and made a living out of that for a while, but gravitated more towards off-stage touring roles. Got tired of juggling both and packed in the function gigs in 2019 - full time touring as a tour manager/production manager/sound engineer/backline tech since then.
Miss the playing, and occasionally talk about doing something with colleagues (almost all touring crew are failed musicians) but never happens with work and family commitments.
Nearest we've got recently was the whole crew learning some stuff by a band we were touring with and standing in during soundchecks while the real musicians were off playing golf
I've been playing with my current covers band since 2007 and with this drummer since 1998. We've had three bass players but had this one since around 2017 (if memory serves). Covid has clobbered us and we've been down to about 2 gigs a year since it ended. We've had a few health issues which have stopped us getting back up to speed too. I very much enjoy the acquisition of new material and then the fruition of the rehearsals - then the gigs are the logical extension of that. We're re-learning a few things for a Halloween gig at the moment (plus a few new ones) which has freshened things up a bit. I think I'm still improving as a player but it's a very slow process.
Still enjoy picking up my telecaster and making a racket with mates.
Out gigging most weekends. If ai wasn’t out playing I’d be playing at home, so getting out playing with the band give Mrs G a bit of respite.
I honestly believe I’d probably be a much better guitarist had I not been in bands, as I’d have (hopefully) spent more time learning techniques, scales etc rather than songs. Which lets be honest, in pub rock are usually 3 or 4 chords in the occasional different key, or not as is often the case.
There are few better feelings than nailing a song at a bike rally and having the crowd sing along.
I fully understand and agree that one of the main points of playing music is to interact with other people and have people listen to it, whether that's just a group of musicians in a room, or playing to an audience. But I've never reached a level where I'd be confident to do that, and in terms of writing/composition I don't have anything at all to "say".
As for playing at home for one's own enjoyment, I've said a never of times that I don't really enjoy it, I can't play anything I want to play and it all seems rather pointless. I'd give it up entirely if it hadn't been a part of my life for such a long time - I'll always have a love for guitar-based music and an interest in guitars and guitar gear as "things", but as for actually playing I wish I'd never bothered, really.
Done some amazing gigs at festivals or on tour but don’t really miss it as was a grind. Started gigging again last year after 5/6 years off and, to be honest, enjoy playing small clubs/pubs the most now. No pressure, get to have a few beers, a laugh with the band, mess around with the tunes a bit and the cash pays for a weekly shop or similar.
Started working and then started open mic nights and more jamming with like-minded fellas every week but it all fizzled out around 1988.
Almost three years ago I started playing again and I have stuck with it (as painful as it has been) but only as a bedroom player. My neighbour has a band and keeps pressuring me to team-up and I have a buddy who has his own studio and writes/produces/orchestrates stuff and he's keen to do 'something' so we'll see.
I don't want to commit to something then let folks down and me'n Mrs F travel a fair bit so I ain't around continuously ... so I'm guessing I'll see my time out never really having done a proper gig.
C'est la vie!
Fast forward 20+ years and I started playing in a gigging pub-level covers band, which morphed into another and then (2009) into a ‘70s classic prog rock covers band playing infrequently but regularly in London and environs.
I have also done a fair bit of solo writing and recording at home. But it really is a poor substitute for being in a group.
I do also go out as a duo with Mrs M called Modesty Blaise although that only happens if I’m not working
I also play classical guitar, but that's really just for my own enjoyment and I wouldn't be good enough to play in front of an audience. That said I think it makes me a better player generally.
I've pretty much always played music and been in bands but not ever made enough to not have a day job, even if only part time.
My trading feedback: https://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/210335/yorkie
I often think I'd like to get out there again then I remember how difficult it is to find people I actually want to play with, who actually want to play the same stuff I want to play. I know that I should compromise and that I'm passing up on a huge learning opportunity by stepping out of my comfort zone but I'd rather forego the experience of playing live than play stuff I don't enjoy.
I live in Inverclyde (population c.78000) which has a small live music scene consisting of a jam session on Saturday afternoon and an acoustic club on a Monday night. I don't do social media. I work long hours and am tired in the evenings. Finding people to "click" with, with similar tastes to mine is difficult. I'm not really trying.
When I moved down south I didn't bother finding a new band as the last one I'd been in was so good I didn't think anything would match up to it.
Since then I've done stuff on my own, which I put on Soundcloud and/or YouTube, as well as a few jam nights, some recording on a friend's albums; and since lockdown, some new stuff with the guys from my last band in Nottingham; although that seems to have stalled a bit recently.