well guys, my time ended on here on the 7th,
but i had a feeling there would be a few more questions coming in
long story short….........get out and play in EVERY situation possible, and on every gig possible
in my “youth” ha ha ha, I’d take any gig i could, which meant doing my thrash band with my buddies during the summer days (high school/college) then going out at night and doing open mic nights, cover bands, top 40 bands, blues gigs, I have done them all…....
you want to be as well-versed as possible, and be a team player….......dont go showing off your Thomas Lang chops on a top 40 gig!
this is also about networking…......get to know the players in your area and outside your area, and by that I mean all of them, not just the guys that play your same styles, you never know who will recommend you for what.
As far as the Shadows Fall gig there were a few prerequisites….........
1. needed to be known by the band (personally, and “known somewhat in the scene) I had this covered, since i had played shows with most of the members of SF with my previous bands in the NY,NJ,CT MA areas.
2.they told me they were looking for “slayer meets ac/dc” at my audition, which meant they wanted metal/double bass chops, along with the ability to know when NOT to play, and just hold down the beat (ok - got it)
3. can you live for the next 18 months with us in a van?
well I think we know what the answer was…........
so there you have it, chops, networking, good attitude, and the ability to “eat shit and take it on the chin” - because trust me, you will do a lot of that in this business - good luck
As far as the second-question of being the “go-to” guy,........mostly all of that has to do with the networking aspect of this….......meet and talk to every musician possible, this is a major way we get gigs- word of mouth and recommendation
I actually just had to turn down a tour with a very-well known guitarist, based on the fact that they needed me in Europe 2 days ago, and I couldnt clear my calendar for March on a 3 days notice, however the reason that they called me first, was because I had known mostly everyone in their camp for years now and my name came up based on that, as well as my drumming. So there you have it - a perfect example of networking. you never know when opportunities will arise.
