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The Audition Process & Some Other Wacky Things to Think About…
Part One
For the next couple months I am going to share some ideas I have on the audition process. From finding out about auditions, preparing for the audition, all the way to getting or not getting the gig. If you are just starting out, a lot of these ideas will really help you out. After you get a couple tours under your belt your reputation will come into play, whether good or bad. Work will become easier or harder so we will talk much more about this later on as well.
I’m hoping these articles will shed some light on how to find more work and also on how to not get discouraged during this sometimes insane journey we call the music business. These ideas will help you prepare for a local band audition or hopefully for a major tour.
Most of the points I will share with you are ones I have learned from personal experience, many, many mistakes I have made myself, which I have learned from, and also mistakes and great actions I have seen other musicians make. These points are of course my thoughts on the subject, they are in no way the only way to find more work so keep that in mind and just grab what you can from these articles. Other than that use good common sense and a bit of instinct and you will do well.
First thing:
Go get yourself a passport right now. You never know how quickly a tour will be leaving, sometimes you will get the call to fill for another bassist who can’t make it, a last minute emergency, you get the idea. It usually takes about a month or longer to get a passport (unless you don’t mind paying a couple hundred dollars for faster service, which is of course, not guaranteed…) So don’t put this off, go to your Post office and apply for one ASAP. It should only take 20 minutes of your time to do this. If you get the call to do a European tour or even a full blown world tour and they are leaving in a couple weeks or less, it won’t matter how cool you think you are or how amazing your playing is or that your Uncle is the MD (Musical Director). They will hire the next guy who has a passport. Also keep in mind that because at this current time the euro is so strong, most tours are happening only in Europe. Why? Because is costs less for Europe to pay American Musicians and Artists.
Scan and print out your passport after you receive and SIGN it. This is good to do for two reasons. Before a tour, the road manager usually needs your passport info ASAP, now you can email him a PDF of it. Reason number two: in case you lose your passport on tour. Most U.S. embassies can issue a new passport in a day if you have a good copy of the one you lost.
Get a good package together:
This means collect the best recordings of your playing. Any great audio is a must. Live video is great if you have any. Also get good photos taken NOW. Don’t wait till you are asked because you won’t have time then. Try to get as many photos of you with as many basses as well. I’ll explain why in a little while. You will also need a good headshot just in case that is asked for. Try to do all of these photos with a pro photographer. It should put you back a couple hundred dollars but it well worth it. Don’t try to get your best friend who has a new 15 mega pixel camera to shoot these photos, you need more than a good camera, you have to understand light and exposure and have a bit of artistic talent to take great photos. You need a professional photographer and make sure you check out his work first to see if you dig it.
I remember touring with the guitarist Andy Summers. Most people are unaware that Andy is an amazing published photographer. We used to take long photo expeditions on our off days while on tour. We would both take photos usually of the same subject matter but I must say that after we developed them I would notice that 97% of Andy’s photos were absolutely brilliant. Maybe two out of my 24 were palatable. What does this mean? Well it means that it doesn’t matter who has a great camera, it’s who is behind that camera that’s most important. Just like it doesn’t matter that someone owns a $20,000 boutique bass, it’s up to the person standing behind it. Do your homework, check out other people’s photos, get some referrals, find a good pro photographer and hire him. You will probably use these photos for at least 5 or more years, not just for your promo package but also for CD’s, Myspace, your website! So choose wisely.
Photo Day:
When you go to get your photos taken, take photos with ALL your different kinds of basses. 4 string, 5 & 6 etc. Fretless, fretted, acoustic, upright if you have one. The reason being is that some acts will want to hire a certain kind of bass player. Here’s an example. Imagine that you are auditioning for a 60’s – 70’s revival type band. It could even be a modern band that wants that vintage vibe on stage. Maybe it’s the Black Crowes, maybe Sheryl Crow, maybe it’s the Rolling Stones. You get the idea. Let’s just say for arguments sake that you investigate the band on the internet and notice that the guitarist plays a 58′ fender strat thru a twin reverb amp, the keys player is playing an old beat up Hammond B3, the lead singer has a tie dye t-shirt and a peace sign medallion and the drummer is doing his best to look and sound exactly like John Bonham. Which photo will you send them? The photo of you with a 62 reissue Fender Precision bass or a photo of you and your new 9-string graphite neck, cocobolo top, piezo turbo bass? Of course the opposite also applies. In my opinion it shouldn’t make any difference, if you play your ass off, that is what should matter but remember that at this point it’s not about your or my opinion.
Now What:
So right now gather up your passport, photos, your best recordings (live and studio) and any video together. Make sure all your photos are also converted to digital form as well. Put together a good bio, list all your bands you have played with and any other experience you have. You want to have all your tools ready for battle and that’s pretty much what you are in for. So for now, the more the merrier. Just throw everything together into the same folder for now.
My next article will deal with how to find out about a gig or audition and what to do next so I’ll see you again real soon.
I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Abraham Lincoln quotes of all time, which certainly applies to this article: “I will prepare and someday my chance will come…”
Good luck, Ric
Bass Videos
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes…
It is always great to meet a super busy bassist who simply exudes a love for music and his instrument. Erick “Jesus” Coomes fits this description exactly. Hailing from Southern California, “Jesus” co-founded and plays bass for Lettuce and has found his groove playing with numerous other musicians.
Join us as we hear of his musical journey, how he gets his sound, his ongoing projects, and his plans for the future.
Photo, Bob Forte
Featured Videos
Visit Online
www.lettucefunk.com
IG @jesuscsuperstar
FB@jesuscoomes
FB @lettucefunk
Bass Videos
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
“These stories from the front are with real-life, day-to-day musicians who deal with work life and gigging and how they make it work out. Each month, topics may include… the kind of gigs you get, the money, dealing with less-than-ideal rooms, as well as the gear you need to get the job done… and the list goes on from there.” – Steve the Bass Guy and Shawn Cav
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This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Check out our top 10 favorite basses on Instagram this week…
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Bass CDs
New Album: Jake Leckie, Planter of Seeds
Bassist Jake Leckie and The Guide Trio Unveil New Album Planter of Seeds,
to be released on June 7, 2024
Planter of Seeds is bassist/composer Jake Leckie’s third release as a bandleader and explores what beauty can come tomorrow from the seeds we plant today.
What are we putting in the ground? What are we building? What is the village we want to bring our children up in? At the core of the ensemble is The Guide Trio, his working band with guitarist Nadav Peled and drummer Beth Goodfellow, who played on Leckie’s second album, The Guide, a rootsy funky acoustic analog folk-jazz recording released on Ropeadope records in 2022. For Planter of Seeds, the ensemble is augmented by Cathlene Pineda (piano), Randal Fisher (tenor saxophone), and Darius Christian (trombone), who infuse freedom and soul into the already tightly established ensemble.
Eight original compositions were pristinely recorded live off the floor of Studio 3 at East West Studios in Hollywood CA, and mastered by A.T. Michael MacDonald. The cover art is by internationally acclaimed visual artist Wayne White. Whereas his previous work has been compared to Charles Mingus, and Keith Jarrett’s American Quartet with Charlie Haden, Leckie’s new collection sits comfortably between the funky odd time signatures of the Dave Holland Quintet and the modern folk-jazz of the Brian Blade Fellowship Band with a respectful nod towards the late 1950s classic recordings of Ahmad Jamal and Miles Davis.
The title track, “Planter of Seeds,” is dedicated to a close family friend, who was originally from Trinidad, and whenever she visited family or friends at their homes, without anyone knowing, she would plant seeds she kept in her pocket in their gardens, so the next season beautiful flowers would pop up. It was a small altruistic anonymous act of kindness that brought just a little more beauty into the world. The rhythm is a tribute to Ahmad Jamal, who we also lost around the same time, and whose theme song Poinciana is about a tree from the Caribbean.
“Big Sur Jade” was written on a trip Leckie took with his wife to Big Sur, CA, and is a celebration of his family and community. This swinging 5/4 blues opens with an unaccompanied bass solo, and gives an opportunity for each of the musicians to share their improvisational voices. “Clear Skies” is a cathartic up-tempo release of collective creative energies in fiery improvisational freedom. “The Aquatic Uncle” features Randal Fisher’s saxophone and is named after an Italo Calvino short story which contemplates if one can embrace the new ways while being in tune with tradition. In ancient times, before a rudder, the Starboard side of the ship was where it was steered from with a steering oar. In this meditative quartet performance, the bass is like the steering oar of the ensemble: it can control the direction of the music, and when things begin to unravel or become unhinged, a simple pedal note keeps everything grounded.
The two trio tunes on the album are proof that the establishment of his consistent working band The Guide Trio has been a fruitful collaboration. “Santa Teresa”, a bouncy samba-blues in ? time, embodies the winding streets and stairways of the bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro it is named for. The swampy drum feel on “String Song” pays homage to Levon Helm of The Band, a group where you can’t always tell who wrote the song or who the bandleader is, proving that the sum is greater than the individual parts. Early jazz reflected egalitarianism in collective improvisation, and this group dynamic is an expression of that kind of inclusivity and democracy.
“The Daughters of the Moon” rounds out the album, putting book ends on the naturalist themes. This composition is named after magical surrealist Italo Calvino’s short story about consumerism, in which a mythical modern society that values only buying shiny new things throws away the moon like it is a piece of garbage and the daughters of the moon save it and resurrect it. It’s an eco-feminist take on how women are going to save the world. Pineda’s piano outro is a hauntingly beautiful lunar voyage, blinding us with love. Leckie dedicates this song to his daughter: “My hope is that my daughter becomes a daughter of the moon, helping to make the world a more beautiful and verdant place to live.”
Bass CDs
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
In a thrilling solo debut, bassist Nate Sabat combines instrumental virtuosity with a songwriter’s heart on Bass Fiddler…
The upright bass and the human voice. Two essential musical instruments, one with roots in 15th century Europe, the other as old as humanity itself.
On Bass Fiddler (Adhyâropa Records ÂR00057), the debut album from Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter and bass virtuoso Nate Sabat, the scope is narrowed down a bit. Drawing from the rich and thriving tradition of American folk music, Sabat delivers expertly crafted original songs and choice covers with the upright bass as his lone tool for accompaniment.
The concept was born a decade ago when Sabat began studying with the legendary old-time fiddler Bruce Molsky at Berklee College of Music. “One of Bruce’s specialties is singing and playing fiddle at the same time. The second I heard it I was hooked,” recalls Sabat. “I thought, how can I do this on the bass?” From there, he was off to the races, arranging original and traditional material with Molsky as his guide. “Fast forward to 2020, and I — like so many other musicians — was thinking of how to best spend my time. I sat down with the goal of writing some new songs and arranging some new covers, and an entire record came out.” When the time came to make the album, it was evident that Molsky would be the ideal producer. Sabat asked him if he’d be interested, and luckily he was. “What an inspiration to work with an artist like Nate,” says Molsky. “Right at the beginning, he came to this project with a strong, personal and unique vision. Plus he had the guts to try for a complete and compelling cycle of music with nothing but a bass and a voice. You’ll hear right away that it’s engaging, sometimes serious, sometimes fun, and beautifully thought out from top to bottom.”
While this record is, at its core, a folk music album, Sabat uses the term broadly. Some tracks lean more rock (‘In the Shade’), some more pop (‘White Marble’, ‘Rabid Thoughts’), some more jazz (‘Fade Away’), but the setting ties them all together. “There’s something inherently folksy about a musician singing songs with their instrument, no matter the influences behind the compositions themselves,” Sabat notes. To be sure, there are plenty of folk songs (‘Louise’ ‘Sometimes’, ‘Eli’) and fiddling (‘Year of the Ox’) to be had here — the folk music fan won’t go hungry. There’s a healthy dose of bluegrass too (‘Orphan Annie’, ‘Lonesome Night’), clean and simple, the way Mr. Bill Monroe intended.
All in all, this album shines a light on an instrument that often goes overlooked in the folk music world, enveloping the listener in its myriad sounds, textures, and colors. “There’s nothing I love more than playing the upright bass,” exclaims Sabat. “My hope is that listeners take the time to sit with this album front to back — I want them to take in the full scope of the work. I have a feeling they’ll hear something they haven’t heard before.”
Available online at natesabat.bandcamp.com/album/walking-away
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Tour Touch Base (Bass) with Ian Allison
New Gear: Spector Woodstock Custom Collection Volume II
New Gear: The Dingwall John Taylor Signature Model
This Week’s Top 10 Basses on Instagram
Working-Class Zeros: Episode #2 – Financial Elements of Working Musicians
Interview With Bassist Erick “Jesus” Coomes
Debut Album: Nate Sabat, Bass Fiddler
