My time playing in a band and making music.

[PitViper]

I chose Deep and Meaningful because both words describe my time in my last band. If anyone has a similar story or similar feelings about their time in a band, I'd really like to read about them. I'll start with my story first. In high school I had a Slayer and Pantera sticker on my car. The occasional Anthrax or Slayer t-shirt worn to school was about it for me and metal. There was one other guy in a class that I had to talk to metal about and he struck up conversation over me wearing a KISS shirt. At the time I hadn't really played anything that demanded some kind of study since percussion in elementary school. I did have an acoustic guitar and would mess around in my room here and there but that was it. It wasn't until I had graduated and was closer to 18 years old that my metal infection got so deep I just wanted to create my own. I started reading music classifieds and found EVERYONE needed a drummer and a bass player. I decided that as much as I was enjoying the guitar, it would be easier to get the ball rolling if I bought a bass and learned the basics. So for 80.00 I bought the biggest hunk of garbage the store had and taught myself some Maiden, some basic punk stuff, Sabbath--all the basics. I began to audition for bands and quickly realized the bands I wanted to play in..the guitarists were much more advanced at guitar than I was at bass. I was practicing with one band that at the time was called Drown In Blood. The lead guitarist was really into Dissection and Morbid Angel...he was helping me with covers and one day the vocalist/guitarist cancelled so him and I sat down and practiced playing Dead Skin Mask...with me on vocals. He said something that I never forgot: "You're really good at that" End Part 1.

[PitViper]

So fast forward to a year or so and I had completely fallen in love with death and black metal. Corpsegrinder was my main influence as I thought his range and enunciation was just incredible. He was identifiable. I put an ad out and Greg, who would remain my guitarist and very good friend answered it. The 1st time we got together it was just us in a room. I would put vocal patterns down to what he wrote and just go. From there we recruited his friend/roomate Benny to play bass. When Greg moved in with Benny it was awesome because the house was off a main road out in the woods and we were able to play outside, party, have parties, not have to pay for rehearsal or anything else. Drummers were a merry go round. After about a year we got Rob who was an extremely talented drummer with very fast feet--and he also seemed bipolar or manic depressive or something. While Greg, Benny and myself would drink and party and play video games after a rehearsal...Rob wouldn't. I knew he felt left out so I kind of befriended him in a different way and actually formed a side project with him that I was really proud of. I kept playing guitar and bass for fun but now I was just a vocalist and wrote all the lyrics. Soon we would have a few songs down and would play live. End Part 2.

[PitViper]

Metal and being in a band had given me courage and strength through some hard times. I do believe with 100% of my being that playing in front of a live audience and being forced to address a crowd had made me come out of my shell in life in general and be a better person overall. We began to play shows and did the local circuit here in NJ. Sometimes getting into NY and PA. Now the line up had changed a few times. We had released a 5 Song EP titled "Back to the War". Our old bass player Benny just had his fun and called it quits. It was no hard feelings and he always came out to support. Anthony had stepped in and while he was a monumental musician, he was EXTREMELY unhealthy. I'm not coming down on anyone for being who they are but as the band gained momentum I began to wonder how I guy that could barely make it up a flight up steps due to his weight, smoking and drug use was going to fare on stage? I prided myself on our live show and even though in the grand scheme of things this was local, underground metal with a NY Hardcore vibe here and there I was never so proud of anything in my life. After the release of the EP which was very well received, Anthony departed and Rick came in to play bass. Rick's entrance was great for a few reasons..1, he was just an awesome friend and we came from the same school of thrash and early death metal. 2, his friends were in a hardcore band and we began playing with them which was really cool. That band was called Low Road and their vocalist at the time was a DJ on Sirius/XM Liquid Metal named Mario. I remember the 1st time playing with Low Road, it was more of a metal show and they were a hardcore band, they opened and weren't too well received. I also remember my band "Locked" playing a killer set. I never got to talk to Mario that night and there was this feeling that I thought, he thought I was an ass. So the next week he played at a Hardcore fest I made a point to go with Rick to the fest and personally shake his hand, say hello and let him know I enjoyed his music. I did and it was a great night and I had made a new friend. A new friend that shared the same passion and played the same role in his band as I did mine. It was 2 weeks later I had gotten a call and found out Mario had passed away from complications of a cancer he had been battling. End Part 3.

[PitViper]

Rob had left the band and we were using drummers from friends bands to fill in gaps. Finally we got Tim to stay with us and now we had our definitive line up. Everyone was at least 30 years old and we were all on the same page. Play locally, make great music, be an adult with a career first, do this until we can't do it anymore. At a certain point you realize. "I am not driving across the country in a van." We had gotten some invites to tour but it became nearly impossible with full time careers and 2 out of 4 us being parents. I had the pleasure to open for Rob Duke's band Generation Kill, hang out with members of M.O.D. and S.O.D., Pro-Pain, Merauder, a ton of NY/NJ Hardcore acts and most of all I made friends and had a sense of identity. It seemed for me though Greg was not open to anyone else having their hand in the song writing process and at the same time he was coming up with the same riffs over and over. Practice went from 2x a week to 1x a week and with him being a parent there were issues of gear repair and having the funds to do that. Twice on stage he blew his cab and I was beyond angry with him. The 1st time I understood accidents happen, the 2nd time was during a show that I did not want to play because I knew he wasn't up to par and that happened. That was when I thought, I'm nearing the end here. After 10 years, 1 pressed release countless friends made, finding myself and using metal as both armor in life and the very thing that helped me become a bigger man than I ever was, I thought the dignified thing to do was exit the band and lay it to rest with respect. While we were never "big" or "made it"..it was something to me and hopefully something for the people that enjoyed it. I had written all the lyrics and song titles. I do find it hard to wrap my head around the band still being called Locked with some other guy using my song titles but singing his own lyrics as this band is still in existence. Greg had reached out for me to come back and I said I would providing there was a 2nd guitarist to help him out a bit. There was....but there was also a new vocalist and we would be going behind his back to do this jam session. I declined to play unless the new vocalist knew and have not heard from anyone since. At the end of the day I like to think that no matter how small the stage was, when I was on it and my band was firing on all cylinders I was doing something that mattered. I hope there was someone else in the audience that may have been struggling with inner demons and perhaps my music influenced them to create their own music which in turn will help them destroy those demons like it did for me. This had a significant effect on my life and I just wanted to share a brief history and it's impact on me. Thanks for reading. I will post some links of this band next.

[PitViper]

Locked - Pit Viper - YouTube

[PitViper]

LOCKED Songs | ReverbNation This is pretty much the easiest way to check it. I am most proud of PitViper and Divinity Dies.

[BlutAusNerd]

Re: My time playing in a band and making music. Nice tales, I'll try to check out the songs when I'm not on my phone. Sent from my HTC PH39100 using Tapatalk 2

[TintoBrass]

I think lack of drummers/bassists is a worldwide thing I mix with a few people from bands and they're always asking for them. My friends are like "Emma, you like music, why not learn and join a band?" I don't know why I haven't yet. Then again, they play punk etc and if I were to join a band I'd want it to be metal. I'll check out the band right now. Thanks for sharing your stories

[HellKell]

I honestly miss being in a band, those were some of the best times in my life. I loved that twice a week we would jam, listen to music, drink crappy beer, freeze in the winter, and sweat in the summer. Sadly the last band I was in ended bad, no one talks to anyone and it has been almost 10 years. I miss hanging with those who you create music with, a sense of family in a way. You bleed together, sweat together, EAT CHICKEN WINGS TOGETHER!!! Sadly those days have been long and gone, I do crave them almost everyday. I just moved back to my home town and hope I can start another band up at some point or at least try to do something online if I have too. I never wanted to be in a famous band, I just wanted the friends that went with being in a band, sounds kinda of pathetic but hey I am honest. Grew up as the ugly fat kid and turn to music as my drug. With music came & went some amazing people.

[FatherAlabaster]

I miss it even though I have a band. Seems impossible to get the guys together regularly. I'm ok with doing the bulk of the writing, but my guys need to get back up to speed. Our drummer is out of commission with an ankle injury at the moment, too. 

I liked PitViper's posts, maybe he'll come back around one day. My own stories are mostly of a lot of work, frustration, disappointment, and more work. 

[HellKell]

I feel your pain FatherAlabaster, even when I was in a band I was doing a bulk of the work and usually getting frustrated cause it seemed like no one else was willing to put the time in like me. The last band was just a nightmare, the lead guitarist went super holy roller during the middle of a show and freaked the hell out, started a fight and yeah....

[MikeAttemptsGuitar]

Wow... that is quite a story.  And I can see a lot of PitViper's way reflecting what I went through when I was starting out playing bass in a band. With the difference that our lead guitarist (back many years with a band called Disorder) put me down as he thought everyone can play bass and I kept going and convinced him and other otherwise as I started to play RHCP licks  ...awww good old days.

 

Nowadays... I am playing in two Bands (my own and another one that got formed by a quite known person...and that is quite an interesting story too.). For once being in a Band that hasn't done a single live performance and is already popular (lot's of followers and we got mentioned in Vancouver's most influential mag) because of our Drummer who is one of the folks who enriched Vancouver's Skyline with a brand new massive building. Anyways you can google that but I am not gonna go into details myself as it might not be in the band's interest, but it's a true fact. These days we're still recording our Songs and it's quite a sad thing as trying to get our bass-player (who is the recording guru) to find some time to accommodate the band for recording in his studio. The entire recording progress is going on since 2 years now... we're rarely getting together to practice our parts. And since our Drummer built that tower he is out of country most of the time and the rest of us has to get the recording done... and again it all depends on our Bass player. Me, the other guitarist, our singer lady are still hanging in there  with the biggest faith and of course because of the potential... same does our drummer.... not too sure about our Bass/Recording guru. He's one awesome Bro...but he is a bit distant by saying: "it's you guys"...rather than "us". I have offered my service to record all the dry parts in the required raw compression but it wouldn't help him apparently.... since he uses ProTools for everything and I don't but the signal's profile is the same?! ...so bite me.  

Anyways I know exactly how difficult it is to negotiate human beings ...but nowadays there is so much tools to help you just to keep going without anyone else.... heck if I ever lose my band I will just place myself on stage with my guitar and either let paid musicians play the tracks or have a PA system go playback for the drum-tracks, bass and support guitar. No big deal.