(MOGS) The Inherent Dangers of Cover Bands

"MOGS," you might ask the screen, "what are you doing writing on Black Friday, shouldn't you be out fighting the great consumer nation for your piece of the Christmas Eve pie?"

"Yea yea so you say," would be my retort, "the govt does not pay hazardous duty pay on Black Friday.  Actually I doubt I could be paid enough to risk the claws and teeth of the desperate parent seeking out like the two dozen or so XBox 360S actually confirmed to exist .  You'd think they found pieces of the View this photo or something."

No, dear reader, I would rather sleep my way through post-Turkey Day and football somnolence, and plan and prepare to strike TOMORROW, like all right and proper evil midnight shoppers what shop at midnight, yeah baby yeah! 

In the meantime, I am content to listen to the soundtrack to the "Stubbs the Zombie" video game, play with my most active and vocal keeper of musical taste Chloe the Guardian of the Most Righteous Axe   (insert Bill and Ted air guitar solo here...Wyld Stallyns still rule!)

And all this listening and thinking, plus the fact that in two weeks or so I am due to embarrass myself trying to relearn to play saxophone in front of the entire squadron at our Christmas party, adding insult to injury this will probably occur while wearing a friggin' elf costume to boot (please don't ask), got me thinking of my musical history as a player and a fan.  It's time to put all of this to rest, from my perspective, once and for all.  Hence, tonight's real topic, if you're still with me.

It is dangerous work playing in a cover band.  Other musicians often lack any sort of feeling remotely resembling respect for you, no matter what your skill, and some go so far as to put it out there for the whole world to see like this (as a side note, I always thought it would be incredibly funny to buy all of us in View this photo one of those shirts to wear at our gigs) - that, and you have to deal with the fact that partyers and bar hoppers and even the mythical"there for the music, man" - person all have a limited commodity you are desperate to grab, their attention, if not their door charges.  Some will gripe if you don't play their favorites note for note perfect like the CD, some will get upset if you don't take requests, some will get upset especially, at attempts at sacred material (usually Led Zeppelin - anyone crazy enough to tackle Zep in a cover band, or even more dangerous but left for another discussion, a TRIBUTE BAND, is either so good as to make you wonder WHY not play your own stuff, or stupid, or both).  That, and frustrations do emerge after the 20Th or so time through "Sweet Home Alabama"...That being said though, my favorite album of the last few years, the one I've played the most is The Misfits Project 1950 all-covers CD!   

Still, it beats the hell out of NOT PLAYING AT ALL.  That, and let's face it, gracious venues famous for original acts aside (such at the Grapestreet Pub, in Manayunk - a Philly satellite), it is TOUGH to be heard, much less get anyone to care.  Many are the famous musician today who started out belting our their favorite cover tunes in tiny bars full of patrons more interested in exploring the bottom of the porcelain god with their innards or hooking up or both than hearing your new and brave take on "Take On Me."  Eventually, you can build a fan base and start sneaking a few of your originals into the set and, if your stuff is worth a damn, transition into that rarefied "local scene success" until everyone in the band starts hating each other and break up only to stage a reunion show like two months later :)

I commend the folks who want to start out the gate with an all-original set list.  God bless you.  You are in for an uphill battle, unless you have a no-kidding God-given TALENT (hats off to Bright Eyes for example, while not my cup of tea, this Connor Oberst character has accomplished the rare feat)...as for rank amateurs like me (and thanks to listening to some of our old shows on CD, VHS, and DVD, it becomes readily apparent I need some music theory and technique instruction, and SOON if I even want to try this as an "active" hobby ever again).

So, there's ways to making this cover band thing fun, while ignoring all the original music snobs who think you lack any artistic integrity whatsoever.  I've seen plenty of covers bands in venues all over the freakin' world and played in a few interesting places as well.  Here's what I've learned:

1) Find a niche, a sizable audience not being catered to, and kiss up to it!  - Case in point, when forming RPP in Korea, the three of us had played in the local "scene" (I guess 5 or 6 bands can constitute a scene - any cool indie kids out there who can confirm or deny the minimum acceptable number?) and had noticed the bulk of live music was classic rock being played for the older NCO/officer crowd - Translation:  We were in our early-mid twenties, the tail-end charlies of Gen-X, and raised on Nirvana, grunge, Weezer, and pop-punk, and were sick to death of playing "Brown-eyed Girl" and "Margaritaville" (to this day, those songs give me Hives).  No one was catering to our age group, and those plus or minus a few years.  Not surprisingly, the junior officer, airmen, and NCOs who came to our shows were pretty vocal about SOMEONE FINALLY playing "their" music (well, that and to be honest we also knew that the guys playing Stevie Ray and Hendrix were ten times better players than us, and there was nothing we could bring to the fight in that area, not really).  Our set list was made up of Weezer, Green Day, Nirvana, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, Bush, and read like a celebration of 1995 all over again :)  Oh, and for a totally unrelated side note - if you're an indie kid who's reading this - TRY TIPPING THE BAND AT A SHOW ONCE IN A WHILE, IT WON'T KILL YOU.

Our unspoken rule was "no songs older than the oldest member of the band" but it was more of a guideline than a rule - we played some "Sweet Home" and some raved-up Elvis covers, a little Johnny Cash through a Social Distortion lens, and, as a tribute to the more bold members of the audience who wanted to sing, and partially as a subtle tribute to Black Flag, marathon versions of "Louie, Louie," but mostly, we stuck to what we knew and what we liked...Beastie Boys! 

Needless to say, for a band who was lucky to get two hours before a show to practice, we did ayight.  We grew bold (or bored) enough to expand the repertoire to try Superdrag, Nada Surf, Bloodhound Gang, The Hives, Lit, Better Than Ezra, pitiful attempts at Linkin Park (not doable with a three-piece), Chevelle (surprisingly good on our part), The Dandy Warhols, The Cure, Big Country, Pennywise.

which leads me to my second point...

2) High-fi covers will get your foot in the door, but make the songs "your own."  I know it's a cliche, but trust me, it will keep you from getting bored, the audience from getting bored, and it WILL improve your skills.  I highly recommend any cover bands out there to find and review the works of Vanilla Fudge.  While famous enough for some of their more inspired original work, their psychedelic, proto-metal, blues-driven cover tunes actually make one rethink their cover band bias.  Listen to their version of (You Keep Me) Hangin' On, the old Supremes classic, and you'll see what I mean.  They're on tour now, and even though they're covering Backstreet Boys tunes, I think I had the 'Fudge and Black Sabbath in mind when we started playing Type O Negative's "Black No. 1" in time for our Halloween show in '02.  No keyboards, and none of could quite get the Peter Steele bass vox going, so we drew on what we knew, and the 7+ minute masterpiece went to about 5.5 Min's and included some Tony Iommi-inspired guitar work and some 'Fudge "groove", two and three part harmonies and strikes me as a pretty inspired cover even today, as critical as I am.  Still, it was fun to pretend to be in three classic bands all at the same time.                                          

Download 08_suspicious_minds_pt_1.mp3

3) It's all about song selection!  Set construction is a skill in and of itself.  You want to balance what you play for the masses with what you play to make yourself happy in your little rock'n roll fantasy world.  BE CAREFUL  - too obscure and you could alienate the crowd, too much top 40 and they might as well just use an MP3 player or a juke box (you might give the owners a few ideas about cheaper ways of entertaining the masses).  It's a tough balance.  I would recommend saving that awesome Bauhaus or Wall of Voodoo cover until you get something resembling a loyal following, (even if it's just your friends and family, just make sure they play the part of "street team") unless you can apply RULE 2 effectively and blow everyone away.  Beyond that, PLAY WHAT YOU HAVE FUN PLAYING, and that which communicates the "vibe" you're aiming for.  "Party band," a retro-throwback outfit, a "nostalgia for high school" band?  Old school punk?  '80s? 

Crowd control baby - start off with a killer opener to grab attention (look at the songs bands usually choose to lead off albums with and you'll see what I mean)...then use a technique of build up, then release (something slower, more relaxed, let everyone lick their wounds from the awesome circle pit you inspired)...unless you plan on playing ultra-quick 20 minute sets, don't front load all your fastest, hardest stuff in one go, you'll more than likely either bore everyone, or wear them out.  Adjust to the audience and the venue.

4) Song selection can also save you from allowing "your reach to exceed your grasp" - as my dad would say - don't try to play something in public you're just not ready for - don't leave Dagobah early to face Vader if you ain't ready - you could lose more than your hand - you could lose your steady gig!  If you can't play "Roundabout,"  DON'T PLAY IT.  You will shoot yourself in the foot faster than you know if you try to shred before you can walk - and don't play a "watered-down" version if you can help it - if leaving out the all the little licks and phrases and walks in the bassline won't be too noticeable, don't sweat it, but leaving out a solo, or a fill that covers up for a lack of rhythm guitar can sink your ship and blow your cred.  Then you spend the rest of the set trying to win the crowd BACK.  That's not a fun chore.  This goes for vocals too. 

Story - Superdrag is one of my favorite all-time bands.  Bar none.  Getting the chance to play "Sucked Out" let alone ANY Superdrag song live was incredible.  Not so incredible if you listen to the vocals on the verses - outside any of our ranges, and the audience lackluster response told us we were outside our depth (that and the song was TOO OBSCURE for the average crowd, sad to say, but it was truth, and much to my dismay, it was dropped from the set list).

5) Have a style.  There are enough generic bar bands out there already.  Please for the love of god try something.  I've seen tributes/mockeries of about every "scene" style of dress - jeans, band t-shirt, boots, knot wool cap over thermals for a faux-Beasties/Biohazard  (we used that one), the emo-hoody thing, the three-piece suit and tie ala Mighty Mighty Bosstones, shirts and sweater vests/glasses in a mock Weezer tribute. Beyond dress, a Little stagecraft never hurt anyone -  Rodger our original drummer/vocalist hit on the idea of using clips from "Fight Club" playing in the background with Simpson's audio clips.

6).  Take the crowd's feedback, but don't be afraid to screw with 'em.  Joe, our lead guitarist/vocalist, hell, all of us, were very, very wary of taking requests.  Some bands probably live and die by it, but I guess it was our little stab at "artistic integrity" - I don't know, you call those guys up and ask them and they'll tell probably tell you I'm full of PIGEON FODDER, but I think we all wanted a balance between enjoying ourselves and serving the whims of the crowd.  We were confident enough in our set builds that we didn't think we really NEEDED requests - we also changed them on the fly, another key thing, you can respond to the crowd's non-verbal and verbal feedback by mixing it up a bit.  It's also more entertaining if you're not completely predictable.  One show we basically just walked in, plugged in, started playing, went through an entire set without saying anything and walked off.  Just because.  Then the next set we started joking and kidding, cutting up, "we was just messin' with ya!" - I thought of it as a riff on all the early-'90s "shoe gazer" bands like The Jesus and Mary Chain, and personally, I just wanted to see what it felt like to do that.  The other guys will probably say I'm full of it again.  Can't blame 'em.

7) Do some homework.  If the venue, which could be paying you or at least offering up some free grub if anything, doesn't draw the heavy crowd, lay off.  If the interiors are too nice for umm...more active..."dancing" then you might want to consider laying off the Slayer covers unless you really feel like paying for some damage and maybe never playing in that venue ever again.  It's very simple, don't be The Blues Brothers when the venue only wants "both kinds of music, country and western."  :)  View this photo

8).  Set a goal.  Serious as a heart attack, this is not some motivational speech, but decide early on how serious you are about the band.  Odds are pretty good that you, in a cover band, will NOT get picked up by Virgin Records, Sub Pop, or even Vagrant for a 5-record deal, so, I recommend not taking yourself too seriously.  A little extra cash, a good time, and improving as players are all doable things, having fun should be the top priority.  Be a little artsy with it, why not?  I won't sit here and pretend we were great.  I think the best comment we ever got from listeners, friends and family was seriously "you guys aren't bad at all" - Download 09_suspicious_minds_pt. 2.mp3 So no, I don't expect any interviews from "Guitar World" anytime soon :)

9)  Save the rivalries, beefs, fights, stupid crap for the rappers. You are in a cover band.  They are not going to make an episode of "Behind the Music" about you.  You are not Oasis and the "other" pop-punk cover band in your town is not Blur.  At the same time, be on the watch for what the other groups are doing, and try to keep yourself more "original" at least in song selection!

10) Have fun, but know when to call knock-it-off.  It is NOT easy to keep ANY sort if band together, we seem to have this belief that somehow bands are these permanent fixtures.  Odds are, the good ol' standby of "creative differences" is going to pop up at some point, as will real life issues, Tommy will quit, Joey will get married, etc.  Or, in the military case, members will deploy, PCS, or separate (trust me, in almost all circumstances, the idea of a military garage band lasting more than two or three gigs with all its original members is tough to buy...the legacy bands out there now have lists of members resembling Spinal Tap's)

11) Drummers are expendable.                             

Comments

[Amal]

Mogs in an Elf costume... Now that is a pic worth posting.

[canuckistani]

you lost me at the misfits...

[MOGS]

aww, that's the best I can do?