Mad Chatter

Doesn’t strike you as something particularly difficult to do — not like say for instance, calculating the tensile strength on the nose of the Space Shuttle.  That’s rocket science, or math, or both.  Hard stuff.  Yet, putting together a band is not easy to do.  Not a decent band anyway; one with a promise of staying power and creativity.  I can’t say that the way I’ve done it is the best way, but it worked and it’s at least worth a try (or several tries).  I discovered this powerful website called Craig’s List – really a community board of sorts, that allows people to post “ads” for just about anything.  It’s organized by cities across the U.S., so you can narrow it down by choosing the CL page for your location.  Good choice unless you’re Metallica and looking for band members on a national scale.  I wasn’t.  Every CL page has a “musicians” link where musicians (or people who think they are/want to be) may post ads looking for well –anything –but usually people to play with.  In the fall of 2005, I posted an ad and received responses from many people, including one of the guys in Mad September.  We started jamming, which then turned into a regular band of sorts.  That project morphed into another when we added a new bass player, also located via Craig’s List.  Finally, when my patience and interest wore thin, I posted yet another ad on the CL in August 2007.  That is how this band got its start.  Make no mistake — you will likely have to kiss a number of toads before you find a prince, and Craig’s List is no guarantee of chemistry amongst musicians, but overall it’s a great place to start looking.  There are other musician boards on the net, but none seem to be as active as CL. 

Another tip: don’t waste your time with the vague post like “rock band Kill Em Dead looking for kick ass drummer, must have pro gear and be ready for the big time cuz we are!”  This kind of post is wrong on many levels, but in general, it doesn’t tell the reader much.  Be descriptive; tell your story or the story of the band you envision or the sound you envision.  The post that led to Mad September did that and was written from the heart (helped with a few bourbons) and that made all the difference.  It got noticed and if you peruse the posts on CL you will quickly see that it isn’t hard to stand above the chatter if you give it a little effort.