PREVIEW
66 BREAKOUT with Lazy Cowgirls
Tuesday, November 6
The Night Gallery
As an experiment, I invited the band 66breakout to put Fast Forward's Musicians Wanted classified ads to the test. The quartet, renowned for wearing Blues Brothers suits onstage and playing hotter than hell rock ’n' roll, is busy finishing the inlay of its debut long-player, Alright, and searching for a new bass player. The band and I placed an ad for a bass player in Fast Forward and waited for the phone to ring, which it did, mere hours after the latest issue hit the stands – auditions were quickly arranged for the weekend.
When I pull up to the band’s house, the try-outs are in full swing (whoa, 66breakout love it eardrum-bleedin'-loud). I looked through the basement window and see the first hopeful playing bass along with the band. I walk into the house (this week's trivia question: why do all band houses smell the same?) and meet up with affable vocalist Chris Hample. The second bass player is already sitting on the couch waiting for his audition. Flashdance, this is not. Wearing a red-and-black Motorhead T-shirt, this kid os ready to make some noise.
One by one, the boys are fed beer and briefed on the situation before descending into the basement for their audition. They are all given around an hour to jam with the band. After their audition, I ask each bass player whether the classified ads are a good way to hook up with musicians. Apparently, 66breakout's brief ad containing "gotta jump around, gotta rip it up, gotta have some fun" really spoke to them. And for the most part, they agree that within a few minutes (let alone an hour), you should know if your chemistry meshes with the band's.
In short, the guys who impressed the band were invited back for another tryout and the others were kindly left to find another gig.
While there is an assortment of different ways to find a new bandmate in the city, word of mouth and making friends of friends with similar tastes is generally how business is done. Kissing major ass and buying people off has also been successfully employed. However, I think everyone agrees that new blood is always appreciated in the scene and that is why we thought we'd try to find a couple newbies through the ads. We did. Unfortunately, the ad also attracted people who just wanted to be in a band, regardless of what kind of music is being played. They're young, peppy and ready to go, but have no idea who the MC5 are.
Tip: Check out the influences of the band you’re auditioning with, and buy those records before you go any further.
66breakout, who are borrowing Scott Nickless from Agriculture Club until they settle on their new bass player, still think the classified ad was a worthwhile adventure. I mean, it's not like a Freddy Krueger or Creed fan showed up at their door.
"As it stands right now, I think it was a pretty successful experience," says Chris. "I think we were lucky in the fact that all guys were decent bass players. We did decide on one of the guys who auditioned and we're going to jam with him a couple more times to make sure he fits in. I was expecting to go through a lot more auditions then what we did so it's nice that we found someone on the first shot."
Chris notes that the kid they decided on was a quick learner. They showed him a song, and the second time around he had it down.
To see which bass player 66breakout has chosen, check ’em out at one of their shows in the next month. |
