band

Auditioning tips (for both sides of the table)

Advice & Tips

Auditioning. In this line of work, almost everybody has to go through it at some point. I don’t know many people who enjoy the process – and by that I mean the groups holding the auditions as well.

I’ve held a few auditions in the last few years while recruiting for a few different projects. I was invited to join another group via audition fairly recently, which increased my own experience of being the auditionee for the first time in several years.

Having experienced it from both sides, here are some simple tips which will (hopefully) help make the whole thing go that little bit more smoothly.

1) Be clear about what you are looking for from the outset

Obvious but true. Many bands, in an attempt to appear open (and more likely to attract as many interested candidates as possible), will be vague about who/what they are and what they are looking for. Others may outright lie.

If you’re an act that is getting regular paid work and need a competent player, with their own means of transport, and who can read music – say so. If you don’t have any gigs at present, but are looking to get into paid work once you have a full lineup – say so. If you are mainly performing original material and the money from gigs won’t be that good – say so. If you’re all amateurs and would prefer someone of a similar playing ability to yourselves – guess what: say so!

Being upfront about who you are and what your expectations are actually saves you a whole lot of time, not least from having to filter through adverts responses from people who are simply unsuitable for your act. Likewise, auditionees looking for gigs – if you can’t sight read, don’t say you can and hope to busk it. Be clear on the styles you have knowledge of. You WILL get found out and not get the job. Worse than that, word will get around that you’re a bullshitter too.

2) Agree on pieces to go through before the audition / Plan a structured audition

You’re not doing any favours by inviting a potential band members down to your rehearsal space, shouting out the name of a tune and charging into it to see how well they cope. Even seasoned pros like to prepare first – that’s what makes them seasoned pros.

Have your space ready to go, with everyone in the band already there and set up, before the first candidate arrives. If going TO an audition, make sure all of your gear is in good working order, arrive on time and set up quickly.

Choose songs from your set, and perhaps some tunes both parties are reasonably familiar with, to work through. At a maximum, I’d suggest four or five. Make sure you also have plenty of time to chat and reaffirm exactly what it is both sides want out of working together. For a first meeting, I’d suggest an hour to an hour and a half. That should be more than enough time to find out how you gel musically, and crucially if you get along as people!

Have your audition space set up & ready

3) Relax – remember everybody is human

As I said at the top of this blog, no one I know enjoys the audition process. Try to make it as welcoming and relaxing as possible. Keep the pieces to learn down to a small number and make no attempt whatsoever to ‘catch someone out’ musically. Smiling always helps too! Even experienced players can be nervous entering a room of musicians known to each other, but not to them, and there solely to watch/listen to and assess the quality of their playing in the space of an hour or two. Keeping things short and friendly are the key elements here.

4) Follow up!

One of my biggest pet hates is when I put in time and energy into preparing for an audition or job interview, going through the whole nervous procedure, and then never hearing back. It takes minutes to drop someone a quick line to follow up, whether that is to arrange a second audition, offer them the gig or to let them know you’ve decided to go with someone else. It’s highly unlikely a rejection will cause an argument down the phone so be a grown up and get on with it!

Also, as a quick side note, have you ever found the ideal candidate through an audition, while still having other people left to see? If so, are these other candidates due the same day or in the next few days? If so, my advice would be to see them anyway – they will have put in time and effort preparing and it’s always best to have a wider network of musicians (in case you ever need a dep, etc, etc). If the next audition is not until the following week then by all means call them and politely cancel – but be nice doing it!

As a final thought, it’s worth bearing in mind one final (if somewhat obvious) piece of advice: listen. Listen to your prospective new members / band; listen to the music and how well you all play together; and finally, listen to your gut. Sometimes you can tell who the right fit it is without being too academic about the whole process.

Good luck! I’d love to hear what your best and worst audition experiences are. Drop me a message or comment below, and we can compare notes. Until next time…

R.I.P. Herbie Flowers, one of the best bass players you’ve never heard of – and what you can learn from his long career

Music

Top session bassist Herbie Flowers sadly passed away on the 5th of September, aged 86.

Although most people may not have heard of the British session musician, Flowers was well known within the music industry, having been performing and recording since the 1960s. After starting out playing tuba and double bass in the RAF in the 1950s, Flowers moved into session work and soon the bass guitar became his main instrument. Among his earliest recorded work was the band Blue Mink, who had hits with ‘Melting Pot’ and ‘Good Morning Freedom’.

Flowers soon began playing sessions for artists in the late sixties, working regularly for famous producers such as Mickie Most (The Animals, Herman’s Hermits, Donovan, Lulu, and many more), Tony Visconti (T. Rex, David Bowie, The Moody Blues, and countless others), and Shel Talmy (The Kinks, The Who, among others). His playing credits are almost too long to list. In fact, it’s estimated he’d played on at least 500 hit recordings by the end of the 1970s!

Here’s a few of the more well-known highlights…

Flowers played bass on Bowie’s eponymous second album, including his first hit, ‘Space Oddity’. He then returned to the studio with Bowie to record his Diamond Dogs album.

When working on Lou Reed’s Transformer album, Flowers created his most recognisable bassline, used on the song ‘Walk On The Wild Side’. This bassline is actually two basses a double bass with a fretless Fender Jazz playing the higher part. As well as creating a unique sound that’s harder to achieve when playing both lines on one guitar, it also allowed Flowers to collect additional royalties for playing additional instruments on the song!

In 1971, Flowers co-wrote the novelty song Grandad, sung by actor Clive Dunn. The song reached the number one spot on the UK charts the same year, where it stayed for three weeks.

Flowers played bass on Jeff Wayne’s famous masterpiece, his musical and spoken-word adaptation of War of the Worlds. He then toured with Wayne when he took his famous concept album on the road decades later.

Flowers also appeared on recordings for Elton John, David Essex, Olivia Newton John, Bryan Ferry, AL Kooper, Harry Nilsson, Cat Stevens as well as on solo albums by three of the Beatles; Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr.

His work on a crossover record Changes by Australian classical guitarist John Williams (which included Williams’ arrangement of ‘Good Morning Freedom’) created a connection which came to fruition in 1978, when Flowers and Williams teamed up with other session musicians to form the famous instrumental group Sky. This supergroup of sorts (although only Williams was recognisable to most of the general music-buying public) released several albums over five years and toured regularly, bringing their fusion of classical, jazz and pop music to a wide audience.

What can we learn from Herbie Flowers?

Unlike other famous session men, such as ‘The Wrecking Crew’ in the USA’s pop music scene, Flowers seems to have developed a good reputation as a reliable performer, making him the first-call for several producers and composers. Why was this?

Put simply, he was not only a good musician, but a reliable one. Studios are expensive places to waste time, so having a roster of musicians who can not only play to a high standard, but also turn up on time is essential to producers, arrangers, musical directors and band leaders. Musical skill and a good ear allow the best session players to grasp a new song quickly and do their best to make it sound as good as possible, but the real professionals are he ones who treat it like the job that it is.

Nowadays, studios and recordings work a little differently. The ones that do make use of session musicians on a regular basis are far more rare, and getting a gig in such a place can feel almost impossible. It’s worth remembering that this side if the industry is – and to an extent, always has been – something of a closed shop. However, opportunities still exist in live performance, which in my experience have led to recording opportunities that I would otherwise not been offered. To give yourself the best chance of being considered for such roles, ask yourself:

Do I have a reputation for turning up on time, setting up quickly, and having working equipment?

Am I recognised as a competent musician (not the flashiest) who can cope with most styles?

Am I considered easy to get along with?

Divas don’t get invited back to future sessions. Nor do musicians who show up with faulty gear. I’ve also known artists to get frustrated with the brilliant ‘hot new thing’, fresh from music school with a head full of jazz theory and the chops to back it up, citing their input as overplaying or lacking in any real soul. Be like Herbie Flowers and that select group of ‘top’ session players: turn up, don’t make trouble, and serve the song. It worked for him. It will work for you.

In both cases, a little hard work and luck is involved, but t’was ever thus. And Herbie Flowers seems to have made the best of the cards he was dealt.

RIP, Herbie (1938-2024).

Making of ‘Last One Get The Lights’ by the Nick Gladdish Band (part one)

Music

You may remember that I spent a few days in the studio with the Nick Gladdish Band late last year. If not, you can read about it here.

We’ve been releasing singles from the newly finished and mastered record, Last One Get The Lights, which you can see & hear on my media page, and buy online from all the usual platforms.

Here’s part one of the mini documentary made by Torn Apart TV. Part two, and the full album, will be released in a few months time.

The latest single by the Nick Gladdish Band, Ain’t The Way I Work, is available to download now.

New projects, despite lockdown

Music

As well as using Twitter to announce new projects, or update people on ongoing ones, I sometimes reminisce about ones from years ago, such as this one…

For some reason, I kept thinking of this, and on top of everything else I have planned (post-COVID), I’d quite like to explore what a power trio can do in terms of extended instrumentals (which aren’t based largely around improvisation); something more progressive in nature…

Having played in a rock trio format before, it can be a new challenge to fill the space adequately without the music sounding thin. Conversely, one has to avoid the temptation to stick to the more blues based method of sharing riffs, in union (or octaves) with the bass player.

Bear in mind that I currently have…

  • 3 music therapy jobs
  • A solo classical(ish) EP to finish
  • Another Nick Gladdish Band album to finish & tour to plan
  • My next band project (world/blues/Latin) to start rehearsing
  • A music therapy case study series to complete by the autumn
  • A small portfolio of compositions to develop

…and we’re still in a time of lockdown here in the UK, with no concrete sign of progress regarding indoor gigs (although the news today implies that this might change very soon).

Still, if you want something doing, ask a busy person, right?