Drummer's Perspective: Band Evolution

[Akira JUMBO]

Just curious for those of you who are in a band.

How did you end up in that band? Where you old friends who decided that you have music as a common ground? Did you audition for your band which you found on an advertisement and eventually struck good chemistry?

Common stories I get are from those lucky people who grew up with some friends who happened to be musically inclined so the bond of the band is pretty strong. I think relationships within a band is important and with this having been broken has led many bands to separation and failure some even at the brink of its success.

Got me thinking how about those who started late seeking for a band? (ouch! ) It seems such a big hurdle to find a band to belong to.
How do we court a "band"?

Share your stories..

[plep]

hmmm mahabang kwento 'to. kahit yung last few paragraphs lang basahin niyo haha

may banda kasi sa high school namin, grade school pa sila banda kaso kulang sila ng bassist. nung time na yun, di pa ako sigurado kung bass o drums ba aaralin ko, kaya sinubukan ko sumali. kaso nung nagjam na kami, parang mas nagclick ata yung drumming ko dun sa dalawang gitarista kesa dun sa drummer nila nun. eventually, lumipat ng banda yung drummer na yun (at sobrang mas magaling na siya sa akin haha), so natira ako at yung dalawang gitarista (si aaron at si dylan, para mas madali ikwento) na wala pa ring bassist. grunge at metal tugtugan namin nun.

nung first two years sa high school, naghahanap lang kami ng bassist kaso walang nagstick. eventually, nag-hiatus na rin... si aaron, lumipat ng genre (from grunge/metal, naging acoustic pop-rock) at sumali sa isang banda kasama ng mga kabarkada namin. kami ni dylan, gusto tumuloy kaso walang nangyayari. nung panahong na yun, may isang kaibigan kami, si mikey, na nagaaral magbass. dumaan siya sa punk tsaka sa funk, kaso gusto pa niya magexplore ng ibang tugtugan.

nung first year college na kami, nakontrata namin ni dylan si mikey at yung kuya niya (gitarista yun) sumali sa amin. sa bahay kami ni mikey nagjam nun, kasi nasunog yung drums ko kaya nakigamit na lang ako ng kit. nagsulat kami ng mga kanta, kaso mostly covers tinugtogn namin. naka-gig naman kami, kaso nothing steady. eventually nag-fizzle out din. si mikey sumali ng UP music circle, tapos naging active  siya dun (two-time president siya). marami rin siyang binuo at sinalihang banda nung panahong yun.

nung third year na, kinontrata ako ni mikey na magdrums dun sa isang plano niyang banda ng mga ka-org niya, na parang mars volta daw yung tugtugan. nagjam kami ng onti, may nasimulan kami isulat na kanta kaso wala rin natapos. dun ko nakilala si gino, isa pang gitarista na gusto rin mag-metal.

nung fourth year, biglang nag-resurface si dylan, magjam daw kami. syempre payag naman ako haha syempre as usual, metal mga ginagawa namin kaso this time it worked. considering improv jam lang yun at puro mga on-the-spot niya ginawa mga riffs niya, ang sarap nung tugtugan namin nun. nagdesisyon kami na ibuo uli yung banda. initially, kukunin namin si mikey kaso ayaw niya kasi busy siya sa ibang banda. buti na lang sinabi niya sa amin na kunin namin si gino, kasi ganun ding tugtugan gusto niya. kaso bastos rin kami ni dylan e, sa bahay kami ni mikey nagpapractice kaya eventually, napasali din namin si mikey hehe. dahil din kay mikey at gino, sumali kami ni dylan sa UPMC (kahit OSY si dylan at atenista ako)

so yun, ngayong graduate na ako at si mikey, nagaaral pa si gino at kung anu-ano pinaggagawa ni dylan, solid na finally yung lineup... kaso napansin niyo ba sa kwento ko na sa buong kasaysayan ng pagbanda namin, wala kaming naging bokalista? laging instrumentals lang haha kaso may sinusubukan kami ngayon, sana mag-click naman.

nagsimula ako bilang yung outsider na gusto sumali sa established na banda, kaso dahil naging kaibigan ko rin si dylan (parang kapatid ko na yung kumag na yun e) may nabuo pa rin kami kahit parang wala nang pagasang may mangyari pa. dapat ganun e, hindi lang dapat tugtugan ang hanap niyo sa banda, dapat pagkakaibigan na rin. in the end mas magiging importante naman yun e (at kung naging magulo nga banda niyo, at least meron ka pang kakapitan).

tsaka sa totoo lang, nung mga panahon na wala akong banda, di ako humahawak ng drumsticks... kaya andami ring downtime na hindi ko nadevelop yung skills ko. sayang rin. oh well

yun. haba grabe! halatang wala ako ginagawa sa trabaho 

[mampupunit]

kame grade school palang magkakakilala na. 6 kame sa banda, 4 of us went to the same school, 3 of us are related.

d rin ako original drummer. napilitan lang ako kase yung drummer namen dati (na gitarista namen ngayon) eh mabagal pumalo at isa lang ang alam niyan palo noon. so napilitan ako pumalo.

kahit friends at relatives kame mahirap pa din. actually mas mahirap kase minsan d mo masabe mga bagay bagay na impt tulad ng kelangan mo mag improve, kelangan mo magpakita, kelangan mo mag ambag sa gas, etc. pero we got around it.

ang hirap sa banda... lahat ng kabanda mo syota mo.

[Akira JUMBO]

ang hirap sa banda... lahat ng kabanda mo syota mo.

Very very well said!!!

[jacobus]

well for my story


started learning to play drums during my 1st yr of high school. then some of my friends from lower years wanted to form a band. that time uso pa yung korn so we decided to make a cover band na trip yung korn. It was some friends namely Jon2x,Steven,Masi,Russel (now guitars for faspitch), so we played our 1st gig then 2nd and 3rd. but due to some fights among members we decided to part ways and remain friends.

after a year i got recruited into a punk band (uso kc yung blink182) with some classmates, it didnt go well because sadly i did not like to play punk rock.

so after a few years, some friend again formed a 1 gig band (the main purpose really is only to play 1 gig) deftones yung mga cover. so after playing 1 gig we returned to the normal state (they had their own bands going naman din)

after a year 3 friends of mine decided to make a band trip yung Cold na banda at nothingface. it was a really good band sayang. but it wasnt wasted and i thank God i had the chance to play with good artists (they now are in bands like picturefilled) so after a few gigs we disbanded coz some had school/other priorities to get over with.

then 1 yr past when i entered college. my childhood friend manoy,wanted to form a band siya daw yung vox. so we decided to recruit a close friend din namin jan to be a the guitars, then recruited gigoy to play the bass. then last member was russel, which wasnt in faspitch that time.(but now he is in faspitch though. IDOL parin namin). we played perfect circle, deftones, stained, and etc covers. soon after a few gigz manoy needed to get back into school mode for him to pass, jan entered internship so he needed to lie low, russel got recruited into faspitch and gigoy got a vox job for a rock-reggae band. so we decided again to disband and chill.

so after 2 yrs. manoy again wanted to form a band. so we got together and took clark (vox), Kim(guitar), juan2x(guitar), RG(bass). and it was named people who eat bread, but unluckily manoy decided to leave for personal reasons.(maybe to get a job).. so we decided to rename the band and write our own material. Luckily im still with them and the band is working hard and together, with some quarrels but we get pass them.

so hopefully this will be it. hehehe..

p.s. in between i played session drums for some bands for presentations and etc which was just for fun hehehe

thats the band evolution for my part

[cavsdieagram]

kami sa band parepareho skul + course + batch
hindi nga lang sabay sabay sa paggraduate!!!! hahaha

[jeff_proX40]

Here's my story. I started out playing in a church (im not a part of it anymore. hehe "backslider" ata ako).  I was used to praise and worship songs which are simple. That was when I was 7 - 12 years old. I was still part of the the church until I was 19. Going back to the story, when I steped to high school I met a guitarist (my classmate) that played metal gduring that time. I was infuenced by his musicality so we played pantera, sepultura, mega death, etch. During those time I learned endurance and speed, ofcourse it was metal we were playing. Then when we reached 3rd year POT came out of the scene. Got hooked to it and we played a lot of funk grooves and copied alot of funk songs both from local and foriegn artist. when we were in 4th year we started playing progressive rock music from dreamtheater. We got into it that we forgot funk and other genre. We played and stayed together until 4th year. but during those times from 1st yr - 4th year college we are already playing different kinds of music but never jazz. I played jazz in the church that started in 2001. I was hooked to it and during those times my band are already having diffrent ways. I got a new band that played jazz and rnb that play in bars back in baguio. I even played hiphop for crying out loud. It was a big help for me to appreciate different kinds of genre during those time. After college I was already playing with different kinds of bads as a sessionist playing from country music to jazz to rnb to rock and etch. Got a lot of gigz during that time. when I started getting a "real job" I stopped playing for focus sake. I realized during that time that my life is with music and I wasnt happy with my work. I had a topic here at philmusic looking for band mates that was posted early this year. I had a lot of offers from people but some of them were not really serious about it. so I just left the topic there and havent post or logged in for 7 months. after 7 months a guy called me and was interested in getting me to his band. I thought he was one of the bulled guys that isn't really serious in having me as a drummer. he told me he would go to my place the day after he called me and I thought it was a joke. the day came and there he was with his sister very zealous and excited about the invitation. I was shocked and partly scared bacause he's wierd. I just thought it wont hurt me if I try. then after a few days we started to plan a jam session and during the first meet we got realized that we got the chemistry and we got the groove. we played funk, jazz and rock. Now we are having some projects inside metro manila and an upcoming compilation album. Fyi: I didnt quit my job. hehehe Peace out to yah ol!

[jeff_proX40]

ang hirap sa banda... lahat ng kabanda mo syota mo.

+1 for you!!!

[Akira JUMBO]

any more stories?

[el Brutal]

hmm saken naman i was just drumming alone, friends knew that i do metal stuffs un! i woke up na lang and noticed bands hiring me.. hehehe!

[oliver_soh]

ako share ko lang nang sobrang ikli hehe,
Kame we are childhood friends as in childhood talaga lahat, ung tipong nagkakasuntukan pa sa kalye dati  naglalaro pa ng "tex" dati(ung playing cards na pinipitik), kasama sa kalokohan, magkakakilala din mga parents namen saka nasa iisang village lng kme na kapwa walking distance lang ang diperensya, kaya kung minsan nakakasawa na din ung mga mukha nila kasi sa inaraw araw na ginawa ng diyos nakikita ko pagmumukha nila!! haha!! just kidding kaya aun same genre, same influences, every gig safe ka din kasi pareparehas kau ng inuuwian hehe..

kaya aun masarap kasi We treat each other as Brothers. hehe

[epinephrine_sevenfold]

i was adviced to take drum lessons since i was declared to have no talent..ouch...after a week of lessons my friends asked me to join them after another week of lessons

little did my friends know i dropped out of drum school because i thought MMORPG's are cooler, and i admit of having an overgrown ego when i was a kid so i'd just practice the wrong paradiddles at home. when that day came when we would eventualy jam my friends celebrated because of my "new" and only talent, but alas! i couldnt even do doubles with the bass drum, i was kicked out of the band after 30mins.

but when i got in high-school, i improved because of my determination to win back my pride, i eventualy did that.

the first band died because of some member growth issues, and my second band was born, since then i've met more friends that ever, right now i have 3 bands, and the second band is still alive and kicking after the horrible fate of our former vocalist RIP...

[epinephrine_sevenfold]

+1

I believe the right bandmates for everyone is out there.. It's just a matter of time.

+1 damn right!

[kibohead]

my story po...

I just left my previous band a couple of weeks before meeting Ray. He told me if i am interested to play funk...I said "oo, naman sir, isa sa mga favorite ko yan!" to my suprise, it wasn't just funk...waaahhhhh!!! it was more like a progressive type of genre...actually i have no idea on how to approach this genre, hahaha sad but true...i was as innocent as a virgin.

The auditions were set, then I met my bandmates...siguro frustrations lang nila kaya ako na ang drummer. hahaha! so far i am beginning to understand their music and little by little i am contributing parts from our songs...It's been a year and 3 months now. I am happy that i took the challenge and risks, because if i haven't taken it, i won't be as happy as today.

Love, Respect, Dedication and Brotherhood made our band strong. And of course acceptance of each others strengths and weaknesses, and on these, you learn...you grow, not only as musician but also as a person.

Godbless mga kapatid! MTC RULES!!!

 

[zig]

i started out the way most of us did, i guess - playing in bands with friends. in my case, it was my high school barkada and we played covers of bands we liked. the guitar players were shredders so we ended up doing covers of mr. big, dream theater and wolfgang.

when i got to college, it was pretty much the same thing until i joined a music org (u.p. music circle) where i really started building up my chops. i saw an ad in buy and sell magazine for a band looking for a drummer, auditioned and got the gig for a rock-poetry group called talula craft. that was my first taste of constant gigging and i loved it.

soon someone recommended me to try out for another band looking for a drummer. i was fortunate enough to get the gig and became a full-time member of the purplechickens. i joined just as the band was about to record an album and was able to cut most of the tracks on it. (the other drummer left to pursue film making full-time.) we recently released our second independent album, to some great critical reviews and are working on new material as well.

as i got to meet more people, i also got the opportunity to play with many great musicians. one of the guys who played bass for the purplechickens needed a drummer for his own project, so i ended up playing drums for ang bandang shirley as well. we're currently in post-production for our debut album which will be released soon under terno recordings.

and i also play drums for another band under the terno label - outerhope. outerhope is actually more of an acoustic duo, but sometimes they feel the need to get a full band sound and they tap me and a couple other guys to complete the band.

playing in more than one group has really kept me busy but it's all good. i got bitten by the performance bug early on and and really happy with the work i'm getting.

[niNgpo]

ako sa marching band talaga me nagsimula.....

pagdating ng 1st year high school nahilig ako sa banda kaya sinubukan ko.
Una kong band is composed of 4: me, two guitarist and a female vocalist and what's funny is ako ang totoy kasi sila ay nasa bente anyos na haha! Pero di ako nag-last sa band na toh kasi bad influence sila. Gusto nila magfocus ako sa band gusto nila yung 24/7 sama ako sa kanila tas sira na pag-aaral ko nun tsk2!!

Pagdating ko second year balik ulit ako sa marching band hai... siguro wala na ako pag-asa. Then nung third year high school nag-band ako. Nanalo kami eliminations
ng battle of the bands pero nung finals pumalpak kami. Nag-disband kami after that show....

THEN nag-isip ako maigi kasi lagi na lang ako nawawalan ng band so nung nakapagisip na ako napansin ko yung mga band na yun eh wala naman kami
pinagsamahan parang friendship at commitment sao sabi ko dapat me ganun..

After 3 days nung finals ng battle me lumapit sa akin tatlong schoolmate niyaya ako magband sa next year battle. Ok naman ako dun. Nagulat ako dahil sabi nila
ako lang daw kilalang drummer! sabi ko ngek! la naman sa drummer yun eh...

After ilang weeks lagi na kami magkakasama sa kalokohan lungkot saya!! haha!!
Yun after nun dun kami nagjam at maganda kinalabasan metal ang genre namin..
Pasok kami sa finals nun pero di nanalo... pero kahit di kami nanalo eto kami sabay sabay pa rin humihinga... Banda pa rin kahit inactive sa ngayun haha!! And I'm glad nakabanda ko sila.

Kahit kinukuha ako sessionista ng ibang band ok lang sa kanila. Siguro Importante talaga sa isang band commitment at trust din. ü

[drummerboy827]

I was walking down the corridor. Then Marv talked to me and said "sali tayo bandfest". Then a year after, this band has become a pain in the ass.

[epinephrine_sevenfold]

guess what? 2 months ago tinanggal ako sa banda, then just 2 weeks ago may nagrecruit saken, i never thought i could cover songs from cheese kasi nakakahilo yung mga palo ni paolo chaka ni robert, but shortly after 1 week of zipra 80% yung 1st jam namin nitong bago kong banda

you know sometimes it's the old idealogies of your band that slows you all down in terms of growth, sometimes isa lang ang gumagaling dahil dun nagmamarunong pa, hindi matatalo ng galing ang pagmamahal sa music

[maruch]

I've been drumming since I was 11... I was part of a band when I turned 13.. my sister formed a reggae band with her highschool friends and they needed a keyboardist.. it so happen I can also play the piano... at that time iba pa ung drummer so ako ung nag keyboards.. at that time ung drummer namin siya ung nagtuturo sakin magdrums... he played open hand... so at that time I too also played open hand.. as time passed by I moved from one instrument to another, rhythm guitars, bass etc... until our drummer wanted to sing 311 songs... he was craving for some spotlight and I was craving for drumming... so ayun.. I ended up playing the drums for our band... My style back then was more of an Adrian Young or Chad Sexton style... since then I've been drumming and drumming and kept on learning new stuff... until I reached college... during my freshmen year I just jammed with my college friends until the 2004 Battle of the Bands Champs kicked their drummer out and started looking for a new one.. It so happen one of them were my jam buddies so she recommended me... I jammed with them asking "gusto niyo ba talaga ako tumugtog sa inyo?" sagot lang nila.. "jam lang muna tayo ehehe.." after an hour of jamming.. they were the ones asking me "tol gusto mo ba sumali samin?" ayun... I said yes coz I just felt we had this really great chemistry! so now I'm the drummer for two bands and also doing sessions with other bands. My forte is mostly on funk, reggae and ska... but recently I've been learning some aggressive metal and progressive metal... that's why I love drumming! there's so much to learn!

[intake]

i started to play drums AND got in a band when i was 13 
if it wasn't for that HS battle of the bands nung first year ako, intake wouldn't be here today! 

classmate ko lahat ng members noon, dapat talaga yung banda na yun was for sh**s and giggles lang (kami lang yung banda nun na nasa 1st year HS) as usual sablay2 kami nung first performance namin! tinapos na namin yung event sa backstage, hiyang hiya kami eh!

after that, nagpractice na talaga kami (after school punta muna sa rehearsal studio tapos merienda! tapos ganun nanaman ulit bukas  ) ubusan din ng allowance yun ah!

sa awa ng diyos nag improve na kami, nagpalit ng tatlong members (same batch din ang pumalit)

we ended our high school winning some BOTB events! yay!