Cool! But probably no one is going to give you a gig on a plate, you need to get gigs on your own. Also be willing to play for free before playing paid. I've been in a band for more than a year, I've not made a cent for myself to date..but then again, I'm in Welkom, so petrol costs are bad.

Get in contact with as many venues as possible. what genre are you guys?

Be prepared to give venues a organized press kit that contains your basic info.

Awesome. You don't say what kind of music you want to play and what form of gig you want to play. Getting a paid gig right from the start is not easy, also, is 17 old enough to be working in places where alcohol is served? If it is not then bar gigs are out.

Maybe some more information will help the experienced people around here to give you some advice.

Thanks for the replies!

Yes we will be seeking gigs out and don't expect to be fed from a plate ? ?

Just want some tips and maybe some venues where we can enquire and question about possibly playing there..

Right! Sorry I forgot to mention, we play anything blues, rock, pop, country, folk, acoustic, and even metal (if need be)

Thanks ?

I'm in a similar situation. How long have you been playing? And what amps are you guys using?

Let me know how you guys do - you should put some vids on Youtube and/or Facebook ?

Well, my advice in terms of gigs would be to network. Sadly, in a lot of cases it's who knows about you.

My previous band (Laconia www.laconia.co.za) had the same problem when we started out around 5 years ago. If no-one knows you then they're reluctant to sign you up. But, our then-vocalist (that we eventually let go 'cos she did not really fit our sound) made a great effort to network with basically everyone...other bands, venues etc and soon we had gigging opportunities stream in. It came to the point where, as a band, we had to take a conscious decision about the amount of gigs we were willing, and able, to play without the band totally consuming our lives away from our normal jobs, as it was turning into that. In our first year we ended up playing around 150 gigs.

You mentioned we play anything blues, rock, pop, country, folk, acoustic, and even metal (if need be) . I'm not sure if you guys play covers or original stuff. On that, if it's original, I'd say it may be beneficial to stick to a specific broad genre. Or pick two and fuse them. That creates a sound for your band that people can identify with and makes it easier to reference when they're looking for a specific band.

For Laconia, we were metal in broad terms but fused in everything from thrash to death to gothic. With female lead vocals. As soon as people got to know of us more bands with similar setups were knocking for us to gig with them, or vice versa.

Someone already mentioned that most venues have age restrictions of 18. Some 21. But I think that's an agreement you can reach with the venue owner to let you guys play. I do remember many years ago I was playing in a band where the drummer was underage. One gig night the bouncers refused to let him into the venue...well, he now plays for Ashtray Electric so good for him...hehe

As far as venues go Pretoria is a dead zone if you ask me. A lot of people will remember Nile Crocodile and a handful of other venues from years passed. But nowadays almost all of them have closed down.

If you guys do covers only I would suggest to try local bars. Most feature some sort of music over weekends so that may be a good starting point.

symbolofmylife wrote: Well, my advice in terms of gigs would be to network. Sadly, in a lot of cases it's who knows about you.

My previous band (Laconia www.laconia.co.za) had the same problem when we started out around 5 years ago. If no-one knows you then they're reluctant to sign you up. But, our then-vocalist (that we eventually let go 'cos she did not really fit our sound) made a great effort to network with basically everyone...other bands, venues etc and soon we had gigging opportunities stream in. It came to the point where, as a band, we had to take a conscious decision about the amount of gigs we were willing, and able, to play without the band totally consuming our lives away from our normal jobs, as it was turning into that. In our first year we ended up playing around 150 gigs.

You mentioned we play anything blues, rock, pop, country, folk, acoustic, and even metal (if need be) . I'm not sure if you guys play covers or original stuff. On that, if it's original, I'd say it may be beneficial to stick to a specific broad genre. Or pick two and fuse them. That creates a sound for your band that people can identify with and makes it easier to reference when they're looking for a specific band.

For Laconia, we were metal in broad terms but fused in everything from thrash to death to gothic. With female lead vocals. As soon as people got to know of us more bands with similar setups were knocking for us to gig with them, or vice versa.

Someone already mentioned that most venues have age restrictions of 18. Some 21. But I think that's an agreement you can reach with the venue owner to let you guys play. I do remember many years ago I was playing in a band where the drummer was underage. One gig night the bouncers refused to let him into the venue...

As far as venues go Pretoria is a dead zone if you ask me. A lot of people will remember Nile Crocodile and a handful of other venues from years passed. But nowadays almost all of them have closed down.

If you guys do covers only I would suggest to try local bars. Most feature some sort of music over weekends so that may be a good starting point.

Symbolofmylife, How is Stander doing? (I think it was you that started Stander)

Nitebob wrote:
Symbolofmylife, How is Stander doing? (I think it was you that started Stander)

Good memory! It's coming along albeit slowly. About 5 tunes have been written already, but the recording is taking a bit longer to come along. One instrumental track was about done but I'd like to retake all the rhythm guitars as I can now double-mic (I did not have the second '57 when I laid the first tracks). I think in a way I'm just full of crap but I'm having some issues with finding a killer heavy tone. Time's quite limited also as I basically have an hour or so a day to experiment after work before the missus gets home and will complain due to the amp being too loud...

Aside from that, once I achieve a good sound between mic position and amp everything needs to be packed up again in a couple of days so the maid can clean...ah, the joys of setting up recording space at home he?

At the moment I am only trying to get the all the songs' instruments done before I get to the vox. On that, I am still looking for a strong male voice that can throw it Hetfield/Mustaine or similar. So as soon as the tracks are laid, as per normal recording processes, I will get someone to do the vocals.

But for fun the wife and I recorded a tune recently (http://www.guitarforum.co.za/recordings/recording-'aint-no-sunshine'-with-the-wife/) if you wanna give it a spin. It's not intended for Stander but more as a request from the wife. I kinda like the sound I got from the acoustic too. It's raw yet full sounding...and the vox also came out pretty decently...it's a basic tune with only guitar and vocals as that fit best...but give it a spin if you wanna...

Yeah, that was good sounds man...I'm willing to help with vocals, but I'm no Hetfield, vocals are too clean me thinks...maybe if you need harmonising bv's let me know...anyway good luck with that ?