Where do I find a keys person?

[ProfessorBen]

hello all, apologies, guitarist here.....
I've managed to dislodge my foot from the monitor at the front of the stage long enough to write a Keyboard player wanted ad.

Keyboard/Synth/Programmer
Wanted for new Peterborough based progressive rock band.
We have a wide range of influences from classic prog to neo prog to retro 80's prog.
Also lots of other stuff, rock, funk metal etc.
Female vocals, guitar, bass and drums, just looking for our , Jem Godfrey, Derek Sherinian, Jordan Rudess, Richard Wright or Tony Banks.
If you have any idea who those guys are, we want to hear from you!!!!
Rehearsing with a view to recording original material and later select gigs.
Contact
Ben for deets
07415697925
Bencaff@gmail

I know it's prob in the wrong section, but I've only just got my head around midi, so a little leeway is appreciated.

All the best
Ben.

 

[happyrat1]

Not applying for the job here, but you may want to be more specific about the location.

Peterborough Where? There's probably hundreds of them around the globe in every Anglo Saxon country, province and territory.

Gary

 

[Fred Coulter]

Based on the phone number, it's not in the United States. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.

I think he'd do better with Craig's List or a dedicated musician seeking band seeking musician site. On the other hand, at least this site has an audience of keyboard players.

 

[happyrat1]

If I had to venture a guess I'd say UK, the original Peterborough.

But even the phone number is ambiguous without a country code.

Wrong number of digits for Canada and US though.

Even so, there's a Peterborough in Ontario less than 30 miles away from me.

Gary

 

[ProfessorBen]

Ahhhhh ok I just pasted the ad from the JoinMyBand page, which is country and county specific.
Peterborough UK
The original and quite possibly the worst......

 

[ProfessorBen]

Based on the phone number, it's not in the United States. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.

I think he'd do better with Craig's List or a dedicated musician seeking band seeking musician site. On the other hand, at least this site has an audience of keyboard players.

Hi Fred, yes I've tried more band member type sites, I'm just running out of ideas, unused to teach guitar in a shop that sold around 1-2 Tyros 5 every week, so I know there are tech type guys around, but I can't find em!!
I never see keys players at jam nights, or even to see one in a band playing locally is a rare event indeed.

 

[Fred Coulter]

I'm just running out of ideas, unused to teach guitar in a shop that sold around 1-2 Tyros 5 every week, so I know there are tech type guys around, but I can't find em!!
I never see keys players at jam nights, or even to see one in a band playing locally is a rare event indeed.

It's much harder for a keyboard player to show up at a jam night than most other instruments. Keyboards require more ancillary equipment, more set up time. Jam nights usually have a drum set, but rarely a keyboard.

The lack of keyboards in gigging bands is a bit more worrisome. I'm not sure what, if anything, can be done about that. We're usually not very sexy, and we hide in our basements. Are there any progressive bands playing in your vicinity? Do they lack keyboard players, too?

When I saw the Discipline era King Crimson, I was very depressed as a keyboard player. They could do it all, and without having keyboards. Luckily for us it turned out that you needed a huge level of musicianship to do that without keyboards, and other bands didn't go in that direction. Pity. I liked where they went, but wish they needed a keyboard player to do it.

Have you tried putting up flyers on bulletin boards at local music stores? Other than that, good luck.

 

[ProfessorBen]

Yeah, we just lost our local general music shop, and are left with a guitar only place and my old shop, which unfortunately was not the most amicable of partings.
I believe prog may be the last bastion of keys in rock.
Frost*, Anathema, Riverside, Airbag etc all keeping the keys alive.
Trouble is it's a niche genre and not typical pub entertainment which in the UK is the mainstay of live music.

 

[ProfessorBen]

Also dont forget a great deal of Fripp and Belew's playing is very textural and 'synth' like and there was a good amount of midi guitar being used by both at that stage.
If you have 2 guitarists trying to be a keyboardist, I'd say you need to evaluate your line up. Lol

 

[happyrat1]

Ben >>> Just a suggestion but have you tried posting in the personals or the musical instruments for sale sections on your local and perhaps the London craigslist as well?

You'd be amazed at what turns up on that site.

Gary

 

[ProfessorBen]

Ben >>> Just a suggestion but have you tried posting in the personals or the musical instruments for sale sections on your local and perhaps the London craigslist as well?

You'd be amazed at what turns up on that site.

Gary

Unfortunately yes, ive tried that, you keyboarder lot seem a reclusive type.
I've even posted flyers in the usual places keyboard players hang out.
The Library
Charity Shops
Games Workshop

All to no avail sadly.

 

[Fred Coulter]

I've even posted flyers in the usual places keyboard players hang out

In our basements? With our cats?

 

[happyrat1]

/me doesn't own a cat.

Wonders if he should turn himself in as a terrorist

Gary

 

[ProfessorBen]

Terribly sorry I was caught up in yet another threesome with two very sunburnt women......

 

[happyrat1]

Careful! That red rash could be herpes

Gary

 

[happyrat1]

BTW, if yer looking for someone who plays keys like Jordan Rudess or Derek Sherinian you'd have far better luck contacting a talent agency or recording company than posting a cattle call classified ad

Gary

 

[ProfessorBen]

BTW, if yer looking for someone who plays keys like Jordan Rudess or Derek Sherinian you'd have far better luck contacting a talent agency or recording company than posting a cattle call classified ad

Gary

Well I'm expecting them to play like those guys in the same way I can play like John Petrucci and David Gilmour lol.

 

[happyrat1]

I'm more of a John Mclaughlin // Mahavishnu Orchestra fan myself

Gary

 

[CowboyNQ]

I believe prog may be the last bastion of keys in rock.
Frost*, Anathema, Riverside, Airbag etc all keeping the keys alive.
Trouble is it's a niche genre and not typical pub entertainment which in the UK is the mainstay of live music.

G'day Prof,

Love your sense of humour.

I will ask a mate of mine who has a few music connections in the UK and is a massive prog fan if he knows any gun keyboardists. If he has any promising leads I'll PM you. [Edit - no joy there. He does know a few but they're already in reasonably successful prog bands already, sorry.]

From what I understand, decent keyboard players are quite hard to find everywhere in the world and so they're generally pretty busy. I am far from an amazing player and I get asked to join or fill in for bands probably once in every five gigs I do.

Which brings me to a suggestion. You might try approaching keyboard players you like at their gigs. Maybe not god-level players like Jem Godfrey, Tony Banks, Derek Sherinian, Jordan Rudess or Richard Wright (Ouija Board Style), but no doubt there's some talented local lads around you could stalk.

Good luck!

 

[ProfessorBen]

Cheers mate,
But that's kinda my point, there ARE no keys guys in any bands I've seen.
Round here we have 3 types of bands
1) pub rock covers
2) punk pop kids
c) Fen Metal ( bit like Pantera but without the groove)

If this endemic of a decline in keys in general?