Auditioning

Auditioning

Hey Hey Hey monkeys!

I’m getting everything ready to go on a little tour for the week but before I go I have some thoughts on auditions. While I was at ACM for 5 years and building BIMM a massive part of my job was auditioning musicians for courses. Now I audition musicians for work (which is a very similar process). 

So what is important when you audition?

Well the answer is of course Everything! It’s judgement day and you are being judged! 

1^st impressions

This is the most important area of an audition. I’m not going to patronize you by saying ‘make sure you turn up on time’ because that’s obvious and only a twat would turn up late to an audition. But the amount of times people walk into an audition and blow it straight away. So here are some examples off the top of my head. The guy who walked in a few weeks ago and said ‘Alright fuckers!’……NEXT. The guy who walked in and said ‘Who’s guitar should I use?’ …. NEXT. The guy who was eating a sandwich when he walked in… NEXT! I’m not kidding! Just walk in and introduce yourself and for the love of god smile.

What you wear is important as people will judge you on it. A quick trip to Topman or ASOS isn’t going to cost you much and will make the difference. TIP: research what they are looking for. I hate it when people turn up in smart clothes or suits which don’t fit properly. If your going to wear a suit pick one that fits and looks cool not like a 70’s weather man!

Tip: I absolutely love it when people say ‘I would love this gig’. It makes them sound excited and enthusiastic, which means they will respect the gig and take it seriously. 

Gear

We will talk a bit more in depth about gear in later emails as it’s the one thing I argue with musicians most about. Here is the brief:

• Guitarists – no multi effects… But why? Simple …. They are shit!
• Is your gear 100% working? Problematic amps, broken strings, leads, pedals, bass drum pedals are time wasters and a pain in the arse so organize everything the night before
• Is your gear industry standard?  This is a big bug bear with musicians who want to be different and not use the norm but trust me even if it’s just for the audition take a fender guitar or bass, a valve amp, and stand alone pedals (on a board hooked up). Drummers usually use in house kits but if not don’t take a 25 piece kit as it takes too much time. 
• Make sure your gear is cased so it looks like you take it seriously. Last week a guy walked across town with his guitar in his hand with no softcase….NEXT!

General tips

• Make sure you have learned any tracks not so you can play them right, but so that you can’t physically play it wrong. If you are playing a given part try and recreate it as it is on the recording and think about the sound, feel and timing of the part.
• You are only given one shot at this audition so make sure your playing/singing has authority.
• You don’t have to jump around like your in ‘Story Of The Year’ but you can show your into the music physically whether it be moving, grooving or just looking up and smiling at other musicians. An audition is all about trust. They need to trust you have what it takes so that authority will give them faith that you know your shiz. 
• Make sure they have all of your details, whether it be a card, a one-page cv etc with 2 contact details, mobile and email.  
• If you don’t get the gig, send a friendly email asking what you can improve on. It might be that someone more experienced came along however it’s good to know for next time.

Tip : Remember the golden rule of auditions – ‘If it can go wrong it will go wrong’