Raspberries 2U! + Band in Irvine, CA

SEEKING

ABOUT

Forming a Power Pop Band in South Orange County.

UPDATE 11/5/23 - New requirements; Basic Expectations.
1. Interested candidates must commit to making the once-per-week scheduled rehearsals, and eventual scheduled gigs.
2. Your rig must be all set up, dialed in, and you, prepared to begin rehearsal at the scheduled start time.
3. Must be willing and able to learn, and progressively execute the material well.
4. Food and drink will not be provided, nor will we break for you to run for food, though you may bring your own.
5. If you use drugs and/or alcohol, please do it away from the property, and on your own time.
6. If you are going through a life/family crisis or have major health problems that would limit your involvement in our band, then you’re probably not a good match.

Now recruiting local musicians:

Musicians must possess mastery of their instrument and strong vocal abilities; pitch, range and ability to sing intervals. Multi-instrumentalists are a PLUS.

Guitarist/Vocalist - familiar with Wally Bryson, E. Carmen, T. Rundgren, P. Ham, T. Evans, G. Harrison, J. Page, A. Summers, etc… with good frontman/stage presence.

The other musicians can easily follow the guitarist and fall into place.

Bassist/Vocalist – Doesn’t have to be extraordinary on the bass, but possess good vocal/frontman abilities.

Keyboardist/Vocalist - Doesn’t have to be extraordinary on the keyboards, but possess good vocal/frontman abilities. Keyboard parts will be relatively simple, i.e. Rock’n Roll, Honky Tonk, slightly detuned bar piano, Hammond B3 rock organ timbres, and some occasional soundscape pads.

I am an accomplished drummer/vocalist/songwriter with a large, killer sound system.

Not interested in touring (been there, done that), just performing locally on weekends within 100 miles of Orange County. Gigs will be on contract with Management Company. Rehearsals will be once per week on weekends until material is tight, then no more weekly rehearsals, just performances. We may get together to rehearse a set of new material from time to time, but not really interested in having a rehearsal band, rather, a PERFORMING BAND.

Unlimited recording studio access.

Serious inquiries only, please. Thank you.

Screen name:

marc1359543

Member since:

Apr 11 2019

Active within 1 week

Level of commitment:

Very Committed

Years together:

1

Gigs played:

Over 100

Tend to practice:

1 time per week

Available to gig:

2-3 nights a week

Age:

60 years

Influences

I know my profile is lengthy, but please bear with me and take the time to read through it. Thank you.

Beatles, Raspberries, Badfinger, Utopia, Led Zeppelin, Police, Rush, Beach Boys, TPOH band, etc... Anything that is pop oriented with great vocals and a lot of power behind it. Open to suggestions and originals.

Take 10 minutes to familiarize yourself with the Raspberries (no, not the Strawberries, aka "the Strawbs").

50 years ago (April 1972) the debut album from Raspberries was released, and in the years that followed they’d be recognized as the architects of the “Power Pop” genre while attracting thousands of fans around the world. To commemorate this historic musical anniversary, Bernie Hogya has created this very special 10 minute video looking back at one of the most influential rock bands ever. Enjoy!"

Link to 10 minute Raspberries minidoc video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O_8A26Ak-fM&feature=youtu.be

Proposed set list:

1. No Matter What, Badfinger
2. Go All The Way, Raspberries
3. Ecstasy, Raspberries
4. Tonight, Raspberries
5. I Wanna Be With You, Raspberries
6. I'm A Rocker, Raspberries
7. She's So Young, The Pursuit of Happiness
8. You Took Me All The Way, Eric Carman
9. Play This Game, Utopia
10. You Make Me Crazy, Utopia
11. Love In Action, Utopia
12. The Very Last Time, Utopia
13. I Just Want To Touch You, Utopia
14. Open My Eyes, Nazz
15. Forget About It, Nazz
16. Couldn't I Just Tell You, Todd Rundgren/Rick Derringer
17. Slut, Todd Rundgren
18. Infrared And Ultraviolet, Utopia
19. There Goes My Inspiration, Utopia
20. Rock'n Roll Hoochie koo, Rick Derringer

Up for any material that can be done as Power Pop.

About me:

I can play & sing anything, was a union musician in Chicago (AFM Local 10-208) for 10 years doing weddings & private parties. As a young drummer I studied from the Joe Morello rudimentary jazz drum instruction program. I know all the contemporary, jazz standards, Frank Sinatra’s pop stuff and show tunes from all the famous musicals, as well as all the ethnic stuff; polish, German, Italian, Jewish, Irish, Greek, etc… I can play all the worldly beats; swing, bossa-nova, cha cha, samba, rumba, etc… and can play in any time signature.

I’ve performed in many rock bands doing the Doors, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones, King Crimson, Zombies, Yes, Bowie, AC/DC, Rush, Boz Scaggs, Charlie, Louisiana Le Roux, Little Feat, Supertramp, Pink Floyd, ASIA, UK, Genesis, and in many genres; the Blues, Funk, Southern Rock, British Prog Rock, Top 40, etc… I’ve worked in many environments; private parties, hotel lounges, night clubs, bars, house band situations and touring, working with people of different origins and ages.

I’ve done much session work, cut vinyl records and toured for several years. I’ve been into home recording since 1981 and have a state of the art recording studio. I grew up on the South side of Chicago, played in many Blues bands and can play a mean shuffle. One night I even sat in on a set with Koko Taylor, the Queen of the Blues. However, even though musicians have always told me I’m very good at it, I AM DONE WITH THE BLUES and being in Blues bands. My roots in drumming have always been British Prog Rock, namely Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson, etc...).

In 1980-81 I cut my first vinyl record with the band Seiche, “The Immediate Wave,” a psychedelic rock act that was the predecessor to the grunge sounds of Seattle, 12 years before Nirvana came along. And there is a direct connection: Dee Plakas, the drummer in L7 whom I gave drum lessons; she was our leader’s girlfriend, our biggest fan and it’s my belief that she turned those West coast guys on to our sound. Seiche basically merged the early ‘70s era sounds of King Crimson with Jim Morrison styled vocals. Because of mounting demand over the years by rock/audiophile collectors worldwide, in November 2019 the Seiche Demo Press was reissued on vinyl by Jackpot Records, and the collector’s edition sold out in two weeks!

The Seiche retail version still remains available here, https://jackpotrecords.com/products/seiche-demo-press? pos=1& sid=9d954003d& ss=r

By the late 1980’s I went through a complete genre change to High Energy Dance, House and Top 40. I also changed over to electronic drums and went on tour with the Tammy Thomas Group on Playhouse Records. During that time we released two self produced vinyl 12” HE Dance singles that each climbed to #1 on the Top 60 Dance Chart, beating Madonna, Janet Jackson, Tina Marie, Debbie Gibson, Kim Wilde, etc… all the female HE Dance artists of the day.

Our first hit was “It’s Getting Better” which stayed #1 for 6 weeks, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA6RoJRFAxA

Our second hit was “Do You Want Me?” which stayed #1 for 8
weeks, https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OuKA4U6rOPs

HE Dance was not the only thing we performed; we basically covered a wide variety of material; Springsteen, Van Halen, Rick James, Guns & Roses, Billy Ocean, Bananarama, Georgia Satellites, Juice Newton, Madonna, Rick Astley, Eddie Money, Expose, a repertoire similar to the hotel lounge circuit back in Chicago.

Each member of the band were singer-songwriters in our own right, capable of backing each other up (singing intervals) and I was the guy charged with doing all the lead black male vocal parts. This touring experience, along with numerous vocal classes was how I developed my vocal skills.

Over the years I’ve also utilized my music production skills by producing local talent. I have over 70 productions (in 12 genres) I’ve recently uploaded to my website, https://warpdriveprod.com/audio_gallery.htm that showcase my skills.

I'm now wanting to do something more focused with classic rock power behind it, concentrating on well written, catchy, Anglo-styled songs with great middle eights and great vocals.

Many musicians I’m finding here on BandMix seem to be stuck in a particular genre rut, i.e. Blues, Metal, what ever, and that’s OK, I was like that a long time ago. In my opinion, the test of true musicianship and professionalism is whether one can, or is willing to evolve, adapt to change and do it well.

Another thing I've noticed here is the tendency for low hanging fruit; that most here on BandMix just want to fall into a band situation where everything is already made and very familiar. That way it’s very easy for them to just slide right in without much effort. I’m not interested in working with people like that. What I’m trying to do here is challenging and I’m looking for musicians who are up for a new challenge.

I’m also getting people whose profiles boast “classic rock experience" while telling me they’re not interested in doing Power Pop. As far as I’m concerned that’s just a bunch of BS because Power Pop is essentially the foundation of classic rock. Just listen to any early Beatles song or Credence Clearwater Revival (Yes, although not on my song list, I’d love to do some Credence as well!) Go ahead and listen to the guitar riff on Go All The Way (Raspberries) and tell me that’s not classic rock.

Someone who gave feedback on my repertoire said that I’ve chosen some obscure songs. While that may be true, the fact is these songs will lift up people’s spirits, get them to dance and recall, “oh yeah, I remember that great tune, it's awesome this band plays it, I'd like to see them again at their next show, and bring my friends to see them!”

Bottom line: I think I have something really cool here; great songs that are totally danceable and thus, extremely entertaining. I don’t want to do what everyone else is doing, i.e. “80s music, Metal, R&B, Blues, Hip Hop, Rap, etc… I want to do something unique and powerful!

If you’re willing to put in the time and effort I’m sure it will pay off, as in lots of good paying gigs. Not trying to get famous, just working toward providing people with great, high quality musical entertainment that showcases talent for which our band can be proud.

For true professional musicians it shouldn’t really be that difficult. It just takes some commitment, effort and structure. Geeze, it ain’t like we'll be trying to pull off something like the Mahavishnu Orchestra or Return To Forever. Me? I can’t read a note of music, but neither can songsmith Todd Rundgren.

I do know what it takes to put together an act and execute on stage; I’ve done it before and will do it again. You can either just continue on doing what everyone else is doing, playing all the same worn out songs, or join our show and be a part of something truly unique. The choice is yours.

The Business:

The following commercial domains have been registered with ICAN:
www.raspberries4U.com
www.raspberries2U.com
I prefer using the latter.

The Money Part:
So, you play a gig and get paid $100 while the band leader makes off with $500 - $1,000, because it's his band and he got the gig.

That's not how I'm going to do it. I'm going to pay everyone equally, including the Sound & Lighting Engineer, so it's an equal 5 way split after the booking agent takes their cut. This way everyone gets to share the prosperity of the band's success.

How about "pay to play" here in LA? We are going to avoid these arrangements all together. To me it's just a middleman's scam.

In the beginning there may be times we'll perform at a reduced rate until the hiring parties and agents get to know us. We will eventually adjust our price upward as the demand for our show increases.

I'm a NO BS kind of guy. As you probably know by now, the whole entertainment industry is full of all kinds of yahoos running around blowing smoke, it's the nature of the beast. I'm not one of those people, no hype.

OK kids, let's put on a show!

BTW, my profile photo is recent.

Members Of Band

Drums & Vocals - Me

Guitarist/Vocalist - Could be you!

Bassist/Vocalist - Position Filled.

Keyboardist/Vocalist - Could be you!

Sound & Lighting Engineer - Position Filled.

EQUIPMENT

Drums:
Gretsch New Classic Maple (22x8x10x12x14x16), Glass Nitron wrap. Gibraltar, Tama & DW hardware, Zildjian cymbals.

Electronics: DrumKat 3.8 controller with FatKat, HatKat pedals and Alesis D4 percussion module. Additional Kat KTMP1 pad.

Sound System:
Midas M32 Digital Mixing Console
Midas DL32 32x16 Digital Stage Box w/ 120’ Digital Snake
QSC K12.2 Powered Full Range Speakers, 2000 watts RMS (4)
QSC KS118 Powered 18" Subwoofers, 3,600 watts RMS (2)
Behringer F1220D 250W 12" Active Floor Monitors (6)
DBX Venu360 Speaker Management System with Real Time Analyzing (RTA) to get PERFECT sound system tuning in any room or outdoor venue!
All Mics & Stands

We’re talking about 15,200 Watts of Clean QSC POWER to blow the hamburgers right off their plates!

MUSIC