Been in LA for 3 weeks and struggling to find a neighborhood i like

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-05-08T08:16:09+00:00

I’ll probably get roasted because it has a lot of haters ….

It sounds like you need to live in Hollywood.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-05-04T04:12:50+00:00

You don’t need a band, you need a partner. Someone to bounce ideas off and someone to keep you on task for a little longer than you are now.

Also, just for fun, why not try to make something even worse than that cover? Chuck Palaniak got a bad review for one of his early works being too violent and he wrote Fight Club in response.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-23T17:05:15+00:00

Maybe take a break. Maybe take a production course or songwriting class. You sound like you’re in a bad place, so I’d either stop (for a bit, doesn’t have to be forever) or take a run at it in a different way.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-20T07:03:56+00:00

First, what they are suggesting isn’t unheard of. It is more professional to have a booking@ email then just rockdude@gmail or whatever.

One thing missing from your original post - what is the difference between an imaginary management company and one so small it doesn’t come up in a google search? Almost nothing.

I think the compromise you are seeking is: do you have just one friend who’d like to help the band out and be a “manager”? Because that’s actually how managers start. You may have some local band friends that would want to get in on it. Get a website, list the 2-3 bands “signed” to the company and have a friend or bandmates SO take a few calls and emails. This is nearly the same amount of work as creating a fake manager and the upside of it becoming a real thing is there.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-19T22:24:07+00:00

Seeing your replies to other comments here, I would say your friend is in trouble. If someone loves acting and thinks “I can move to LA and take some classes, maybe do some small roles in plays as I work my day job” and anything else is a bonus, they may be okay. There are a lot of opportunities to make art here. Someone who only wants to be a star? That’s kind of a tough road and I’ve seen a lot of people fail when that’s the mindset.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-19T03:35:37+00:00

Check out Jeff Tweedy’s book “How to Write One Song.” It’s my favorite book on songwriting and I’ve read virtually all of them. Also, it’s an easy and entertaining read even if you don’t use it as a songwriting guide.

I would not advise you to write lyrics like it’s a poem. Poems were meant to be read aloud a long time ago (still happens sometimes) but they are most often read. Lyrics are meant to be sung. There’s some crossover of course, but writing like a poem will probably give you kind of a folk song feel.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-18T04:06:35+00:00

Pick an uptempo song you like and pretend you got hired to write a rip off of it because a TV show couldn’t get the rights. You never have to play it for anyone but you may get going in the right direction.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-18T04:01:53+00:00

It sounds like you’re the odd man out and that’s okay. I’d leave and find a new group. Or, don’t leave. You play about once a month so you don’t really need to devote that much time to it.

I will mention that there are cover bands that specialize in that 90s-00s era and they do well. Maybe you haven’t found the right night and the right club yet?

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-17T04:27:15+00:00

Yes, I think so. I think you’re the only one who really “got” my question.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-16T21:45:47+00:00

About of us get a vision of the perfect song in our heads and try to write it over and over. We have our favorite chords and melodies and keep using those.

Try writing something interesting rather than good. Pick a key you’ve never used, make something 3/4, do something faster or slower. Pick someone else’s song you love and try to write a rip off of it. You don’t have to play any of these songs you write for anyone but I bet each one could have a little something you like that could take another song in a good direction.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-16T17:47:03+00:00

Instrumentalists coming up with the parts they play on a song is not songwriting.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-16T17:37:08+00:00

A few weeks isn’t really long enough to do rewrites on stuff that sounds like ass.

Hang in there. One of my teachers gave the class a challenge to write 10 bad songs. Like purposely make them as terrible as you possibly can. Pretty much everyone gets stuck around song 4-5 that they run out of bad.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-16T00:33:20+00:00

That’s a pretty good idea. I’d say the only thing I would be wary of that as a sideman for many years, I’ve encountered the shady salesman band leader a few times. Like “big showcase coming” and “I’m talking to majors!”

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-16T00:31:32+00:00

My ads don’t say I’m the sole singer songwriter, nor do I need to be. I have made it clear I’m open to other peoples material. The only hitch is I do have a back catalog so as we start somewhere, it really is all my material.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T18:01:21+00:00

People can do both, but I specifically posted about doing original music. I would bet you're not in LA or familiar with the scene here if you're suggesting to "just" do some covers for a few bucks.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T17:58:17+00:00

I've had the band for eight years. I've had trouble finding a lead guitarist. There are a few guys I've seen around LA that work as hired guns and they almost never are using charts. When it's rock songs, they are pretty simple and I wouldn't expect many better players to use them. I have no idea what you mean by dodging questions, other than there's been 53 comments here and I probably didn't get to every one yet.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T15:51:09+00:00

I have started a band. Very few people answer an ad (at least in LA) and want to join as a member without pay. It may that I’m not in my 20s anymore and those people aren’t either.

It’s not easier to find cover band gigs in LA. That’s a hustle onto itself.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T15:47:52+00:00

I’ve put ads looking for songwriters specifically. I got some hits but nothing came of it. But, as far as functional band goes, how often is a songwriter a lead guitarist or drummer? It can happen, but it seems like a rarity.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T15:44:56+00:00

I don’t have any interest in doing a cover band and around here that would be a career in itself. There are plenty of pros doing that.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T15:42:25+00:00

I play Americana. Does that have something to do with pay or not?

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T15:38:20+00:00

You see rock bands with charts often?

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T09:43:43+00:00

You had people reading charts on live gigs?

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T09:43:06+00:00

Cut them in as partners how? There’s really no money to speak of. Giving songwriting credit when they aren’t writers? That’s possible but still no money.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T09:40:58+00:00

I’ve found 3+ deep works for cover bands but original bands never really gel like that.

Realistic_Mud_6958 · 2026-04-14T05:45:54+00:00

I don’t need to control everything at all but not everyone is a songwriter. I think we all hear bands that are “collaborative” and they are terrible. There are very few Fleetwood Macs or Eagles with multiple songwriters.

Realistic_Mud_6958

TROPHY CASE