JonBoker
(Bristol)
Monday 4 May 2020, 8:26pm
MUSICIAN WANTED FOR SPACE-ROCK BAND
The Gravity Wave Riders are looking for a versatile rock guitarist (or perhaps a keyboardist, horn, violin or whatever!) to join our band playing original space-rock. Influenced by Hawkwind, Gong, early Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Magma, Amon Duul II, Zappa, Gentle Giant and many other 60s/70s Krautrock, heavy psychedelic, proto-prog and art-rock bands. Versatile because we are deliberately, perversely eclectic and have lots of dynamics in our music. We range from Black Sabbath darkness to Gong whimsy, so we need someone who is open-minded and flexible. We need someone with a good feel for playing rhythm and if you like soloing too there will be plenty of opportunity. If you think of the styles of Alex Lifeson, Steve Hackett, Andy Latimer, David Gilmour, Steve Hillage or Huw Lloyd-Langton – together with the bands they were in - you may get an idea.
We are currently a four-piece band – all experienced gigging and recording musicians. We only started up at the end of last year but had our first gig – at the Fleece in Bristol – before the lockdown. We have some good contacts to get gigs once the restrictions have been relaxed and look to record at least a demo and perhaps a full album as soon as possible. We have loads of demo tracks to work on.
Our music does have some slightly challenging bits, with changes in tempo, time signature and odd chords and scales. We therefore need someone who has a good grounding in technique, but we don’t need a virtuoso and shredding wouldn’t really fit. It would make things easier if you can read music and/or tab but if you have a good ear that’s cool too. We need quite a versatile sound set, from clean sounds through overdriven sounds to full on distortion. The dynamics of the whole band mean that you can take the lead at times but need to be cool to play minimal or no guitar lines at other times.
For rhythm, we like to use a range of techniques from subtle chord variations to heavy power chord riffing. This can include variations in position, added notes, altered chords, simple arpeggios, partial chords, suspensions – to make an interesting and dynamic non-repetitive rhythm guitar line. Other times we have more relentless or even ambient spells – glissando guitar is a key space-rock skill!
For lead breaks we mix up hard rock riffing with more melodic development. Sometimes this will be improvised, sometimes specific composed lines. Some of the scales will be normal rock modes, others will be more unusual. It would be awesome to have be swapping lines and harmonies between two lead instruments.
Beyond the guitar playing we just need someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously and wants to have fun whilst creating something really special. Vocal skills would be a bonus, but not essential as would be skills on other instruments and your own transport. Most importantly, we need someone genuinely interested in this style of music and keen to play a part in the band’s vision
If this sounds interesting, please contact us. If you’ve replied to our previous advert, I’m really sorry but I’ve had “IT issues” - please get in touch again.