Auditions For Top Level Metal Bands - What It Takes To Succeed

Playing Technique
#1

If CTC ever goes into other areas of study, I would think it would be very interesting and extremely valuable to do an interview with guitarists who secured spots in metal bands that are at the arena level such as Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, etc. With possibly hundreds of guitarists who all possess excellent mechanics and technical ability all competing for that one job, what are the main factors that enabled that one guy to get that spot in the band as their new guitarist and succeed while many, possibly hundreds of other very qualified guitarists didn’t get the job? Was the determining factor more related to their playing ability, their writing ability, their stage presence, their appearance, or something else? In an audition at such a high level it would be valuable to know what are the qualities that tend to lead to getting the job where the competition for that spot in their band is so tough.

BTW, I am not sure if this is the correct category for this particular post so if it gets moved to another part of the site, I’ll understand.

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#2

I can’t speak for those bands in particular, but in my experience, once you’re above a certain threshold of talent it’s way more about

  • what you’re like to live with the other 22 hours a day
  • if you have past experience that put you on the band’s radar
  • looking the part
  • stage presence

(my experience = 6 years touring ~2k seat theatres. YMMV)

#3

I can’t see this ever having to do with the study of advanced alternate picking techniques, but… :laughing:

I know (over the net) a guy who toured and recorded with Cradle of Filth for a while. I haven’t talked with him about that process in ages (I like him more than I like CoF, lol) but from what I recall, it came down to:

  1. He was referred to the band by another musician they knew,
  2. His ability to learn the set list in a short timeline (he had about a week) and pull it off with authority in the audition,
  3. He had “the look,” and no problem performing in corpsepaint, and
  4. the band got along well with him in the time they spent auditioning him, and they figured they could stand to share a cramped tour bus with him.

There may have been more to it, but basically, you need to be able to play the music, have the stage presence to pull it off, and be the right personality fit off stage.

Come to think of it, Ola Englund was touring with Six Feet Under for a while, and I don’t think I ever asked him how he got the gig - I might have when he came through Boston with them, but we did a LOT of tequila shots after the show that night so I don’t remember. :laughing:

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