BigGuitars
Active member
I recently replied to this ad by a 20 yeard-old who turned me away because I’m 30. He said “that’s too much of an age gap bro”. His ad stated that he was a “BADASS LEAD GUITARIST”.
In my follow up reply I told him that that’s a very arrogant attitude, and that 30 is YOUNG! He fancies himself a “badass” and won’t work with anyone over 25. I told him he had better broaden his horizons by a country mile if he wants to succeed in this business. We exchanged vids, and I’m on a completely different level compared to him, and I also look just as young as he does. My image is better, I’m better looking, I’ve got a more chiseled physique etc…
It got me to thinking, and I explained this to him… The last people you want to search for is super young early 20 somethings. The age range IMO for good band members is 25-40. 30 being the sweet spot. They’ve gotten their young/cocky phase behind them, they’re better seasoned, more reliable, and have a better footing in the business in general. If you’ve got 30 year olds replying to your ad who are good players and good looking (like me), you’re ignorant to turn them away. Hell, I don’t even consider people for my bands if they’re under 21 these days because I know I’m bound to get an overly-cocky punk kid with little to no experience who is nowhere near as good as they think they are. Of course there are exceptions, and I know how to spot them when I see them, but this is generally the case. I put 21-40 in my ads usually. I’m not even opposed to guys older than that but at some point you DO run into generational gaps in music taste. But still, I think musical prime is reached in the 30s-40s, not teens-20s.
Am I off the mark here?
In my follow up reply I told him that that’s a very arrogant attitude, and that 30 is YOUNG! He fancies himself a “badass” and won’t work with anyone over 25. I told him he had better broaden his horizons by a country mile if he wants to succeed in this business. We exchanged vids, and I’m on a completely different level compared to him, and I also look just as young as he does. My image is better, I’m better looking, I’ve got a more chiseled physique etc…
It got me to thinking, and I explained this to him… The last people you want to search for is super young early 20 somethings. The age range IMO for good band members is 25-40. 30 being the sweet spot. They’ve gotten their young/cocky phase behind them, they’re better seasoned, more reliable, and have a better footing in the business in general. If you’ve got 30 year olds replying to your ad who are good players and good looking (like me), you’re ignorant to turn them away. Hell, I don’t even consider people for my bands if they’re under 21 these days because I know I’m bound to get an overly-cocky punk kid with little to no experience who is nowhere near as good as they think they are. Of course there are exceptions, and I know how to spot them when I see them, but this is generally the case. I put 21-40 in my ads usually. I’m not even opposed to guys older than that but at some point you DO run into generational gaps in music taste. But still, I think musical prime is reached in the 30s-40s, not teens-20s.
Am I off the mark here?