How long is too long to hear back from a band you auditioned for?

Despite being in a progressive rock trio, lately I've been wanting to join another band in a different genre to scratch a totally different itch with my playing. Now I'm fairly picky with the types of musical situations I want to be involved in, so I rarely see something that sounds interesting enough for me to actually reply to. But I did a little over a month ago. It's a Tower of Power-style funk band, they're looking for a new drummer, and they happen to be in my part of LA. Great!

They liked my playing on my website, and sent me their entire 6-song EP to learn. They also gave me guitar charts for every song. No biggie, I can read, and I've used lead charts many times before. BTW, Lemar Carter (Joe Bonamassa's drummer) is who they used for their EP, so of course the drumming is top notch. I had a little less than two weeks to learn everything, and I went into the audition feeling really comfortable with all the songs.

And it went really well.

Apparently they had auditioned a bunch of drummers already, but they told me I was the only one who actually knew all of the material and could play the songs with the appropriate feel. They especially commented on how I absolutely nailed this one song that had a challenging second-line type of groove. Okay, great! So I'm expecting them to offer me the role—but they said they had some other auditions lined up.

That was over 3 weeks ago on May 30, and I've heard nothing from them since. I finally texted the bassist this afternoon, and he said their singer had some out-of-town gigs and that they still had two more drummers to audition in the coming weeks. They'll get back to me in July.

Now is it me, or is this an exceptionally long time to keep someone on the hook? And it's not like I stunk up the place, I was literally the only drummer they auditioned who proved to be up to the challenge. Would you keep someone who nailed an audition waiting that long? Part of me wants to tell him "thanks but no thanks", but then again it's so rare that I see something I want to be a part of. I honestly don't think any other drummer they audition will put in the amount of effort I did to get up to speed quickly on an entire EP's worth of challenging material, so I'm really wondering what else could they possibly be looking for in a drummer?

I dunno. What are your thoughts?

Taking that amount of time makes me think they will not be happy...no matter what(barring 'act of god' success)

I think its appropriate to set limits - we are not widgets to plug into a machine...but I am also aware that we do not really know what makes a satisfying project as its always a 'thing' we have not seen...so rolling with things tends to be a successful strategy...and is primarily a game of chance with some basics built in...otherwise we would all be saturated in 'successful' projects.

You have to set your limits and your approach to limitlessness.

Stop thinking about it. If it starts hanging you up in the sense that you are turning down or not pursuing other opportunities, then I would reach out and say you would like to hear something soon. That doesn't seem to be the case, as you described it. If they are taking their time to make sure they meet with everyone they think might work, that could be a good sign. They are doing their due diligence to make a decision they plan to live with long term. If the group has had a lot of players come and go, I would move on.
Also, you are supposed to be auditioning them as well. Did you enjoy playing and hanging out with them? Sometimes we get so focused on winning that we can forget this part.

DrBoom said:

Also, you are supposed to be auditioning them as well. Did you enjoy playing and hanging out with them? Sometimes we get so focused on winning that we can forget this part.

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Yeah they seemed cool enough. I used to be in a similar band with similar personalities about 10 years ago, and I enjoyed being a part of that. I suppose I'll just wait it out and see what happens.

I would try to stay patient. Some of the band members and the other drummers may have kids and be traveling as summer starts up and just delaying things. If it's a good looking gig I would wait.

To me it sounds like the answer is no but they’re waiting until the last moment to break it to you.

I don’t know but I wouldn’t want to be in a band if I didn’t impress them enough to cancel the other auditions scheduled that far off. Just go and practice and make them regret not hiring you on the spot. Rejection can light a fire in you, use it for good.

In the world of bar bands, if 1 week goes by and you don't hear anything; that means you didn't get the gig. In all my years of playing, I've NEVER had anyone call me and tell me I didn't get the gig. Instead; they just go silent. Positive news, on the other hand, is normally communicated within 24 hours or at the end of the audition.

It's not professional, or the way I'd handle it, but that's what I experienced.

TK-421 said:

That was over 3 weeks ago on May 30, and I've heard nothing from them since. I finally texted the bassist this afternoon, and he said their singer had some out-of-town gigs and that they still had two more drummers to audition in the coming weeks. They'll get back to me in July.

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That sucks. I wouldn't hang my hat on it. Keep looking/auditioning. Stay strong.

I agree with others. Patience is warranted here. They told you up front that they had other auditions scheduled. And they’ve told you other band members have been out of town. I think they are just being polite and thorough by auditioning the other drummers. I imagine they want to discuss it as a band after all drummers have been heard. Nothing wrong with that.

A TOP cover band is nothing to sneeze at. Based on what you’ve said you are likely in the top spot to get the gig. Is it possible someone else will unseat you? Maybe. But the band is following a process. I think you need to respect the process. Give them the time they need to figure stuff out. I have found sometimes things take longer, such as auditioning new players, because there are certain personalitiea that can tend to be difficult. They may be placating those personalities so that when they decide on you as their new drummer, there won’t be whining and conplaining from those difficult personalities. I’ve learned many bands, companies, organizations have them. Let them do their thing. Unless of course you have something else that conflicts. But otherwise, be patient and let their audition process play out. Something tells me you’ll be getting a call in July. And if not, that’s life. There is a reason the saying exists: Patience is a virtue.

There is no harm in remaining patient. If they're busy, and they're still auditioning folks that process takes time.

If your audition was solid, they'll remember that. If you come across as antsy in the following weeks they'll remember that too.

DrBoom said:

Stop thinking about it. If it starts hanging you up in the sense that you are turning down or not pursuing other opportunities, then I would reach out and say you would like to hear something soon. That doesn't seem to be the case, as you described it. If they are taking their time to make sure they meet with everyone they think might work, that could be a good sign. They are doing their due diligence to make a decision they plan to live with long term. If the group has had a lot of players come and go, I would move on.
Also, you are supposed to be auditioning them as well. Did you enjoy playing and hanging out with them? Sometimes we get so focused on winning that we can forget this part.

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Not only is he also auditioning them, his time is just as valuable and him maybe turning down other opportunities just because he is left hanging is not nice.
I would not want to work with a band that doesn't show me the respect to let me know (after a reasonable time which in this case is a week after the audition) that they have not contacted him back yet because they are still auditioning and the singer is holding up the process because he is out of town doing other gigs.
It takes nothing to be professional like that. I would not be in a band where I am just a hired gun and my opinion bares no weight no matter how much I wanted to play with that band. To me is we all have equal say or i'm out. Of course I don't drum for a living nor do I ever want to so for others that want to make drumming a career is way different and they have to put up with some things like that in order to make that happen...

MisterGroove said:

I agree with others. Patience is warranted here. They told you up front that they had other auditions scheduled. And they’ve told you other band members have been out of town. I think they are just being polite and thorough by auditioning the other drummers. I imagine they want to discuss it as a band after all drummers have been heard. Nothing wrong with that.

A TOP cover band is nothing to sneeze at. Based on what you’ve said you are likely in the top spot to get the gig. Is it possible someone else will unseat you? Maybe. But the band is following a process. I think you need to respect the process. Give them the time they need to figure stuff out. I have found sometimes things take longer, such as auditioning new players, because there are certain personalitiea that can tend to be difficult. They may be placating those personalities so that when they decide on you as their new drummer, there won’t be whining and conplaining from those difficult personalities. I’ve learned many bands, companies, organizations have them. Let them do their thing. Unless of course you have something else that conflicts. But otherwise, be patient and let their audition process play out. Something tells me you’ll be getting a call in July. And if not, that’s life. There is a reason the saying exists: Patience is a virtue.

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Thanks. Just to clarify, it’s an original band, not a cover band. Their style is somewhat in the vein of Tower of Power meets Steely Dan with a little Earth Wind and Fire thrown in for good measure.

I’ve decided to be patient, but I suppose the thing that kinda irks me is the fact that I heard absolutely nothing from them until I reached out this afternoon. If it had been the other way around, I absolutely would have kept the person auditioning up to speed on what’s going on and why it was taking so long. I didn’t even know the singer was out of town until today.

ESPECIALLY given how strong my audition was. I can tell a great audition from a merely a good one, and frankly, mine was great. You’d think that would make them more interested in keeping me abreast of the situation, but apparently not.

A J said:

In the world of bar bands, if 1 week goes by and you don't hear anything; that means you didn't get the gig. In all my years of playing, I've NEVER had anyone call me and tell me I didn't get the gig. Instead; they just go silent. Positive news, on the other hand, is normally communicated within 24 hours or at the end of the audition.

It's not professional, or the way I'd handle it, but that's what I experienced.

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That’s more or less what I was thinking, which is why I’m a little peeved. But apparently I’m still in the running, so who knows?

BTW, if I were interested in someone whose audition was absolutely spot on, I’d want to snag them right away.

TK-421 said:

That’s more or less what I was thinking, which is why I’m a little peeved. But apparently I’m still in the running, so who knows?

BTW, if I were interested in someone whose audition was absolutely spot on, I’d want to snag them right away.

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I recommend getting a Zoom qn2 camera and record your next audition.
it is small enough that you can place it anywhere and just record and it is designed to record live bands too so your audio at least will be decent, and once the audition is over, when you are back home you can watch their reactions and be much more aware of what really happened.

I though I nailed my last audition (which based on the smiles and reactions from the rest of the band I did) but I was told they were auditioning another drummer the following day. My audition was on a Monday they were auditioning the other guy on Tuesday and they were going to let me know on Friday.
They did, I got the gig, I played about 4 rehearsals with them with about 40 cover songs and I recorded The rehearsals from the second rehearsal on, to correct my mistakes and I did have 2 minor mistakes, the band leader had over 14 but he kept getting on my case and even when we went back to "check the tape" with the original track and I have said something like "there are 4 measures of that then the change" he would argue that there where only 3 and when the "tape" proved me right, he would say " Well, we are going to play 3 then the change" which threw everyone else off and they didn't say anything. (First red flag)
Lucky for me they decided to go with another "more agreeable" drummer because I would have not lasted there if that kept happening, especially when I took the time to learn over 40 songs and him being the only band member without a job (all the time in the world to study his parts to play them right didn't...)
All of this to say Video keeps you honest and you can't really rely on your memory to get the whole picture sometimes so video will be way more helpful.
Now if the band members refuse to let you record.. ( a red flag too)... I didn't record to prove anyone wrong, I did it because they were playing parts that were in the original songs but adding measures or removing measures so we all had to be in the same page and me being the new guy was not familiar with those particular changes so I recorded to learn them out of rehearsal too. ( apparently the singer who had been with them for over a year also was not familiar with any of the changes either because she kept losing her place). I assume the changes were being implemented on the fly which is fine, that is what rehearsals are for, but if you are going to make a change to a classic song, and make everyone else learn it that way, at least keep it consistent from practice to practice so that the rest of us don't have to keep re-learning the same 4 songs ( Third red flag for me).

TK-421 said:

BTW, if I were interested in someone whose audition was absolutely spot on, I’d want to snag them right away.

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Yup. And this leads me to think, "What's wrong with TK?"

Do you drool while drumming?
Got halitosis?
Were you staring at the singer's girlfriend when you played that killer one-handed buzz roll?
Did you mock the bass player's lame rig? (I mean, that's always an easy target)
Did you laugh at the guitarist's weak solo?

A J said:

In the world of bar bands, if 1 week goes by and you don't hear anything; that means you didn't get the gig. In all my years of playing, I've NEVER had anyone call me and tell me I didn't get the gig. Instead; they just go silent. Positive news, on the other hand, is normally communicated within 24 hours or at the end of the audition.

It's not professional, or the way I'd handle it, but that's what I experienced.

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I can't agree with this more. I always reach out the next day, thanking them for their time, etc. and if I don't get a response in a day or so, I move on, no matter how good the audition went.

TK-421 said:

That was over 3 weeks ago on May 30, and I've heard nothing from them since. I finally texted the bassist this afternoon, and he said their singer had some out-of-town gigs and that they still had two more drummers to audition in the coming weeks. They'll get back to me in July.

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Maybe it's my age or experience or whatever, but I wouldn't think that this band is doing anything wrong or disrespectful here.

Not to be an a-hole, but my calendar says it's still June, and they said they'd be back with you in July. Even if you nailed the audition and they love you to death, they may have agreed to audition these two other people before they even met you, so even if they know they are going with you as their drummer, they are keeping their word to these other drummers to give them a chance. To me, this shows great character on their part.

Also, some people's schedules are absolutely crazy during the summer, and it's hard to schedule anything with anyone, so lining up auditions during this season can be next-to impossible. People have lives outside of music; there are A LOT of moving parts we are all dealing with, and sometimes we need to extend people some grace.

Another point is that if they do go with someone else, this is actually good news in my opinion. I don't ever want to play with people who don't want me for whatever reason. Believe me when I say it's much better to be at home crashing on the couch watching cat videos on a Saturday night than to be gigging with people who don't want you there.

Have patience my friend!

how long is too long ? you are the one to decide that . Myself, after two weeks of waiting I re consider my own reasons and let it go . Que sera sera .

doggyd69b said:

I recommend getting a Zoom qn2 camera and record your next audition.
it is small enough that you can place it anywhere and just record and it is designed to record live bands too so your audio at least will be decent, and once the audition is over, when you are back home you can watch their reactions and be much more aware of what really happened.

I though I nailed my last audition (which based on the smiles and reactions from the rest of the band I did) but I was told they were auditioning another drummer the following day. My audition was on a Monday they were auditioning the other guy on Tuesday and they were going to let me know on Friday.
They did, I got the gig, I played about 4 rehearsals with them with about 40 cover songs and I recorded The rehearsals from the second rehearsal on, to correct my mistakes and I did have 2 minor mistakes, the band leader had over 14 but he kept getting on my case and even when we went back to "check the tape" with the original track and I have said something like "there are 4 measures of that then the change" he would argue that there where only 3 and when the "tape" proved me right, he would say " Well, we are going to play 3 then the change" which threw everyone else off and they didn't say anything. (First red flag)
Lucky for me they decided to go with another "more agreeable" drummer because I would have not lasted there if that kept happening, especially when I took the time to learn over 40 songs and him being the only band member without a job (all the time in the world to study his parts to play them right didn't...)
All of this to say Video keeps you honest and you can't really rely on your memory to get the whole picture sometimes so video will be way more helpful.
Now if the band members refuse to let you record.. ( a red flag too)... I didn't record to prove anyone wrong, I did it because they were playing parts that were in the original songs but adding measures or removing measures so we all had to be in the same page and me being the new guy was not familiar with those particular changes so I recorded to learn them out of rehearsal too. ( apparently the singer who had been with them for over a year also was not familiar with any of the changes either because she kept losing her place). I assume the changes were being implemented on the fly which is fine, that is what rehearsals are for, but if you are going to make a change to a classic song, and make everyone else learn it that way, at least keep it consistent from practice to practice so that the rest of us don't have to keep re-learning the same 4 songs ( Third red flag for me).

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I can’t imagine taking cameras into auditions and rehearsals, I’m sure the people I have played with would openly tell me that was weird.

I wouldn’t dream of calling out the band leader for contradicting himself, I would rather work than be right, I think that’s why everyone else remained neutral.

PorkPieGuy said:

Maybe it's my age or experience or whatever, but I wouldn't think that this band is doing anything wrong or disrespectful here.

Not to be an a-hole, but my calendar says it's still June, and they said they'd be back with you in July. Even if you nailed the audition and they love you to death, they may have agreed to audition these two other people before they even met you, so even if they know they are going with you as their drummer, they are keeping their word to these other drummers to give them a chance. To me, this shows great character on their part.

Also, some people's schedules are absolutely crazy during the summer, and it's hard to schedule anything with anyone, so lining up auditions during this season can be next-to impossible. People have lives outside of music; there are A LOT of moving parts we are all dealing with, and sometimes we need to extend people some grace.

Another point is that if they do go with someone else, this is actually good news in my opinion. I don't ever want to play with people who don't want me for whatever reason. Believe me when I say it's much better to be at home crashing on the couch watching cat videos on a Saturday night than to be gigging with people who don't want you there.

Have patience my friend!

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Just to be clear, they never said anything about auditions stretching until July until I finally relented and texted the bassist yesterday. So for over 3 weeks I was kept completely in the dark. If they would have said that during my audition, that would have set expectations and I would have simply waited until July to hear back. I get giving other drummers they've spoken with a fair shot, but at the same time, keeping me in the dark for such a long period of time (without expectations set from the beginning) is what irked me, given how strong my audition was.

The thing is, the longer I have to wait, the less I'm into the whole thing. I'll wait it out, but part of me just wants them to pick someone else.