Valanx - no probs, Mate. But I'm really interested to know how it went with your female contribution. I was lucky enough that my Girlfriends during the time were quite happy to hang out at rehearsals (they were banned during recording!) and bring their mates to gigs and such. And, I have to say, that I had a couple of really cool girlfriends when I was in the band - no hassle, no jealsousy and supportive!
Macc - I'm sure your situation mirrors mine to a degree. Let us guys know what happened, yeah?
What happened with Room 101:
As I said, we were kind of looking for a fresh sound. We all decided that perhaps a female vocalist was the answer - it would add more melody and such to our current material and we would be able to be more varied for new material. I think we were probably lacking melody at the time, so having a female voice appeared to be the key.
We decided on a nice, blonde lady that was a teacher. She was a little milder in her musical tastes than a few of us, but as we were looking for inspiration, we thought her more middle-of-the-road preferances would be good for the band.
I must admit, we both hit it off on a vocal level. I think this was because I was always very easy going and happy to adjust. It wasn't too long until we had harmonies and stuff sorted out on the older material. I was also happy for her to do some lead vocals on some of the old stuff to add that freshness.
We started writing new material with the mind that there were now two vocalists. It was nice to have someone else writing the lyrics and gving me inspiration for my own.
Our songs were leaning towards more melody and friendliness. Where it took a few listens to really 'get' our music before, the new material had a more immediate feel. There was less of the intrinsic, personal feeling vibe. The newer material was more upfront, easy to understand and, I suppose, 'catchy' on an immediate level.
This was a good thing if we wanted to do anything serious during the early nineties.
But, it was at that stage, that I had the horrendous words 'Deacon Blue' stirring in my mind!
We started gigging more regularly (she gave us some disipline!) and our setlist became more varied and, therefore, more fun to play live.
We then went on to make a couple of more demo tapes. But, at the time, I felt that the members, although more casual and experienced, were not enjoying it as much as previous times. We spent more time on the vocals (for the harmonies) and everything seemed a little more serious, although the songs themeselves were less personal and more listener-friendly.
Also, the demo tapes did not come out as half as good as the previous ones.
Shortly, I felt a tension building within certain members of the band.
Rehearsals began to feel more and more like chores and not fun. During the old days, everyone seemed happy to contribute and have their say. This had changed to members simply acting on their duties within the band (ie: a drummer drums, a guitarist plays guitar etc.)
I think the breaking point for the band was during a gig that we did on a regular basis in Cheltenham. The room where we played during this gig always had had bad acoustics, but we had never let it get to us and always forgot about it after a song or two. Also, none of our regulars ever complained about our gig at this place. In fact, they loved it!
Anyway, whilst setting up and getting ready for a very quick sound check, our female vocalist said the ultimate sin towards our drummer. Now, remember, Jason was the guy that originally set the band up with me and was an absolutely brilliant percussionist. Even now, I still think he is the best drummer in the county and I have not played with such a great drummer since! He was also a fundamental part of the band, as in he said what was good and bad (and you believed him) and he added a huge amount of humour to the band. Also, his style added a huge amount to all our songs.
The words our female vocalist said was: 'Can you play more quietly. I can't hear myself. Try and play quieter!'
I think that was the moment my band split up.
I had been quiet used to singing live, fighting over the volume of the others. It was part of the fun! Of course, something would have to be said if someone was obviously too loud but these things were always 'discussed' and not 'ordered', you know?
Anyhow, it was not too long after this that, I think, everyone knew that they were no longer having a good time playing in the band. We ended up having a meeting and agreeing that we would keep going, but I feel that the tensions had grown to incurable resent. The whole band kind of fizzled out. Rehearsals were never arranged and the rest of the destruction followed.
Anyhoo, enough of my tale. If you're interested I will say why I feel things did not work out with a female in the band, but I think I've been boring you for enough time now!!!
uke: 
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