Band lineup complete - 7 guys! Overkill?

So i have effectively completed my new bands lineup. Its taken a while and gone through several people to reach this point but I feel we are locking in on the finished lineup and sound now.

We have:
2 out and out vocalists
2 guitarists
drummer
bassist
DJ

the idea is that we are playing/writing to a click track. We have pianos, efx and strings on the backing track but DJ scratches are obviously happening in real time as are Bass drops and he (DJ) is overlooking the whole session on his laptop. Wanted the drops to remain organic for the fun and because its crowd dependant etc.

2 out and out singers is hopefully going to work great. 1 is focusing on the lows ala deathcore and the other is more high mids/highs and clean singing so is covering all basses.
Plus our bassist can also sing cleanly so we can have 3 sets of vocals in places which will be massive.

Im all about creating different and exciting sounds and really trying to experiment to create something original.

Anyone feel that 7 is overkill though?. Im willing to look at things objectively.

 

thanks everyone so far. This seems like it could turn into a great discussion


to answer a few so far. Yeah Guitars are sounding completely different which is good to give each one its own space. Im using super tight kemper sounds and the other guy is using non boosted Blackstar HT amp currently so covers the more lo mids and balls frequencies and is much looser and has alot less gain.
On this actually, atm we are both panned central so I can peel off in places doing overlays/leads whilst he carries on doing rhythms without people losing parts live if they are standing over to one side in the crowd.
Is this the best way to carry on doing it?

the small stage thing actually sounds like fun. Everyone trying to throw down in really close quarters or in the crowd? haha. Amazing. There needs to be more gigs like that imo.
Im looking forward to that.
I did already get a Wireless unit sorted so thats super helpful for gigs especially when the venues are tiny.
Played shows like this years ago where members accidentally step on guitar leads and pull them out of amps because of how little room there is so this is a must.

I do appreciate keeping everyone sweet could be a nightmare haha. Its been a struggle for us to find these personalities that seem to click.
Ive struggled with 4 piece band lineups before so there could be a complete struggle with 7.
Still, up for the challenge.

 

Defo no vinyl here. His desk (which I have no clue about) has got like CD sized decks on which he does scratching with and yeah I presume its Ableton + the desk which produces the digital "scratch" sound?. Haha
Its his field so we are basically putting our faith in him. We kind of assumed Vinyl and needle would throw up huge "skipping issues" if it got too loud and vibrations jolted the needle around or whatever?. Plus digital age just..because.. haha
(he does DJ professionally at a club and also a second venue during the days so at least has great experience haha)

EDIT: haha yeah I cant wait until local "soundguys" see our setups.

 

you are legit going to only be left with 10 minute set time....

 

yeah thats a good idea actually.
I might get a Rack for all the DIs
good call.

regards to DJ yeah he came in when the drummer we were jamming with at the time "couldnt play to a click" so the idea was to get him to do alot of the backing track stuff organically.
However that dude is no longer in the band and since then we have started using click tracks.
He is still adding stuff ontop of the click though because he wants creative input. Like I say he has a midi keyboard upthere with him aswell as the decks.

I wanted that Chimaira setup in the band. It was always an idea I wanted to realise and its taken until now to finally be able to pull it off haha.

 

as an update:

The "Dj" and the "Drummer" did not work out whatsoever. (The former was a complete time waster)

So we actually decided to go forward using backing tracks so the "DJ" stuff can then just be on the backing instead and interestingly enough also go "drummerless" too.

The plan is to programme our drums. Get them mixed and mastered then sent back as single wavs with the production applied so that we can use an interface (Probably the Focusrite 18i20) to send each separate part of the kit to the FOH via a Laptop with our whole set open.

This way our "drummer and backing track" will all be the size of a 2U rack case. Laptop being the top on a pull out drawer and the interface being directly underneath.

output 1 > Snare
output 2 > Kick
output 3 > Toms
Output 4 > cymbals
output 5 > strings/ambience
output 6 > guitar overlays
output 7 > bass booms etc

this is kind of the idea. Love the idea of being setup and packed away super fast, being super super tight (therefore super heavy and groovy) with the Drums programmed and also every stage will feel huge when we headline as there will be no drums haha.

so now its:
2 guitarists
2 vocalists
Bassist

\m/

 

my Area is completely and utterly devoid of any kind of drummers.
The only small handful of dudes that may be good enough are either already loyal to bands OR would be completely out of their comfort zone. I.e most of the bands in my area are thrash or hardcore style bands where as we are modern progressive/groove using 7s and with ambience.

Regards to the live show lacking without a human drummer, I was conscious of this so Im making sure that all 3 of the guitarists/bassist all get wireless sorted before our gigs to ensure we can roam anywhere and really party to make up for a lack of a drummer visually. (I already have a wireless, I just need to make sure the other 2 get it sorted)

 

yeah i already have 2 band scrims on frames, and want our own lighting and smoke machine setup etc.

but in general ive never had a drummer that ever added anything to visual performance live so im honestly not scared to bin them off in place of programmed drums. Especially with 5 dudes jumping around and throwing down.

infact, if anything a conventional 5 piece band where only 4 of those members (and 1 drummer) can be right upfront with the crowd, compared to no drummer and 5 dudes upfront with the crowd, is surely worse in the "stage presence" department?