Forming a successful Band Part 1

We'll start this series of articles with first stage of the process: how to get and keep a band together, and how to make it an efficient runing unit, a well oiled machine capable of tackling the music/business world.

Let's also assume that you don't have a manager, effectively you're managing yourselves.

First I strongly suggest that you decide what your goals in starting a band are. Its important through every stage of the music business to have some sort of definite goal (even if that is just having fun). This goal is what shapes your game plan for the year, month or even the week. Do be ready to change your plan as circumstances and opportunities arise, but don't change your goals without very serious thought.

Some people take the attitude of just going where the wind blows them. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this, as long as you don't really care where you end up. If you want to have some chance of achieving your goals however, then its a good idea to get as much control as you can over what you do and when you do it.

Before we go any further, let's have a look at some of the basic things you need to think about, if you want your band to be successful. Along the way we'll look at some of he problems bands typically have. If you understand these things now, it will be easier to avoid the pitfalls later on.

To start with

1) Make a definite decision about whether the band will have a leader(s) or whether it will be a co-operative, totally democratic effort. You have to get this worked out, so that everybody is clear about their roles and responsibilities.

Many breakups are simply the result of anger and frustration that has built up over months and years because someone is feels they do all the work, while someone else feels they have no decision making power.

A successful band is a tight, efficient little organization, run like a company.

The art of a band is in the writing and performing. The more you separate this out from the business and organizational sides of it, the less they'll interfere with each other.

Things to consider

Before you decide on the internal workings of a band, you should consider the following:

What are people's level of commitment.

1) its a bit of fun (I'd give it up if it became a hassle).

2) I'll turn up to rehearsals and gigs through think and thin (but I won't put time or money into writing, organizing, gigs, publicity etc...).

3) I'm "Very committed" (I will do things to help, but I haven't got any money for rehearsal this week, my day job has made me too tired to go out tonight getting gigs and meeting people, maybe next week...).

4) Serious commitment (will put in lots of time, effort and their share of money, puts the band before most other things in their life).

The truth is that in most bands there are only one or two people who fit the last category. Though its surprising how many people will claim to be category 4, when in reality, they're category 3.

If everyone fits into the first 2 categories, you are best looking at the band as just a bit of fun - not a serious project.

If some people have day jobs, while others don't but everyone is committed, you could consider the following as an efficient solution to for band organization. Those with day jobs put in more money than those without, but those without the jobs, put in most of the actual work for the band.

Note for those with day jobs:

A day job may be tiring, but you try writing a decent well crafted song, practicing scales all day, or spending all day making cassette covers and then all night out getting gigs - it ain't so easy - its just as hard as any day job, and you don't get paid for it.

If you have someone who writes most of the songs n the band - you've go to realize, this is a lot of work, they need encouragement and time, without their output, where's the band?

Out in front

If your band relies on a 'star guitarist' sax player or whatever, who is required to do frequent, technically demanding, stunning solos - you've got to realize, this sort of playing, on a physical level, is like a top level sport. These people need to spend five to eight hours a day just practicing if they're going to be any good, so give them that credit and space.

If on the other hand, you don't particularly need amazing guitar playing in your music, but the guitarist insists on spending all day practicing, maybe you need to have a talk.

There are many variations on the above, the important thing is to discuss all this out at the beginning, and at regular intervals (four times a year perhaps). People can change their roles, but their status and say in the bands running will be proportionately affected.

So in the end, if one or two people are doing most of the work, it is only fair that they also get a bigger share of the decision making. Which inevitably include decisions about gigs, image, songs, recording, etc... Decisions that the rest of the band will have to be content to go along with. That is the price they pay for letting someone else do most of the work, its only fair.

So if you are contributing less work, time and money (add all these together) than other people in the band, its really not fair to get resentful when things don't go exactly the way you'd like. After all if you want something done a certain way, you should really be doing it yourself.

So usually there is a 'leader' or 'leaders' the people doing most of the work and making most of the decisions.

However, its easy if you are a leader to get a bit too sure of yourself. This is a tricky point because to some extent, if you are the one at the sharp end (ringing up labels, gigs etc...), you have to be pretty sure of yourself. Try to take this on board if you can: No one person ever knows the right way to do everything, unless you are a VERY experienced and successful manager. Do think through the suggestions of others, they may be coming from band members who sit in the background, but there might be something, even if a little, in what they say.

The MOST important thing is ALWAYS do SOMETHING. You must be giging or getting your tracks played by DJs. If this isn't happening, time is slipping by. Get your music out there regularly FIRST, then start concocting master plans, not the other way round.

Also remember, and we'll come back to this in future articles: to get one positive reply from a record company, you have to be prepared to send out 100 tapes. If the first 30 tapes come back with rejection letters, don't be put off, that's what happens to everybody, keep sending them.

Remember if you are going to send off tapes its a waste of time unless you have two things:

1) Regular gigs

2) Someone who rings up the labels and gets them to actually listen to the tape. This usually takes several calls.

WARNING:

A lot of bands fall into the fatal "demo cycle". Months are spent writing and recording a demo tape, money and time are spent copying tapes, making covers (a good cover is important), doing band photos, biographies, making lists of record labels etc... Then the first 10 or 15 are sent out, and rejections are received. By this time new songs have been written. Because everyone in the band has heard the old demo a thousand times, the new songs sound a lot better (that's normal). THEN, and here's the mistake: the band decides to record a new demo, thinking that this will be better than the old one. A new demo and cover etc... are made, the old effort a complete waste. And so the cycle starts. After a few times round this, you'll have wasted masses of time and money, and the band will be demoralized. Don't fall into the trap. Its much more important to get a tape onto the right desk than to send what you think is your best track.

Send off your demo to 100 labels, while this is going on (it will take a few months probably) gig the songs on the demo regularly. Once you've heard negatively from most of the 100 labels, THEN think about a new demo NOT BEFORE!!!

Some bands are anarchistic in nature, some feel that business interferes with their art. A successful band needs an INTERFACE with the system. Record labels and gigs are business' they are doing it at least partly because they want or need to make some money. This is just the way the world of Labels and venues (and most other things) works. You need to have an interface between the artistic or anarchistic band and the music biz side. Otherwise, you'll never get anywhere.