Starting an originals band: The Right Way

digitalscream

OK, I thought this might be fun, and potentially even useful. I'm currently in the early stages of getting an originals band together after leaving my first at the beginning of the year, and I'm keen to learn lessons from previous experience (shocking idea, I know). The idea is to update the list with suggestions as the thread goes on (if anybody can be bothered to join in). So...these are just my initial opinion:

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THE RIGHT WAY

• Have a clear idea of what kind of music you want to do
• Record some clips if you can, before recruiting other musicians, and include them in every advert you post
• If necessary, recruit one other member and get the vision clear between the two of you before continuing
• Have ideas for songs recorded before your first session, to give you a headstart on writing
• Make sure that you have content ready before you launch your Facebook page/YouTube channel
• If necessary, make it clear that while everybody needs to be happy, there's a "benign dictatorship" thing going on so that one of you is a last port of call on decisions that are proving difficult to come to a consensus on
• Ensure that at least one member of the band has responsibility for something outside of playing music - organisation, promotion, booking gigs etc - so that everyone's pulling their weight, and to avoid resentment
• Make sure everybody has a spare rig (or plan for when their gear inevitably dies right before a gig
• Establish how things are going to be paid for right at the beginning - rehearsals, studio time, petrol for gigs etc

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THE WRONG WAY

• Say "yes" to the first people who respond to your ads without hearing them first
• Decide every little detail by voting
• Make a Facebook page and start begging for Likes without actually having any content for people to like in the first place
• Take gigs anywhere who'll offer you a stage
• Take gigs without checking that the lineup's suitable
• Just assume that everybody else can pay as much as you can towards running the band (especially if it's your baby)

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OK, so there's my starter for ten. Anybody want to play?

EricTheWeary

Currently putting together a covers band and pretty sure all of that applies, some of which I have done, some of which I have not. I think it can be useful to develop a working relationship with one other musician first to develop and share the vision ( unless you want every single non playing job yourself and the dictatorship has to be more than benign). Other band members can slot in behind that pretty much and it makes what you are doing look more like a band that needs completing and less just a guitarist looking for losers to impose his ego on ( we've all read those ads on joinmyband).

Kebabkid

Nothing to do with the music but it can be the source of unrest/unease in a band - the ugly word of MONEY, as in who pays for rehearsals, demos, expenses, and be clear as to whether you're only doing paid gigs. As someone who's starting the band and putting out ads etc..some or all of that might be expected of you as I once found, so be clear from the start.
Also, as original songs are involved, make sure you're all clear on who wrote what etc and copyright the works.

GOOD LUCK

digitalscream

Cheers guys - updated

monquixote

Great idea. 

The benign dictatorship thing is a good idea. I've been in bands where it was clear anything I suggested was only a suggestion to be decided on by the band leader and it was fine. Bands which are a democracy don't work unless you are of one mind which is very rare. 

The flipside of the first point is that if you start the band and recruit you should expect to have to drive it. People who put a band together and then stand back and expect others to do the running do my head in. 

I think perhaps the most critical thing of all is to be very upfront about expected levels of commitment. I was in a great originals band I had to leave because they were all ready to quit their jobs at a moments notice to go on tour and I wasn't.

Be very clear about what is going to happen about PA (most appropriate for covers bands) as this can cause great acrimony. 

Make it clear what your attitude is to being in more than one band. If it's a one band deal say so up front. 

Make it clear if you are doing it for art or to build a following/make money/have a laugh. 

guitarfishbay

I'll add a few things I learned over the past 9 months putting the band I'm in together.  It is intended to be a serious band that will tour at some point.

If you need to advertise for band members remember that it is a two way process.  You're auditioning them, but they're also auditioning you.

So include:

- What you sound like

- What you look like (don't underestimate that one, even though your gut may tell you otherwise, it does matter to some)

- How old you are / what age range you are looking for

- How committed you intend to be (how many practices per week/month etc)

- If you have the necessary equipment

- What your goals are

Getting the instruments right was just a case of networking in our case.  I met the bassist and drummer through another band, and the bassist knew the other guitarist from a previous band they were in together.  Getting a singer was tougher though.

We did 6 months of advertising for a singer not having pictures of us up or a proper recording.  We had some decent auditions and met a lot of nice people, but on the whole we weren't having any luck for our vision of the band.

In the end we decided to bite the bullet and spent several hundred pounds getting an instrumental single professionally recorded and shot our own music video for it.  Just a generic tracking video, but it did the trick.  We also took a photo of us for a second track that we mostly did ourselves.  That photo isn't great, but again it does the trick.  We used the drummer's camera but he forgot his tripod so we had to borrow a wheelie bin that just happened to be the right height... haha.

We paid to have our gumtree / join my band adverts stickied at the top.  We put annotations on our youtube video of how to get in touch about auditioning and posted them on facebook + twitter and asked friends to repost to try and get as much exposure as we could achieve ourselves.

We went from getting a handful of replies a week to 1-3 high quality replies per day for two weeks straight (we found our singer before we needed to renew our ad featuring).  People who'd previously been in signed bands, people with good youtube / soundcloud profiles already built up, people regularly attending open mic nights and testing out their songwriting etc.

Getting the proper recording and a video done was the best move we made, previously we'd gone to open mic nights scouting for people (zero were interested after being approached!) and we'd replied to singer's adverts only to be ignored pretty much every time.  Other people I know have had more luck than us without needing to go to the lengths we did, but I guess that is just the way it goes sometimes.

Phil_aka_Pip

+1 about the reason for doing it. Make sure that doesn't drift. I got lured into a 'band' by talk of weddings & corporate functions but by the time I was hassling for us to go out & do some gigging all I got back was "we're only doing this for fun". Playing songs I couldn't be arsed with for money would have been OK but for no reward wasn't "fun" so I quit.

p90fool

I always start with the singer. I'm good at hunting them down, and always seem to find decent ones.
A lot of musicians meet, get something together, then start looking for a singer, and it usually all fizzles out while they're looking.

I never look for band members until the singer is in place, once you have a good one the decent musicians come flocking IME.

hywelg

digitalscream said:

THE RIGHT WAY

• Ensure that at least one member of the band has responsibility for something outside of playing music - organisation, promotion, booking gigs etc - so that everyone's pulling their weight, and to avoid resentment

I think you meant that to read 'Ensure that each member...' Even in a benign dictatorship theres no room for passengers and that needs to be spelt out at the outset.