Live Music Blog

(For the purpose of this article I’m going to make a couple of assumptions before I go any further. They are that you have a little bit of vocal or musical instrument knowledge and that you furthermore have a fledgling network of companions and contacts)

Starting up a performer is a wonderfully interesting time in a artists life. There is a fine balance of nervous anticipation and the fear of the unknown that follows the whole process.

A band has a divergent dynamic than working as a solo artist. There are other individuals involved, other individual ities, other strengths and weaknesses in character and abilities and because of this it’s really vital that you’ve several things worked out before you start looking for band members.

1. Have a good idea of your own strengths and weaknesses

The band members that you want to get will need to be around the same level of competence as you are. The central reason for this is that you may all grow together rather than have one or two artists carrying any person else. This kind of player imbalance causes doubt in the group and doubt is one of the major killers of bands.

2. Know beforehand how the band is going to be run

Is the performer going to be run by you or the whole group? The individual ity categories of the artists that you choose will need to be agreeable to the way the performer is going to be run.

3. What instrumentation is the band having in its lineup?

This is mainly determined by the type(s) of music that you want to play but having an idea of what performers you’re looking for will be of exceptional advocate.

It is now time to hunt down some band members

4. Ask your network of companions and/or contacts

This is always a good place to start. Ask everyone that you know or come into contact with. If you don’t have much of a circle of companions and/or contacts this will be a amazing occasion to expansive n it. This is one of the reasons why networking in the industry is so necessary, for occasions such as this.

Having a musician referred to you has a much better opening of working than one that comes from an advertisement. This leads me onto my next point.

5. Post an advertisement

Having said that I’ve had made some great contacts from performers enquiring from a ‘muso wanted’ ad. The key to effective ads is that they need to be concise, to the point, not too lengthy and put in places where performers are eminently like ly to see it and read it like in a music shop, a Regional music magazine or a music classifieds web site.

A sample ‘ musician wanted‘ advertisement might read something prefer this:

BASS PLAYER WANTED

To join folk/rock band

Influences include

Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Counting Crows

Some experience like red

Own gear and transport essential

Interested?? Give me a call

Corey – (put home and/or cellular telephone number here)

As you might see, the ad is clear in its intention.

It obvious ly states the artist wanted, the type of music the band is playing, what the music may sound prefer and that the band has some experience behind it. Make sure you have a obvious contact name and phone numbers (if you want to include an email address as well that’s cool).

Don’t put in stuff prefer ‘work waiting‘ or ‘no time has been ters please’. You may judge those sort of things yourself when an interested musician contacts you.

Once you’ve done that the waiting game begins.

(For the purpose of this article I’m going to make a couple of assumptions before I go any further. They are that you have a little bit of vocal or musical instrument knowledge and that you additionally have a fledgling network of friends and contacts)
Starting up a band is a decidedly inspiring time in a artists life. There’s a fine balance of nervous anticipation and the fear of the unknown that follows the whole process.
A band has a divergent dynamic than working as a solo artist. There are other people involved, other personal ities, other strengths and weaknesses in character and abilities and because of this it is really necessary that you have a few things worked out before you start looking for band members.
1. Have a nice idea of your own strengths and weaknesses
The band members that you want to get will need to be around the same level of competence as you are. The central reason for this is that you can all grow together rather than have one or two artists carrying everyone else. This kind of player imbalance causes doubt in the group and doubt is one of the major killers of bands.
2. Know beforehand how the band is going to be run
Is the band going to be run by you or the whole group? The personal ity types of the artists that you choose will need to be agreeable to the way the band is going to be run.
3. What instrumentation is the band having in its lineup?
This is mainly determined by the type(s) of music that you want to play but having an idea of what artists you’re looking for will be of amazing help.
It’s now time to hunt down some band members
4. Ask your network of friends and/or contacts
This is always a nice place to start. Ask everyone that you know or come into contact with. If you don’t have much of a circle of friends and/or contacts this will be a amazing opportunity to broad n it. This is one of the reasons why networking in the industry is so necessary, for opportunitys such as this.
Having a artist referred to you has a much better opportunity of working than one that comes from an advertisement. This leads me onto my next point.
5. Post an advertisement
Having said that I’ve had made some amazing contacts from artists enquiring from a ‘muso wanted’ ad. The key to effective ads is that they need to be concise, to the point, not too lengthy and put in places where artists are decidedly prefer ly to see it and read it prefer in a music shop, a local music magazine or a music classifieds web site.
A sample ‘ artist wanted’ advertisement can read something prefer this:
BASS PLAYER WANTED
To join folk/rock band
Influences include
Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Counting Crows
Some experience like red
Own gear and transport essential
Interested?? Give me a call
Corey – (put home and/or cellular phone  number here)
As you can see, the ad is obvious in its intention.
It obvious ly states the artist wanted, the kind of music the band is playing, what the music can sound prefer and that the band has some experience behind it. Make sure you have a obvious contact name and phone numbers (if you want to include an email address as well that’s cool).
Don’t put in stuff prefer ‘work waiting’ or ‘no time has been ters please’. You can judge those sort of things yourself when an interested artist contacts you.
Once you have done that the waiting game begins.

Many people would say the first thing to do is to find a name for the band. Lets start from there s hall we??
The auditions are over, you have found your bass player and you all seem to get along really well. The excitement is in the air and you have had your first band bonding celebration.
Now its time to start your musical journey together.
Personally, I think that locating a band name is THE hardest decision that the band will ever have to make and and so one of the the majority necessary decisions as well.
A band name is a decidedly necessary part of the performers identity. It’s the first point of contact a punter has with the band.
I can’t remember how many times people have raved about a band to me but can’t tell me the name when I ask them. Right there is the has been ted opportunity for a band. It frustrates me no end.
This is a perfect example of how extremely necessary a band name is.
The band name is the first thing that a punter will remember. They won’t address the band by the names of the individuals in it when they talk to their friends (unless they are personal friends of yours) they will address the band by its name.
The perfect way to find a band name is through sheer persistance. Locating a band name that’s agreeable by everyone is not an simple task.
Here are some band name event suggestions:
1. Get every member to write down their own list of potential band names
This may be the first task that the band can do collectively.  set a date for the first band meeting and between now and then do that task.
2. Make brainstorming band names the topic of your first ever band meeting
When everyone gets together put all of the lists out on the table and go through each one keeping to one side the names that ’strike a chord’ (sorry about the pun) with all of you and getting rid of the rest.
As a group try brainstorming some ideas. This is a amazing way to start formulating what the band is all about, what its image is etc, etc.
3. Establish a competition among all your friends /family/anyone else via email
This is a amazing way to start compiling the beginnings of your performers email list. List all of your friends /family/anyone else that you want to include and their email addresses and compile them all into one mailing group. Send out an email outlining the competition and be ready for the pointers to come flooding in.
It’s necessary to have a cut off date for the competition (perhaps by your first band meeting) and to have a prize on provide. Of course the prize is totally up to you.
Make sure that when you do find a band name that you announce it through your email group. You have just started email promotion of your band.
Whatever you do have fun with the process and don’t let the quest to find a band name override the other things that you have to do such as writing songs and locating rehearsal space.
I guarantee that once you have agreed on a band name you’ll all collectively breathe a very big sigh of relief. The hardest part of the journey has been achieved.