Kyler Patrick Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Alright so in the past 2 or 3 years, I have formed 4 bands. They all had two things in common. They were rock bands and they didn't last two months. I'm really tired in putting bands together, then watching them fall apart. It means all my work has gone to waste and that I wont be able to hang out with all the members at the same time cause they all hate each other. I have no idea what I am doing wrong, but I'm trying again. Before I go through a bunch of trouble to find musically talented people to form a Blues band, I would like to hear from all of you. What am I looking for besides talent?? I want all the members to get along so that we can actually perform together. So basically what I'm asking here is, "How do I put a band together the right way?" Thanks -KP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.R.M.30! Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I would concentrate on other things like education or the armed services. Also concentrate on your relationships, family and friends, meaning don't put the band before friendship, family or what else you believe in. P.S. Don't totally forget about music! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyler Patrick Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I would concentrate on other things like education or the armed services. Also concentrate on your relationships, family and friends, meaning don't put the band before friendship, family or what else you believe in. P.S. Don't totally forget about music! Yeah, I understand what you're saying here and I absolutely respect it. I'm very devoted to my christian faith and my relationship with my family hasn't been better. I also plan on becoming a lieutenant in the Air Force after I've served in the Air National Guard during my college years. I just love playing in a group!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryUK Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Don't give up. I think we've all been through it. Music is a passion, so tempers run high. I've had them fight on stage. Fighting up an ally after a gig. Rip the takings up. Seen it all. Move on and learn from it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellion102792 Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I think commitment is equally (if not a little more) as important a quality as talent when it comes to forming a band. I've been where you are, since 2007 I've been in 3 or 4 bands and each time it fell apart due to a lack of commitment. My drummer and myself were always active with scheduling practices but the bassist was completely uncommitted. My current one has been together for 2 years in a couple different incarnations, but we're just 4 guys with common goals; making music, having fun and maybe making some money on the side. Try to find people who have some previous bands under their belt and know how to commit to the group. Talk with them too, get to know their personality and see if they share a common goal with you. If they seem like the type who will cause all sorts of problems or who can't take it seriously then ditch them and keep on looking. Hang out as a group early on too, have some freeform jam sessions so you can gauge how everyone will interact musically and personally. If everyone seems to click early on then there's a much better chance that bad blood won't form and you can thrive as a band. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOL! Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I would concentrate on other things like education or the armed services. Also concentrate on your relationships, family and friends, meaning don't put the band before friendship, family or what else you believe in. P.S. Don't totally forget about music! I would agree with this if you are only doing the band for fun, a hobby. If you really mean to do this then take all of that and throw it out the window. Why? Once things start to pick up for your band and you start doing extended weekend shows out of town, rehearsing two or three times a week plus a band business meeting, doing business meetings with people like lawyers, going into the studio, doing photo shoots, doing radio interviews at the local college station, agreeing to a Friday night gig on a Wednesday night, hanging flyers for your show, etc, you will not have time for any of that stuff. I got cut in half by a chainsaw trying to keep one foot in normal life and one in a band. After that nervous breakdown I still ain't the same. Sorry for the blues jam. Just trying to save someone some pain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Whether a hobby or your job, there is no recipe. If there was there would be a whole lot less to talk/***** about being in bands. You'll know when it is right. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.R.M.30! Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I believe you can have both a good relationship with family, friends AND be in a band in one lifetime, you just have to work at it. :) P.S. It's balance and priorities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOL! Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 My advice FWIW - You have to find people you are compatible with on two levels: musically and with their commitment. Musically - Jamming is an easy way to flush this out. Having a beer after jamming helps too. Does that cat pound drinks and get belligerent? Not someone you want in the band (unless you're Pantera). Talking to them. Do they want to do thrash metal while you want a smooth jazz project? Probably not going to work. Commitment - Find out what they want and what they can commit to. If you want two days a week and they can only do one, it ain't going to work. Is this going to be for fun, maybe play a few shows? Don't hook up with a bohemian that wants to hit the road and tour for weeks at a time. It takes a long time and, to be honest, *a lot* of luck to find the right members. Don't give up and keep trying. If you get a good core you an always replace members later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOL! Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I believe you can have both a good relationship with family, friends AND be in a band in one lifetime, you just have to work a it. :) P.S. It's balance and priorities. Not in my experience. One will always suffer. Not trying to be a malaka. I've just seen this a million times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyler Patrick Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I think commitment is equally (if not a little more) as important a quality as talent when it comes to forming a band. I've been where you are, since 2007 I've been in 3 or 4 bands and each time it fell apart due to a lack of commitment. My drummer and myself were always active with scheduling practices but the bassist was completely uncommitted. My current one has been together for 2 years in a couple different incarnations, but we're just 4 guys with common goals; making music, having fun and maybe making some money on the side. Try to find people who have some previous bands under their belt and know how to commit to the group. Talk with them too, get to know their personality and see if they share a common goal with you. If they seem like the type who will cause all sorts of problems or who can't take it seriously then ditch them and keep on looking. Hang out as a group early on too, have some freeform jam sessions so you can gauge how everyone will interact musically and personally. If everyone seems to click early on then there's a much better chance that bad blood won't form and you can thrive as a band. I wish I had talked to you about this a year ago. I was in the same situation. Me and the drummer were the only ones committed to the band. The bassist didn't care what happened to the band and the singer was the most annoying kid on earth. We called him a kid because of his maturity level. He was 21. The drummer, band leader, thought we had to hold on to both because he didn't know anyone else as great as they were, but there were plenty. It eventually led to the whole thing blowing up in our faces and now we hardly ever see each other. Thank you for what you said, now I know what those bands were missing. Commitment and wisdom. We didn't know how to kick anyone out of the band and the ones who we didn't kick out were very uncommitted. Thanks a ton ~KP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.R.M.30! Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Well all it takes is one life baby! one life not yours or mine but rather his! P.S. If there is a 99 percent chance of rain and it's sunny for the day it was 100 percent chance of it being sunny. P.S.S. In the end listen to yourself, you don't need a forum to tell you that. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markini Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 This is a tough one. I would compare it to hiring practices in todays market. Many companys now adays are looking at soft skills as well as hard skills. Soft skills would be the ability to get along with others and be a team player. personality tests are even given. hard skills would be the expertise (experience, talent, degrees etc) of the individual. In my work place soft skills carry a bit more weight then hard skills. In a band setting I would go for personality and commitment 1st, talent 2nd. I don't have a band per say, but I have been jamming about 5 to 6 hours a week with the same guys for a few years. We all get along great and play a variety of music genres. Two of us play pretty decent guitar and I can switch to bass or drums if the song needs it. Our harmonica player has some talent on the harp and plays ok, just not great, but his enthusiasm and passion make up for it, plus he is very nice guy and great fun to be around.Our singer has a strong voice but no talent / experience on any musical instrument, I am teaching him basic guitar and bass. All of us like each other's company and all of us are committed to playing once a week. I prefer Rock and blues but play any song or try to that another person wants to try from jazz, to bossa nova. We may be lucky, but it seems the formula is "Fun", if you are not having fun and having personality conflicts, forget about it. Frankly me and the other guitar player carry this group talent wise, but the "fun factor" with the other two guys more than out weighs our musical experience. And it is give and take. At this time we have no desire to perform publically, but do perform for friends, we have some originals that are pretty good IMO. We play to our strengths and the "fun factor" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Let's hear some demo's.... That may help to evaluate as to what's going / gone wrong. Usually if the environment is not professional, the interest level diminishes amongst the members. At the age of 21, your bands should have already executed some serious high level demo work. The only way to attract hard working talented band members is having a solid infrastructure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 It looks like you're recuiting people who are too immature to form a commitment to a band and just want to be able to say"I'm in a band!" but are not willing to work at practicing.I have seen all kinds of bimbos like that over the years,they are poseurs and will never be serious musicians unless they do a lot of growing up.The next time you screen people for your projects make sure that they possess the maturity to make a commitment and work at it,if not you'll always be plagued with childish wankers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane v Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 It looks like you're recuiting people who are too immature to form a commitment to a band and just want to be able to say"I'm in a band!" but are not willing to work at practicing.I have seen all kinds of bimbos like that over the years,they are poseurs and will never be serious musicians unless they do a lot of growing up.The next time you screen people for your projects make sure that they possess the maturity to make a commitment and work at it,if not you'll always be plagued with childish wankers. that seems a bit brutal...LOL With the information highway available, it's easy to look at potential candidates through electronically sent bios and a demo of their works. All the riff-raff can be weeded out through that process, and should never make it to your rehearsal studio for an audition. If you're putting a band together, my feeling is it's leader should have everything in place..... Rehearsal Studio, PA, recording equipment.ect.ect.. To me that will show the serious musicians that the person putting the band together is serious as well.... I would never consider joining somebodies band if they had only the basics... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sinner 13 Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 we're just 4 guys with common goals; making music, having fun and maybe making some money on the side THIS is the best way to approach it, as hellion can tell you(we live in an area INUNDATED with bands), this is the best way to start out good musical relationships. it is how I have approached the last three projects I have been in, three of us were together for five years with rotating bassists. it is not a one time shot to find the perfect mates either, I have dropped out of many a project in the past because of one of two things, prima donnas, unwilling to compromise, or just the opposite, uncommitted jack holes, who either want to spend all their time getting messed up or generally playing grab a$$. time and patience will lead you to the right people. hang in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyler Patrick Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 Alright these all make a lot of sense. After looking at a few of these replies, I think I've come to a conclusion. Almost none of the members were committed to the band. They were just in so that they could tell their friends that they're in a band. The only thing I was looking for in a member was talent and of course that is important, but so is commitment. Now I know what I'm looking for in a band member. Thanks y'all ~KP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Don't worry so much about forming a band, work on building relations with working musicians. A band will form out of those relationships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvar Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Some groups of people can share the same vision, some can't- some folks have big ego's, it's all a game. Just cause all the members want to play the blues, each one has a vision of what they think it should be. It seems that all the stars in heaven have to line up a certain way, on a certain day, to get a good group of musicians that can get along, and can be creative. But, it does happen! The thing I realized that is most important, is to network- remember the people that you played with that you can get along with, don't burn any bridges if possible. Eventually, you will have jammed with or played with enough people that you can pick and choose band members. Sorta like an All Star band- That's my current band, not that we are all-stars, but, these are all people I've played with in different band incarnations- the bassist from this band, the guitar and drums from that band, etc. you get the picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Another thought on the subject. Maybe you shouldn't be trying to put together a type of band. Forget about being a Blues Band or Rock Band or whatever. Just let the talents and influences of each member shape whatever sound comes out of your group. That's how Janes Addiction did it. That was four guys with very different tastes in music coming together to make what could only be called Janes Addiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Find the right people, who are all on the same page, and you will not be going through this. This aint a pick up game for basket ball. there's a million idiosyncratic elements at play. you have to eliminate as many variances as possible.. find people who share your interests work ethic and goals. you'll see an entirely different end result Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyler Patrick Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 Another thought on the subject. Maybe you shouldn't be trying to put together a type of band. Forget about being a Blues Band or Rock Band or whatever. Just let the talents and influences of each member shape whatever sound comes out of your group. That's how Janes Addiction did it. That was four guys with very different tastes in music coming together to make what could only be called Janes Addiction. Well that was the problem with the first band that was formed. We just brought in a bunch of talented people and "jammed." They spent the entire time arguing about which song we were going to cover. (It was a cover band.) Someone wanted heavy metal, the other wanted pop, one wanted Jazz, and the other...was always at work. That idea may work for you, but I don't feel like trying that again after watching it blow up in your face once. I'd rather bring a bunch of talented people together who are interested in the same genre and same artists, just to avoid some obstacles that usually get in the way. ~KP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FirstMeasure Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Well that was the problem with the first band that was formed. We just brought in a bunch of talented people and "jammed." They spent the entire time arguing about which song we were going to cover. (It was a cover band.) Someone wanted heavy metal, the other wanted pop, one wanted Jazz, and the other...was always at work. That idea may work for you, but I don't feel like trying that again after watching it blow up in your face once. I'd rather bring a bunch of talented people together who are interested in the same genre and same artists, just to avoid some obstacles that usually get in the way. ~KP Well, a cover band is a very different situation. A cover band should be approached like a business that's producing a product. You need to know where you're going to sell you product. I don't just mean "Sell it for money", I mean "Sell it to the audience". That is, if you plan on breaking into the cover scene and playing the clubs then you want to concentrate on the music that sell there. If you're planning n a lot of parties and BBQ's, you need to concentrate on the music that would sell there. A cover band cannot be all about the players and having fun, venue owners aren't interested in seeing you have fun, they want to see their patrons dancing and drinking. My "Janes Addiction" advice was definitely for an original band. If you want to get serious players for a cover band you might want to lay down some ground rules before you even start jamming. State simply and for the record, "I'm putting together a cover band that will be playing _________ type of music. If you're on board for that lets get down to business. If not, lets have a fun jam and I'll see you around the circuit." If you're founding the band you'll have to take control or you'll get walked all over. My approach to being in bands. If it's your band and you invited me in, I'm all about cooperating with you to bring your product to fruit. If you're joining my project, I expect the same cooperation from the members of my band. And I mean COOPERATION, not iron fisted dictatorship. {edit}I forgot to mention, sometimes reliability and commitment outweigh talent when it comes to putting a band together. Someone who has a hard time nailing down the parts can get there with practice, someone who doesn't show up or has a combative attitude usually stays that way until they grow up or experience a life changing event. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brundaddy Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Most bands that fall apart have no strong, effective leader, or also often: they're losers from craigslist. Most bands that are "successful" began as tight friends or else are professional musicians who don't fool with craigslist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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