I have no idea exactly what this guy did in a band before but I can't imagine he really got the idea. He seems to think that being in a band means you just stick three people with an instrument each together and out pops what you assume is the beatles and away you go. The fact that he seems to think that the idea of meeting bands you like is novel makes me think that music for him was only ever a get rich quick scheme. He had some idea that just picking up an instrument and playing without any other effort would propel him to Bon Jovi like stardom and then got disenfranchised once he found out there is just the tiniest bit more to it all than that.
Well screw that guy. Here is why being in a band and sticking to it over the years was the greatest thing
I'm not in it for the money. I play music because I genuinely love to do it. So I guess yeah if you're whoever wrote that article and seem to hate music for the sake of it then yeah, quit now. Because I love to play music I'm generally attracted to friends to also love to play music and I have probably at some point either played in a band with them, played shows together with them or both. Through playing shows and naturally befriending people through a mutual love of the music we make - not through forcing myself to "network" - we have created our own sub scene within the punk community and that is a wonderful thing. Because we all respect the music we make and encourage each other to stick together and evolve organically we have the fun of seeing each other get better and expand our ranges. We have so many people now who enjoy the music we all make that we have too many acts to put on all at once! This we created not by finding better deals and dumping previous groups and not by going out with the express intention of talking to someone who may be able to further our goals but by actually enjoying the things we love.
And there you have it. Don't ever quit your band. find your bestest friends and be fucking awful and then make friends and then get better and above all fucking love doing it every step of the way.
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I agree with a lot of this, but I also disagree with some key points; but this is coming from someone trying to make headway in the music industry with no backing, X-Factor, press guys etc - so bear with me.
ReplyDeleteYes, start a band with your friends. Or, more importantly, start a band with people who you can get on with for several years without wanting to kill anyone. The fact is, you're going to be stuck with these people for a long time, and when inevitable discord arises - as it does, sometimes often - about things like petrol money, merchandise money, money in general, people's timekeeping or lack thereof, royalties, etc etc, you need to be able to deal with it. I'd always opt to recruit someone who isn't that good at their instrument but is a decent person who's willing to learn over a shit-hot guitarist who's also a complete wild card bellend.
On the other hand, if you're looking to make any kind of headway into the industry with your band, recruiting your best friends could be the worst thing you could possibly do. Two examples:
1. Chapter Eleven used to be a three-person acoustic punk outfit. It started as a two-piece (like Red Rag Front/Torn Out), then the bassist who played on the EP wanted in. That was great. We toured for two and a half weeks on public transport and everything was fine. However, people get restless, they want to do other things, and when you're slogging away and writing songs and playing songs and not sleeping 'cause you're playing everywhere, some people get tired - not everyone has your enthusiasm. Your best friends want to settle down, do something different or join other bands - and a lot of the time, that's very hard to take in when you've worked so hard together. At the same time, nowadays I play solo - and I bring others in when they want to be around, that includes the two who left back then. Whilst it was devastating at the time (we stopped talking for months), we worked through it - it just took a while.
2. I front a band in which I drag everyone with me to everywhere. They recruited me as a vocalist - what they got was a vocalist, lyricist and manager with a shit tonne of connections and a vast knowledge of the punk scene. We were unknown at the start of 2013, by December 31st we were main support to the Selecter. I've managed to land us support offers with the likes of Sonic Boom Six, Asian Dub Foundation and the Selecter, amongst others - bands that the rest of the band haven't been too fussed about supporting either "because they don't know who they are," or "because they don't like them." Whilst these are stupid reasons, we have missed out on playing some pretty big gigs because the rest of the band are so lethargic. At the same time, once we actually take to a stage and the room goes nuts, somehow it's all worth it - but what makes it so stressful is actually trying to get somewhere.
I've played music for fun for the last five years. Now, I actually want to get somewhere playing music 'cause if you can make money doing something you love, why not do it? At the same time, it does turn it into an actual job - complete with stress, agg and really hard work. But sometimes, that work pays off and you do get to reap the rewards - even if you're essentially in a band you're not exactly great friends with but making fantastic music together. It's a weird one, I s'pose. Quality post, though.
PS. Bands that got massive doing what they love and not doing the business or management side of it don't really exist any more, as the market is oversaturated. If you ever want to get massive, you might have to make some sacrifices, be it in terms of songwriting, production, the type of gigs you play or your "band image." But you can cross or burn those bridges when you get there. :)
thanks man, in my annoyance I went full opposite to the guy wrote the other blog and missed the middle ground which is really the place we all have to live as musicians. I actually put a lot of thought into the perception of the band and everything from the rambles I say into the mike to the band tshirt I'm wearing has thought put into it. A band needs an identity as much as any person and that takes a lot of extra work.
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