What and How Many is a Band?
Aug 01 '04
The Bottom Line If you love music start a band, even if you are the only member.
So, you want to start a band. What kind of band? There are all kinds of different bands out there. Quartets, quintets, trios, power trios, orchestras, arkestras, sextets (heh heh), even one-man bands like my man Creeper, Ohio. Big bands, jazz bands, rock bands, fusion bands, punk rock bands, marching bands, rap bands, bands, we got bands. What kind of band do you want to start? I think that's an important question to explore from the get go.
You don't have to know exactly what you want the band to sound like at first, in fact it might be better just to have some idea of what you like rather than an ironclad notion. Picasso once said that an artist should have an idea about what they are doing, but it should be a vague one. I like that. I suggest identifying music that inspires you and trying to figure out something about how it works. Crucially, you need to keep going through this process your entire life.
Perhaps even more primal than this is the question of why you want to be in a band in the first place. Is it love of music, the desire to appear cool and seduce other humans, the dream of getting rich, or some combination of these? If it is the first, I'd say going the band route is a pretty safe bet. The second can work, but if you have the charisma to make it happen you may not need the prop of the musical instrument in the first place. The third, you probably are seriously deluded. Unless music comes really easily to you to the point where you can produce it by rote and you are willing to work steady gigs that are less than fulfilling musically and spiritually at least part of the time, it's going to be difficult for you to make a lot of money playing music. That's just the way it is. Not impossible, but it is not a safe route. Of course, in a perfect world, we would all hit the trifecta, but that really only happens to guys like Mick Jagger.
OK, so let's say you've figured out you some idea of what kind of music you want to make and that, while you wouldn't mind getting lucky physically or fiscally from time to time, the music is really the important thing to you. Well, what do you have to do make that music? Are you drawn to an instrument or is there one that you already play, can you sing, can you write songs, and if no are you willing to learn to do those things? That's the crucial thing. There is an old saw that says you don't need to know anything about music to start a rock and roll band. I sort of agree with it, but only so far. You CAN start from scratch, but you have to progress musically. The Clash started out really raw and simple in 1977, but they were a much tighter band with a broader vision even two years later when they made London Calling.
Having first identified a patch of musical territory to start out in and determined what musical instruments you are going to use to explore it, you have to figure out who else and what other tools you need. Can you do it all yourself? One man can be a band, and in a lot of different ways...Prince, Woody Guthrie, Stanley Jordan all come to mind as examples. But you may want to find other musicians to play with, even all of those guys I just mentioned work with other players at times. What are important things to look for?
I think the main thing to look for in bandmates is musical compatibility. Somebody can be a great guy, great musician, your best pal, the whole bit, but it won't work if you can't get on the same page musically. You're playing heavy metal guitar while he's singing "Oh, Mandy," I mean that's not happening. Even less extreme, we've all heard bands that seemed like they would be good on paper, but on stage they never found the right chemistry. It is important to find people that you are going to be comfortable with personally, sure, but even more critically is how you blend musically. I've played with guys that were my close friends and it's great when that works, but I've also worked with people I would be unlikely to socialize with outside of the band and it was fine because we were musically compatible and respected each other. Of course, I don't recommend playing with sociopaths, no matter how good they are. It's just a drag being around people like that. Like a good roommate situation, the people in your band aren't going to always be your best friends, but they do need to be people you can trust musically and otherwise.
Once you've formed your band, be it just yourself or a group of 45 musicians, I think you should go back to the very beginning again to take the next step. Musically, you should be developing a distinct identity that is a refinement of your initial concept and you should plan from there accordingly. Pick a good name for the project, one that fits what you are trying to do. Individually and collectively, band members should consider how they want the band and themselves to look. If you are playing goth rock, maybe bright colors aren't the best thing for the bassist. If you are playing straight ahead jazz and want to play in top-end night clubs, maybe the keyboard player should lose the Ralph Wiggum t-shirt. Most important, you should check out the local scene and try and find your niche even if this means creating it yourself.
The big thing in all of this is to keep at it. Keep playing your instrument and getting better at it, keep listening to music and letting it affect your conception of music and how to play it, keep finding new musical partners even if it is just to take a break from your regular group. The hardest part is to keep playing in the face of rejection, but just remember that it happens to everyone.
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Member: Edward Kane
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