Starting Original Band, which comes first; having material or getting a full line up?

[ForgetMeNacht]

Looks like I'm back to square one in getting an original band going. When it comes to getting together, I go through the usual amount of flakes and "serious musicians" who's working jobs make it impossible to get together.

This time around, I'm thinking of holding off on getting a full time live line up and having material recorded. This way, I have something tangible when it comes to presenting potential band mates and still have something to showcase my music

Has anyone else tried this approach in getting together an original act and what advise can you give?

[Lee Knight]

Looks like I'm back to square one in getting an original band going. When it comes to getting together, I go through the usual amount of flakes and "serious musicians" who's working jobs make it impossible to get together.

This time around, I'm thinking of holding off on getting a full time live line up and having material recorded. This way, I have something tangible when it comes to presenting potential band mates and still have something to showcase my music

Has anyone else tried this approach in getting together an original act and what advise can you give?

 

I'd recommend finding your partner in crime. Just one guy or girl. Having a partner will move the project along a rate much quicker than if you're left to your own devices. Find a writing/performing partner and put together demos. Not finished masters. That's what the band's for.

 

[rangefinder]

I'm going through this process right now. Regarding the question in your title, I'm not so sure that either one comes first. You just gotta keep working both sides of the equation and hope that at some point, everything balances and you can move forward aggressively towards doing shows, making CDs, etc. etc.

 

My current project consists of myself as singer/songwriter, and a lead guitarist who also plays drums and bass. So we have what we need to get rough demos done. Our current plan is to nail down some material, then decide where to go from there.

[Iamthesky]

I'm doing this too. The bottom line is you can't book shows until you have a line-up. You can book (and play) shows if you're still playing appropriate covers until the original material comes on line. So the line up should come before the material.

 

On the other hand, promotion starts immediately, as soon as you know the band will happen. I'm active in the local scene, not just attending (and playing) public jams but attending other local shows and schmoozing with the staff (sound and bar), musicians, and fans. People know who I am and when they ask how I'm doing, I tell them about the new band. I'm already spreading stickers in the local venues, I'll be wearing the band t-shirt (as soon as AudioLife finds my order, blast them!), I'm even getting personnel tips from other musicians. Make sure you have a sound bite ready for "So what's the band like?"

 

I am of the opinion that you can't just play good music and hope people will get the idea. Today's success is all about creating demand first, fans curious and wanting to see this band they've heard about. Once you get them there, then it's up to the music and show to keep them. But the best show in the world won't do you any good unless the bodies are in the door first. I've been in the "everyone who sees us loves us" thing; now that I'm launching my own band I'm putting the horse back in front of the cart.

 

tl:dr:

 

1. Promote.
   
2. Settle line-up.
   
3. Book shows.
   
4. Rehearse a set of covers and replace them with originals as you can.
   

 

 

[rangefinder]

IDK the successful bands around here seem to have decided pretty early on to either be covers-only or originals-focused (with some covers but not >50%). Many players do both, but they are separate projects, usually with separate line-ups. That's what I'm planning - on the covers side of things, I'm talking to one guy in particular about going out as a duo, then looking to expand from there if we get some traction.

 

But like you, I've also been doing the networking for a long time, getting known in the scene, letting people know what I'm about, etc. etc. and I think that's a key step in any case.

[TIMKEYS]

The way it is here is if you have the ability to get booked you can get players, as for the original vs the cover deal. I am of the school that you need to be able to do both. No reason to stand down from a show because the main goal is to play in front of people. If your original stuff is ready for prime time there is no reason why you cant put some of your stuff on the set list of a cover show. Unless you write as a band ,, there is no difference between a cover and an original to a guy who is holding down a seat in a cover band or an original one. Its just another song on the list. So I guess I would go for the lineup as soon as I knew I could get booked.

[BATCAT]

This time around, I'm thinking of holding off on getting a full time live line up and having material recorded. This way, I have something tangible when it comes to presenting potential band mates and still have something to showcase my music

Has anyone else tried this approach in getting together an original act and what advise can you give?

 

This is pretty much the only way I've done things over the last ten years- at least having some rough demo ideas to get started with.

[Pine Apple Slim]

I think the material comes first. At least enough qunatity and quality to attract other musicians.

I've been partnered (as an upright bassist) with a singer/songwriter now getting close to 2 yrs. He had rough demos of half a doz tunes just him on acoustic into a laptop mic. They were good enough songs to entice me to join up. We went for about a year getting together once a week and just doing open mics from time to time. He kept on writing and we kept playing and learning covers. It took us almost a year to find the right guitar player, then another 6 months to find our drummer. Then we almost immediatly went into a studio and did a 5 song demo, and made a ReverbNation and Facebook page. Now its a matter of us getting the demo in the right ears and networking to get a chance to play in front of people. We have +/- 20 origs and +/-20 covers worked up and we've played 2 successful gigs, altho we've yet to make any money except beer and food. We look at it as you gotta start somewhere. The small gig at the pizza bar and the benefit gig at the biggest bar in town have created some buzz and we're feeling pretty good about some real opportunities going into the Spring and Summer. Original music is a tough proposition. We hope if its good people will notice, but the main thing is we're havin fun and enjoying what we do.

 

 

1. Keep writing and making rough demos. A good tune is a good tune and will attract a compatible musician, even stripped down to just ac guitar and voc.

2. Find that 1st partner in crime.

3. Do some open mics, keep writing, and start learning a few covers that fit in.

4. Fill out the band as your able with the right people who will buy into the vision.

5. Do a decent studio quality demo, get it online and have some hard copies to pass out too.

5. Learn covers along that fit your style.

6. When you have a hr or 2 worth of music, hit the streets and promote, ask for tryouts or benefit situations with little or no pay to prove yourself.

[MartinC]

Write the music, Get a gig, and hire the players is what worked for me. Good musicians want paying gigs. Show up with better players than a venue is used to and you get another gig. You need to be able to pull off a gig by yourself to have the confidence for this approach to feel right. That way you don't panic when a player flakes or turns out not as strong as you thought. The idea of trying to put something together for six months or longer, rehearsing, etc is not likely to be tolerated by guys good enough to get paying work unless they love the music. Even then, there is a limit most musicians will reach. It's just as easy to book a gig before every piece is in place as after. And getting tight is what happens playing gigs. Again if you are strong enough to know that you can pull off a gig by yourself, there's no reason to wait until its all perfect. Chances are it will never be perfect. And there's no reason to play for nothing. Sell the service to the appropriate room, show up and play. Avoid venues that expect you to bring people. I realize this is difficult with some styles of music where there are tons of bands all playing the same style trying to be noticed. Why would you want to compete in a market that's saturated with bands playing the same style for free? If you have something different and good sell it and deliver and you'll get it off the ground.

[wesg]

I'm with MartinC on that one. I've had lots of guys ask me to join their originals projects. I just tell 'em -- write the songs, give me charts, book a gig. Then we'll talk about rehearsals. Nobody ever calls back. Which is fine with me. I don't need flaky songwriter types chewing up my time week after week with BS practices of half-finished songs with no goal in sight. Stars in your eyes don't do anything for me, I'm not 22 anymore.