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| Live band concert on tour |
To start a band, there are some decisions to be made ahead of time about yourself. If you think you're ready to make those decisions then check this out at http://ezinearticles.com/?Starting-a-Band---Building-the-Foundations&id=5173700.
This isn't so much of a guitar lesson as such, but if you are in or want to start a band, you need to know this. It is a 101 for starting a band and getting it going, getting gigs and getting people to actually come to your gigs!
You see it everyday, those people who have their life sorted. They are in a popular band, making heaps of money, almost reaching the level we all dream of. But right before they get there they crash, and it all comes falling down. Like it or not this happens to 99% of bands that even get a remote chance of making something of themselves. The music is obviously important, but there is also so much more behind the music that needs to be done if you want to make it further than the bar down the road.
If you don't already have a band, the first thing you will want to do is to find like minded people who want to play the same type of music and want to go in the same direction. But the 1 most important thing for these people to have is...
MOTIVATION
Some people have it themselves and will push all they can. Some will be happy to come along for the ride. Both of these are acceptable, but never, ever waste your time with someone who just isn't into it. No matter how good they are at their instrument, no matter what their experience is, if they don't have the motivation and commitment to turn up to every band practice and gig, they are not suitable for your band.
Having the right people is crucial! Like anything you need a solid foundation and that for a band means the source of it, the band members. You are more likely to see your band members more than any other people (depending on how serious you are about it) so they will literally become your best friends over night. Remember that when finding people, don't choose people you know you won't get along with because all it will do is hold you back.
How do you find band members?
Here are the 3 best ways I have found to find band members...
1. Put up a notice at your local Music Store and post them around town saying 'Looking for band members in this style etc etc'.
2. Ask around - Word of mouth is the best kind of advertising, people trust people they know much more than a stranger.
3. Go to gigs. Musicians like music (surprise, surprise!) so you can find many of them at local gigs. Go and check out a new band and while you're there have a friendly chat with a few people, tell them you are looking for members, if they know of a musician looking for work, of course they will give you their number!
What songs do we play?
A good idea (especially if it is your first band) is to learn a few covers. This way you all know the songs already and can get use to playing along with the other people in the band. You can find complete music for a whole band on pretty much any song you can think of for free on the internet, just do a Google search and print out what you find.
If you are wanting to do originals, there is nothing better than sitting down with your band, coming up with a riff, beat or bass line and see where it takes you. Jam for hours on end! The only thing that can happen is you will create more music. Sometimes the mistakes can be just what you were looking for. It is amazing how fast you can put together a song with no experience if you all just put your mind to it. All you need is a verse and chorus, then just fill in the gaps and repeat. The more songs you write, the better they will get.
How do we get good enough to play gigs?
This answer should be obvious, practice. There is no substitute for it and there never will be, the only way you can get good is by lots and lots of practice.
How do we get gigs?
1. Make up some business cards with your band name on it, the style of music you can and contact information. Then drop it around to all the pubs and restaurants that usually have live bands playing, if you suit their patrons they are more than likely to give you a call.
2. Ask bands you know if they need a support band. This is by far the easiest way to get gigs, because all the advertisement is done for you can people are already coming to the gig so you can just jump on stage and give it your all.
3. Make your own. Hire out a venue, hire a PA and you are away. Even going busking on the streets can be a good start!
How do you get people to come to your gig?
Promote, promote and promote! Design a poster on your computer and get it printed at your local print shop and glue them all around town. Get little hand outs made and give them to people who look like they could be into your music. Post bulletins on sites like MySpace etc. Ask your friends to tell everyone they know about the gig.
Until you get a following, no promotion can literally lead to no one turning up to your gig.
How can you expect people to come if they don't know about it?
At the end of the day, if you want to be in a band, and you want to have people listening to your music, the only person who can make that happen is you! So get out there and do it!Okay, so now you've gone over some of the foundation questions to ask yourself before jumping into a band. What else goes into starting a band? Find some answers here at http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Start-A-Band&id=5136036.
A lot of people want to start a band, but most have no idea where to start. They get a couple of friends together and come up with lame band names like the exterminator or the termites but they never end up getting anything done because they are not sure where to really start. Luckily, by following these simple steps, you will be able to start a successful band quickly and effectively without having to deal with some of the bad things that come along with an inexperienced band such as breaking up good friendships and embarrassing yourself.
The first thing to do when you think you want to start a band is get together with a group of people. If you are looking to be a serious band and play gigs with money involved, it is probably better that you do not form a band of just friends because money can definitely ruin friendships. However, if you are just looking for some people to jam with and do not really care about the money aspect, getting your friends together can be the best idea.
Regardless, make sure your group works well together and that there is not any petty arguments that you will eventually have to work out at a later date.
After that, you need to work on your image. In this day in age, appearance is extremely important. Appearance is everything from the name of your band to the clothes you wear on stage to the attitude you have around fans. Find a name that is interesting but ultimately easy to remember and make sure that you are all on the same page when it comes to how you will appear on stage. It is also worth adding that fans are drawn more towards bands that interact with their fans whether that means giving autographs after a show or talking to them through the show.
Once you know who you will be and how you will act, you need to practice incessantly until you have a good list of songs that you can play. These songs can be covers or original songs but you need enough to be last through a gig without strange and awkward pauses between songs. Find a good practice space and create a schedule of the times that you are going to practice together so that you can get better as a group and work on more songs together.
In the end, whether or not your band makes it relies heavily on luck and how much work you put into pushing your band forward. Get in touch with various venues and bars to get some playing time so that you have some experience and can gain a sort of following and eventually upgrade to better places to play. If you play what you like and love what you going, being in a band will be incredible and you will have a great time. If you think being in a band if just a simple job that gets you lots of money and girls, you should probably reconsider joining a band.
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| Musicians performing in a band |
Step One: Finding the right band members to play with.
If you're serious about starting a band with other people, make sure you find people who are equally serious about it. Nothing is worse than having a band member who wont show up to practice or is too lazy to learn the songs.
Make sure they are into similar music as well. For example, if you're playing guitar and all you like is Metal, do your best not to get involved with another guitar player who is into easy listening or acoustic music. Dave Mustaine meets Jack Johnson. Maybe you could make it work, but it wont be easy. Find people with similar influences.
I know it can be incredibly difficult to find people with the right intentions, but you've got to make sure they can actually play before you invite them to join a band. If your bass player can't keep up with the rest of the band, he should keep practicing and maybe think about joining a band later on when he gets more familiar with it. He will slow you down. If you have to teach one of the guys how to play his instrument before the band can start cranking out tunes, he's not the right guy for the job.
Step Two: Knowing Your Role
It's pretty obvious that the drummer is supposed to play drums. The singer sings and the bass player plays bass. If you happen to be in a group with more than one guitar player, decide who will be playing lead guitar for the most part. I hate it when I see a band with rival guitar players. Yeah, both guys can have a solo in the same song...sure. They can even take turns on different songs if they want to, but don't compete with your second guitarist. If you can write sweet riffs and hold down the rhythm and the other player can't, chances are, you are the rhythm guitarist. If you are a good lead player and you like to play lead, good for you, but if the other player is a better lead player, let him be lead if he's up for it. Put your ego aside for the sake of the band.
Drummers...No, you will not have a drum solo in every song. Play the songs and if there is time in the band's set, you'll get your solo eventually. Same goes for the bassist. Be patient guys.
Step Three: Tones
This goes for every member of the band. Your tone is incredibly important. Two guitar players will naturally have different tones, it's personal preference, but make sure it fits the mix or else the band will sound horrible. Invest in some kind of pedal to help you boost through the mix on your solos. Just because you are the lead guitarist doesn't mean you should be louder than everyone else for the entire song. Every band member should be in tune, even the drummer. I've seen people who get on stage and are out of tune and it kills the whole performance. Everyone has done it, it happens, but do your best to be prepared to play your set. Being in tune is a big part of that. You might say "Well, I tuned my guitar before I left my house." Remember, you most likely had you're guitar in a gigbag and it doesn't always stay in tune on the ride to the gig. Tune your instrument during sound check or right before you step on stage just to be sure.
Step Four: Music Theory
I'm not gonna sit here and write about how beginning guitar players can't shred through the Phrygian Mode at lightning speed, but there are some important aspects of theory that you've got to know if you're playing with other people.
When you are writing your own music, know what notes you are playing. Believe it or not, I was sitting in on a band practice one time and believe it or not, the guitar players were in completely different tunings, but were playing the same frets. One guitar player was watching the other and he thought he was playing the same thing, but he was in dropped tuning. This is absolutely unacceptable. It's okay for one person to be in dropped D and the other to be playing in standard, but please play the same notes. And this also goes for down tuning. If you're playing a whole step down and jamming through riffs for ideas to the other members, make sure they know what tuning you are in or nothing will sound good.
Another part of theory that you need to know is where the notes on the guitar are. Say I'm playing a lick in the key of C and I want the bassist to play in key behind the guitar section. I don't want to point out what fret C is. He should know these things.
Drummers should know basic time signatures. It's time consuming for another band member to teach the drummer what timing to play in, or have to get behind the kit and play the beat for him. Know you're basic stuff and you should save a lot of extra time and heartache.
Step Five: The Band!
I'm not sure if you noticed, but if you haven't achieved steps One through Four, you're not in a band yet. Too many "bands" "break up" before they even play in front of anyone. Don't drop out of school and put all of your time and effort into the "band" after second rehearsal. It may not work out. I agree that it should be important to you and you should take it very seriously if you want to do it, but putting too much hope and confidence into a group you just jammed with one time is a bad idea. Jam with the guys a few times and see if you are even compatible with them as a musician. Don't spend you're entire first 2 months of practice trying to think of a band name. I've seen guys who claim to have been in 5 different bands and I ask them "Sweet, Where did you guys play?" and they say something like "Well, the first 4 broke up before we played anywhere." The truth is, they had 5 "Bands" who had some of the problems that I included in Steps 1-4.
Step Six: The Music
If you've never been in a band before, it might be a good idea to start learning some cover songs as a band. This isn't always the case, but it helps the band lock in with each other. If you wrote a song on your instrument and you know it will be a killer song, it might not work out the way you envisioned because you don't have the same mind as the rest of the band. Choose a cover song that everybody likes and one that everybody has the skill to play. Tell all the band members to learn it for next practice. Everyone should learn their parts on their own time and then run through it at your next practice. I was in a band once where the singer learned the lyrics at practice. It's a waste of everybody's time. Learn your parts and then you can fine tune everything as a band.
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| Rock band on tour |
The Guide to Touring (Part 1)
Chris Gallant (lead singer and guitarist of The Sidewalks) brings you an introduction to the realities of touring. Grab your gear and get ready to hit the road!
Every band thinks about touring at some point and so few actually do. I’m not talking about a tour of your neighboring cities. I’m talking hours of driving, uncomfortable seating, and taking gigs on off-nights because it’s a better idea to make thirty bucks than to wonder if you have enough gas to make it to the next town. I’m sorry, I guess I should have said every band thinks about being “the band on tour” who’s away from home rocking out every night and enjoying themselves. Well, the two go hand in hand.
If you’ve toured before you’ll know that a lot of this information comes as common sense literally within a few days of being on the road – your band’s routine or “system” kicks in and the tour goes on autopilot. However the point of this guide is to educate and inform those of you who’ve never hit the pavement in a van full of gear in pursuit of making it big. It’s often a long, arduous, and smelly journey but you get addicted and will want to do it again the second you get home.
This isn’t meant to be a step by step guide into touring so much as it is an overview of how a tour should come together for the average DIY band. Best of luck!
Are You Ready To Tour?
A few questions you need to ask yourself:
Does my band have a solid enough fan base in the local area?
You’re probably wondering why the local market has anything to do with you going abroad. Well, there are two main reasons for this. The first is simply that it serves as a gauge of interest in your band. If your fan base is made up of a good spread of music listeners (and not just your girlfriends and relatives) then you’re on the right track and the same thing will likely happen in other cities. Second, you need to depend on your local gigs to make up the funds to head out on the road. Plan to take a few extra gigs to fill the band fund up as you lead to the tour you’re embarking on.
Do we have reliable transportation?
My first touring band destroyed three vans on three separate tours because we didn’t take appropriate vehicles to handle the combined weight of the members and the gear. Do not expect to pull off a ten day tour in a minivan if you have a typical rock stage setup (I’m talking at least one stack, a bass rig, the drums, and assorted luggage). Suspensions will drop out, transmissions will die, and brakes will fall apart. Make sure you have the proper vehicle for what you’re hauling and how long you’re hauling it.
How long do we want to go on tour? Can everyone take the time off?
Time off becomes the enemy by the time you hit your second or third tour – it loses some of it’s charm in your family/girlfriend/boss’ eyes and becomes a nuisance, meaning it gets more difficult to get the time off the more often you go on tour. But that’s a discussion for another article. The length of your tour is really up to you and your band because you’ll need to determine how much work you can miss, how much you stand to gain from the tour, and how long you want to be out of your comfort zone. The kind of tour you’re booking will determine the length as well, which brings me to my next point.
How to Book a Tour
Booking a tour is a lot easier than people make it out to be. You just need to be diligent and plan ahead. Pick your tour dates and give yourself about three to four months to book and promote the excursion. Taking this amount of time is a good idea whether you already have an “in” at your potential venues or are starting from scratch.
Identify the type of tour you’re booking.
You can do two general types of tours that I like to call Main Market Tours and All Market Tours. A Main Market Tour is when you only play in the biggest cities with the largest pieces of the music industry that you can get close to. Of course this is geographic, but building profile in a city that houses the kind of people who should hear you (agents, reps, promoters, and media) is the smartest choice when time and money are constraints on the tour. Get in, do the job, and get home, all while hitting the bigger markets. Alternatively you can do the All Market Tour which is when you look at a map and pick out all the cities in a certain radius and plan to play in each one over a certain length of time. If you only have a week, I’d go with the first type. Two weeks or more and I’d consider the second. That isn’t to say you can’t mix it up: If a smaller city is completely en route to a bigger city, see if you can wedge a gig in there on the way up.
Find venues and promoters.
Once you’ve narrowed down your cities and dates start doing up emails and press kits to send to the venues and promoters that you feel would be interested in an act like yours. Try to think from a venue owner’s perspective – all you are in the end is drink sales. You can have the best songs in the world, but if no one cares to come see you it’ll be hard to get a returning gig (and after all, you are hopefully going to tour again sometime and will want to build on the relationships you opened with these venues the first time around).
This raises the question: How am I supposed to get people in the door if I’ve never played there before? Well, if you’re asking yourself this question you’ve already done half the work. Just promote the shows as best you can and play your heart out, even if three people show up. Impress the bar staff and you’ll have done enough to come back.
How to Promote a Tour
Promotion within a city is specific to the avenues available in that area, but it all comes down to some fairly simple stuff. It just takes time and dedication.
Print Media, Radio, and Television
Every city has a local arts paper or magazine. Research and figure out where to send your press release (you’ve made a press release, right?), tour dates, and try to make it a little more personal (ie, talk about why this town is particularly exciting for your band). Also look up all the radio stations in those cities as well as television stations (for local on-air performance, preferably the day of your show in that city). Get in contact with the program director and give them your pitch. Hopefully your pitch has an interesting angle to it that they can get behind.
Internet Forums and Blogs
The internet is global and so are musicians. You may find new fans right here on Guitar Noise or with other forums specific to your tour destinations. Bloggers in well connected music circles are the people you want writing positively about your band. They have listeners. Post your show date, strike up a conversation, and make a connection.
Social Networking
There’s always someone in the tour van who’s got their laptop or cell phone going. Log into your Facebook, Twitter, or Myspace and send an update once in a while. “Van broke down. Having an acoustic jam on the side of the road to entertain the mechanic.” Keep it interesting and informative – don’t stop at “Chicago tonight!” Make a joke while you’re at it or offer something special for your potential guests. Ask questions. People love to voice their opinions.
Posters
Every tour needs a tour poster. I’m not going to run on a graphic design rant but make sure you have an attractive poster with all your dates listed, but also have a secondary poster with a blank space to custom tailor on a per show basis. Send these posters to all the venues, radio stations, and any friends or fans in your street team who live in the area.
Keep extra ones on hand to autograph or put up in local stores on your off days.
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| Live band performing on stage |
The Guide to Touring (Part 2)
In Part Two of this guide to touring, we take you from launching your tour to making your van your home to bringing everyone home safely and successfully.
In Part 1 of The Guide to Touring, you read about how to make decisions on whether or not you are ready to tour, as well as learning how to go about deciding just how big (or small) a tour to decide on. You also learned about booking venues for your tour and some tips about marketing to help make the tour a successful venture. Now let’s get into the actual touring itself!
How to Pack for a Tour
You need to approach touring the way you would backpacking through Europe: you can only take what you can carry on your shoulders. Your van is already filled with guitar amps, drums, the bass rig, more drums, merchandise, drum hardware, food, some band mates, and then your drummer. Suffice it to say that room is scarce unless you’ve got a bus, and if you’ve got a bus you can probably skip this article altogether!
As you’re packing you need to ask yourself, “Do I really need this? Can I just pick this up at a store if I’m dying without it?” You’ll find that you’re packing way too much clothing. Assuming you know where you’re sleeping most nights, a few of those places will likely have laundry facilities or you can hit up a laundromat on an off day. If the drives are going to be long, you’re not going to be impressing anyone with your fashion on a daily basis so don’t worry about roughing it. Try to keep it down to one back pack – something you can walk a few blocks comfortably. Stick dryer sheets in your bag and shoes to keep things fresh. Moist towelettes go a long way to make you feel better when you wake from a van-nap.
Gear wise, make sure you have extras but don’t go overboard. Bring extra strings, tubes, sticks, and a backup guitar. Space is usually an issue so don’t worry about bringing a second cabinet or stuffing your acoustic thinking you may get bored and play in the van.
You’ll find ways to entertain yourself. Simple things like books, an iPod, or your laptop are good starting points.
Packing smart will keep the van comfortable. A few other things you can do to keep the van a happy place:
There are a lot of other things you can do to make the van a home-away-from-home but that stuff will hit you quickly during your first tour. The bottom line is you’re going to be getting really close to your band mates for what will feel like an eternity. Tensions build while everyone is out of their comfort zone. Do the best to respect one another while making yourself some personal space.
- Change up the driver and passenger seating every few hours. The new locale will stimulate you provide a nice change of pace.
- Take trash out with you when you make pit stops (the cup-holders will fill with candy wrappers, I promise) and spray some air freshener before you get back in. From band-stink to Spring showers in five minutes.
- GPS. Understand that it can go crazy at times but it’s worth bringing one. Don’t buy one just for the tour – you likely have a friend who will be glad to help out the band by lending theirs. Word of caution: never bring two. They will fight like competing bakeries.
- Make a tour itinerary listing all of the venues, phone numbers, addresses, sleeping arrangements, pay arrangements, load-in times, set times, and distances between shows. Dress it up and make it fun, then print two copies: one for the front of the van and one for the back (so that the guys in the back aren’t always pestering you for information).
Finally, treat your van like you would a guitar: tune it up before making it do the work. Find problems early before you wind up busking at a Canadian Tire in Whitby to pay for that brake job.
Arriving at the Gig
There’s a difference between playing gigs at home versus while on tour. The band needs to think of itself as a travelling salesman: You have a product that you’re demoing and promoting around the country. You want people to buy this product, love this product, and show this product to their friends. A professional attitude is enough to make you seem like a pro, even if you’re throwing your back out trying to lug that 412 cabinet up the most insane flight of stairs (tip: buddy-lift everything!).
So you’ve arrived at the venue at the requested load-in time. What’s next? Here are the things I like to run through with each show:
- Learn the sound engineer’s name. Everyone should know it. Convince yourself that the sound engineer is your best friend. Sound guys (and gals) are people, too – they will be more likely to make you sound good if they like the way you treat them.
- Learn how to setup other pieces of equipment. If your drummer could use a hand and you’ve got your stuff setup, help him instead of sitting at the bar waiting.
- Start when you’re told and finish on time. The next band is excited to play and doesn’t want you getting in the way. No encores unless (a) you’re the headliner or (b) the situation is calling for it and you’ve sent someone from the band to clear it with the next band.
- Push your merchandise. You’ve travelled all this way and your door cut will more than likely not be great until you’re an established band – merchandise is gas in the van. Make sure one band member runs to stand by the merch table when you’ve finished your set. Tell some stories and let the crowd get to know you – they just may want to buy into you.
- Get to know the other acts. You never know when you’ll run into each other again (it happens more often than you would think, and at completely different parts of the country!) or when you’ll need to borrow their equipment.
- Get paid. Have a designated person within the band to handle the collection of finances. There’s an art to talking money with door guys and other bands so that you’re able to take of yourself while meeting the needs of the other people involved. This develops with continuous exposure so it’s best to get one person learning the ropes instead of taking turns.
- Before you leave make sure you’ve said goodbye to everyone who works at the venue. Get to know them a bit – they’re your gateway back into this place. I like to make sure each venue has a copy of the album and a business card (the bartender or door person who likes you the most is the best person to receive it as they’ll push it around).
Final Notes
The goal of your tour is to build profile, fan base, and, hopefully, make money. Touring isn’t always (or usually even) a money making endeavour until you’ve secured good guarantees so try to break even. Figure out beforehand what the tour should cost you and factor in emergencies (having an extra $1,000.00 in the band fund will help you out when things take an unexpected turn). Try to have as much of the expenses covered before you head out so that you don’t get half way through the tour wondering if you’ll make it home.
Lastly, treat this both as a career move for the band and as a vacation. You’re likely suffering personally and financially by committing so much time on the road so make the best of your time out there. Be a tourist. Flaunt the band around as you check out the local hot spots – it’ll give you something to talk about and make you feel like a rock star.
And let’s not forget band traditions: make them. My band would drive around with megaphones promoting the show for an hour before sound check. You’ll find something you all like to do to harass the general public.So there you have it. Experience what so few guitarists have before you, a chance to join up with a band and take your music on the road and come back a success. Hopefully this advice will help you make the decisions you need to make and be prepared for success on the road.
Check back at Mike's Guitar Talk for more info about guitars and the world of guitar music. Thanks for reading.
Have fun and stay tuned!
Mike
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