How to Guide:
"Don't Start A Band!" - Part 1, Getting Together

I've been talking about writing this guide for a while now; a step by step guide to starting your own band, be it a solo career, garage band or whatever else takes your fancy. In case you're confused by the title: I was listening to Reel Big Fish whilst writing this, specifically 'Don't Start A Band'.

This week I'm going to start with the most integral part of a band: The band and crew.
You need to get an idea of what kind of music you want to work on. If you play an instrument you might want to try writing a few songs to get a feel for what's ahead of you and your potential bandmates. Getting as much practice in at this stage is also very good for you and your future band; if you can't be relied on to perform your best then everything could fall apart. I personally recommend getting at least half an hour of practice in every day or two, and of course longer sessions more often if you can.

Presumably if you've written some sample material then you've decided on a genre of music. If you haven't, then decide now because I'm going to the next step.

You need to decide how many band members you want and what positions are going to be available. There's no point advertising for anyone and everyone when all you need is a keyboardist and drummer after all.

Now that you've got a good idea of what you want to work on and what instruments and their accoutrement players are needed, it's time to find some bandmates. You could rope some friends into your band which means you'll often be in contact and capable of working on new material more often. Another option is to advertise for band members, try local social spots where you might find others interested in the same sort of music, hand out a few flyers, put up a few posters and advertise online. It could take a while but with some luck eventually you'll get people contacting you about the available positions.

Waiting to get your band members together could take days or it could take weeks. At this point I can only recommend that you continue practicing often and preparing for when your band is together.

Some things to do whilst your band is getting together would be to scout out practice and recording space. Most towns and cities have at least one recording and/or practice studio who will rent out practice space for you and possibly provide recording equipment, you can't keep playing in your basement if you want to get better! Try to negotiate a weekly or bi-weekly time that the group can get together for a couple of hours and practice, remember that you've got to work with the time constraints of the group and the studio.