datamusicata

Flying back from Portland to Los Angeles yesterday, I spoke to a delightful flight attendant named Yvonne. Her son Johnny is in high school and plays guitar. According to Yvonne he’s already proficient on the instrument and the effects and wants to start a band. She asked how you go about doing that.

I had a band in high school and I also had a band when I took a year off from touring and just played in the Santa Cruz area in the late seventies. The way I started that band was by walking into a club where this trio was backing up a local songwriter and asking them if they’d like to back up me as well. We ended up working exclusively together for about a year, but that’s not the normal way one starts a band.

Here are a few ideas. First examine what it is you do on your instrument. What kind of music do you listen to and most importantly, what kind of music really just gets you off playing. When you have determined that, find out what open mics are in the area (usually there are listings of them in the papers and on the net). Go there and sign up and play, and while you are there, listen to all the other people. Go to jams, any place that you hear about that is creating that space for musicians to play together.

Also at your school, put up an notice on the bulletin boards that you are interested in playing music with like minded individuals, and then list the kind of music you listen to. You will end up connecting with many musical types. Now it remains for you to put together the team.

You need to find a place to practice and if you play electric instruments and have drums that is going to be harder to do than if you play acoustically. I recommend that you practice at least twice a week and make at least one of those an acoustic session, where you are focusing on the music and the vocals. This also only requires that you find a place to practice once a week when you are loud (drums, bass, guitars, perhaps mics and a sound system—but that would probably come later).

Initially, you need to find one place to play where you can be loud, but you will come together as a group if you also practice acoustically. Basements are good and local colleges or high schools sometimes provide rehearsal rooms for free.

Next set up a schedule so that you always practice at the same times. Say Tuesday from 4 to 6:30 pm and Saturday’s from 1 to 5. This is important, because there are musicians that are going to say that they’ll be there and then they don’t show up. Or they show up late or unprepared or too loaded to work. It is better to identify these people early in the process and then decide whether their lack of integrity is worth their chops. I maintain it never is.

When you get gigs, you can’t have people showing up anyway but prepared, on time and equipped. If these fellows let you down at rehearsals in the beginning, they are simply letting you know how they keep their word. Move on.

When you find the right combination of people, put together four of your favorite songs and practice them til you can do them in your sleep. These are not only songs that you love, but songs that you can perform with some pizzazz. When you have them down, start playing open mics with the band and do those songs. That positive feedback from the audience and the club, will give you all the impetus to continue to work, practice, learn and hone your craft. Don’t worry about writing songs at first. Learn the great ones that you love. Learning great songs is a great way to learn to write songs.

After you have those four songs down and have played them live, learn a song a rehearsal. You need about 10 four minute songs per set. So to play an entire evening as a band in a club will require at least 30 songs. Get to work.