Getting ahead of ourselves

[paul h]

I too would actually be wary of "getting ahead of yourselves".

I was in a band with a very enthusiastic member who was always trying to arrange photo and video shoots, getting flyers and business cards printed, organising the recordings of demos...you name it he did it. Don't get me wrong he was a lovely bloke and still a very good mate. But he just put so much energy into all the associated stuff he just never learnt the songs or worked on his vocals.

The single most important thing to get right is the music and anything that takes focus away from that can potentially be a bad thing.

So after 18 months of bs about what a great function band we were going to be, and how much money we were going to make and how good the website looked etc. etc...the set list was still rather average pub rock stuff.

To do list:

1. Be a great band.
2. All that other crap.

JMHO.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Just a thought, but is it possible to be a great band if you don't get out there and gig?

I would agree that the music is very important, but you need to be able to present the music to an audience and be in a position to get gigs in the first place as well - getting the momentum to have gigs in the diary is one of the most difficult aspects of starting a band.

I've seen bands playing locally (and getting paid) where the standard of the musical content isn't at a level I would be happy with as a musician, but still being enjoyed by the audience and the band themselves, these bands always have their marketing sorted out. These bands always have the option of spending some time in the shed if they want to up their game - on the other hand, some bands get so obsessive about getting the music spot on that they don't manage to get out of the rehearsal room and play to an audience.

I would be very happy to see any of my bandmates taking the initiative to do something positive to promote the band - if you aren't happy with what they are doing, or feel that it is distracting them from sorting their act out, then pick up the baton and take some weight from their shoulders and bring a positive contribution to the table that gets the band closer to where it needs to be going.

[paul h]

Well in my particular case we were already gigging and had no trouble getting pub gigs.

We were trying to step up to functions and weddings etc. but just didn't have the right set list. And I know from previous experience that playing gigs that your band is not prepared for, or even suitable for, is not fun.

Personally speaking, if I'm going to sell a band, just like any product, it better be up to the job!

[discreet]

[quote name='paul h' timestamp='1437575440' post='2827207']
The single most important thing to get right is the music and anything that takes focus away from that can potentially be a bad thing.
[/quote]

Too right. Our drummer keeps on about getting more gigs - which is fair enough, but I'm not really happy to go out until I'm sure that everyone is on the same page, which in my opinion, they're not. He's keen to gig, but he's not so keen to learn the material or do (in my opinion) enough rehearsals to get up to scratch. Same with the guitarist to a certain extent. They seem to think everything will come together by magic, or osmosis, and of course that is very much not the case.

All those great bands you see whose performance seems totally natural and whose music sounds fresh and interesting - almost like they're playing their set for the first time - have months if not years of unseen work and a combined effort from all band members behind them, and a single-minded ambition to be as good as they can be.

Edited July 22, 2015 by discreet