Want To Start A Band? Here's How...

The Best Way To Start A Band In 2021
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Time Stamps
0:00 Intro
0:42 Get Clear On Purpose
2:58 Schedule Your Own First Gig
7:35 Get Some Help
9:25 Attend Local Shows
11:16 Understand It's A Process
11:26 You Won't Know When You're Ready
11:42 Don't Worry About Original Music
12:16 Start Small

[adiwoodofficial]

When I started up my band we used to go to open mic nights to get playing experience.

[natashaevans]

This video is resourceful. I plan on attending open mics to start a band. I am a hardworking singer, singing tutor and a vocal coach virtually. I love it! I would love to find a jazz, r&b and pop band singing covers and originals about a four piece band to sing with part time. I miss performing live and reaching audiences.

[markmarsden]

Great advice esp on having a purpose and a gig to aim for. The main problem I’ve had, more than getting gigs, is with personnel. Different levels of commitment, different abilities, some people thinking they’re better than others or trying to control other people.

[terryparham]

Hey Terrence. Excellent video. Eight years ago, I set out to start a jazz band. The ensemble started as a friendly group of amateur/semi pro musicians…and we all agreed to take the steps to form a gigging band. The band consisted of horns, guitar, bass, drums, and a vocalist (generally 5-8 band members). Advice initially given was to form an LLC, get an accountant, pay taxes, members are independent contractors, set up a website, access social media platforms, meet with live music venues and local promoters, produce a demo CD, build a fan base…etc… We accomplished all of that with the unsettling reality that the monthly and costs and my own out of pocket costs were in conflict with one common denominator: We really didn’t want to be a committed professional band that tours, records, and grows. We were spoiled (baby boomers) that approached our music passion with varying personal conditions. We became comfortable being a local jazz band in a market where jazz is not prominent, gigs are very low paying, yet convenient gigging was desired and at each band member’s discretion (based on interest/availability). In other words, making music was not of primary concern/importance. We did however rehearse every Saturday at my home for the majority of those 8 years…which seemed to become the real purpose of the band. We were like a family during rehearsals. Over time, I, as the band leader, grew weary of the style/genre of music and the continuing costs to appear professional and losing money. Made the unpopular/hard decision to disband, with aim to regroup and work on originals for a recording project. Can say that experience of leading, playing in a band for several years was a priceless one. Lessons learned will help for any next band project. Bottom line: Being in a band is not a perfect world, but has its moments. Worth the effort, but goals are a must!

[mattilangofficial]

Here in Colombia musicians are lazy. No help, no motivation, just money. I recorded 2 albums (the second all by myself) and it didn't work. Sadly after 2021 the situation about venues changed dramatically, too. I'm disappointed 😞🎸🎸🎸

[TheTickingClocks]

In 2021, I decided to start a band after writing about 20 songs during the pandemic. These were start to finish songs and if I do say so myself, good songs. I knew a bunch of talented guys, good people, friends, a killer guitar player, an amazing keyboardist, a solid bass player and a very creative drummer. I sing and play guitar, by the way. We got together at my house and agreed that our goal was to work towards recording and releasing original music. I told the guys I have about 125 songs in the can up for consideration to record. I said that if we record a song I wrote, I'll finance the whole thing. If we record a song that two of us wrote or share writing credit, two of us split the cost in the studio to record and distribute. If three of us claim writing credit, then the total cost is split three ways for recording, distribution, promotion, etc. If four of us... you get the idea. We all agreed. Basically, the idea was more about recording music to build a legacy, something to leave behind that we could be proud of. We also talked about gigging and all of us wanted to do that BUT three of us had our full time professional jobs in education and two were full-time musicians. The 2 full time musicians were free agents, so basically our band was not going to be a priority, especially if money was not going to be coming in. The problem was that we had businesses reaching out to us early on wanting us to play BUT we could never have a date where all five us were available, mostly due to the two full time musicians who were already booked to play with other bands. So slowly but surely our potential to perform on stage became no, no, sorry we're not available, etc. All the places that wanted us kind of gave up. Now for most of 2021 and 2022 we were rehearsing once a week, every Sunday evening. This was great as were figuring out things with our music BUT one day our guitar player says "I'm not free on Sundays anymore. I've got a Sunday gig and I accepted that." At the same time, our drummer who's one of the most challenging people on this planet to reach (only by email) suddenly went MIA. Poof. Gone. No call, text, email. We just never heard from him again. Now, here's the kicker, I was inspired to start the band back in 2021 after reading a post by the guitar player that read "I love playing solo gigs but there's nothing like being in band." In my eyes, he's one of the most talented guitar players I know so I reached out to him and he said yes... BUT when he was no longer available on Sundays which was the ONLY day of the week, I knew we were in trouble. He was THE REASON I started this band in the first place... Damn.
So I pressed on. I replaced the drummer who went MIA with one of my dearest friends in life who we've been in bands together before. I got in contact with a former student who's an amazing bass player and who owns his own studio (big plus) and we somehow got together at our keyboard player's home last summer (with the original guitarist! miracle!) but that was it. That night we decided on starting the process to record a song that I wrote called "The Sky Above" and the second song would be a song called "Nobody Knows" that I co-wrote with our keyboard player. We got the first song recorded and released it in September of 2023. We began working on the second song and at this point I'm doing my best every single day to try to coordinate with our recording engineer and the members of the band on dates and times that worked. The problem was that the dates and times available at the studio didn't work for a few of the players or vice versa and it was clear to me that things were unraveling. In April, our guitar player who'd told us back in 2022 that he no longer had any evenings available to rehearse finally quit - via Facebook messenger. We released our latest single on July 26. Between the summer of 2023 and the summer of 2024, we'd all probably been in the same room for three hours in that entire span of a year. Everyone went and did their own thing in the studio for those last two recordings. I was there every step of the way. But, I would have to say that this band which I truly believed was going to be truly amazing fell short of all my expectations. We recorded some cool songs in three years but... We blew it. I blew it. So much time, energy, love and money went into this and it still failed and I'll own that for that rest of my life because I was the one who recruited and brought everyone together and I'm the guy who couldn't keep it intact. It'll be another "What if" band, sadly. Sigh.

[bloodmoon]

I’m trying to start a band but I need some extra advice on what I can do to make sure the band doesn’t fail

[jeanlucquionquion]

my question is what is the best way to go out and find musicians? Regarding for either playing for churches, different type of events, ETC

[Larrymh]

On you first point: we started a larger band with a three piece horn section. It was stated we were going to be a show band with minimum rehearsals. Take on a limited number of well paying gigs.

It soon devolved into a common bar band that rarely rehearsed fresh, new material. Even with the bizzazz of having horns, it soon got to be a drag.

[dalemcgregor]

Hey Terrence, there doesn't seem to be any mention of the ingredients necessary for a beginning band. That would be the chemistry between the band members. Recruitment is essential to any business' success. If you don't have the right people, the business will not likely succeed. A band is a business and that means the people have to be compatible. What are the elements of compatibility? First, they have to be able to listen to one another, especially when playing. A couple of prima donnas who don't work with others and are insisting on taking the stage in each performance piece and don't listen to the progression of the piece, giving and holding back at the right time, will certainly cause conflict and bad feelings in the band. Half the battle to getting an effective band together is the selection of the right band members who will contribute in an collective manner will help forward the creation of a new band. And the chemistry will show later on in gigs because the band will have a groove in their playing that makes for an enjoyable performance for the audience. Just some thoughts on the interpersonal dynamics behind effective bands.

[davidholden]

I’ve been in many bands over the years, successful ones and ones that never took off. He’s giving some really sound advice.

[AWCTB]

Yeah I got a 1 man band, 1 guitarist/vocalist in an EDM alternative rock band.

[ayuu.]

My greatest challenge is finding people who are COMMITTED. Most I’ve encountered aren’t into music serious enough to want gig. They just want to play for fun with no strings attached. I’ve been trying to find female bandmates as well and only managed to find a suitable vocalist while I’m the drummer. If any sg and wanna form a band, do reply my comment! Will love collab too!

[nomadnick]

A co worker and me wanna start a band & looking for a drummer with our similar tastes (motorhead, pantera, black sabbath, metallica, megadeth, etc). I got 20 years of experience behind guitars, but I aint been in a band in a very long time, super rusty far as playing with other musicians, & fighting to overcome a traumatic experience i developed the last time i performed in front of anyone. My friends been real supportive & dont wanna let him down since i barely know what im doing & we both tryin to find drummers.

[cjsamtab]

Informative video, Terence. The thing in where I'm at is that the music industry is very small, and established bands dominates and monopolises the market against new upstarts. This is Singapore here.

[CoolHotRocker]

First point was the best and something a lot of people are missing these days

[yemiabiona]

You're amazing and really made valid points here. My problem is the fear of starting out. I believe I have all the talent and deep knowledge of what I really wanted to do. How can I conquer this fear?

[MaddyP_guitar]

Right now we mainly need a microphone and a bass. We don’t have a bassist which is getting discouraging but we’re managing so far. This was a great video!

[nilsdettmann]

Really helpful video! Thanks for that. For me right now finding the right musicians and writing great songs feels the hardest😂

[everydaychemistry]

The whole virtual gig thing is genius, i wouldn't habe thought of it to be honest