How We Formed a BAND at Age 13 (that's still going today)!

-How We Formed a BAND at Age 13 (that's still going today)!
Some people have been asking how to form a band. Here's my story. I hope it helps inspire you to never give up or give into disappointments.
Thanks!!!

[metalfaceoff]

Me and some guys from school, had a band and we tried so hard. Jimmy quit, Jodie got married. We should’ve known, we’d never get far. But like you, when I look back now, those days seem to last forever. And they were the best days of my life!

[COBAIN.D]

Me and my mates tried putting a band together quite a few times in the past, it never worked out, it always turned into a drinking session and nothing ever got done. This went on for years.
I'm now 43, one of the guys im still best friends with and recently we've put together a Nirvana tribute (tribute to the music of) We we're just sat together one night and thought right let's do this, let's do Nirvana, the band we've always loved, it makes sense. So I put an ad out for a drummer, got a reply from a guy who lives not too far away, also into Nirvana and here we are, did some jam nights in Leeds a few month back and our first gig at a bar in my local town in Dec and we've more lined up. Couldn't be happier, I finally did it, we finally did it

[flamethegame]

I actually (a bass player) formed a band about 6 months ago, a little after i started high school (Im 16) with 2 guys from middle school i knew and a drummer a year older than us

Its going pretty well, we´ve covered The Trooper and Seek and Destroy, and we are creating some of our own material already!

[kanerm]

I started guitar about a year ago. I tried to start a band with one of my best friends, but it didn't really pan out because we wanted to make different types of music, so now I'm trying to convince my other friend to start playing drums again. Loved the video!

[dexxybetrayal]

I love hearing band origin stories.

Mine has a bit of a long one. When I was 16 I decided I really wanted to put this one band together. First run a had a group of guys that didn't seem insanely into it so I called it quits on it for a couple months thinking it was one of my crappy idea bands I came up with every couple months during that time. Fast forward a few months and I decide I really want to try it again and get two new guys I thought would be perfect. Thanks to the fact I was still in high school and two of us, including me, had full time jobs, and then eventually COVID, we didn't end up doing too much, partly because we wanted to do the whole meetup and write thing and we neglected the write by yourself and bring it to the other guys thing. Then we finally had a full lineup of two guitars, vocals, bass and drums. Second guitar player thought the music I wanted to do wasn't really the style he specialized in (we wanted to do Metalcore/Post Hardcore while he wanted to do more indie rock/pop punk stuff) and I replaced him with a guy who ended up getting a new job ended up leading him to not have the time to even hang out with his friends, let alone do a band. Drummer ended up leaving to do a new band. Bass player same story except he turned out to be a massive piece of shit (abuser) so guess I dodged a bullet. Vocalist I found out WAS a massive piece of shit (woman/child beater) so naturally he had to go. Then my whole depression kicked in of me thinking that maybe music wasn't for me and that I should try something else and what not. Then i started talking to an old friend who said he was down to help out, then eventually saw a guy that had some pretty cool vocal covers that was down to join. And a guy who really wanted to join a band so he started playing bass for us. My old friend ended up leaving to focus on his own project and we disagree on a constant direction for the band which did head us a bit down hill, but after dealing with a couple flakes, we got some songs that are almost done and we plan to have stuff out this year and hopefully plan to play out and we even discuss possibly doing a tour.

Here's my advice to you reading this.

1. Before actually getting people to join your band, come up with a concept. Name, genre, your imagine, hell write full songs. No they don't have to be Bohemian Rhapsody or Master Of Puppets, but something you can show to people that would be interested in joining your band. Yes you could say "I wanna make music like Avenged Sevenfold" but that alienates people who would potentially be perfect for your band, who don't like A7X. How do you write these songs you maybe asking? Well if you play guitar, just put together some kick ass riffs you write into a song, program the drums, and maybe even attempt to sing over them. Don't know how to do any of that? LEARN! Don't wanna learn or don't have the time? Fiverr will be your best friend. Don't worry, it's not just pop artists who don't write all their songs once you start meeting people. Hell, the fiverr guy may end up joining, or at least becoming fans of you guys.

2. If you want to become the next big thing. Work towards it. Look into any big band you can think of. They all started from nothing and worked their way to the top. You don't start out as some crappy local band and magically one day get approach by some big record label guy and instantly start selling out the Wemblys and MSGs of the world. Utilize the living fuck out of social media. Especially tiktok. That's where all the young folk are at. Trust me. You want them on your side asap. As annoying as it is, spam invites on facebook and spam follow fans of bands you sound like. Yeah it's annoying but it still better than doing nothing.

3. Do thorough research on band members. Make sure they're not horrible people. And if they seem clean, make sure they don't go down the wrong rabbit holes and nothing comes out. If that ends up happening. Kick them tf out. If Vic from Pierce The Veil can throw out this own brother, you can throw out the rando who started sharing Qanon shit or came out to have slept with a teenaged girl. The last thing you want is something that will cause a PR nightmare that'll ruin your name.

[Drawman]

Fantastic story. Brought back some great memories of my failed school band. In 1990, Playing "Ride" was a long way off for us, but "Creeping" was our go to song.

[Jimmy-ndqu]

I’m 15 and me and my sister are forming a band. We have a guitarist but we’re struggling to find a bassist. You have inspired me so much to play guitar and make a band. Thank you

[willjones]

I formed a band about six months ago, I was 12 then and I’m 13 now

[ThatsGuitarist]

This was an awesome story, Mike! I'm trying to start a band and haven't had any luck yet but after this summer I'll be in High School so I'm sure I'll find some people who like the same music and have the same passion to play music like I do

[WendyMcCor]

Love watching your channel and hearing all of your background guys are awesome....hope I get to meet you someday !!....keep it going mike !

[Highine]

Great story, can't wait for the sanctus documentary you were talking about, ill definitely be watching!!

[HannahCope]

🤘🏻🔥 Congrats on 778k Subscribers! Oo full documentary, that sounds awesome! Looking forward to that! That random house story always makes me laugh. So glad you guys found each other, I bet that first time you all played together felt incredible. Long live Sanctus 🤘🏻 you guys are honestly awesome! 🔥

[chris.bradshaw]

Amazing story. This has brought back a lot of memories and feelings for me as I'm sure it will for everyone. Thanks man!

[stash]

I was in a band for 10 years with really good friends. It was a blast. We then got married and had kids and that was that. We still jam every great once in awhile though

[reptilianexotics]

I play bass/vocals and can play guitar and I started a band with my brothers.

[musemuser]

Actually, my first band was when I was in 8th grade. We sucked and it ended. Got another band with all my friends from my small town when I was in 11th grade(progressive speed metal). We continued and made a few EPs and toured Texas doing several gigs with a band that was well known named Watchtower... Billy White was my guitar teacher (Don Dokken (solo album), Watchtower...). Great memories and some wild gigs on the road.
🔥🎸🔥

[Keratosedeath]

I am lead guitarist and vocalist... I have one of my really good friend who's also lead guitarist... But we have that trouble all the time to find out bassist and drummer for our college band "Thrash Titans" because in India (where I am from)... People don't listen much to metal and rock music so it's really hard though.

[becksvlogs]

I just started my first band! My friend plays guitar and drums, as do I, and his brother plays bass. Then our two friends sing. Sadly, our singers just left for college, so the band is on hiatus until we find another steady lineup. The Sanctus story is downright inspiring. Hope you guys keep rocking!

[rockoutvideography]

Great video. I have really been enjoying your fix this band videos. It brings back great memories. I'm 55 and my band from the 90s had a reunion 10 years ago and we have been back together gigging and recording ever since. My teenage kids are now starting to play with their friends in our studio and are lucky enough to have the ultimate garage band experience. Your story is so close to my own, and many others as well. I feel sorry for the kids that don't get to experience the teenage musicians garage band journey.

[sneakyjackson]

My Band started because of a Rock Band course at school. It was with a group of guys I was familiar with but I was only really friends with our bassist. I didn’t feel like I was a real part of the band though, being a keyboard player in a grunge/metal band, but I slowly built up more confidence, and we’re now writing an album and recording demos. One breakthrough moment for me was trying to sing “Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains when the band was jamming. I sang the verses quietly in the background, but I really went for it on the chorus and I startled the whole band. I started to think “I can kind of sing”, and I got a lot better at playing my instrument and now I feel like a true musician.