Form a band, advertising, auditioning, poaching a musician, session musicians, band agreements, decide publishing splits, become a dj/mc/dance act, choose a name, write songs, rehearse, get a website, get some photos.
As with practically every aspect of the music business, there are actually no rules whatsoever; anything can happen in any way, shape or form and absolutely nothing can guarantee success or ensure failure. however, there are general guidelines and tried and tested methods which can maximise your chances and help you to avoid mistakes. The main thing to remember is don’t s**t on people on the way up coz you might need them on your way back down
The archetypical band consists of a bunch of mates who met at school or university and decided to form a band. This has its advantages in that there is likely to be a strong bond of trust between the members which will help to withstand any pressures later on; it’s almost more important that you like the people you work with than all having identical musical tastes as musical differences can be resolved or compromised on if you trust and like each other.
Not everyone is lucky enough to find themselves at school/uni with people able or willing to collaborate, but luckily there are other ways of finding people to work with. Try asking around at gigs, clubs and pubs, and tell all your mates to spread the word that you’re looking for people. Many successful bands have found members by advertising in the press (nme, kerrang, loot and the stage are the usual ones to try) or on rehearsal studio noticeboards. This can be disheartening but amusing at the same time; you may have to audition up to 50 people to find one with exactly the qualities you are looking for but at least you’ll meet a good cross-section of the musicians available in your area and this may prove useful later on… don’t forget it’s a small world and you never know who someone might be in a couple of years! The best approach with auditioning is to save time and expense by meeting up and playing each other some music (your own or your favourite bands). Try and find out if there’s enough common ground or chemistry to make it worth trying out in a rehearsal room.
Another option is to try and poach a musician from another band; if you’re at a gig and you see a musician playing who you think would be perfect, ask them if they’d be interested but be subtle! Some musicians and bands have a policy of being faithful to one project at a time; others are more flexible and prefer to play with as many people as possible. The latter type may well be session musicians and may require payment (rates can vary from around £50 a gig to hundreds) but some session musicians will play in your band if they like it on the understanding that you’ll pay them if you start to make money in the future.
When you’ve got your band together it’s a good idea to have a discussion about responsibilities, rights and finances very early on. It may seem premature but it’s best to get everything straight from the start so you can avoid arguments down the line. if the band takes off its a good idea to have a band agreement drawn up by a lawyer but initially you should have a verbal agreement covering things like; who owns the band name in the event of a split? Who is going to pay for rehearsals, equipment etc? How will you split the publishing money if and when you get a publishing deal? Who makes the decisions? Is it a democracy or does someone have the final say? Which musicians are full band members who will sign any future record deal and which are session musicians who will be on a wage rather than a split of advances and royalties?
Arguments about publishing splits have torn numerous bands apart; drummers and bass players often feel hard done by because the traditional way of dividing publishing money is 50% for the melody and 50% for the lyrics. This seems extremely unfair in a modern band set-up where everyone in the band contributes to the finished song and can result in members losing interest and the incentive to give their best. A good general guideline that many bands follow is to give every essential permanent non-writing band member a basic percentage (10-15% is usual) which will cover any small suggestions or arrangement ideas and then divide half the remainder amongst whoever wrote the music and half for the vocal parts.
If you’re trying to become an mc, dj or dance act, a huge record collection is essential consisting of both contemporary material so you’re up to date with the most recent styles, beats and production tricks, and obscure rare stuff to use as a source of inspiration. Once you’ve got your rhymes down or your mixing skills up to scratch the most important thing is to make contact with your local dance/club scene. Check out independent record shops where local dj’s source their material, look out for new clubs and open mike nights. MC’s need to find DJ/producers to work with to help with original backing tracks. DJ’s and dance acts can often work alone but will sometimes need mc’s, musicians and or dancers to collaborate with or to do live p.a.’s. These can all be found in similar ways to band members.. to find dancers, try putting ads up in dance studios.
When you’ve got your project together, obviously you need to choose a name. Sometimes this can happen spontaneously and naturally with everyone agreeing instantly that it’s the right name. If you’re having trouble you’re probably thinking too hard… unless it’s truly dreadful, most names become less important once people start to hear your music. Often the first decent idea is the best. It can be helpful to stylise the name into a logo or use a particular typeface to help give you an identity. If you want to check your name isn’t being used by someone else, you can go to www.bandreg.com to see if it’s been registered, or do an internet search to see if any band websites come up.
There are no set rules on how to write songs, a multitude of different approaches can get good results. Some bands find it easiest to write together in a rehearsal room by jamming out riffs and chord sequences; others prefer to work out the majority of a song before rehearsing with the band. It’s practically impossible to make every part of a song completely original as we all have to work with the same 12 note scale. The originality comes more from the arrangement, style, attitude, delivery and lyrical content.
Some writers, especially dance acts, often sample whole parts from other recordings and place them in a new context; others are more subliminally influenced by what they hear or copy the flavour or arrangement of someone else’s song. If you do sample another artist’s work, bear in mind that you will have to get ‘clearance’ for the sample before you can release your song; this can be expensive and cost thousands so make sure it’s worth it! Sometimes you may unintentionally rip off another song; many acts have been sued for royalties by artists claiming they have been plagiarised. The general rule is if a sequence of 8 notes or more is identical to someone else’s, it’s a rip off. Anything less can be said to be co-incidental. If you’ve never tried to write a song before, a good place to start is to examine one of your favourite songs by another artist. Notice how many different parts there are, how many bars to each section and the structure of the song eg. intro, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, middle 8, chorus. Then use this structure with your own riffs and chord sequences.
When you’re ready to rehearse, you need to find a suitable rehearsal studio. These can range in price from £5 per hour to £100 per day ‘lock out’ for a top of the range studio. Most of the cheaper studios expect you to book 4 hours at a time and the price includes the vocal p.a. and mics but no drum kit or amps. Some smaller studios do ‘all in’ deals where backline of a kit, 1 bass amp and 1 guitar amp is included. Make sure you know in advance what to take so you don’t end up having to hire backline on the day. Some rehearsal studios have storage cages to let (minimum £15 per week) so you can keep all your gear on the premises and save hassle.
If your band is very commited and you all have the time to rehearse lots, it’s worth looking around for a small studio or industrial unit where you can have your own room permanently and perhaps share it with one other band eg. one of you has weekdays, the other has evenings and weekends. This can be quite expensive but can be worth it if you’d be spending lots at a rehearsal room. Look in NME, loot, yellow pages and music shops to find rehearsal studios in your area. Lots of bands treat rehearsals as a social occasion involving beer etc; while it can be productive to rehearse in a relaxed atmosphere and have a laugh, try and spend the majority of the time actually playing.. you can always go for a drink together afterwards to discuss your social lives!! You can accelerate your progress by recording rehearsals on a mini-disk, lap-top or 4-track and giving copies to the band or getting together to listen to and discuss the results. Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to try and cultivate a good social relationship with your band; if you get somewhere you’re going to be spending a lot of time together so it helps to be friends!
It’s practically essential these days to get a website up and running as soon as possible. If you can’t do it yourself, try and find a friend who can do it free or cheaply; you can always improve and add to your site in the future if you start to get some income from your music. Make sure you have a mailing list section so you can notify fans and friends of forthcoming gigs, include lots of information about your band and photos if possible. Links to other sites relevant to your band are useful, e.g. to on line reviews and gig promoter’s websites. A forum where fans can discuss your music is a good idea, as is some way of users being able to hear a small piece of your music or download a song. You can also sell T-shirts, CD’s, badges etc through your website; if you want to do this you’ll need to figure out a payment method via credit/debit card or get a po box… don’t put your own address and phone number on the site!
At some point you’ll need to get some photos of you or your band to put on your website and/or to send with your CD if you’re trying to get industry interest. While it’s not essential to pay loads for a top photographer, they do need to be of reasonably good quality or else they’ll diminish rather than enhance your chances. You can get good results with a digital camera; try getting a friend to take some shots of you live on stage or in a cool outdoor location. If you don’t have a friend with a good eye, try contacting students on art or photography courses who will do photos free or cheaply if they need material for their portfolio.
When it comes to your image, the golden rule is; never wear anything on stage or for a photo shoot that you wouldn’t wear walking down the street or when you go out to a club. In other words, natural is best unless of course it’s part of your whole concept like Slipknot! Finally, whether you’re a musician, DJ, MC or dance act, one of the most essential things is… don’t be lazy! it’s a very tough competitive business and if you’re determined to make it you need to practice your craft as much as you can and if possible make sure you have good reliable equipment and instruments.