I’ve come across this question a few times over the past few months and thought I’d put something down here. The question normally goes something like this…
“hi, i’m a singer/songwriter but I don’t have a band… how can I play and perform or put together a band?”
Here is one way that I’ve used to solve this problem.
As a singer/songwriter you mostly write and play by yourself, initially you have plenty of opportunities to perform solo at open mic nights or at larger gigs depending on the size of your fan base. At some stage though you reach a point where you want a band to play bigger shows. I’ll let you in on a little secret about musicians… we play music because we LOVE IT, therefore, WE WILL PLAY YOUR MUSIC if we love it too. Now if you’ve done a few gigs and are getting good responses then you should start realising that your music doesn’t suck so start looking for a band.
There are many areas to look for a band, here is a short list:
1. if you play in other bands then ask them, or at least ask their thoughts of your music
2. look for musicians who you think would sound good playing your music -at other gigs, or at TAFEs, University, Tech Schools, even High School isn’t too young.
3. Advertise you are looking for particular musos on music websites or in the local street music mag.
one catch is DON’T THINK that you need to find ALL your band at once. If you have a drummer already that you love, keep them and fill in the gaps.
-One thought you need to start moving away from is the idea that you need the SAME band or you need the PERFECT band. These are both subjective opinions that delay your action.
You may find that some of your members are permanent and other spots in the band keep changing, that isn’t a problem, its just the nature of the industry. Once you start finding musos that you like make sure you don’t over rehearse the material. I’ve played in bands that have had 1 rehearsal together before a gig, but 3-5 rehearsals is not unreasonable. If you play with pro musos then 1 rehearsal with charts should be fine.
If you are going down the path of non permanent band then its a really good idea to make up some chord charts/lead sheets of your current material. You’ll find the musos will pick up the songs quicker and will consider the whole process easier to say ‘yes’ to.
Another thought is money. Most original bands won’t see any money until they break the big time or they generate enough of a fanbase to cover costs. If you are going down the singer/songwriter route consider some form of payment for your band members.
$50 for an original gig is okay, in fact even if its as low as ‘petrol money’ it will help your musicians feel valued and give them more reasons to play. As the events get bigger you can even offer a bit from the door or other sales avenues too.
anyone have some other ideas about how to be a success as a singer/songwriter?
to your success,
Matthias.
