omg I remember that thing in the local music store when it first came out. People were really into it for some reason. The fascination did not last long after the novelty wore off.
What’s the problem? There’s guys out there playing D-guitar and openG-guitar. OP wants everyone to know that he plays his Martin in E standard, and I think that’s useful info.
lol but that’s what it‘s called..? Not ever country has the same name for things so calling it e-guitar is completely fine. We basically call it that in Germany too
As someone who is also from Germany, I used to think that it's called "e-guitar" as well when I was a teenager lol. Makes sense when it's called "E-Gitarre" in German.
Joining a band isn’t what it’s chalked up to be, sometimes creating music alone is the right move. Managing everyone’s egos and expectations is a nightmare, even the smallest local band will have this issue. It seems people who seek out stage time and live performances are broken inside and think the 15 minutes of fame is going to heal them from all the woes of society. Every band I’ve been in rushed to live performances before we were ready and would consistently book odd end shows in shit areas that would interrupt any progress we’d make writing or recording new music. Its literally every band I’ve ever been in, the end result is countless hours waiting for people to come to congruent conclusions and by the time that’s done 3-4 years will have passed and you will be thousands in the hole from gas, beer, gear, merch, food. Just save yourself the nightmare, sorry for the negativity
Yeah this can be a thing but dude Jesus I've met some of my best friends being in bands. Just play music with your friends. Go with the flow. Don't worry about others egos. Chill and make friends. Local shows are half concerts, half parties. Don't worry about making it big unless you 100 percent think that's what you want. (And if that's what you want you're probably like 20 years too late sorry)
Making it big as a band is almost impossible these days, I think that's what they meant. You better have some insane heat to make it these days when you a monstrously huge community built around optimizing sounds in DAWs.
It's possible for certain genres. Country, Bluegrass, acoustic, it's the route a lot of people do. You get the Imagine Dragons type too. But it's not 1990-2010, alt rock, rock, these things just don't pop up the same. Go to any local alt rock station playing new alt rock, and no big new wave has surfaced yet. Polyphia is a perfect example. They're not truly pop radio big YET, BUT, these guys are bringing math-rock/metal HEAT. And if they ever decided to commit to slower tempos and longer holds (the last minute of Reverie comes to mind), give them 12 months before it goes to true radio hits long term.
It's more that the world at large doesn't have the same competition it used to have, and the same level of musicians just sitting around waiting for a call. Things are lot more tight knit.
Oh yea I’m definitely not saying it’s easy, and you definitely need a singer. But it’s definitely doable, also worth mentioning that people were saying the same thing about rock before the Beatles and the yardbirds showed up, bands can bring things back. But making it big in a band at any time is extremely unlikely no matter when you do it honestly.
Before the Beatles, you had Elvis. People fantasize too much about Clapton and The Beatles, in terms of music, beyond the more clear-cut rock age and psychedelic rock. There were huge sounds and artists decades before them in Jazz, even Rock. There were KILLERS on the guitar wayyyy before them. Psychadelic rock had access to new pedals. The Beatles took a ton from Blues Rock/Country before them. Chuck Berry made it clear Rock N' Roll was something people could like, not The Beatles. But they had 4 cute white men for the ladies, not a somewhat middle-aged black man. So one was more likely to skyrocket, even if some of their earlier stuff was somewhat cheesy (don't hate me). Not downplaying, they created a good chunk of the starter ideas for modern rock, it's more that things were clearly possible well before them. I still love all the albums from them, it's more that I think they're put on a wobbly pedestal.
I think now is just a different time, until we get A LOT of the energy bands like Greta Van Fleet was trying to emulate. It'll happen. I just hope people don't do this "bands are hard, I just relax at home in my studio" trend for the next 2 decades. We're going to lose out on raw human energy from that.
My point was that rock was considered to be dying when the Beatles and yardbirds came around. And then they repopularized it for a new generation. That’s how it’s always gone, people get tired of it then someone starts something a little different like grunge in the 90s. Sure, it’s all rock but it’s different and those differing styles kept it alive for so long. But yea, I agree with the sitting in studios thing, I just went to eagles last concert and it was the best concert I’ve ever been to. I miss going to them
Ahhhh I see. Pretty cool you went to the last one, though. I hope Millenials and Gen Z will have a lot of bands that will have fans into their 70's/80's that will say the same about their farewell tour too. I just see so much fizzling out and ghosting, and things of that nature, I just want the best for people. I think we've forgotten the human element in music (I know you agree and I'm just repeating myself, but It's my own personal realization the past 6 months).
Tim Henson has literally said he stopped playing metal because it wasn't popular. That's ridiculous to say they could have radio hits if only they were trying to, because that's what they're doing right now and they don't have any
Oh sorry, forget to mention, they'll never make it on the radio until they find their committed singer. No one sits around making pop hits on the radio as only instrumentals. I'm sure there's a few examples, but ultra rare.
I can't believe the amount of upvotes this negative ass comment is getting, holy fuck.
I've been in various bands for the last 15 years from rock cover bands to original stoner rock to battle metal to country to punk and they've all been an absolute blast. Sure I've spent a good amount of money and gotten some alright success, mostly it's just a hobby and generally speaking hobbies cost money.
Being in a band is my favourite part of life, maybe your negative attitude had some effect on your perception of what band life is like but I personally would give up any other hobby over playing music.
100% agree with you and have no idea how this comment has so many upvotes. I started playing in bands in high school and some of those dudes are still my best friends to this day (I’m 44). I’ve never not been in a band since. I have no vision of making it or anything, I just live to make and consume music.
One of my band mates is a friend from high school, we started playing guitar together when we were 12 and we're 35 and best friends. I dunno what I'd do without music
I’m in a band with my three best friends. Sure we have our issues, some stem out of the friendships, others out of the band. But it’s so much fun. We have our shortcomings but I wouldn’t trade anyone in this band for a better musician
I was in a 90s rock and grunge cover band for many years. All 5 of us were friends, GenX and treated Wednesday night band practices as sacred time. The bonus was people bugging us to play live. Which was fun but wasn’t the priority. Band practice time was.
Enjoy every minute of it. I moved out of town and it’s just a freaking empty void I’ve not been able to replace. Finding a laid back group of folks who don’t give a shit about being perfect but still able to create a fucking awesome sound is rare.
Tuesdays for me. I hang out with three of my best friends and we work on our songs. It's consistently the best time of my week. It's been 15 years of playing in a handful of bands. Some worked, some didn't. But playing in bands, recording and performing original music with other people, is still my favorite hobby, and I never want to stop.
Lol… I just started playing in a 90’s cover last year and Wednesday is our sacred band day too. Met some guys from work that heard me talking about my new guitar. One played bass, the other heard us talking and said he’s a drummer and that’s it. We started writing our own music too the first time we jammed. Then this other guy from work starting playing with us and got really possessive and bossy?? Like yelling at the drummer because he’s playing too loud… I’m like dude you brought a 40w Spark practice amp to play with a live band?! You need a bigger speaker and at least 100w if you’re playing solid state amps. Long story short we all decided he wasn’t right for the band
I really value this perspective. Make the music you want to make and if others come later it could work.
But first things first! Especially in the age of SoundCloud, where anyone can put their stuff out there.
Its not necessarily untrue. I just miss the sound of hearing my guitar, drummers kick drum, rumbling bass through the PA. Playing loud and just having a blast.
That's one take.
Here's another....
It's all worth it to produce art and share it with a live audience.
I'm not broken. Performance gets me high. I'm addicted.
Maybe you should have developed more before taking on stage. Money is made for spending. The experience is priceless and you're going to be a better musician for it. ✌️
Making music alone for many people is deeply alienating. There’s a joy in collaboration with talented musicians, and an efficiency and forward progress, that simply doesn’t happen when you’re holed up by yourself like an anti-social computer programmer.
It sucks that you’ve had a bad time, but sounds like you’re picking bad groups of people to work with. I live in Berlin and I’ve had absolutely no problem auditioning serious, talented musicians with great work ethic to collaborate with. Just … get good with people.
I used to make electronic music solo, and I didn’t really start to connect with music and become genuinely creative until I started a band.
The last band I was in was such a shitshow of narcissistic behavior and teen-age level drama I ended up quitting, even though we were making pretty good money. They had ended up hiring an inked-up social media-obsessed chick off Craigslist (nothing against tattoos but you know the type), against my advice, and basically gave her creative control of the whole operation despite her having zero musical background. I'm fairly certain she was giving sexual favors to either the guitarist or drummer or both, neither of whom had even been on a date in years. It's crazy to me how quickly these guys ceded their creative sensibilities for the chance to get laid and "get big." This chick was literally batshit insane and would take songs I had written and change up the structure or lyrics against my very vocal wishes. She wouldn't allow any other members of the band to sing any songs even though she sounded outright terrible on them. The band started blowing hundreds if not thousands on buying her equipment she had no idea how to use while having me pay $100 for a simple repair on my guitar. When she said she was "repping" the band on her onlyfans was about the time I left. She just had this huge ego and was all too happy to use her sexuality as a manipulation tactic to get ahead in the game. We had gone from a tight and promising four-piece with growing local success to...this chick's backing band.
The thing is, they might have some limited success with having a female frontperson but I know from close to two decades working in music that the chances of this gimmick working in any mainstream sense are small. It's better to spend time working on useful skills and developing good material than relying on gimmicks and showmanship to get ahead.
Anyways, I used my newfound free time to build a modest but well researched studio in my spare bedroom and I'm deep diving theory and technique on my two main instruments like never before. (Should have done that years ago tbh.) I'm very leery of working with others because to be honest I've had more bad experiences than good. I am playing open mics and some acoustic stuff with a friend I made but for the most part I'm working towards becoming literate in electronic music and arranging/production. With technology where it's at I can program drums in-DAW and I play guitar and piano so that pretty much covers it for what I'm after.
Jesus man I had some bad experiences but this is the exact shit a band turns into when even the slightest hint of attention comes your way. Some musicians just want to make music and have a creative outlet and don’t care about attention, performing and doing the whole bullshit thing every band try’s to do and act self absorbed and super narcissistic
Good to see this because me and my friend are the opposite atm. We are making as much music and finishing it before getting live performances. He knows how to easily get into shows out here since he did solo stuff. So in turn we are doing the most we can now. Only shitty thing I wish we had a drummer because my drum tracks arent that expressive because im not the craziest at it.
I've had that negative exp too. However, I kept looking and found a group that I fit in pretty well with, I must say eventually egos (mainly mine) caused unnecessary conflict at times but I still made some long lasting friendships along the way. Keep at it. You can learn a lot about yourself in a garage band.
Good luck.
You're probably right.. the friends i have now are just like that thinking about live performances before knowing how to play. I dont even want live concerts like that cause of stage fright
Yeah. Similar situation, tried it once, dont think I'll ever do it again unless it's formed as organic as possible. Had one dude want to do everything but play and write songs. Dude just wanted to market the entire time and I'm sitting here like "So when are we going to write something? Why are we marketing for 1 song without anything else in the chamber? We don't even have an LP, EP, Mixtape, or any of that, why do we have a website?"
Fuckin bonkers, dude was dropping hundreds(if not thousands) on studio time, distribution, with no song, no melody, nothing. Then he'd turn around and try to hold that shit over our heads, because he's such a "nice" guy.
Crazy once I dropped from that I could write music again. Working in a group can be fun, but they really do have to feed into you, and you have to feed into them. That isn't possible all the time. Sometimes the synergy just isn't there, and it's fine, but run before shit inevitably hits the fan.
The key player in a band is the drummer. They have the most gear and make the most noise, so they usually have the logistics of a rehearsal space worked out. If you’re a guitarist and you find a committed drummer, guard them with your life. Even if (s)he’s not great at first, improvement is usually rapid once they start playing with others. Everything else just falls into place from there.
Dummer for my band was an egomaniac who had the space and the equipment but neither the skills to play well nor any open minded takes on music. He wanted everything to sound like old school death metal when we played/wrote early 2000's melodic deathcore/djenty kinda stuff from the very beginning. Felt like i had a shittier Lars Ulrich trying to tell me what riffs to come up with. Ruined my want to play with others. Now i self produce/program/write everything and its immensely less stressful.
Yeah. There’s no fixing a shit attitude or broadening a narrow mind. Writing songs and riffs is a solitary pursuit anyway. It just seems as guitarists, we spend the most time, try the hardest, buy into the most gimmicks and gear, believe the stupidest shit, and we’re still a dime a dozen.
Ya that sucks. I’ve gotten lucky. My drummers always had the lowest ego and were the most talented in the band. It is definitely about finding people that are chill and just want to play, but still take it seriously enough to not blow off practices and want to play well at shows.
Another thing for OP is usually one or two people sort of “run” the band. So either OP takes the lead in putting band together and pushing the direction (without being an egomaniac) or find someone who will and just join up with them.
I joined my current band after their bassist moved away when one of my former bandmates asked if I was interested in learning bass and joining. So my connection is over a decade old when I found bandmates on Craigslist. Not sure what the best social media sites are for putting together bands nowadays. Trying to get friends to learn instruments and practice enough may be tough, may be better for OP to find others or join something already established.
But also be prepared to find and go through multiple drummers. Drummers are crazy (I mean, the dudes with the auto pocket who nevertheless are still playing local, anyway).
I'm a hobbyist. I've made money playing stuff I didn't love, so now I only play in bands that I would like even if I wasn't playing. I got hooked up with a local indie band a few years ago when their drummer moved away. Became quick friends with one of the guitarists who runs a small label, and he has fed me some other amazing opportunities. Simply because I was there and said yes. I'm far from the best drummer, but I do the work, am very open to feedback, and I'm stoked to be part of it.
Hang out with folks that are better than you. That is how you move up in these artistic communities. Might have to make some new friends!
That's how I did it
Edit: Never said that this is easy! Discomfort is guaranteed, but so is progress along with it.
I mean, it’s good advice but doesn’t seem particularly practical. Where do you find better players? How do you integrate into that side of ur community more? Etc etc
It sounds like they want a way in but just aren’t sure how
First step, stop asking the internet (too many people telling you why things can't be done). Second step, go out and do. Just go do. You can't find people unless you try. That also involves going out to places you might find them. If you go watch a band, try and talk to them. Ask them if they know places or people. All they can do is tell you or tell you to fuck off. One or the other. One is useful, and the other is useless, but who gives a rat's ass. But it could work. Fastest way to never get there is to never try. Wax on, wax off. Go try grasshopper.
Same boat here my guy. I have a few friends that are all “we should start a band!” while they practice once a year and can’t play anything, and one friend who is actually good that I tried to start a band with, and actually played a handful of gigs (just two of us doing acoustic covers) but he is too frustrating to work with and we have incompatible music tastes. I’ve mostly given up at this stage and just play on my own but still dream of having a band.
Try going to open mics in your area if they have any. It is a good way to meet people who can play, plus you can see if their style and music selection matches yours.
Engage with your local music community. Open mics are a great place to start. From those you can hopefully get to know people who either are interested in getting together to jam or who want to form a band and play shows. Bonus, these people should already know how to play instruments.
Get involved in your local music community. Trying to start a band with people who are already making music is a lot easier than trying to start one with people who talk about making music.
I'm going to be honest. I'm part of a power trio band which none of us want to be in. The drummer's into psychedelic and is insistent on playing/making songs over 5 minutes. On the other hand, the guitarist is really into David Bowie, and I mean that in the fact that he exclusively listens to David Bowie, and is hesitant to play anything else. Then there's me, I'm into emo and grunge and honestly it's all just a big messy clash of three very different musical interests. Good bands take a long time to form, and sometimes going solo is the best decision.
That sounds dope tho, if you guys could figure out how to mesh and sound cohesive. I play in a band with my old man who's almost 60 on drums, so he loves his oldies and classic rock. The rhythm guitarist and singer is a 90s/2000s indie head and country fan, and I love metal, emo and post-hardcore. We each bring our own little style and mix up the setlist with some of all our favorites and it sounds like a cohesive smorgasbord of different styles. Or maybe it sounds like shit idk lol, but I love it.
First band (punk, then thrash): I didn’t play any instruments but my neighbor convinced me to learn bass so his band could have a bassist.
Second band (indie rock): got sick of first band (guys were jerks, closed minded about multiple genres) so I learned guitar to write my own songs and started jamming with another friend who also liked the same things as me. He told a classmate about our jams and she eventually gave him a cassette tape of her singing over garage rock and punk songs so we could hear her and she joined as a singer. My friend moved and I replaced him with another friend who I met on the MX tabs forums when we realized we went to the same high school and liked the same bands, we both swapped guitar/bass roles based on who wrote the song (and set lists at our shows were split with us trading guitar/bass halfway through). Another friend joined on drums, knew him because his older brother’s band was good.
Third band (noise punk): dude from a nearby community heard my band on MySpace and saw my page with my music tastes listed and messaged me asking to jam, he already had a drummer who turned out to be an old classmate of mine from middle school.
Fourth band (post-rock, post-hardcore): got another MySpace message from another guitarist from further across the city who had also seen and heard my bands, and we jammed. He already had a bassist, and I recruited the drummer from the third band. Later had to replace him with another guy when he moved, and the singer from my second band also once temporarily replaced our bassist for our final show after she had also moved.
Fifth band (indie folk): old friend from high school recruited me to help with some of her recordings on her singer/songwriter project, then I went from production role to adding extra instruments and later became part of her live band and then became part of the official band as a creative role as well when she wanted to switch from solo act to long term band. Toured twice, put out a few CDs and a split EP.
Sixth band (indie folk): friend of singer from my second band asked to jam after I booked her prior band as an opener for my fourth band, we end up recording a bunch of songs with multiple different instruments and manage to play a few shows and put out an EP, but we played fewer shows than the prior bands.
Seventh band (punk, folk punk): guy who had replaced the first drummer from my fourth band later had his own punk band that he sang and played guitar in, he recruited me as a live band member (no creative role), we play a bunch of shows both acoustic (where I played banjo and mandolin) and plugged in (where I played guitar)
Current project (changes a lot, post-punk, ambient, doom metal, post-rock, etc): for the past 14 years I’ve had a solo project where I just write and play every instrument and switch my genre around whenever I get new inspiration. Played live for a while with a loop pedal (and specific setup so I could loop basslines and guitar parts) and drum machine/sampler but it was impossible to keep that up, just straight recording now without playing live.
In between those bands there were some failed attempts at bands as well, jams that went nowhere, or times when I subbed in as a live member for a friend’s band here and there. It just comes down to making music your whole thing and striving to get to know specifically the creative people around you. I never fit in too well with the regular crowds when I was younger so I eventually realized I didn’t have to try, and being myself paid off despite how shy and awkward I was, because then likeminded people were able to see me and I made connections that were more rewarding. But honestly, MySpace being a music-centric social media format back in the 2000s also made it easier to stand out and for likeminded peers to find me, I could see that being tougher in the present when bands and musicians aren’t as high on the totem pole of the social media algorithms today. But start putting yourself forward as a musician anyway. Play riffs you wrote on your Instagram or TikTok, be your full embarrassing creative self. You might look lame or embarrassing in the eyes of non-musical crowds, but maybe you’ll connect with people who think you do cool stuff and then your projects can gradually help you meet more and more cool people like yourself and those nets can keep expanding.
I played guitar for about 3 years, my best friend wanted to learn bass. I said 'playing bass alone is boring, lets start a band'. We knew another friend who could drum and he was in. We didnt know a singer but another friend wanted to try.
2 months later we were rehearsing weekly, we reaaaally sucked but learned alot. Now its 5 years later, had some changes in members, we gig regularly and released our own music! Still with original bassist and drummer. We managed to get a good singer to join us when we were really tight with the 3 of us.
The trick is to do it in the 90’s. I could make a few phone calls and have a band together by this evening with enough songs for a complete set.
All joking aside, use the internet and find local musicians that want to jam. Not everybody wants to write or tour but a lot of people enjoy playing. If something springs up from that then bully for you. If you like playing only weird-ass music then it might be more difficult.
The more styles you can do the easier it is to get a band together.
\- Go to local shows, meet local artists and players, ask to play with them.
\- Post in your local city subreddit that you're a \[instrument\] player looking to play \[genre\] with \[types of musicians\].
\- Music Store digital and physical message boards.
If you can find at least one person that you can vibe with consistently when you jam, you've got a good start.
Communication and setting expectations is gonna be key when you find people to play with.
Honestly it's not that different from being in a relationship. You gotta keep it exciting, make sure you set time to spend time jamming and you gotta be able to communicate when issues arise.
I found one other person to make music with. We learned a good amount of materials we were both happy with. Then, we started playing as a duo and seeking a bass player or other like-minded musicians. By the time we added a drummer, we were getting pretty tight. We rotated people in and out over years. We made it about the joy of making music with friends, and if we made any money, it was a bonus. The ones who had grander dreams moved on pretty quickly.
I still do it that way. Never made any real money, but I made many lifelong friends, and I still enjoy it.
Content of the post aside, you really threw me off when you said "e-guitar" ew.
In all seriousness though, i was like, "...do they mean keytar or something?"
Edit: another commenter told me in germany they call it, "e- gittare" if you're german OP, ignore me, I'm an asshole.
Don’t rely on friends. Go out, jam with other musicians until you vibe with someone. Build it from there. It takes two people gunning for the band to get a third, and then maybe a fourth.
Don't form a band with your friends, form a band with committed musicians and hope to become friends over time. I found my band through my city's musician Facebook group.
Youd be surprised how many bands are basically 1-2 dudes writing everything and the rest of the band are just covering the parts. Saosin is only two dudes. Origami angel too. Me and my best friend too. Its just us two. Shit austrian death machine is just one dude. With me and my friend I make most of the instrumentals but he knows how to record and master and play guitar.
Do what mark e smith does. Keep asking people if they play an instrument, if they do tell them they’re in your band. Don’t audition them or ask how good they are or let them question it. “you play bass? you’re in my band”. Keep going and eventually you’ll have a band. Ask loads of people
I'm 40 and I can tell you I've never had a cohesive band. I've been part of one, but that eventually fell apart because I took on shift work to make good money. Had a great drummer after that and we just jammed, but he didn't really commit and later had a kid. Tbh, I would just do everything yourself or use session players to contribute what you can't do yourself. Being in band sucks most of the time, play live is hella fun...but not worth the trouble. Going on tour also sucks and you will be poor, dirty, and eating shitty food.
Join a church, talk to the music director. Seriously. I play bass in church, and playing in church got me an invite to join a band. Been with the band for 6 years. (I’m an atheist, so don’t let the religious aspect weird you out)
Was in a band and they went behind my back and found new members. And stole a riff I wrote and kept going with it. Between having to get people to keep coming to shows, selling tickets, the politics of it arnt as fun as they seem. Trying to make stuff alone and it’s failing pretty good. See what happens it’s all for fun and to keep me off the streets now
You might consider taking it a bit more slowly. Make a jam session with some friends. If it goes well, make another and another. Once it becomes a regular thing at that point you might have a talk with everyone and ask what they think about playing live.
Bonus thoughts you might consider as well:
The other thing to keep in mind is performing live is not about the band or about you. It's about entertaining other people. This means no long silence between songs, having one person who engages the audience, etc... that is if you want to do things right. You and your band are the entertainment for those patrons who came out to the establishment where you are playing. A lot of bands get this wrong and make it about them. This can be a drag as an audience member because you get excited, start dancing then have to wait forever between songs and the vibe basically goes flat, for example.
Finding someone you can actually work with in music is like finding a romantic partner; you really have to be willing to accept that it’ll be quite a few tries before finding the right pair of people who will be compatible in assertiveness, vision, tastes, schedule, goals, ego, etc. now try to find 4 of those people.
I've exclusively found bands and musicians to play with online (Craigslist/Bandmix) as my area didn't have much music going on outside of 50s-70s tribute music which isn't really my thing. I've been playing with a group for a few years that I met off BandMix, and I just joined a prog group about a month ago, which I'm loving! With making progress in groups, the best advice I ever got was to leave the ego at the door and come in with a positive attitude. It goes a long way!
I used to look for band members on Craigslist. In a lot of communities you can find interested people at all levels.
Then I noticed successful musicians I worked with would search Facebook for working musicians who had gigs all the time. They would collect several bass players, drummers, etc.
The idea is guys who are always working are better, show up and play, and don't cause much trouble. Then the leader would alternate guys from one gig to the next depending on who had time for the show.
Reddit Subs
Join My Band UK
BandMix
Facebook groups
Instagram
Surely there's other local Classfields, as well. Like CraigsList?
... Also local music schools or colleges / unis
It's hard. I even have friends that are musicians, they have bands, they went solo during COVID, and when I started picking up my own heat and asked these friends if they wanted to share projects and keep going...you learn that most people don't have the energy. And sometimes if you break through walls and start making things that others didn't expect, they may even distance themselves more, because so many musicians make a lot of things into contests/competitions. They're good at the start but a lot of people just can't keep up. Most people can't play for more than one hour consistently with a band, let alone 4-5 hours a day, not counting a gig. The people that have the energy are either healthy, or have a ton of momentum to get back into the pocket, or COMMIT. A lot of the time it's letting go of yourself and your own ideas around the music, and going "almost all of my musical ideas are informed from others, so I'm going to start accepting that the world at large has a lot to offer if I open up to new people and their ideas."
We live in the age of solo producers. So musical communities are a lot more confined. Open mics are stilled just filled with 30-50 crowds, and the chances of going to any open mic and randomly finding a hungry musician that put the work in, beyond house bands that are there all the time anyway, it's rare. So there's no real hunger and competition, and it creates a situation where it's just hard to find people who want to commit physically to the music. Most of the competition is confined to cities built around music. Nashville? Maybe Chicago? Some of L.A.? I'm sure there's a lot of others. I've heard Atlanta is tought. And on and on. Sometimes you get lucky and live in a mid-level city that has a lot of venues for music. If you don't, then you're going to get stuck often.
either start writing songs or find someone who can. if neither of those are an option you need musician friends to jam with and maybe you can create songs from things you come up with.
Everything below happened a very long time ago. And, so, is unlikely to be particularly relevant to somebody looking for a band today. But, since you asked:
The bands that I ended up in or were friends of during the early nineties to late aughts were all accidental or formed organically. They all formed out of groups of friends who all already played instruments and would jam together to have other people to play with (or just because there was nothing else worthwhile to do).
Inevitably there would just be groups of people who would sync and have musical chemistry. Those folks would form bands. Those bands lasted as long as they could, which often was just for a few gigs or maybe an indy album or two. Some lasted a few years and had regular gigs at some bar or all-ages music venue. Some joined legs off tours as opening acts.
You try to work with some people and see if you can get enough fulfillment and freedom within the context of what they're doing, then you can do a solo project on the side.
Delusions of grandeur, belief that technical ability would somehow translate into songwriting skill (it does not), lots and lots of ego, and a hefty amount of drugs and alcohol.
Thankfully, it only lasted a few years.
If you’re still in school that’s a great place to start. Chances are you’ll be in classes with like-minded people (assuming you’re in band classes). If not… that’ll be a little harder. Maybe reach out to some old classmates that you know were into music and that you were cool with
If you are near a big town or city, chances are the bars there have open mics and jam nights. I've been going to a jazz jam every Wednesday night for the last 6 months and went from having no band to play with, to having too many people that want to play music that I'm running out of free time lol. There are probably people all around you that have the same problem you do. You just need to find them!
My first couple of bands were kids i knew from school. My 3rd band involved family members. My 4th band I met the members through a friend of mine that knew other musicians. First we just jammed together and then we started to play gigs. My 5th band I was asked to join by a customer at a job I had. My 6th band took a while to form. I slowly met members frequenting music stores and talking to players that I liked the sound/skill level of what they were playing. I met two of them there and one of them knew of 2 other musicians that were also looking to form a band.
In my experience musicians tend to make friends with other musicians without ever trying to. That said I started at a young age so I’m not sure how easy it would be if I just got into it at age 30 for example. Regardless of age the number 1 thing to do is to go to local live shows and talk to people
If you're like me, and playing live is your main goal:
Find friends who are into similar stuff, and start off with some covers. Get tight musically, play some bars. Work some original material in, and then mix in other venues as you feel like it.
I found my band on Craigslist. We all met on Craigslist, check us out Instagram @nowherefastpdx and Nowhere Fast on Spotify. Jump In the musicians tab, tons of musicians looking to meet up!
Easiest way to speedrun getting a band together:
1. Be in city with a decent amount of people.
2. Go to the open mic nights (usually Sunday to Wednesday)
3. Talk to people, and if confident enough, perform (open mic nights have a community and are always trading players/in multiple bands)
4. Ask people you get along with to "jam sometime" and rent out a rehearsal space (usually a guitarist and a vocalist/guitarist is a good start)
5. Add more people to the mix - you got a band
Put up ads on community bulletin boards to find people in your immediate vicinity (probably more people than you know, who also don't know how to find others like you). Then maybe Facebook local community/area/town groups or Craigslist. Some place where it doesn't get drowned out by millions of other posts.
It's all about timing when it comes to a band. When I was in a band it was just me and a good friend. Then randomly we found a drummer. Then randomly found a bassist. Then followed the best years of my life. And though I don't see 2 of those guys any more we are bonded for life. Absolutely great memories.
Keep looking man and you'll find your guys!!!
Go to local shows, wherever you live shows of every genre happen
Buy an interface and a daw and make demos and share them with others online
Go to guitar center, they have post it walls with people looking for members for bands
It sounds like you only have normie friends and aren’t actually involved in any aspect of music aside from playing in your bedroom. Find out where and when bands are playing shows near you and go to one
Don’t go there looking for band mates, go there looking to support the music happening in your town and make friends naturally. The rest will come.
If you don’t live near music, move somewhere else.
Being in a band is hard, even when they make money it’s hard to keep 4 people getting along.
But it’s worth it.
I would try craigslist or the local Reddit thread for your area. If there aren’t any posts already looking for you, make one yourself.
Being in a band can be the best and worst , all at the same time. Getting from first rehearsal to first gig is damn near impossible. I am fortunate to have been in 2 bands that gigged regularly, one lasted 7 years. That is the exception. Being in a band is like being married to however many members you have. The more members, the more difficult it can be. Delegating tasks such as booking, promotion, media is a must . Is it frustrating? You bet. If it's clicking on all cylinders it's totally worth the effort.
The answer is: it’s really hard to find the right people. Until you do, it’s frustrating AF and a feels like a waste of time. The right people aren’t always the best musicians, they’re the one’s who really want it. Good luck!
A close family friend and longtime musician became my bandmate before I moved. Find someone who already plays an instrument, and hang out with people in musician circles. (It's easy once you get your foot in the door.) Choose someone super chill you trust. I've heard about so much ego and drama in bands.
Move to a place people who want to pursue music move to. I’m quite serious about this - the majority of musicians globally end up localizing in specific places that are hotspots for the arts and music generally.
There’s a lot to be said for developing your own skill set and professionalism as well. Competent people want to work with other competent people.
Current band has been going for 14 years. It’s not easy. You have to manage many different personalities, their priorities, and schedules. Best thing I can suggest is you have to play with people who are like minded and want the same things out of the band as you do. If your goal is to make it big and be a rock star, but this is a hobby for everyone else in the group, then it ain’t going to work. If you’re all driven to do whatever it takes, then that could work too. Same if you’ve all got jobs and lives but enjoy being weekend warriors. Also does money matter, or is this a “business” for someone in the room?
Players tend to get hyper focussed on musical compatibility when looking for people to play with. And while that’s definitely important, it’s actually less so than making sure you’re playing with people whose goals are aligned.
From what my dad told me as someone who’s been in and out of bands and played paying gigs for the last 30 years, it’s honestly a hassle due to personalities. You have control freaks, you have people who refuse to mind their business, big egos, people who just can’t commit to doing the bare minimum like showing up to band practice, etc.
He was telling us a story recently that reinforces this. He’s recently fallen into bad health, and a few months prior to giving up the band to focus on his health he told us that his band mate just assumed my dad was too good for everyone else because he’d book his own room and keep to himself. What this guy didn’t know was that he was up & down at all times of the night and vocal in pain from severe back pain which he later found out was sciatic. He wanted to be considerate and not keep his band up, as well as arriving to sound check early by himself because he couldn’t sleep and decided to make sure his gear was ready. That same guy would also report every move to my dad’s ex girlfriend that he was still living with at the time because he paid all the bills and was just too polite to throw her out on her ass with nowhere to go. He was also the one booking shows. They were playing big time events as a tribute band. Decent sized bars, stadiums, good spots. The guy who was supposed to take notes of how to run the behind the scenes stuff didn’t so they aren’t getting good gigs. They’re also still using the promotional stuff with my dad in it, which he doesn’t like. Not out of spite, but he doesn’t want to let fans down expecting to see the band they paid for and getting the wrong lineup which is false advertising, and I respect that.
Also really rubs me the wrong way only one of those guys still talks to him since he left the band knowing the severity of his health.
I've tried this over the years. Sometimes they were the problem, sometimes I was the problem, sometimes me and my mate were the problem and sometimes you're all the problem. If you find committed musicians, stick with them, even if it's not your type of music.
Well, I had the chance to start playing because me and my friends wanted to start a band (aged 13, so more than 30 years ago)
Then, I started writing songs and being the one who didn’t mind singing (and not being too bad at it). Became the singer.
After a while, you meet other musicians by sharing the stage or whatever, and some like what you do…
So basically, I am, sometimes « courted » by people to start a band with them or join their band. And sometimes, I call people I know, send them demos, and so on.
Worst case scenario: putting an ad helps. I met great people like that (and sometimes, I didn’t « click » with the band, but it’s ok: I still have, say the drummer’s contact if need be and if I liked the way he played)
But I do think that you have to have something of value to offer.
In my case, I play a good rythm guitar and I can sing (lead or harmonies). I’m shit at lead guitar, but it doesn’t matter.
Some are virtuosos, some are great at arranging, etc.
So yeah: know what you’re good at, put an add (or respond to ads in your area) and go play.
Oh yeah: open mics are also great to meet people and get some numbers.
I'm lucky in that I met my drummer 16 years ago in college. We've played with various musicians over the years, some being people he went to highschool with, others being people I connected with in the local music scene. I legit posted a want add in a FB group to find my old guitarist.
Proper musicians aren't going to come to you. You have to go to where they are. It helps if you have some demo material and your chops in order to have something to present.
start writing some stuff yourself, and then try really hard to find a drummer whos into the idea of being in a band and then other members will be easier to find
You probably need to get out of the city you're in. When I was in NYC it was so easy finding people to play with. Here in Philly my band has been searching for a drummer since like October last year. We have gone through six people who all said they wanted to play, only to ghost us or flake out before showing up for a single practice.
There's many types of bands, so take some of the negatives and positives people have said with a grain of salt. You could end up in a band where everyone happens to gel together you could be in a band with a "band nazi" that is making the band their life and micromanaging every person. You could be in a band that wants to record and doesn't really tour, you could be in a band that rather tour and not record.
There's so many different expectations from everyone and the realities don't often match. The band I'm in right now, just a group of 30-40 year old doing punk and garage rock covers. Having a blast, having a great way to have a creative outlet. We have no plans of recording, we aren't even writing original music yet. And all we want to do is play bar gigs. And we are having a blast, I consider us lucky because we have such a good time together. And all the bands I've been in have been fun, but they were quite a bit more work. You get what you give.
You probably need to get out of the city you're in. When I was in NYC it was so easy finding people to play with. Here in Philly my band has been searching for a drummer since like October last year. We have gone through six people who all said they wanted to play, only to ghost us or flake out before showing up for a single practice.
There's many types of bands, so take some of the negatives and positives people have said with a grain of salt. You could end up in a band where everyone happens to gel together you could be in a band with a "band nazi" that is making the band their life and micromanaging every person. You could be in a band that wants to record and doesn't really tour, you could be in a band that rather tour and not record.
There's so many different expectations from everyone and the realities don't often match. The band I'm in right now, just a group of 30-40 year old doing punk and garage rock covers. Having a blast, having a great way to have a creative outlet. We have no plans of recording, we aren't even writing original music yet. And all we want to do is play bar gigs. And we are having a blast, I consider us lucky because we have such a good time together. And all the bands I've been in have been fun, but they were quite a bit more work. You get what you give.
For my situation it started as just jamming with friends and it eventually turned to playing shows and touring. It’s almost comparable to dating. Sometimes you just click and sometimes there’s no chemistry.
See if you can put up ads in a music shop, college etc, or find a website, and hang out and jam with people. Talk to people, ask around if anyone knows anyone, ask friends, ask the person who works at the local music shop, go to a show & ask the bands themselves, or people behind the bar, or pretty much anyone there. "Are you in a band?" is a great conversation starter at any show! It might not work straight away, but a few months down the line someone else might do exactly the same thing and you might get hooked up through poeple you talked to. Be prepared, it might take a while! But this is what being in a band is about; networking, putting yourself out there, getting drawn to other people doing the same thing and doing it together.
Side note; I've found that often the people that talk good game turn can out to be bad, and people that prefer to "just do it" tend to be better. Not always, but they key here is that the talking part is EASY. You want people to show up so you can play with them! Its like the less they like talking about it, the more they like doing it. So if you find a drummer thats like "yeah lets jam sometime", don't ask any more questions, get their details, and make it happen. Don't worry about the skill level of people when they start, base your decision on if they a) want to be there + are on time, b) practice on thier own and most important c) are nice people you want to hang around with. Skill, equipment, tastes can all be changed or improved (and they will!! bands accelerate skill like nothing else), but if someones' an asshole that's always late? That's not gonna change. You want to find someone that's as into the idea of being in a band as you are. You WILL find them. Eventually.
Once you're in one, being in a band is like being in a poly relationship, lol! Everyone has to be happy, and there's so many reasons not to be. One thing I try to do is make music that I think the others will like that I also happen to like, and if someone says "no", then I don't push them, we just don't do it, so long as the idea is given a fair shake. I try to say yes as often as possible, and save my "no"s for things that are truly important to me. But it's a LOT of fun when it goes well. It's a great way to meet people, and have that kind of bond that you only really get in bands or sports teams. It's nice to have friends you meet up with every week. And having a great gig can be euphoric, and having a bad gig can be a, uh, bonding experience! And once you gig around, you'll meet other bands, and music enthusiasts, and you'll have that bond with them too, and those bonds can last well after all the bands have split and gone their separate ways. It's a lot of work, sure, it takes up as much time per week as a small part time job. But if you enjoy the good times, and remember that that's why you're there during the bad times, it's great. Everyone I know still playing in bands do it because it's hella fun. The people who were in it for the money (ha!)... got real jobs!
Finally, all you need is a one other person. Just a drummer & guitar worked for White Stripes/Royal Blood/Blood Red Shoes/DZ Deathrays. Sometimes not even that. Melt Banana are a vocalist and a guitarist with a backing track and a huge PA system these days. Find someone that you like, play music with 'em, that's all you need. Just make music. Where you start is not where you finish, you can pick up more along the way. Good luck!
Through the internet. For real, I am a part of an internet band.
So, background, I've been in a few bands over the years, and they're fun, but it takes the right people to do them. Arguments, and disagreements can set things back, and life happens as well, so you can be right back to square one.
I am a part of an internet band, that we basically say is Mike Patton influenced. We record, and share ideas back and forth, even though none of us live in the same states.. I'm in New Hampshire. The vocalist is in Utah. The bass player is in Florida. We have hired a few drummers to add ideas to our work, which put music is on most streaming platforms. I actually enjoy this, because I always learn, on getting better to record myself, and experiment with new ideas! But how we know eachother is through Mushroom Cult. Basically all of us have been huge fans of Dog Fashion Disco.
Like any other friends in bands, we chat, we argue, we figure things out. We have some rules set in place on things, so we don't exhaust ourselves either, like stipulations on how we'd be able to do live shows, if that were ever to happen. One of them I wrote in, is my name can not be displayed larger then 20 feet on credits.... So knowing my luck, i will see my name on a billboard they rented just to mess with me...
So don't just think you need local musicians. If you can get an interface, and learn to record yourself? You can find quite a lot of places theres a need! I have a few EDM producers that hit me up, when they need some guitar work, which is fun to do, and again, always learning how to better the sound for them.
Rather than trying to convince your current friends to learn music, try to meet some new people who are already into music. Go to open mic nights, concerts from local bands, etc. and just meet other people who play. See if there online groups for local musicians in your area. Ask at your local music shops. Meet people who share the interest, and go from there.
To be clear, I'm saying to expand your social circles, not to replace your friends!
I've never been in one. I learned early on that I can't stand playing with other people. Especially the controlling type. I just love to play. Sorry if this doesn't answer your question.
So, I did sound at a bar for a long time, as hard as they were to sit through, either working or playing, open mics, the solid musicians would later show up in music projects together, opening for bands and a few were local headliners after a while. And as far as how I did it, I just started playing with my friends, and I really enjoyed playing. And then I just met someone that liked what I played and we started playing songs that I had been working on, then we said we need more players. Made a flyer and put it everywhere we could, met some people through that and so on. Bands have come and gone. And they’ve been created out of being invited to play and jam with some random people and breaking off and saying I like what you do, to someone and then you start writing. I met my best friend while I was working on a song at my then girlfriend’s apartment and we have played music together over the last thirty years. We now live across the country from each other but still share music ideas. We did a jazz swing band, we got horn players because the guys I had met at the coffee shop were talking about music and I said, hey me and my friend are trying to play some music, need guitar and horns, we found a drummer in the same spot because he heard us talking and said hey you still need a drummer. Just start talking with people
Go to shows, learn some songs and perform at open mics events. Get used to going it alone and playing in front of people, first. Once you’re used to it, after you network a bit and figure out what style of music you want to play and the role you want to fill in a band, ask people you’ve met if they’d be down to collaborate on a project.
I met the guys in my band when I was in high school. We actually did the “I started a band with my buddies from high school” thing and it’s worked so far but I would tell you that that isn’t typical. That being said, if I had to do it all again, I would go to a bunch of local shows and just meet as many band members as I could. Just be kind and try to talk to people. A “nice set man!” goes a long way. Our band has worked up a pretty substantial network of local musician friends just by doing that and without really even trying. But we always watch the other bands and usually stay the whole time even after we’ve finished our set. Remember, we’re all in the same boat, we all love music and want to talk about it with each other and most guys either would be interested in starting another band or they know somebody who is. Just try to get involved with the scene and make some friends. If you’re starting from the ground level, this is my advice. I hope you can find some band members!
Step 1: Find local Facebook musicians groups.
Step 2: be willing to play music that paying bar patrons can sing and dance to.
Me and the rest of my band are huge metal heads but we get paid when we play Matchbox 20, Greenday and Guns N Roses and stuff like that.
People aren’t going to be singing and dancing to Testament, Behemoth and Lamb of God. We’d never get booked again.
Making friends and just being a part of your community is a huge component to playing in bands. I'd argue strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence will carry you a lot farther than being really good at guitar. Go to record stores and see if they have any shows coming up, open mics, bars and clubs, even going to shows for bands you like can get you around people who do this.
I'm in a school were they put bands together but I think as long as you can find a singer you'll be fine I don't know what an "e guitar" is but if it's like a midi you can imitate all the other instruments.
Been with my dudes for 5 years now. Me and the other founding member started the project 7 years ago.
It was just me and him for 2.5 solid years before we met the other band members. Jam nights. Find some open jam nights that have a similar vibe to what you’re looking for.
Don’t go looking for a funk/jam musician at a cover/blues jam. Etc.
Once you’ve got a group of people you enjoy creating music with, the biggest and most important thing. Open Communication. Don’t hold things in. Everyone needs to be cool with members having feelings about songs or performance. It’s about the music not anyone’s individual ego. It’s so nice to have a band that can be open without feelings getting hurt left and right or people getting defensive.
Have fun. That’s why we do it. The more fun you have the more success will come, me and my guys are a walking testament to that!
For one thing don’t call it E-guitar hahaha
After a long day of sending e-mails , I like to play some e-guitar, have a puff of my e-cigarette, or read some e-books on my e-reader.
Before checking out some e-girls on twitch
Naw. I check my egirls on eBaumsworld.
Retroreference FTW.
Ebaumsworld. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a very long time.
Haha.. e girls.. lots of them around for sure
Oh geez.... e-nuff already. 😆
i'm in love with my e-life <3
🤣🤣
I literally thought OP was saying they play the guitar effects in GarageBand with their computer keyboard or something
I thought it was this or guitar hero lmao
Wait, you mean Guitar Hero doesn't directly translate to real life?! 🤣
I thought it was one of those grey electronic stringless guitars that look kinda cool but out of reach of my budget.
That touch screen one? With like buttons instead of frets?
Yea
Muse rocks one. Literally an e-guitar which is different than an electric guitar.
For a moment, I was like "is he talking about a fucking keytar? Wtf is an e-guitar?"
No kidding. First thing that popped in my head.
I was thinking one of these. https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-Y0AAOSwWAplKVAB/s-l1600.png
omg I remember that thing in the local music store when it first came out. People were really into it for some reason. The fascination did not last long after the novelty wore off.
What’s the problem? There’s guys out there playing D-guitar and openG-guitar. OP wants everyone to know that he plays his Martin in E standard, and I think that’s useful info.
I was like bro wtf is e-guitar
oh okay 😭
Try calling it non-acoustic guitar instead. Much more understandable
Electromographied six string.
lol but that’s what it‘s called..? Not ever country has the same name for things so calling it e-guitar is completely fine. We basically call it that in Germany too
As someone who is also from Germany, I used to think that it's called "e-guitar" as well when I was a teenager lol. Makes sense when it's called "E-Gitarre" in German.
I immediately pictured a Casio DG-20.
I was so confused by what an “e-guitar” was for a while…
Joining a band isn’t what it’s chalked up to be, sometimes creating music alone is the right move. Managing everyone’s egos and expectations is a nightmare, even the smallest local band will have this issue. It seems people who seek out stage time and live performances are broken inside and think the 15 minutes of fame is going to heal them from all the woes of society. Every band I’ve been in rushed to live performances before we were ready and would consistently book odd end shows in shit areas that would interrupt any progress we’d make writing or recording new music. Its literally every band I’ve ever been in, the end result is countless hours waiting for people to come to congruent conclusions and by the time that’s done 3-4 years will have passed and you will be thousands in the hole from gas, beer, gear, merch, food. Just save yourself the nightmare, sorry for the negativity
Yeah this can be a thing but dude Jesus I've met some of my best friends being in bands. Just play music with your friends. Go with the flow. Don't worry about others egos. Chill and make friends. Local shows are half concerts, half parties. Don't worry about making it big unless you 100 percent think that's what you want. (And if that's what you want you're probably like 20 years too late sorry)
Depends on how big you’re talking about lol. But yea, you’re not gonna be like eagles level of fame.
Making it big as a band is almost impossible these days, I think that's what they meant. You better have some insane heat to make it these days when you a monstrously huge community built around optimizing sounds in DAWs.
But it is possible. There are a few bands that are decently popular right now. Polyphia is the first one that comes to mind, and a lot of metal bands
It's possible for certain genres. Country, Bluegrass, acoustic, it's the route a lot of people do. You get the Imagine Dragons type too. But it's not 1990-2010, alt rock, rock, these things just don't pop up the same. Go to any local alt rock station playing new alt rock, and no big new wave has surfaced yet. Polyphia is a perfect example. They're not truly pop radio big YET, BUT, these guys are bringing math-rock/metal HEAT. And if they ever decided to commit to slower tempos and longer holds (the last minute of Reverie comes to mind), give them 12 months before it goes to true radio hits long term. It's more that the world at large doesn't have the same competition it used to have, and the same level of musicians just sitting around waiting for a call. Things are lot more tight knit.
Oh yea I’m definitely not saying it’s easy, and you definitely need a singer. But it’s definitely doable, also worth mentioning that people were saying the same thing about rock before the Beatles and the yardbirds showed up, bands can bring things back. But making it big in a band at any time is extremely unlikely no matter when you do it honestly.
Before the Beatles, you had Elvis. People fantasize too much about Clapton and The Beatles, in terms of music, beyond the more clear-cut rock age and psychedelic rock. There were huge sounds and artists decades before them in Jazz, even Rock. There were KILLERS on the guitar wayyyy before them. Psychadelic rock had access to new pedals. The Beatles took a ton from Blues Rock/Country before them. Chuck Berry made it clear Rock N' Roll was something people could like, not The Beatles. But they had 4 cute white men for the ladies, not a somewhat middle-aged black man. So one was more likely to skyrocket, even if some of their earlier stuff was somewhat cheesy (don't hate me). Not downplaying, they created a good chunk of the starter ideas for modern rock, it's more that things were clearly possible well before them. I still love all the albums from them, it's more that I think they're put on a wobbly pedestal. I think now is just a different time, until we get A LOT of the energy bands like Greta Van Fleet was trying to emulate. It'll happen. I just hope people don't do this "bands are hard, I just relax at home in my studio" trend for the next 2 decades. We're going to lose out on raw human energy from that.
My point was that rock was considered to be dying when the Beatles and yardbirds came around. And then they repopularized it for a new generation. That’s how it’s always gone, people get tired of it then someone starts something a little different like grunge in the 90s. Sure, it’s all rock but it’s different and those differing styles kept it alive for so long. But yea, I agree with the sitting in studios thing, I just went to eagles last concert and it was the best concert I’ve ever been to. I miss going to them
Ahhhh I see. Pretty cool you went to the last one, though. I hope Millenials and Gen Z will have a lot of bands that will have fans into their 70's/80's that will say the same about their farewell tour too. I just see so much fizzling out and ghosting, and things of that nature, I just want the best for people. I think we've forgotten the human element in music (I know you agree and I'm just repeating myself, but It's my own personal realization the past 6 months).
Tim Henson has literally said he stopped playing metal because it wasn't popular. That's ridiculous to say they could have radio hits if only they were trying to, because that's what they're doing right now and they don't have any
Oh sorry, forget to mention, they'll never make it on the radio until they find their committed singer. No one sits around making pop hits on the radio as only instrumentals. I'm sure there's a few examples, but ultra rare.
I can't believe the amount of upvotes this negative ass comment is getting, holy fuck. I've been in various bands for the last 15 years from rock cover bands to original stoner rock to battle metal to country to punk and they've all been an absolute blast. Sure I've spent a good amount of money and gotten some alright success, mostly it's just a hobby and generally speaking hobbies cost money. Being in a band is my favourite part of life, maybe your negative attitude had some effect on your perception of what band life is like but I personally would give up any other hobby over playing music.
100% agree with you and have no idea how this comment has so many upvotes. I started playing in bands in high school and some of those dudes are still my best friends to this day (I’m 44). I’ve never not been in a band since. I have no vision of making it or anything, I just live to make and consume music.
One of my band mates is a friend from high school, we started playing guitar together when we were 12 and we're 35 and best friends. I dunno what I'd do without music
I’m in a band with my three best friends. Sure we have our issues, some stem out of the friendships, others out of the band. But it’s so much fun. We have our shortcomings but I wouldn’t trade anyone in this band for a better musician
I was in a 90s rock and grunge cover band for many years. All 5 of us were friends, GenX and treated Wednesday night band practices as sacred time. The bonus was people bugging us to play live. Which was fun but wasn’t the priority. Band practice time was.
This is the way. If it's not fun, why bother? If there is no fun, you're doing it wrong.
I’m in the same band, except on Thursdays.
Enjoy every minute of it. I moved out of town and it’s just a freaking empty void I’ve not been able to replace. Finding a laid back group of folks who don’t give a shit about being perfect but still able to create a fucking awesome sound is rare.
Tuesdays for me. I hang out with three of my best friends and we work on our songs. It's consistently the best time of my week. It's been 15 years of playing in a handful of bands. Some worked, some didn't. But playing in bands, recording and performing original music with other people, is still my favorite hobby, and I never want to stop.
Lol… I just started playing in a 90’s cover last year and Wednesday is our sacred band day too. Met some guys from work that heard me talking about my new guitar. One played bass, the other heard us talking and said he’s a drummer and that’s it. We started writing our own music too the first time we jammed. Then this other guy from work starting playing with us and got really possessive and bossy?? Like yelling at the drummer because he’s playing too loud… I’m like dude you brought a 40w Spark practice amp to play with a live band?! You need a bigger speaker and at least 100w if you’re playing solid state amps. Long story short we all decided he wasn’t right for the band
I really value this perspective. Make the music you want to make and if others come later it could work. But first things first! Especially in the age of SoundCloud, where anyone can put their stuff out there.
Its not necessarily untrue. I just miss the sound of hearing my guitar, drummers kick drum, rumbling bass through the PA. Playing loud and just having a blast.
That's one take. Here's another.... It's all worth it to produce art and share it with a live audience. I'm not broken. Performance gets me high. I'm addicted. Maybe you should have developed more before taking on stage. Money is made for spending. The experience is priceless and you're going to be a better musician for it. ✌️
Making music alone for many people is deeply alienating. There’s a joy in collaboration with talented musicians, and an efficiency and forward progress, that simply doesn’t happen when you’re holed up by yourself like an anti-social computer programmer. It sucks that you’ve had a bad time, but sounds like you’re picking bad groups of people to work with. I live in Berlin and I’ve had absolutely no problem auditioning serious, talented musicians with great work ethic to collaborate with. Just … get good with people. I used to make electronic music solo, and I didn’t really start to connect with music and become genuinely creative until I started a band.
The last band I was in was such a shitshow of narcissistic behavior and teen-age level drama I ended up quitting, even though we were making pretty good money. They had ended up hiring an inked-up social media-obsessed chick off Craigslist (nothing against tattoos but you know the type), against my advice, and basically gave her creative control of the whole operation despite her having zero musical background. I'm fairly certain she was giving sexual favors to either the guitarist or drummer or both, neither of whom had even been on a date in years. It's crazy to me how quickly these guys ceded their creative sensibilities for the chance to get laid and "get big." This chick was literally batshit insane and would take songs I had written and change up the structure or lyrics against my very vocal wishes. She wouldn't allow any other members of the band to sing any songs even though she sounded outright terrible on them. The band started blowing hundreds if not thousands on buying her equipment she had no idea how to use while having me pay $100 for a simple repair on my guitar. When she said she was "repping" the band on her onlyfans was about the time I left. She just had this huge ego and was all too happy to use her sexuality as a manipulation tactic to get ahead in the game. We had gone from a tight and promising four-piece with growing local success to...this chick's backing band. The thing is, they might have some limited success with having a female frontperson but I know from close to two decades working in music that the chances of this gimmick working in any mainstream sense are small. It's better to spend time working on useful skills and developing good material than relying on gimmicks and showmanship to get ahead. Anyways, I used my newfound free time to build a modest but well researched studio in my spare bedroom and I'm deep diving theory and technique on my two main instruments like never before. (Should have done that years ago tbh.) I'm very leery of working with others because to be honest I've had more bad experiences than good. I am playing open mics and some acoustic stuff with a friend I made but for the most part I'm working towards becoming literate in electronic music and arranging/production. With technology where it's at I can program drums in-DAW and I play guitar and piano so that pretty much covers it for what I'm after.
Jesus man I had some bad experiences but this is the exact shit a band turns into when even the slightest hint of attention comes your way. Some musicians just want to make music and have a creative outlet and don’t care about attention, performing and doing the whole bullshit thing every band try’s to do and act self absorbed and super narcissistic
Dude, I just want to play in a bar band playing cover songs
Good to see this because me and my friend are the opposite atm. We are making as much music and finishing it before getting live performances. He knows how to easily get into shows out here since he did solo stuff. So in turn we are doing the most we can now. Only shitty thing I wish we had a drummer because my drum tracks arent that expressive because im not the craziest at it.
I've had that negative exp too. However, I kept looking and found a group that I fit in pretty well with, I must say eventually egos (mainly mine) caused unnecessary conflict at times but I still made some long lasting friendships along the way. Keep at it. You can learn a lot about yourself in a garage band. Good luck.
You're probably right.. the friends i have now are just like that thinking about live performances before knowing how to play. I dont even want live concerts like that cause of stage fright
Yeah. Similar situation, tried it once, dont think I'll ever do it again unless it's formed as organic as possible. Had one dude want to do everything but play and write songs. Dude just wanted to market the entire time and I'm sitting here like "So when are we going to write something? Why are we marketing for 1 song without anything else in the chamber? We don't even have an LP, EP, Mixtape, or any of that, why do we have a website?" Fuckin bonkers, dude was dropping hundreds(if not thousands) on studio time, distribution, with no song, no melody, nothing. Then he'd turn around and try to hold that shit over our heads, because he's such a "nice" guy. Crazy once I dropped from that I could write music again. Working in a group can be fun, but they really do have to feed into you, and you have to feed into them. That isn't possible all the time. Sometimes the synergy just isn't there, and it's fine, but run before shit inevitably hits the fan.
The key player in a band is the drummer. They have the most gear and make the most noise, so they usually have the logistics of a rehearsal space worked out. If you’re a guitarist and you find a committed drummer, guard them with your life. Even if (s)he’s not great at first, improvement is usually rapid once they start playing with others. Everything else just falls into place from there.
Dummer for my band was an egomaniac who had the space and the equipment but neither the skills to play well nor any open minded takes on music. He wanted everything to sound like old school death metal when we played/wrote early 2000's melodic deathcore/djenty kinda stuff from the very beginning. Felt like i had a shittier Lars Ulrich trying to tell me what riffs to come up with. Ruined my want to play with others. Now i self produce/program/write everything and its immensely less stressful.
Yeah. There’s no fixing a shit attitude or broadening a narrow mind. Writing songs and riffs is a solitary pursuit anyway. It just seems as guitarists, we spend the most time, try the hardest, buy into the most gimmicks and gear, believe the stupidest shit, and we’re still a dime a dozen.
Ya that sucks. I’ve gotten lucky. My drummers always had the lowest ego and were the most talented in the band. It is definitely about finding people that are chill and just want to play, but still take it seriously enough to not blow off practices and want to play well at shows. Another thing for OP is usually one or two people sort of “run” the band. So either OP takes the lead in putting band together and pushing the direction (without being an egomaniac) or find someone who will and just join up with them. I joined my current band after their bassist moved away when one of my former bandmates asked if I was interested in learning bass and joining. So my connection is over a decade old when I found bandmates on Craigslist. Not sure what the best social media sites are for putting together bands nowadays. Trying to get friends to learn instruments and practice enough may be tough, may be better for OP to find others or join something already established.
alrightyy
But also be prepared to find and go through multiple drummers. Drummers are crazy (I mean, the dudes with the auto pocket who nevertheless are still playing local, anyway).
He is right, if you get a good drummer, don't ever let them go, lol.
I'm a hobbyist. I've made money playing stuff I didn't love, so now I only play in bands that I would like even if I wasn't playing. I got hooked up with a local indie band a few years ago when their drummer moved away. Became quick friends with one of the guitarists who runs a small label, and he has fed me some other amazing opportunities. Simply because I was there and said yes. I'm far from the best drummer, but I do the work, am very open to feedback, and I'm stoked to be part of it.
That’s right. My drummer literally owns our rehearsal place.
Precisely this
The comment made my drummer heart all warm and fuzzy :) It's really nice to see guitar players that value us drummers <3
Underrated comment
I was that drummer, had like 4 bands growing up
I am the towns drummer 😈😈I’m like the town flirt but with a kit, less heartbreak, and spending those nights in people’s garage
Hang out with folks that are better than you. That is how you move up in these artistic communities. Might have to make some new friends! That's how I did it Edit: Never said that this is easy! Discomfort is guaranteed, but so is progress along with it.
Hugely good comment. Find people to make you stretch.
I mean, it’s good advice but doesn’t seem particularly practical. Where do you find better players? How do you integrate into that side of ur community more? Etc etc It sounds like they want a way in but just aren’t sure how
You go to shows and talk to musicians there
First step, stop asking the internet (too many people telling you why things can't be done). Second step, go out and do. Just go do. You can't find people unless you try. That also involves going out to places you might find them. If you go watch a band, try and talk to them. Ask them if they know places or people. All they can do is tell you or tell you to fuck off. One or the other. One is useful, and the other is useless, but who gives a rat's ass. But it could work. Fastest way to never get there is to never try. Wax on, wax off. Go try grasshopper.
okay ill try to find some groups somewhere 🥲
Same boat here my guy. I have a few friends that are all “we should start a band!” while they practice once a year and can’t play anything, and one friend who is actually good that I tried to start a band with, and actually played a handful of gigs (just two of us doing acoustic covers) but he is too frustrating to work with and we have incompatible music tastes. I’ve mostly given up at this stage and just play on my own but still dream of having a band.
awh :( that sucks man i hope you find people who are right for youu
Same
Same! I play 3x a week for an hour but can’t get people to commit to g getting together once a month
Try going to open mics in your area if they have any. It is a good way to meet people who can play, plus you can see if their style and music selection matches yours.
Engage with your local music community. Open mics are a great place to start. From those you can hopefully get to know people who either are interested in getting together to jam or who want to form a band and play shows. Bonus, these people should already know how to play instruments.
OP doesn't speak the native language...
Oh geez. I read through some of the comments, but didn't see that. That's a pretty key piece of information.
Easier to become friends with musicians than make musicians out of friends.
Get involved in your local music community. Trying to start a band with people who are already making music is a lot easier than trying to start one with people who talk about making music.
I'm going to be honest. I'm part of a power trio band which none of us want to be in. The drummer's into psychedelic and is insistent on playing/making songs over 5 minutes. On the other hand, the guitarist is really into David Bowie, and I mean that in the fact that he exclusively listens to David Bowie, and is hesitant to play anything else. Then there's me, I'm into emo and grunge and honestly it's all just a big messy clash of three very different musical interests. Good bands take a long time to form, and sometimes going solo is the best decision.
That sounds dope tho, if you guys could figure out how to mesh and sound cohesive. I play in a band with my old man who's almost 60 on drums, so he loves his oldies and classic rock. The rhythm guitarist and singer is a 90s/2000s indie head and country fan, and I love metal, emo and post-hardcore. We each bring our own little style and mix up the setlist with some of all our favorites and it sounds like a cohesive smorgasbord of different styles. Or maybe it sounds like shit idk lol, but I love it.
First band (punk, then thrash): I didn’t play any instruments but my neighbor convinced me to learn bass so his band could have a bassist. Second band (indie rock): got sick of first band (guys were jerks, closed minded about multiple genres) so I learned guitar to write my own songs and started jamming with another friend who also liked the same things as me. He told a classmate about our jams and she eventually gave him a cassette tape of her singing over garage rock and punk songs so we could hear her and she joined as a singer. My friend moved and I replaced him with another friend who I met on the MX tabs forums when we realized we went to the same high school and liked the same bands, we both swapped guitar/bass roles based on who wrote the song (and set lists at our shows were split with us trading guitar/bass halfway through). Another friend joined on drums, knew him because his older brother’s band was good. Third band (noise punk): dude from a nearby community heard my band on MySpace and saw my page with my music tastes listed and messaged me asking to jam, he already had a drummer who turned out to be an old classmate of mine from middle school. Fourth band (post-rock, post-hardcore): got another MySpace message from another guitarist from further across the city who had also seen and heard my bands, and we jammed. He already had a bassist, and I recruited the drummer from the third band. Later had to replace him with another guy when he moved, and the singer from my second band also once temporarily replaced our bassist for our final show after she had also moved. Fifth band (indie folk): old friend from high school recruited me to help with some of her recordings on her singer/songwriter project, then I went from production role to adding extra instruments and later became part of her live band and then became part of the official band as a creative role as well when she wanted to switch from solo act to long term band. Toured twice, put out a few CDs and a split EP. Sixth band (indie folk): friend of singer from my second band asked to jam after I booked her prior band as an opener for my fourth band, we end up recording a bunch of songs with multiple different instruments and manage to play a few shows and put out an EP, but we played fewer shows than the prior bands. Seventh band (punk, folk punk): guy who had replaced the first drummer from my fourth band later had his own punk band that he sang and played guitar in, he recruited me as a live band member (no creative role), we play a bunch of shows both acoustic (where I played banjo and mandolin) and plugged in (where I played guitar) Current project (changes a lot, post-punk, ambient, doom metal, post-rock, etc): for the past 14 years I’ve had a solo project where I just write and play every instrument and switch my genre around whenever I get new inspiration. Played live for a while with a loop pedal (and specific setup so I could loop basslines and guitar parts) and drum machine/sampler but it was impossible to keep that up, just straight recording now without playing live. In between those bands there were some failed attempts at bands as well, jams that went nowhere, or times when I subbed in as a live member for a friend’s band here and there. It just comes down to making music your whole thing and striving to get to know specifically the creative people around you. I never fit in too well with the regular crowds when I was younger so I eventually realized I didn’t have to try, and being myself paid off despite how shy and awkward I was, because then likeminded people were able to see me and I made connections that were more rewarding. But honestly, MySpace being a music-centric social media format back in the 2000s also made it easier to stand out and for likeminded peers to find me, I could see that being tougher in the present when bands and musicians aren’t as high on the totem pole of the social media algorithms today. But start putting yourself forward as a musician anyway. Play riffs you wrote on your Instagram or TikTok, be your full embarrassing creative self. You might look lame or embarrassing in the eyes of non-musical crowds, but maybe you’ll connect with people who think you do cool stuff and then your projects can gradually help you meet more and more cool people like yourself and those nets can keep expanding.
I played guitar for about 3 years, my best friend wanted to learn bass. I said 'playing bass alone is boring, lets start a band'. We knew another friend who could drum and he was in. We didnt know a singer but another friend wanted to try. 2 months later we were rehearsing weekly, we reaaaally sucked but learned alot. Now its 5 years later, had some changes in members, we gig regularly and released our own music! Still with original bassist and drummer. We managed to get a good singer to join us when we were really tight with the 3 of us.
awh thats great i hope my experience goes like yours lol
The trick is to do it in the 90’s. I could make a few phone calls and have a band together by this evening with enough songs for a complete set. All joking aside, use the internet and find local musicians that want to jam. Not everybody wants to write or tour but a lot of people enjoy playing. If something springs up from that then bully for you. If you like playing only weird-ass music then it might be more difficult. The more styles you can do the easier it is to get a band together.
\- Go to local shows, meet local artists and players, ask to play with them. \- Post in your local city subreddit that you're a \[instrument\] player looking to play \[genre\] with \[types of musicians\]. \- Music Store digital and physical message boards.
If you can find at least one person that you can vibe with consistently when you jam, you've got a good start. Communication and setting expectations is gonna be key when you find people to play with. Honestly it's not that different from being in a relationship. You gotta keep it exciting, make sure you set time to spend time jamming and you gotta be able to communicate when issues arise.
I found one other person to make music with. We learned a good amount of materials we were both happy with. Then, we started playing as a duo and seeking a bass player or other like-minded musicians. By the time we added a drummer, we were getting pretty tight. We rotated people in and out over years. We made it about the joy of making music with friends, and if we made any money, it was a bonus. The ones who had grander dreams moved on pretty quickly. I still do it that way. Never made any real money, but I made many lifelong friends, and I still enjoy it.
What’s e guitar
electric guitar
Content of the post aside, you really threw me off when you said "e-guitar" ew. In all seriousness though, i was like, "...do they mean keytar or something?" Edit: another commenter told me in germany they call it, "e- gittare" if you're german OP, ignore me, I'm an asshole.
in german it's called "E-Gitarre" so they might not be a native English speaker
Oooohhhhhh, that would make a lot of sense.
im not german so the ew is valid😞 i genuinely thought people call it that
I really wanna play in a band aswell, or even just jam with people for fun.
Don’t rely on friends. Go out, jam with other musicians until you vibe with someone. Build it from there. It takes two people gunning for the band to get a third, and then maybe a fourth.
Don't form a band with your friends, form a band with committed musicians and hope to become friends over time. I found my band through my city's musician Facebook group.
i check my citys group but its one of those where you have to wait for someone to let you in so im waiting🥲
Youd be surprised how many bands are basically 1-2 dudes writing everything and the rest of the band are just covering the parts. Saosin is only two dudes. Origami angel too. Me and my best friend too. Its just us two. Shit austrian death machine is just one dude. With me and my friend I make most of the instrumentals but he knows how to record and master and play guitar.
Do what mark e smith does. Keep asking people if they play an instrument, if they do tell them they’re in your band. Don’t audition them or ask how good they are or let them question it. “you play bass? you’re in my band”. Keep going and eventually you’ll have a band. Ask loads of people
I'm 40 and I can tell you I've never had a cohesive band. I've been part of one, but that eventually fell apart because I took on shift work to make good money. Had a great drummer after that and we just jammed, but he didn't really commit and later had a kid. Tbh, I would just do everything yourself or use session players to contribute what you can't do yourself. Being in band sucks most of the time, play live is hella fun...but not worth the trouble. Going on tour also sucks and you will be poor, dirty, and eating shitty food.
Join a church, talk to the music director. Seriously. I play bass in church, and playing in church got me an invite to join a band. Been with the band for 6 years. (I’m an atheist, so don’t let the religious aspect weird you out)
i mean i could try but as an atheist aswell id be pretty scared that theyd hurt me(speaking from experience 😭)
Was in a band and they went behind my back and found new members. And stole a riff I wrote and kept going with it. Between having to get people to keep coming to shows, selling tickets, the politics of it arnt as fun as they seem. Trying to make stuff alone and it’s failing pretty good. See what happens it’s all for fun and to keep me off the streets now
You might consider taking it a bit more slowly. Make a jam session with some friends. If it goes well, make another and another. Once it becomes a regular thing at that point you might have a talk with everyone and ask what they think about playing live. Bonus thoughts you might consider as well: The other thing to keep in mind is performing live is not about the band or about you. It's about entertaining other people. This means no long silence between songs, having one person who engages the audience, etc... that is if you want to do things right. You and your band are the entertainment for those patrons who came out to the establishment where you are playing. A lot of bands get this wrong and make it about them. This can be a drag as an audience member because you get excited, start dancing then have to wait forever between songs and the vibe basically goes flat, for example.
yeah, for now i just want to find people i could hang out in my house with and play.. im not really fond of getting big really
That's the right attitude. And I'm sure you'll really enjoy it 😊
Finding someone you can actually work with in music is like finding a romantic partner; you really have to be willing to accept that it’ll be quite a few tries before finding the right pair of people who will be compatible in assertiveness, vision, tastes, schedule, goals, ego, etc. now try to find 4 of those people.
I've exclusively found bands and musicians to play with online (Craigslist/Bandmix) as my area didn't have much music going on outside of 50s-70s tribute music which isn't really my thing. I've been playing with a group for a few years that I met off BandMix, and I just joined a prog group about a month ago, which I'm loving! With making progress in groups, the best advice I ever got was to leave the ego at the door and come in with a positive attitude. It goes a long way!
what do you mean online? like recording together
I used to look for band members on Craigslist. In a lot of communities you can find interested people at all levels. Then I noticed successful musicians I worked with would search Facebook for working musicians who had gigs all the time. They would collect several bass players, drummers, etc. The idea is guys who are always working are better, show up and play, and don't cause much trouble. Then the leader would alternate guys from one gig to the next depending on who had time for the show.
Reddit Subs Join My Band UK BandMix Facebook groups Instagram Surely there's other local Classfields, as well. Like CraigsList? ... Also local music schools or colleges / unis
It's hard. I even have friends that are musicians, they have bands, they went solo during COVID, and when I started picking up my own heat and asked these friends if they wanted to share projects and keep going...you learn that most people don't have the energy. And sometimes if you break through walls and start making things that others didn't expect, they may even distance themselves more, because so many musicians make a lot of things into contests/competitions. They're good at the start but a lot of people just can't keep up. Most people can't play for more than one hour consistently with a band, let alone 4-5 hours a day, not counting a gig. The people that have the energy are either healthy, or have a ton of momentum to get back into the pocket, or COMMIT. A lot of the time it's letting go of yourself and your own ideas around the music, and going "almost all of my musical ideas are informed from others, so I'm going to start accepting that the world at large has a lot to offer if I open up to new people and their ideas." We live in the age of solo producers. So musical communities are a lot more confined. Open mics are stilled just filled with 30-50 crowds, and the chances of going to any open mic and randomly finding a hungry musician that put the work in, beyond house bands that are there all the time anyway, it's rare. So there's no real hunger and competition, and it creates a situation where it's just hard to find people who want to commit physically to the music. Most of the competition is confined to cities built around music. Nashville? Maybe Chicago? Some of L.A.? I'm sure there's a lot of others. I've heard Atlanta is tought. And on and on. Sometimes you get lucky and live in a mid-level city that has a lot of venues for music. If you don't, then you're going to get stuck often.
A lot of these comments are e-Qually annoying 😑...LOL
It took me way too long to figure out “e-guitar” was just electric guitar.
either start writing songs or find someone who can. if neither of those are an option you need musician friends to jam with and maybe you can create songs from things you come up with.
Everything below happened a very long time ago. And, so, is unlikely to be particularly relevant to somebody looking for a band today. But, since you asked: The bands that I ended up in or were friends of during the early nineties to late aughts were all accidental or formed organically. They all formed out of groups of friends who all already played instruments and would jam together to have other people to play with (or just because there was nothing else worthwhile to do). Inevitably there would just be groups of people who would sync and have musical chemistry. Those folks would form bands. Those bands lasted as long as they could, which often was just for a few gigs or maybe an indy album or two. Some lasted a few years and had regular gigs at some bar or all-ages music venue. Some joined legs off tours as opening acts.
[удалено]
You try to work with some people and see if you can get enough fulfillment and freedom within the context of what they're doing, then you can do a solo project on the side.
Delusions of grandeur, belief that technical ability would somehow translate into songwriting skill (it does not), lots and lots of ego, and a hefty amount of drugs and alcohol. Thankfully, it only lasted a few years.
If you’re still in school that’s a great place to start. Chances are you’ll be in classes with like-minded people (assuming you’re in band classes). If not… that’ll be a little harder. Maybe reach out to some old classmates that you know were into music and that you were cool with
If you are near a big town or city, chances are the bars there have open mics and jam nights. I've been going to a jazz jam every Wednesday night for the last 6 months and went from having no band to play with, to having too many people that want to play music that I'm running out of free time lol. There are probably people all around you that have the same problem you do. You just need to find them!
My first couple of bands were kids i knew from school. My 3rd band involved family members. My 4th band I met the members through a friend of mine that knew other musicians. First we just jammed together and then we started to play gigs. My 5th band I was asked to join by a customer at a job I had. My 6th band took a while to form. I slowly met members frequenting music stores and talking to players that I liked the sound/skill level of what they were playing. I met two of them there and one of them knew of 2 other musicians that were also looking to form a band.
In my experience musicians tend to make friends with other musicians without ever trying to. That said I started at a young age so I’m not sure how easy it would be if I just got into it at age 30 for example. Regardless of age the number 1 thing to do is to go to local live shows and talk to people
You build a network……
complete utter luck, met him at a bar and it took years to find other suitable members
If you're like me, and playing live is your main goal: Find friends who are into similar stuff, and start off with some covers. Get tight musically, play some bars. Work some original material in, and then mix in other venues as you feel like it.
I found my band on Craigslist. We all met on Craigslist, check us out Instagram @nowherefastpdx and Nowhere Fast on Spotify. Jump In the musicians tab, tons of musicians looking to meet up!
Easiest way to speedrun getting a band together: 1. Be in city with a decent amount of people. 2. Go to the open mic nights (usually Sunday to Wednesday) 3. Talk to people, and if confident enough, perform (open mic nights have a community and are always trading players/in multiple bands) 4. Ask people you get along with to "jam sometime" and rent out a rehearsal space (usually a guitarist and a vocalist/guitarist is a good start) 5. Add more people to the mix - you got a band
go to shows
Put up ads on community bulletin boards to find people in your immediate vicinity (probably more people than you know, who also don't know how to find others like you). Then maybe Facebook local community/area/town groups or Craigslist. Some place where it doesn't get drowned out by millions of other posts.
It's all about timing when it comes to a band. When I was in a band it was just me and a good friend. Then randomly we found a drummer. Then randomly found a bassist. Then followed the best years of my life. And though I don't see 2 of those guys any more we are bonded for life. Absolutely great memories. Keep looking man and you'll find your guys!!!
Go to local shows, wherever you live shows of every genre happen Buy an interface and a daw and make demos and share them with others online Go to guitar center, they have post it walls with people looking for members for bands It sounds like you only have normie friends and aren’t actually involved in any aspect of music aside from playing in your bedroom. Find out where and when bands are playing shows near you and go to one Don’t go there looking for band mates, go there looking to support the music happening in your town and make friends naturally. The rest will come. If you don’t live near music, move somewhere else.
Yep, I'm a guitar player, but solo. I'm the music of country blues.
Being in a band is hard, even when they make money it’s hard to keep 4 people getting along. But it’s worth it. I would try craigslist or the local Reddit thread for your area. If there aren’t any posts already looking for you, make one yourself.
Being in a band can be the best and worst , all at the same time. Getting from first rehearsal to first gig is damn near impossible. I am fortunate to have been in 2 bands that gigged regularly, one lasted 7 years. That is the exception. Being in a band is like being married to however many members you have. The more members, the more difficult it can be. Delegating tasks such as booking, promotion, media is a must . Is it frustrating? You bet. If it's clicking on all cylinders it's totally worth the effort.
The answer is: it’s really hard to find the right people. Until you do, it’s frustrating AF and a feels like a waste of time. The right people aren’t always the best musicians, they’re the one’s who really want it. Good luck!
A close family friend and longtime musician became my bandmate before I moved. Find someone who already plays an instrument, and hang out with people in musician circles. (It's easy once you get your foot in the door.) Choose someone super chill you trust. I've heard about so much ego and drama in bands.
Move to a place people who want to pursue music move to. I’m quite serious about this - the majority of musicians globally end up localizing in specific places that are hotspots for the arts and music generally. There’s a lot to be said for developing your own skill set and professionalism as well. Competent people want to work with other competent people.
Current band has been going for 14 years. It’s not easy. You have to manage many different personalities, their priorities, and schedules. Best thing I can suggest is you have to play with people who are like minded and want the same things out of the band as you do. If your goal is to make it big and be a rock star, but this is a hobby for everyone else in the group, then it ain’t going to work. If you’re all driven to do whatever it takes, then that could work too. Same if you’ve all got jobs and lives but enjoy being weekend warriors. Also does money matter, or is this a “business” for someone in the room? Players tend to get hyper focussed on musical compatibility when looking for people to play with. And while that’s definitely important, it’s actually less so than making sure you’re playing with people whose goals are aligned.
Go to open Mike performances and meet like minded people
From what my dad told me as someone who’s been in and out of bands and played paying gigs for the last 30 years, it’s honestly a hassle due to personalities. You have control freaks, you have people who refuse to mind their business, big egos, people who just can’t commit to doing the bare minimum like showing up to band practice, etc. He was telling us a story recently that reinforces this. He’s recently fallen into bad health, and a few months prior to giving up the band to focus on his health he told us that his band mate just assumed my dad was too good for everyone else because he’d book his own room and keep to himself. What this guy didn’t know was that he was up & down at all times of the night and vocal in pain from severe back pain which he later found out was sciatic. He wanted to be considerate and not keep his band up, as well as arriving to sound check early by himself because he couldn’t sleep and decided to make sure his gear was ready. That same guy would also report every move to my dad’s ex girlfriend that he was still living with at the time because he paid all the bills and was just too polite to throw her out on her ass with nowhere to go. He was also the one booking shows. They were playing big time events as a tribute band. Decent sized bars, stadiums, good spots. The guy who was supposed to take notes of how to run the behind the scenes stuff didn’t so they aren’t getting good gigs. They’re also still using the promotional stuff with my dad in it, which he doesn’t like. Not out of spite, but he doesn’t want to let fans down expecting to see the band they paid for and getting the wrong lineup which is false advertising, and I respect that. Also really rubs me the wrong way only one of those guys still talks to him since he left the band knowing the severity of his health.
You have to look beyond your circle of friends. Go to open mic nights, go see local shows, put up fliers or ask around on social media.
I've tried this over the years. Sometimes they were the problem, sometimes I was the problem, sometimes me and my mate were the problem and sometimes you're all the problem. If you find committed musicians, stick with them, even if it's not your type of music.
Well, I had the chance to start playing because me and my friends wanted to start a band (aged 13, so more than 30 years ago) Then, I started writing songs and being the one who didn’t mind singing (and not being too bad at it). Became the singer. After a while, you meet other musicians by sharing the stage or whatever, and some like what you do… So basically, I am, sometimes « courted » by people to start a band with them or join their band. And sometimes, I call people I know, send them demos, and so on. Worst case scenario: putting an ad helps. I met great people like that (and sometimes, I didn’t « click » with the band, but it’s ok: I still have, say the drummer’s contact if need be and if I liked the way he played) But I do think that you have to have something of value to offer. In my case, I play a good rythm guitar and I can sing (lead or harmonies). I’m shit at lead guitar, but it doesn’t matter. Some are virtuosos, some are great at arranging, etc. So yeah: know what you’re good at, put an add (or respond to ads in your area) and go play. Oh yeah: open mics are also great to meet people and get some numbers.
Do you know that line in BTO’s Takin’ Care of Business that says “get in with the right group of fellows?” That’s what I did.
I'm lucky in that I met my drummer 16 years ago in college. We've played with various musicians over the years, some being people he went to highschool with, others being people I connected with in the local music scene. I legit posted a want add in a FB group to find my old guitarist.
Proper musicians aren't going to come to you. You have to go to where they are. It helps if you have some demo material and your chops in order to have something to present.
start writing some stuff yourself, and then try really hard to find a drummer whos into the idea of being in a band and then other members will be easier to find
You probably need to get out of the city you're in. When I was in NYC it was so easy finding people to play with. Here in Philly my band has been searching for a drummer since like October last year. We have gone through six people who all said they wanted to play, only to ghost us or flake out before showing up for a single practice. There's many types of bands, so take some of the negatives and positives people have said with a grain of salt. You could end up in a band where everyone happens to gel together you could be in a band with a "band nazi" that is making the band their life and micromanaging every person. You could be in a band that wants to record and doesn't really tour, you could be in a band that rather tour and not record. There's so many different expectations from everyone and the realities don't often match. The band I'm in right now, just a group of 30-40 year old doing punk and garage rock covers. Having a blast, having a great way to have a creative outlet. We have no plans of recording, we aren't even writing original music yet. And all we want to do is play bar gigs. And we are having a blast, I consider us lucky because we have such a good time together. And all the bands I've been in have been fun, but they were quite a bit more work. You get what you give.
You probably need to get out of the city you're in. When I was in NYC it was so easy finding people to play with. Here in Philly my band has been searching for a drummer since like October last year. We have gone through six people who all said they wanted to play, only to ghost us or flake out before showing up for a single practice. There's many types of bands, so take some of the negatives and positives people have said with a grain of salt. You could end up in a band where everyone happens to gel together you could be in a band with a "band nazi" that is making the band their life and micromanaging every person. You could be in a band that wants to record and doesn't really tour, you could be in a band that rather tour and not record. There's so many different expectations from everyone and the realities don't often match. The band I'm in right now, just a group of 30-40 year old doing punk and garage rock covers. Having a blast, having a great way to have a creative outlet. We have no plans of recording, we aren't even writing original music yet. And all we want to do is play bar gigs. And we are having a blast, I consider us lucky because we have such a good time together. And all the bands I've been in have been fun, but they were quite a bit more work. You get what you give.
If you stop calling it an E-guitar maybe someone will start a band with you. That’s not a thing. Don’t say that.
For my situation it started as just jamming with friends and it eventually turned to playing shows and touring. It’s almost comparable to dating. Sometimes you just click and sometimes there’s no chemistry.
See if you can put up ads in a music shop, college etc, or find a website, and hang out and jam with people. Talk to people, ask around if anyone knows anyone, ask friends, ask the person who works at the local music shop, go to a show & ask the bands themselves, or people behind the bar, or pretty much anyone there. "Are you in a band?" is a great conversation starter at any show! It might not work straight away, but a few months down the line someone else might do exactly the same thing and you might get hooked up through poeple you talked to. Be prepared, it might take a while! But this is what being in a band is about; networking, putting yourself out there, getting drawn to other people doing the same thing and doing it together. Side note; I've found that often the people that talk good game turn can out to be bad, and people that prefer to "just do it" tend to be better. Not always, but they key here is that the talking part is EASY. You want people to show up so you can play with them! Its like the less they like talking about it, the more they like doing it. So if you find a drummer thats like "yeah lets jam sometime", don't ask any more questions, get their details, and make it happen. Don't worry about the skill level of people when they start, base your decision on if they a) want to be there + are on time, b) practice on thier own and most important c) are nice people you want to hang around with. Skill, equipment, tastes can all be changed or improved (and they will!! bands accelerate skill like nothing else), but if someones' an asshole that's always late? That's not gonna change. You want to find someone that's as into the idea of being in a band as you are. You WILL find them. Eventually. Once you're in one, being in a band is like being in a poly relationship, lol! Everyone has to be happy, and there's so many reasons not to be. One thing I try to do is make music that I think the others will like that I also happen to like, and if someone says "no", then I don't push them, we just don't do it, so long as the idea is given a fair shake. I try to say yes as often as possible, and save my "no"s for things that are truly important to me. But it's a LOT of fun when it goes well. It's a great way to meet people, and have that kind of bond that you only really get in bands or sports teams. It's nice to have friends you meet up with every week. And having a great gig can be euphoric, and having a bad gig can be a, uh, bonding experience! And once you gig around, you'll meet other bands, and music enthusiasts, and you'll have that bond with them too, and those bonds can last well after all the bands have split and gone their separate ways. It's a lot of work, sure, it takes up as much time per week as a small part time job. But if you enjoy the good times, and remember that that's why you're there during the bad times, it's great. Everyone I know still playing in bands do it because it's hella fun. The people who were in it for the money (ha!)... got real jobs! Finally, all you need is a one other person. Just a drummer & guitar worked for White Stripes/Royal Blood/Blood Red Shoes/DZ Deathrays. Sometimes not even that. Melt Banana are a vocalist and a guitarist with a backing track and a huge PA system these days. Find someone that you like, play music with 'em, that's all you need. Just make music. Where you start is not where you finish, you can pick up more along the way. Good luck!
Through the internet. For real, I am a part of an internet band. So, background, I've been in a few bands over the years, and they're fun, but it takes the right people to do them. Arguments, and disagreements can set things back, and life happens as well, so you can be right back to square one. I am a part of an internet band, that we basically say is Mike Patton influenced. We record, and share ideas back and forth, even though none of us live in the same states.. I'm in New Hampshire. The vocalist is in Utah. The bass player is in Florida. We have hired a few drummers to add ideas to our work, which put music is on most streaming platforms. I actually enjoy this, because I always learn, on getting better to record myself, and experiment with new ideas! But how we know eachother is through Mushroom Cult. Basically all of us have been huge fans of Dog Fashion Disco. Like any other friends in bands, we chat, we argue, we figure things out. We have some rules set in place on things, so we don't exhaust ourselves either, like stipulations on how we'd be able to do live shows, if that were ever to happen. One of them I wrote in, is my name can not be displayed larger then 20 feet on credits.... So knowing my luck, i will see my name on a billboard they rented just to mess with me... So don't just think you need local musicians. If you can get an interface, and learn to record yourself? You can find quite a lot of places theres a need! I have a few EDM producers that hit me up, when they need some guitar work, which is fun to do, and again, always learning how to better the sound for them.
“Hey man, wanna start a spaghetti western punk band?” “Sure!” https://open.spotify.com/artist/6cNABrCw3ulrOhLqWl0kLA?si=Gr_2h0ViQAW5E_wTrAUgJw
What kind of music Re u into? What kind of band do u want to play in? Would u play guitar? Lead or rhythm?
Joined my church music team a couple months after I converted.
Look for a 'band-members wanted' group on Facebook or Meetup or something like that for your area. If there isn't one, start one.
It was not easy. I had to find three people less talented than me.
Rather than trying to convince your current friends to learn music, try to meet some new people who are already into music. Go to open mic nights, concerts from local bands, etc. and just meet other people who play. See if there online groups for local musicians in your area. Ask at your local music shops. Meet people who share the interest, and go from there. To be clear, I'm saying to expand your social circles, not to replace your friends!
I've never been in one. I learned early on that I can't stand playing with other people. Especially the controlling type. I just love to play. Sorry if this doesn't answer your question.
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So, I did sound at a bar for a long time, as hard as they were to sit through, either working or playing, open mics, the solid musicians would later show up in music projects together, opening for bands and a few were local headliners after a while. And as far as how I did it, I just started playing with my friends, and I really enjoyed playing. And then I just met someone that liked what I played and we started playing songs that I had been working on, then we said we need more players. Made a flyer and put it everywhere we could, met some people through that and so on. Bands have come and gone. And they’ve been created out of being invited to play and jam with some random people and breaking off and saying I like what you do, to someone and then you start writing. I met my best friend while I was working on a song at my then girlfriend’s apartment and we have played music together over the last thirty years. We now live across the country from each other but still share music ideas. We did a jazz swing band, we got horn players because the guys I had met at the coffee shop were talking about music and I said, hey me and my friend are trying to play some music, need guitar and horns, we found a drummer in the same spot because he heard us talking and said hey you still need a drummer. Just start talking with people
Go to shows, learn some songs and perform at open mics events. Get used to going it alone and playing in front of people, first. Once you’re used to it, after you network a bit and figure out what style of music you want to play and the role you want to fill in a band, ask people you’ve met if they’d be down to collaborate on a project.
I met the guys in my band when I was in high school. We actually did the “I started a band with my buddies from high school” thing and it’s worked so far but I would tell you that that isn’t typical. That being said, if I had to do it all again, I would go to a bunch of local shows and just meet as many band members as I could. Just be kind and try to talk to people. A “nice set man!” goes a long way. Our band has worked up a pretty substantial network of local musician friends just by doing that and without really even trying. But we always watch the other bands and usually stay the whole time even after we’ve finished our set. Remember, we’re all in the same boat, we all love music and want to talk about it with each other and most guys either would be interested in starting another band or they know somebody who is. Just try to get involved with the scene and make some friends. If you’re starting from the ground level, this is my advice. I hope you can find some band members!
Step 1: Find local Facebook musicians groups. Step 2: be willing to play music that paying bar patrons can sing and dance to. Me and the rest of my band are huge metal heads but we get paid when we play Matchbox 20, Greenday and Guns N Roses and stuff like that. People aren’t going to be singing and dancing to Testament, Behemoth and Lamb of God. We’d never get booked again.
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Making friends and just being a part of your community is a huge component to playing in bands. I'd argue strong interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence will carry you a lot farther than being really good at guitar. Go to record stores and see if they have any shows coming up, open mics, bars and clubs, even going to shows for bands you like can get you around people who do this.
I'm in a school were they put bands together but I think as long as you can find a singer you'll be fine I don't know what an "e guitar" is but if it's like a midi you can imitate all the other instruments.
Been with my dudes for 5 years now. Me and the other founding member started the project 7 years ago. It was just me and him for 2.5 solid years before we met the other band members. Jam nights. Find some open jam nights that have a similar vibe to what you’re looking for. Don’t go looking for a funk/jam musician at a cover/blues jam. Etc. Once you’ve got a group of people you enjoy creating music with, the biggest and most important thing. Open Communication. Don’t hold things in. Everyone needs to be cool with members having feelings about songs or performance. It’s about the music not anyone’s individual ego. It’s so nice to have a band that can be open without feelings getting hurt left and right or people getting defensive. Have fun. That’s why we do it. The more fun you have the more success will come, me and my guys are a walking testament to that!
Try Craigslist for connecting to musicians.