Creating a Band (series) - Part II, Finding Members

Quite possibly the most arduous process during the early stages of creating a band is that of finding fellow musicians to make music with. Recruiting musicians for a group can be challenging, time-consuming, and otherwise troublesome, and quite a few "bands" never make it out of this step intact because they can't find the right people. Hopefully, this entry into the "Creating a Band" series will help alleviate some of those musician-recruiting woes.

First and foremost, it's important to point out that leadership balance is essential to any functional band. No one likes working with a dictator, but leadership is a double-edged sword: without leadership, the band can't properly function. As such, it's important to instill democracy to some extent, but to put your foot down on some issues, only after careful consideration of the facts at hand. Always keep in mind that this isn't "your band," it's everyone's band. It doesn't belong to you, nor does it belong to your fellow musicians, or the group as a collective. Your music belongs to whatever fans you accumulate over the years, and whatever decisions are made, by you or by the group as a whole, should keep those fans, potential or proper, close in mind. Try to identify the most natural leader amongst everyone in the group early on and channel the group's democracy through them. This is going to seem extremely difficult, and it will probably take your group quite some time to sort out, but be patient and delegate responsibilities, and with a bit of understanding and friendship, everything should come together pretty well.

With the leadership issue behind us, let's talk about the qualities you should be looking for in your fellow musicians. Different roles are going to require slightly different personalities, but there are certain extremes you should always be careful to avoid. There are certain character traits that should be avoided by serious, goal-oriented, original bands. I like to refer to them as "The Seven Golden Flaws." This is a relatively short list: ego, shyness, sloth, negativity, apathy, clumsiness, and flippancy. Almost everyone you encounter in life will have at least a few of these flaws, but when you're trying to find fellow musicians for a band, it's important that you ensure that these flaws are all manageable within the group.

"Ego" is an attitude of superiority; an ego-ridden person will attempt to take control of the group, will view themselves as the most important member of the band, and are often the first to burn out from even a small amount of success. A small dose of ego is good for anyone, though; ego might be the difference between an excellent stage show or a wailing guitar solo and a meek, lifeless performance. But ego is arguably the most rampant character flaw in the music world, so learning to avoid associating yourself with people of this nature is essential. Shyness can lead to poor stage performances, and can also affect productivity during practices, songwriting meetings, recording sessions, etc. Sloth -- a person being messy -- might hurt the image of the band, and won't work wonders for your rehearsal or recording space, either. Negativity stems from a person having a negative view of the world around them, taking things too seriously, and/ or complaining too often, and can demoralize a band and fans as well. Apathy -- a person not caring about anything -- will lead to their musical participation being bland or lifeless, or simply not original. clumsiness, as funny as this trait can often be, is extremely dangerous when it is displayed in a room filled with expensive musical equipment . Last but certainly not least, flippancy exists in a person who doesn't take things seriously enough, which means they might show up constantly late, or might skip sessions, or otherwise would jeopardize the band with a broad "who cares, this isn't serious" attitude.

Other things to consider when reviewing potential musicians for a band are a bit more straightforward. How experienced is the musician? If they haven't had as much experience as you, they might slow the band's progress. If they've had more experience than you, they might expect more from your band than it can deliver. Always try to match up skill level and general musical experience between all of your band members to avoid complications (or even walk-outs) in the future. Another thing to keep in mind is age. Try to keep all of your band members within about five to ten years of age of one-another. A 25-year old is going to look, feel, and properly be out of place in a group of young teenagers, and a 16-year old guitarist won't quite fit in with a bunch of veteran 30-year old musicians, either. Culturally, the differences are going to take their toll on the group as well. A person in their thirties today has little in common with someone in their teens. Equipment is important to think about, too. Everyone should have relatively the same quality of gear. If the drummer has a massive Ludwig kit with Sabian AA cymbals, and the bassist has an American Fender Jazz bass and a huge Marshall bass stack, but then the guitarist shows up with a Rogue guitar and a Crate practice amp, it isn't going to go very well! Last but not least, you should make sure that potential band members have enough time to devote to the group. Can they make themselves available for rehearsals, recording sessions, and shows? Can they get enough time away from their jobs to go on tour if the band makes it that far?

In considering all of these traits in regards to your fellow band-mates, it's important that you also think about each trait as it relates to you personally. Would someone say that any of the traits belong to you? If so, can you clearly see your own personality flaws well enough that you can work on changing them? If you do have any of these traits, and you're serious about making music with a band, then it's vital to your future as a musician that you do what you can to work on these flaws. And don't be ashamed, either: everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses. If you ask enough close friends and somewhat-known associates about your flaws, someone should be honest with you and tell you what they are so that you can work on them.

Okay, now that we know what to look for in musicians, let's find out how to actually look for musicians! Back in Part I of the "Creating a Band" series, we worked out how many musicians (and what musicians in particular) the band is going to need. With this in mind, it's time to start recruiting. We're going to handle our recruiting efforts in three steps, which we'll list here:

Step I - Friends and Family: The first place to start recruiting musicians should be from within your own circle of peers. This doesn't necessarily mean people you're close with, either. You might know someone who can play an instrument and who might make a great candidate for the band, or someone that they know might be a good choice. Ask your friends and family first if they know anyone worthy of joining the band, and give people some time to spread it around that you're looking to start a group. Also, ask people in school or at work if they know anyone with musical talent as well. Some of you will be able to fill out your whole band without even reading the second or third steps!

Step II - The Internet: When you've grown fairly confident that you don't know anyone who can join, you can try the second step: using the Internet to bring in musicians. If you use social networking services like Facebook or Twitter, you might have people on your lists whom you don't know personally or whom you otherwise haven't tried, so post a few messages on those services to see if you can find anyone. Also, try putting up a local post to the "Musicians" page on Craig's List, explaining who you are, what sort of band you want to start, what skill level you have, what equipment and other resources are available to you, etc. Depending on where you live, you should be able to get some good results from these techniques. Please note that posting to Craig's List might result in email spam or immature responses from people who think they're funny, but actually aren't. If you meet someone from Craig's List, make sure you bring a friend along with you and a cell phone just to be safe, because you never know what sorts of people you might meet. My current band used Craig's List, and while we did find a very talented guitarist who was the perfect match for the group, we also met some people who, well... yes, bring a friend and a phone with you!

Step III - The Old "Brick n' Mortar" Visits: If the first two options didn't work out for you, you might need to try the oldest technique in the book: hanging up signs. Venture out to local music stores, instrument shops, coffee houses, and other establishments where musicians tend to dwell, and hang up signs. If you have a bulletin board in your school or at work, ask for permission and hang a sign up there as well. The signs should be simple, without too much "loudness." Avoid "flooding" the page, avoid lots of color and wacky fonts, and try to keep everything clean, neat, and orderly, while also trying to grab a person's attention. State the facts: who you are, what level of skill you have, what your equipment is, what style of music the band will go for. Provide a phone number and/ or an email address on "tear-tabs" along the bottom or side of the sign. If you hang up enough of these signs, you should get some decent responses.

If you're the sort of person who likes to wade through countless auditions, you could try all three of these steps at the same time, but depending on where you live and what your local music scene is like, you might experience a tremendous flood of responses and overwhelming scheduling conflicts. This might work for some of you, but for others, you've been warned!

Each potential musician should be auditioned to see if they're a good match for the group. Ask them to play one or two songs that both of you are familiar with, and ask them to play one or two original songs, if they've written any. If someone seems to really spark your interest, don't invite them to join just yet! Make sure you audition everyone who responds (well, everyone who seems to be a good fit, anyway). After you've auditioned everyone, ask your top picks to come back for a second audition (this second audition is called a "call-back"). This way, everyone that impressed you was given two fair chances to show you what skills they've had. When auditioning musicians, there are a few different things to look out for: talent, showmanship, and friendliness. Can they play their instrument with enough skill to fill the role you're eying them for? Were they trying a little too hard or not hard enough with their posture and playing? And how likely are you to get along with the person you're auditioning? Don't be afraid to reject someone if they don't match what you're looking for, but don't turn someone down because of minor flaws that could otherwise be fixed. You don't want to end up auditioning people for a year or two, but at the same time, you don't want to fill your band with more musicians than are needed because you couldn't tell any of them "no."

After you recruit musicians for your band, you'll be ready to head into the next step, but before you do, I'd like to take this moment to talk a bit about friendship. Whether this band will be a fun hobby project that isn't intended to make you wealthy, or a dead-serious project where you hope everyone will treat the group as seriously as they would a job, it's absolutely vital that you try to develop friendships with your fellow band-mates. Take some time to get to know each other. Set aside a few hours a week to play video games, or hang out in a pub/ bar, or visit a sporting event, or whatever it is that you and the musicians in your new band find enjoyable. Get to know each other and do what you can to hang out whenever possible. When the members of the band become friends and learn to know and trust each other, the group as a whole will play more solidly, will chase goals and dreams more seriously, and will work together to the benefit of everyone else, and not just themselves.

Coming Up Next: In Part III, we'll learn how to hunt down quality rehearsal space for the band, and we'll talk about some practice habits that should improve efficiency and productivity.