So you’ve begun the amazing journey that not many take… Congratulations, you got Balls! Starting a rock band is one of the most fulfilling things any person can possibly do. The feeling of synergy between a band, whether its drums, bass & guitar or a full band with horns, keys and background singers, is mind blowing once it finds its right members. Seriously, how much impact can you have as one person, while a well synchronized team can conquer a mountain.
I’ve been assembling bands for over 15 years and in that time I’ve put together over 15 bands with anything from a two piece acoustic to a 9 piece orchestra. My band Shaka Buku toured throughout the US and played in every venue up and down the Southern California coast multiple times and in that time I’ve learned some valuable lessons I’d like to pass on here.
1) Know What You Want
As in all things in life, if you don’t know what you want, you won’t get what you want! For this reason you need to spend some time and “write down” what you want. Yes you are the leader… commit it to paper so you don’t hire the wrong member and later on put yourself in a compromising situation in a gig where the drummer gets so drunk (they had stage fright and used booze as an excuse) they can’t even play and they end up embarrassing you and your band never gets invited back.
How Can I find the right members?
First write down a few criteria that you want in your band and ask them these questions on a phone interview. I recommend you first go to craigslist if you’re just starting out, but you can also ask around if you’re at a school or college in a music department. There are a couple other paid services like Bandmix.com, but not many artists pay for these services.
2) What’s Your Pitch?
Whether you’re going to run an ad or not this is a big one and you don’t want to just slap up what you are looking for. Make sure you write down exactly what you want so you can pitch it to someone in person or in your ad:
a) Grab them in the headline: list the genre and position and overall goal: i.e., Rock Drummer Wanted for Fun Jamming
b) What level of player you are looking for: beginner, intermediate, advanced, professional (get paid)
c) What are your goals: for fun, for professional performances, for a band member who will possibly co-write, for a cover band member who will be guaranteed pay? Make sure you are clear, otherwise you’ll be sifting through a lot of unqualified candidates.
d) Spell out what you don’t want: If you don’t want any rookies say: “No rookies please” or If you don’t want a 50 year old hobbyist drummer to join your band, be clear and say: “looking for a 21-35 year old male drummer” ( or something like that).
e) List things that are deal breakers: No Drugs Please, No one Under 21 Please, No Drama Queens Please!
f) Leave Your email and ask for references: Ask for them to send you previous work or a photo or a web page. This can screen out a lot of unqualified people.
3) Can they do the job... can they play the songs in the genre you want to play?
In order to determine if they can do the job, have a few songs ready to email to these candidates before they audition and ask that every applicant come in and play the same songs with you, that way you’ll know who sucks and who rips. Make sure you choose three songs that are different and represent a good part of what you will be performing. You’ll also know who is lazy and who is a hard worker.. the lazy ones will leave parts out and say: “oh I’ll get that later.” Even if this person rips in soloing, ditch them, they won’t do the work later and you’ll have problems down the road, trust me.
4) Will they do the job..
This criteria is all about your goals. You need to ask on your phone interview BEFORE THEY COME IN, “What are Your Goals?” If you goals are similar then move forward with the audition, if not, call it quits before you waste a lot of your time.
5) Where will You Rehearse and how often?
Make sure you establish a clear expectation about who is responsible for the rehearsal studio… will you share the financial burden or will someone take 100% responsibility? Pick a date you will rehearse and stick to it. Try rehearsing twice a week and if you can, more. Of course sometimes this doesn’t always work out, but shoot for it. Remember, practice makes perfect as long as you practice the stuff you’re NOT good at.