10 things which every band should have
Forming a band is very easy, but forming a good band needs
many things at the level of perfection. Now a days you will see many people
forming a band without even learning the basics of musics because they are
attracted to the lifestyle of musicians not with the music. According to me, it
doesn’t matter how small or big the gig is, you should always give your best
because the people standing in front of you are expecting a performance from
you, not a jamming session on stage. I
am not saying that you should perform without making a single note mistake
because some bands who are the pioneers of metal genres have also made mistakes
on stage and that’s fine, but going on stage with no idea of sound, song
structure, without proper jamming, can make you a piece of mockery on
stage.
Nowadays, making a
Facebook page of your band is considered much more necessary than making OCs.
But all the successful bands have a few things in common. So through this blog,
I want to share the 10 most important things a band must have
Friends before
bandmates
Before a jamming session, before deciding on the playlist,
before your first OC, the very initial things a band needs is friendship. When
you will see the great bands, you will notice the strong bond of friendship or
what we can call brotherhood they have. Imagine a situation when you have a
great band with professional musicians, but one of your guitarists hates your
bassist like the election results of USA and imagine another situation where
you have mediocre musicians in your band but they have a very strong bond of
brotherhood between themselves. Now tell me which band will have more
sustainability? Obviously, the second band because they knew how to hold each
other’s back in even difficult situations.
Understanding
A good understanding between the
bandmates is very much necessary because it will have an impact on every single
aspect of a band like performance, jamming, OCs etc. A better understanding
allows the member of the bands to know the weaknesses and strengths of each
other and instead of shouting on their weaknesses, they utilize the strength of
their musicians and allow them to work individually on their gaps.
Music Taste
A good band should have a common music taste and here while
talking about music taste, I am not talking about what you listen but what
comes out of your musical instrument or voice. I am mentioning this because we
listen and cover different genres according
to our taste, but being a musician, we are able to produce something unique in
some specific genres only and that’s not a limitation, but that’s the quality
of musicians, as said by Jimmy page “I believe every guitar player inherently has something unique about
their playing. They just have to identify what makes them different and develop
it”. If in a band, the guitarist composes blues, bassist composes hard rock,
drummer composes metalcore and the vocalist sing thrash metal, then your OC
will become “Core Rock Blues Thrash”
Dedication
Dedication of every band member is the key to become
successful. Even if one of your band member considers music as a part time
hobby in his life, it will have an effect on your whole band. I have seen many
band members saying that they don’t know how long their band will continue or
they have any future or not, dude, it’s your band, you can shape the future of
your band and make it last for a lifetime, but just because you consider your
band as a formality or a way of getting publicity, such nonsense things comes
out of your mouth. Every band member should have only one thing in mind “Music
for life”. They should see themselves performing on stage, even after 10 years
from now. I am not saying that you
should leave your job, skip the responsibility of your family and just sit with
your guitar and band 24*7 but then you need to give ample amount of time for
your passion and aim of life.
Stage Act
Anyone doesn’t go to a gig to listen to a song which he could
listen on his headphone with the comfort of his home, they go out in the huge
crowd gathering to see a stage act. Imagine a situation where you see a band
performing a song live exactly like the studio recording, but without moving an
inch from their position or without cheering the whole crowd for the next song,
isn’t that boring. Yes it is and that’s why fast tempo of songs, running to
different corners of the stage, jumping in the crowd and even biting a bat’s
head off (that can only be done by our
prince of darkness ozzy) is done on the stage by the great bands to cheer the
crowd and make the place alive. Every band has its unique way of performing on
stage and you should perform like the song of Pearl Jam “I am still alive”
Contribution
The contribution of each band member is very much necessary
and let’s talk about it in detail. I
have seen many guitarists of a band explaining the notes to a bassist which he
needs to play in their next oc and that’s good because you are helping your
band member but it will wipe out the uniqueness of your song as every mind is
different and you could miss the unique bass line which could have done wonders
to your song if your bassist has composed it. Yes a guitarist can also play a
bass, but there is a reason why there is a bassist in a band he only he plays
bass in your band. Contribution of each band member is necessary to make a band
perfect. Allow your band members to explore their talent instead of guiding
each note on their instrument.
Covers at the
starting phase
Doing covers is very much necessary to check the fluency of
each band member. It helps your band members to gel in with each other. All the
great bands have started with covers and the same thing applies for you also.
Don’t ever think of doing an OCs at an early phase of your band when you have
just started jamming. While covering a song, everyone will be clear about their
portion (whether it is bassline, drumtrack, vocals or solo) which will allow
each of your band members to understand the style, range and limit of playing
and singing of each other.
Good musicians at
individual level
Before joining or forming a band, the first thing which you
need to ask yourself is“Whether I am a good musician at individual level or
not?” because a good band requires good musicians at an individual level. I
have seen many musicians performing on stage who still need to practice at home
for at least 7-8 hours a day, but because they are hungry for the stage, they
just jump in. So don’t rush for forming a band, practice at your home first and
if you find yourself good enough for a band then go for it.
OC (own composition)
OC for a band is as important as pinch harmonics for Zakk Wylde
(no harsh feelings, I am a big fan of Zakk Wylde). OC shows the uniqueness of
the band, its quality and it has the power to bring the most influential change
in the world. I am not saying that cover bands are not great, but there is a
limit to which they can grow because if you will search on the internet, you
will find many people covering songs of the great bands with perfection. It is
not only about becoming big in the industry, but binding yourself to cover
songs hides your unique portion of musicality which could have done wonders.
Covers are good till a point where you get stage experience, gel in with each
other, after that you need to move on and start composing your own songs.
So, this post is not about the guidelines of forming a band,
it is just about the common things which every band needs to have. Practice,
dedicate your life to music and come out as a revolution in the music scene.
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