Band formation advice

Aen · April 13th, 2006, 07:53 PM

Anyone here have any advice on how to get reliable people for a serious working band? My beloved Ronald Raygun just broke up last week, essentialy due to the drummer's complete lack of commitment and unreliability.

Is there a trick to finding the more commited players, or am I stuck with loafer after loafer until I finally give up?

Tim Armstrong · April 13th, 2006, 08:02 PM

I've found that a good band is built one member at a time. Sometimes that last missing link just never shows up, unfortunately!

It helps tremendously if you're already well-prepared yourself, both musically and emotionally. You need to be good enough for others to want to join you, and enjoyable to hang with so they'll want to stay!

Good luck!

Tim

zombywoof · April 13th, 2006, 09:01 PM

Gotta disagree with ya on this one Tim my brother. There is no right way to put togther a band. All I can say is you will know 'em when you see 'em. It will feel right. And you may surprise yourself by not going with that local guitar God but opting for the undisciplined picker with guts and heart.

The only good band I was ever with (for over 12 years) came together as a fluke, an accident. Nuttin intentional or calculated about it. We were a bunch of friends (I had known the bass player since nursery school) who loved blues and Chuck Berry. We were sittin around one day, picked up some acoustic guitars, started making up simple blues songs about anything in the room (Ocelot Skin on the Wall Blues kinda thing) and the band was all there with the exception of the singer who we snuck into a Catholic Girls School the next day to coax into the fold.

chickenpicker · April 14th, 2006, 02:45 AM

This is one reason why I'm not playing with a band - not that I can't find decent people to make the jigsaw come together, but that I can't be sure that I can commit myself to a band, due to family & work issues.

Durtdog · April 14th, 2006, 06:59 AM

I've never discovered any tricks, if they exist. It's been keep plodding along, and it happens by sheer dumb luck.

April 13th, 2006, 07:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
Aen Tele-Holic Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Eau Claire, WI Posts: 942	Band formation advice Anyone here have any advice on how to get reliable people for a serious working band? My beloved Ronald Raygun just broke up last week, essentialy due to the drummer's complete lack of commitment and unreliability. Is there a trick to finding the more commited players, or am I stuck with loafer after loafer until I finally give up? __________________ Alt-country and psych-rock-tronica! Hey, be happy you can choose one genre for yourself! http://www.myspace.com/aenpage

April 13th, 2006, 08:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tim Armstrong Moderator Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Berlin, Maryland, USA Age: 49 Posts: 8,248	I've found that a good band is built one member at a time. Sometimes that last missing link just never shows up, unfortunately! It helps tremendously if you're already well-prepared yourself, both musically and emotionally. You need to be good enough for others to want to join you, and enjoyable to hang with so they'll want to stay! Good luck! Tim __________________ http://www.moodswingers.org

April 13th, 2006, 09:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
zombywoof Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Back in the Heartland Posts: 2,793 17 Photos	Gotta disagree with ya on this one Tim my brother. There is no right way to put togther a band. All I can say is you will know 'em when you see 'em. It will feel right. And you may surprise yourself by not going with that local guitar God but opting for the undisciplined picker with guts and heart. The only good band I was ever with (for over 12 years) came together as a fluke, an accident. Nuttin intentional or calculated about it. We were a bunch of friends (I had known the bass player since nursery school) who loved blues and Chuck Berry. We were sittin around one day, picked up some acoustic guitars, started making up simple blues songs about anything in the room (Ocelot Skin on the Wall Blues kinda thing) and the band was all there with the exception of the singer who we snuck into a Catholic Girls School the next day to coax into the fold. __________________ "I don't play a lot of fancy guitar. I don't want to play it. The kind of guitar I want to play is mean, mean licks." John Lee Hooker

April 14th, 2006, 02:45 AM	#4 (permalink)
chickenpicker Friend of Leo's Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: UK Posts: 3,060 14 Photos	This is one reason why I'm not playing with a band - not that I can't find decent people to make the jigsaw come together, but that I can't be sure that I can commit myself to a band, due to family & work issues.

April 14th, 2006, 06:59 AM	#5 (permalink)
Durtdog Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2004 Location: Tennessee Posts: 3,113	I've never discovered any tricks, if they exist. It's been keep plodding along, and it happens by sheer dumb luck.