Starting a Band, need Advice

Read Ozzy Osbourne's bio and you shall find your answers, except the idea of getting into drugs/alcohol, those things won't help you at all... And cruelty against animals in general... Or beating your wife... Or... Well, just read parts of that bio, ok?

We started a band on highschool, and it ended very quickly because...
1. We were all awful musicians.
2. We didn't wanted to turn into a punk band. I was back then into blues, another of the guys wanted to do only heavy metal, and the two remaining were more than willing to sell their poor souls to the music industry (a.k.a. commercial modern pop rock).
3. Everyone's own little ego, and I'm better than you attitude. Also total lack of respect for each other's musical taste, which lead us to a total lack of communication.
4. We were most of the time too drunk to make any good music/lyrics plus... Number one reason : We couldn't do anything good with our instruments, we were just making noise and howling blues and heavy metal (bad) covers.

You can also graduate highschool while building up your band. If you don't want to assist to a highschool, there is options to get graduated. You can have a look, and talk to your parents about it. I wouldn't tell them yet about your real plans.

Nothing stupid or teenagery about the idea of having your own band. It's still one of my projects.

 

Sup. Want to be in a band huh? When at band practice, some of the most important things to keep in mind is chemistry. Does your band work well together? It's cool if you have some friends and or buddies who just wanna jam. But sometimes that just isn't enough. I've been in and out of 6 bands. Some of us had good chemistry but some of us had our egos get in the way.

Second is your play style and learning style. Out of majority of the bands I have been in, myself and others were usually self taught musicians. Must of us if not all of us have had an unorthodox approach in learning music while a few members have taken the orthodox way with music lessons and what not. And because of this, play styles vary in an infinite number of ways. Which include song composition, scales, using said scales in personal play style, song structure and foundation. Adapting and learning new play styles of each member is key. And it's still is one of the hardest things to do. I still have trouble with play style rhythms. Especially when it comes to palm mutes for metal songs. As long as each play style can mix together and be compatible, then that is all that matters.

Third thing is then energy. And the message. It's cool if you want to show people some stuff. But you gotta be able to tell the crowd something. If you aren't feeling the energy as you play, the the audience wont feel it. Always make sure to have feeling as you play. Lose yourself in that energy. Let it take you over and possess you.

And this one was taught to me and it works to great effect. I know that every song starts with your basic tempo, and has the main tempo. But a good song, has at least 2 to 3 tempo changes. Spices things up a bit. Also a lot of fun when you mes around with time signatures as well. It gets boring with you same old 1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4. Mixing it up really helps out a bit. My old band was like that... same tempo all the way through.

A lot of bands here in this town have this problem. Especially metal bands. But from what I heard of the influences you gave us, you shouldn't have this problem. A lot of bands tend to have songs that sound exactly the fucking same. I've been to 30 minute sets and it songs like one long ass song with a 30 second break in between "said" songs. And a lot of punk music has this downfall. Repetition. The same old chords. The same old bass lines. Maybe the drums will change here and there... and maybe the rhythm of playing said chords, but it's still repetitive. Be mindful of that.

Also a good bass player is needed. If you want one that is. It's always good to have a well rounded bass player. Somebody who can take the energy to new heights like the bass player of Rage Against The Machine, or L'Arc~En~Ciel. And if that bass player can do that, then he/she is also an excellent as improvising as he/she plays. If the bass player is gonna be playing the same stuff as the guitar is doing... that's okay... but it wont have the effect that you will need. Granted, a bass player is supposed to make the guitar sound completed, but the bass player must branch off in order to get that flow going into the songs.

And I had mentioned L'Arc~En~Ciel earlier. Famous J-Rock band. I see that you have Nagisa as your avatar so you must have some interest in J music. Give "Driver's High" by L'Arc~En~Ciel a listen and you will understand by what I mean when I said "The bass player must branch off of what the guitar is playing."

I wish you the best in music. I hope you guys kick some ass on the stage. I'm given you what I had learned in my experiences. Go tell the world your story. Go tell the world your band's story!