Live Music Archive

(For the purpose of this article I’m going to make a couple of assumptions before I go any further. They are that you have a little bit of vocal or musical instrument knowledge and that you furthermore have a fledgling network of companions and contacts)
Starting up a performer is a truly inspiring time in a musicians life. There’s a fine balance of nervous anticipation and the fear of the unknown that follows the whole process.
A performer has a diverse dynamic than working as a solo artist. There are other people involved, other personal ities, other strengths and weaknesses in character and abilities and because of this it’s really important that you have several things worked out before you start looking for performer members.
1. Have a wonderful idea of your own strengths and weaknesses
The performer members that you want to get will need to be around the same level of competence as you are. The main reason for this is that you could all grow together rather than have one or two musicians carrying everybody else. This kind of player imbalance causes doubt in the group and doubt is one of the major killers of bands.
2. Know beforehand how the performer is going to be run
Is the performer going to be run by you or the whole group? The personal ity types of the musicians that you pick will need to be agreeable to the way the performer is going to be run.
3. What instrumentation is the performer having in its lineup?
This is mainly determined by the type(s) of music that you want to play but having an idea of what musicians you are looking for will be of amazing endorse.
It’s now time to hunt down some performer members
4. Ask your network of companions and/or contacts
This is always a wonderful place to start. Ask everybody that you know or come into contact with. If you do not have much of a circle of companions and/or contacts this will be a amazing opportunity to broad n it. This is one of the reasons why networking in the industry is so important, for opportunitys such as this.
Having a musician referred to you has a much better opportunity of working than one that comes from an advertisement. This leads me onto my next point.
5. Post an advertisement
Having said that I have had made some amazing contacts from musicians enquiring from a ‘muso wanted’ ad. The key to effective ads is that they need to be concise, to the point, not too lengthy and put in places where musicians are truly like ly to see it and read it like in a music shop, a local/regional music magazine or a music classifieds web site.
A sample ‘ musician wanted’ advertisement could read something like this:
BASS PLAYER WANTED
To join folk/rock band
Influences include
Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Counting Crows
Some experience like red
Own gear and transport essential
Interested?? Give me a call
Corey – (put home and/or cell telephone  number here)
As you could see, the ad is apparent in its intention.
It apparent ly states the musician wanted, the kind of music the performer is playing, what the music could sound like and that the performer has some experience behind it. Ensure you have a apparent contact name and phone numbers (if you want to include an email address as well that is cool).
Do not put in stuff like ‘work waiting’ or ‘no time was ters please’. You could judge those sort of things yourself when an interested musician contacts you.
Once you have done that the waiting game begins.

Most people would say the 1st thing to do is to find a name for the band. Lets start from there s hall we??
The auditions are over, you have found your bass player and you all seem to get along really well. The excitement is in the air and you have had your 1st performer bonding celebration.
Now its time to start your musical journey together.
Personally, I think that finding a performer name is THE hardest decision that the performer will ever have to make and and so one of the most important decisions as well.
A performer name is a truly important part of the artists identity. It’s the 1st point of contact a punter has with the band.
I cannot recall how a lot of times people have raved about a performer to me but cannot tell me the name when I ask them. Right there is the was ted opportunity for a band. It frustrates me no end.
This is a best example of how extremely important a performer name is.
The performer name is the 1st thing that a punter will recall. They won’t address the performer by the names of the individuals in it when they talk to their companions (unless they’re personal companions of yours) they will address the performer by its name.
The best way to find a performer name is through sheer persistance. Finding a performer name that is agreeable by everybody is not an simple task.
Here are some performer name event suggestions:
1. Get every member to write down their own list of potential performer names
This may be the 1st task that the performer could do collectively. session a date for the 1st performer meeting and betwixt now and then do that task.
2. Make brainstorming performer names the topic of your 1st ever performer meeting
When everybody gets together put all of the lists out on the table and go through each one keeping to one side the names that ’strike a chord’ (sorry about the pun) with all of you and getting rid of the rest.
As a group try brainstorming some ideas. This is a amazing way to start formulating what the performer is all about, what its image is etc, etc.
3. Establish a competition among all your companions /family/anyone else via email
This is a amazing way to start compiling the beginnings of your artists email list. List all of your companions /family/anyone else that you want to include and their email addresses and compile them all into one mailing group. Send out an email outlining the competition and be ready for the suggestions to come flooding in.
It’s important to have a cut off date for the competition (perhaps by your 1st performer meeting) and to have a prize on offer. Of course the prize is totally up to you.
Ensure that when you do find a performer name that you announce it through your email group. You have just started email promotion of your band.
Whatever you do have fun with the process and do not let the quest to find a performer name override the other things that you have to do such as writing tunes and finding rehearsal space.
I guarantee that once you have agreed on a performer name you will all collectively breathe a huge sigh of relief. The hardest part of the journey has been achieved.

Here is might the most important music business tip you will ever receive:
“Join up and subscribe to every indie music business and DIY performer promotion email list, newsletter and source that you could get your hands on and read everything that you receive”.
I mean it when I say that too much information is much better than not enough, if what you have joined up or subscribed to is not giving you the information that you need then you could just opt out and un-subscribe.
Most web sites that offer these things have the integrity to do as you ask.
Read what you receive, make notes, ask yourself if it’s relavent for you and the place you are living in, integrate the information into your knowledge base.
The only way to capture this knowledge is by research, and the Web is the best place to research anything.
Researching on the Web though will only give you general (but  nonetheless  truly important ) indie music business knowledge. The real power comes from knowing your local/regional scene and becoming active in it.
Here are some ways that you could do this:
1. Establish reading the music magazines in your area. local/regional street press is an invaluable tool in letting you know what is going on in the local/regional industry. Generally these magazines have features/interviews with local/regional bands, a performance  guide ( amazing for targeting where to play), industry news and so on.
2. Go and see some local/regional bands. Check out your competition (I mean that as a figure of speech the most important thing about a heal thy indie music business is the community that builds from the music and the people who play it), introduce yourself, get out there amongst it all and immerse yourself in the vibe. Get familiar with the places these artists play at and know who to talk to when it’s your turn to play there.
3. If the re are music associations where you live, join them. Anything that aids indie music on an association level seek it out and join up. If it costs money to do that then do it (generally its not an expensive exercise). Joining these types of associations instantly gives you a sense of community and solidarity. furthermore the amount of information you will capture about your local/regional area will be huge.
4. If the se local/regional organizations have web sites then bookmark them.
Need I say more on this topic. Most web sites for offline organizations offer more to On-line users of their services. It pays to be an active On-line user. One advantage that comes to mind is the fact that you are able to participate in forums and messageboards which, in time will become influential DIY marketing tools for you.
You got to start somewhere and the best place to start is with your own local/regional area. As you expand your knowledge base you will work out ways to further your career and hopefully a snowball effect will start.
Once it stars, HANG ON!

Having a lot of people that know who you are is always a value and not a hindrance.
Just the other day I got a call from an individual who wanted to find out if I was available to play bass with their band. I declined due to not having the room to take on another project but I gave them the number of an individual else I knew that would fit the bill perfectly.
That day, that performer found a new bass player and so the story goes.
That experience got me thinking that pretty much everything that I do in my dealings with the music business is based on who I know.
people like working with others whom they trust will do the job they want them to do or like recommending others for jobs that they cannot tackle themselves for one reason or another. I understand that when this particular performer that was looking for a bassist finally found one through my network I was proud of myself. I was glad to endorse an individual out.
That’s what networkings really all about though is not it? Helping people?
For everybody who is just starting out my recommenndation is to find as a lot of people and go to as a lot of functions and performances as you can.
Immerse yourself in your local/regional scene.
The more that people know who you are, the more opportunities that will open up for the taking. Become the squeaky wheel that gets all of the oil. Have that belief in yourself that you are value knowing and do not be afraid of knowledge.
One thing that you do not do nonetheless is to get to know people for what they could do for you. Get to know them for who they’re as a individual. Others could spot your insincerity a mile away (especially us cynical musos) and that is a real turn-off.
Personally I’m chuffed when an individual asks me for recommenndation or just wants to have a chat about how things are going for them, but only If the y are genuine about it.
A amazing place to start networking would be at open mic evenings.
Get yourself involved in an open mic and just walk up to an individual and say “hi”. Everyone is there for the same reason so there is some common ground. You could perhaps ask them If the y are going to be performing on that night and go from there.
Do not forget, the more you network the more you will be known and the more you are known the more work you will get.
In time your ‘little black book’ of names will become your  greatest  asset.

I have met a lot of musicians along my journey and some of those I have gotten to know pretty well. All of them have a similar story as to how they started in the music business and it goes a bit like this.
“I do not know how I started really, I just sort of fell into it and before I knew it I was in a band”
Sound familiar? It does to me. That’s how I got started.
I didn’t have a plan, didn’t have a clue and didn’t have any idea of what I was getting myself in for let alone what I wanted to get out of it.
I wanted to be a “rock star” so I could “meet girls”.
I was only fifteen when I made that decision and thinking back on it I cringe and laugh at the same time but it does show me the importance of preparing ahead.
It’s truly simple to get swept up in the hype of it all and before you know you are in the same place that you started but ten years have gone by and you are left wondering ‘where did it go’.
Before going any further you need to ask yourself some questions. These questions could be (in no particular order of importance):
1. Am I going to write tunes or not?
2. Am I going to be a solo artist or play in a band?
3. Am I going to sing, play an instrument or both?
4. Am I prepared to practise, drill and rehearse my craft?
5. Am I going to find my own work or do I leave that up to an individual else?
I think you are getting the idea of where I’m going with this.
You could be thinking that these questions could seem truly simple and straightforward and in essence you are right however, I’m constant ly surprised how a simple question such as “am I going to be a solo artist or play in a band” could distract an individual from actually moving forward.
I have seen it happen to a lot of musicians and have experienced it myself.
Before you start have a apparent knowledge of what you want to do and what you want to get out of it. Ask yourself these types of really simple questions and from those answers a series of paths will be presented to you.
All you need to do then is to pick which path you take.
Working to a plan will make your journey a lot easier to undertake.