THE BREAKOUT MUSICIAN SERIES

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Starting Band, Common Pitfalls – PART 4 OF 4

As with the other blogs in this series, I’m going to include a journal entry. This is good insight for those of you who have never started a band, and for those who have maybe you’ll identify with it.

Journal 5/6/2014.

“Our first gig is in a month and our idiot bassist pulled a prima donna. Had to fire him. Scrambling my ass off to find someone now. Why are some people so disrespectful of others. This whole band was counting on that assh*le. ”

FIRST ~ FIND LOCAL MUSICIANS

Whether you are a band leader, an ex-band leader or a future band leader doing research, I hope this helps. First I’d recommend that you find local musicians! If it isn’t easy to get together, eventually you won’t ~ Once you find local musicians to audition, my goal is to help you identify some of the more common issues that break bands up so you can dodge them.

 

13 COMMON PITFALLS OF STARTING A BAND

In the 2 previous blogs of this series I covered the first 6 common pitfalls:

1. Money
2. Colliding personalities
3. Resistance to Advice or Criticism
4. Ego
5. Jobs & Personalities
6. Laziness
7. Wanting Different Things
8. Spouses
9. Substance Abuse

 

Here are the last 4!!

 

10 YOU

 

You may not want to hear this, but it’s often the original member who throws in the towel because they didn’t realize how much work it would be. That’s why understanding up front what you are getting into is so critical.

 

11 YOU

Some times the band leader throws in the towel because managing musicians can be very difficult. Artist in general are a different kind of “employee”. And they tend to hold personal values higher than income as priorities. That’s one reason that finding the right people is so critical.

 

12 YOU

Sometimes the original founder of a band has tendencies to sabotage their projects. Perhaps they don’t know they do it. Or perhaps it’s something subtle like negative self-talk. That voice in there head telling them it won’t work, they can’t do it. That’s why being grounded and having support are so critical. Don’t go it alone any long than you must!

 

13 YOU

 

That’s right, again, you. Another very common reason bands fail is because the leader themselves is responsible for one of the first 9 reasons on this list. And because they are the leader, people can’t change it. So they leave. That’s why being self-aware and having objective friends that you can talk to are so important!

 

I HOPE THIS SERIES has been helpful and I wish you all the success in the world with your musical endeavors! Have fun and pay it forward when you can ~ Alan Currens

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HERE ARE JUST SOME OTHER COMING CHAPTERS/BLOGS in:

THE BREAKOUT MUSICIAN SERIES

Originally posted here on DMI’s Music School Blog ~ (not necessarily in order)

• MYTH POPPING
• WHAT DO YOU ALREADY KNOW
• WHAT ARE YOUR EXISTING RESOURCES
• MUSIC INDUSTRY INCOME FIGURES TOP TO BOTTOM (KNOW THE PLAYING FIELD)
• MORE MYTH POPPING
• WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS? WHAT DO YOU REALLY WANT?
• DEFINING SUCCESS
• BREAKING INTO THE SCENE
• HOW MUCH MONEY SHOULD YOU MAKE
• WHAT CREATES THE “VALUE” OF YOUR PRODUCT

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