Starting up...

[Mankind]

Here's the scene;
I've got a couple of school mates and we're forming a band at the mo. 2 electric g**tars, bass, drummer and (female) singer.
Now at the moment i'm "spearheading" the band as i have several connections for gigs and also am the most enthusiastic. But, i'm unsure what to do as this is the first time i've done this. What should we do first? make songs? covers(i don't want to)? website? promote?

Any constructive replies would be fantastic

[Joe Nerve]

I think the first thing you guys should do it talk about what kind of a band you want this to be. Do the majority of you want to play covers? Originals? Both? If you don't have a clear view of what you're looking to do it can get very frustrating. If you're all unsure then I'd say it's best to go with what you've got. Have any of you written songs? If so, then work on them and see how they go. If not, then plan on a handful of covers and decide later what direction you'd like the band to go.

It's a good idea whatever you do to get together first in someone's house and decide on exactly what you want to play the first time you go into a studio (or basement) with a drummer. Try and have a minimum of 4 songs that you all have learned on your your own, so you can start getting things moving right away. Good idea to have a couple of "acoustic" rehearsals, with practice amps, at someones house before doing the whole band thing also. Makes things a lot easier going.

Once you get a grip on where the band is going you can start working on the website and all that. Ideas will come to you in the meantime. Know also that if you're planning on getting gigs doing covers you're going to need to know at least 35 songs before you can do a full fledged paying gig. Originals you can sometimes get away with as few as 7 but you should be prepared with about 10.

Last thing I'll say is that my experience has shown that it's a good idea to book a gig as soon as humanly possible and then work towards it as a goal. It's great for motivation, and keeps everyone really focused. Some bands wait until they're entirely ready to get out before booking something and that can be a trap. One gig, IMO, is worth 20 rehearsals. Everything changes once a band hits the stage and that's when the real learning/practicing begins.

Good luck.