Read the advice here. Take it to heart. Play some damn gigs.
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How Long Should Getting a Band Off the Ground Take?
- Thread starter mancefine
- Start date
Your band has too much money. Stop blowing it on recording and go play some gigs. Book a small tour.
There's the root of your problem, IMO. You all need to figure out what constitutes "done". Part of the definition should also be how do you tell what "done" is. This is a concept that's going to apply to a lot more aspects of the band's business than just this one album, so you really need to figure out how to get everybody on the same page.
To answer your question: In my own experience, I've had bands gig-ready in a range from 1 month to infinity (i.e. never). YMMV.
That is entirely too long to wait to even announce you are band. 3-6 months is a good number Id say. Maybe even sooner if everyone is on their game and it sounds like they are. Very much fright going on here.
I know friends who studio-ed their album to death. The band folded after months upon months of endless fine tuning.
Wednesday13 cranked out tons of Material with Frank. Drag Queens, and rolled it on into his own solo project and Murderdolls albums. It's not air tight but done is better than unreleased.
It's also not a direct relationship of more practice = more success. If nobody like your latex flavored ice cream then no amount of refining it to taste exactly like latex is going to move units and and get people to open their wallets.
Wednesday13 cranked out tons of Material with Frank. Drag Queens, and rolled it on into his own solo project and Murderdolls albums. It's not air tight but done is better than unreleased.
It's also not a direct relationship of more practice = more success. If nobody like your latex flavored ice cream then no amount of refining it to taste exactly like latex is going to move units and and get people to open their wallets.
i actually like what your doing OP. there is a band in my hometown called Xenobiotic and they sort of did the same thing. lots of studio time, practise, keeping a real low profile, not playing any gigs. They released their Ep and the first show was played to over 200 people. within the next months they had done the following
had support slots for the following heavy metal artists - Born Of Osiris, The Acacia Strain, Buried in Verona (check each bands facebook to see the popularity of each band)
then they got to play soundwave festivale to a crowd of several thousands along side bands such as
Megadeth
Korn
Placebo
AFI
Testament
Rob Zombie
Thy Art Is Murder
Clutch
Down (ex Pantera members)
Green Day
And now they have an incredible local following and are doing very well. So i think what your doing is cool OP. music has changed, and so should the preperation for it. While i think your band should release the 3 track demo now, i think jumping to record an album right away is a killer idea.
Tell your band mates to suck it up, release what you have, generate the hype for the new music and deliver something really special with the full release.
had support slots for the following heavy metal artists - Born Of Osiris, The Acacia Strain, Buried in Verona (check each bands facebook to see the popularity of each band)
then they got to play soundwave festivale to a crowd of several thousands along side bands such as
Megadeth
Korn
Placebo
AFI
Testament
Rob Zombie
Thy Art Is Murder
Clutch
Down (ex Pantera members)
Green Day
And now they have an incredible local following and are doing very well. So i think what your doing is cool OP. music has changed, and so should the preperation for it. While i think your band should release the 3 track demo now, i think jumping to record an album right away is a killer idea.
Tell your band mates to suck it up, release what you have, generate the hype for the new music and deliver something really special with the full release.
Down (ex Pantera membeR)
No need to mention Crowbar, Eye Hate God, Goatwhore, nor Corosion of Conformity
No need to mention Crowbar, Eye Hate God, Goatwhore, nor Corosion of Conformity
Down (ex Pantera membeR)
No need to mention Crowbar, Eye Hate God, Goatwhore, nor Corosion of Conformity
dude i just saw goatwhore last night. no joke
they played with psycroptic. was freaking amazing.
Off topic, but years ago I saw them open for Fugazi. Then a few months later ended up on a flight from London to LA with them. Talked briefly at the ticket counter. Nice guys.
Back to topic.
Back to topic.
I remember when I joined my gigging band, they wanted to re-record their demo's with me playing (8 track 1" tape), it seemed a waste to me until we played together for a bit. After about 6-7 shows, we recorded off the board for a barter show (in exchange for our practice space), pulled three songs off that and recorded two more tracked in our practice space (drums, bass, rythym on one, lead on another, vocals on two additional tracks). For the time, we were way ahead of most bands in way of available recording equipment and production (simpler times).
We weren't looking for a contract, just gigs.
When we recorded off the board, we added a wide range mic on the audience (positioned facing them halfway through the auditorium) and recorded it on a seperate channel into a seperate track, it really added something to the songs when you mixed it in on playback... kind of like watching 60's concert footage. We mixed it in on the final song of the demo, almost everyone who called us said that song made their decision to choose us. We remastered the demo with it mixed in on the three live songs. The songs weren't "perfect", but the audience response was.
I think the Boston reference is warranted...
It's great to use the excellent resources if they are cheap (or free), but the real test of you guys getting along in the long run is playing live. You want to know if someone has flop sweats, throws up, or has to get high, in order to stand in front of an audience (so you can work on, and fix it)... But most importantly to see if you guys gel live, and can motivate a crowd.
We weren't looking for a contract, just gigs.
When we recorded off the board, we added a wide range mic on the audience (positioned facing them halfway through the auditorium) and recorded it on a seperate channel into a seperate track, it really added something to the songs when you mixed it in on playback... kind of like watching 60's concert footage. We mixed it in on the final song of the demo, almost everyone who called us said that song made their decision to choose us. We remastered the demo with it mixed in on the three live songs. The songs weren't "perfect", but the audience response was.
I think the Boston reference is warranted...
It's great to use the excellent resources if they are cheap (or free), but the real test of you guys getting along in the long run is playing live. You want to know if someone has flop sweats, throws up, or has to get high, in order to stand in front of an audience (so you can work on, and fix it)... But most importantly to see if you guys gel live, and can motivate a crowd.
You guys might think things are getting tight by rehearsing and/or recording but you will never really get tight, or grow as a band, until you get out and gig. The crappier the gig the better, in some respects. What doesn't kill you will make you stronger (and tighter). There might be some material in the studio that just doesn't come across live like you thought it would, its totally different than you guys in your comfort zone rehearsal space.
I don't think any CD would sell if no one's ever heard the band.
Plenty of local bands have taken up to 2 years to get tracks professionally recorded, because if they're good, a lot of people want to hear them. But these people can only hear them when they perform, so having a recording then just feeds the pre-established audience.
Also, about the point on getting feedback for your music, that's definitely important. Think about the kind of exposure you could get from a CD, it'd be an album review. Having opinions weigh in on what you might want to change is best, because a good review brings in new fans.
Plenty of local bands have taken up to 2 years to get tracks professionally recorded, because if they're good, a lot of people want to hear them. But these people can only hear them when they perform, so having a recording then just feeds the pre-established audience.
Also, about the point on getting feedback for your music, that's definitely important. Think about the kind of exposure you could get from a CD, it'd be an album review. Having opinions weigh in on what you might want to change is best, because a good review brings in new fans.
The OP is the definition of over-producing original material. Perfectionism is killing the band slowly but steadily and something has to change ASAP. Maybe release one of the 3 tracks as a demo single to test the waters and re-mix and/or re-master it for the final album if you desperately want it to be 100% consistent? Personally I would consider that over-production too, but that's debatable of course. And someone has to tell the guys who are bitching about the cracked cymbal thing to start listening with their ears instead of their eyes or memories.
Anyway, I'm a big fan of original material with a great sound, but don't like the whole extremely polished & refined approach that's going on on a lot of recordings nowadays. I like a little bit of lo-fi, and besides, you need to leave some room for improvement/development too, right? What if you manage to pull off a perfect 10 on your first album? Where would you then go for the second? More songs with the same sound? That'd just be rehashed and uninspired, trying to 'cash in' on the success of the first album, no? A band that shows growth release after release, show after show, is much more interesting for a fanbase/repeat customers than a band who releases a brilliant debut full of original material but without the necessary live-on-stage experience as a band to back up what the people heard on the recordings.
Anyway, I'm a big fan of original material with a great sound, but don't like the whole extremely polished & refined approach that's going on on a lot of recordings nowadays. I like a little bit of lo-fi, and besides, you need to leave some room for improvement/development too, right? What if you manage to pull off a perfect 10 on your first album? Where would you then go for the second? More songs with the same sound? That'd just be rehashed and uninspired, trying to 'cash in' on the success of the first album, no? A band that shows growth release after release, show after show, is much more interesting for a fanbase/repeat customers than a band who releases a brilliant debut full of original material but without the necessary live-on-stage experience as a band to back up what the people heard on the recordings.
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I graduated from a college with a specialized music program and a studio... And I've seen this before.
Through promises of more, and claims of needing perfection, it sounds like your seniors got a band to commit for a YEAR and a HALF so they could finish their senior projects.
The senior project is the CV--that's what will be used to apply for engineering gigs after graduation. It has to be tight (they tell you). THAT's why these guys won't move forward with live work. They have the school project at the forefront of everything.
And after the projects are done? Will this be the band that takes the material on the road? Will the guys actually keep the band around? Will THEY stick around?
Through promises of more, and claims of needing perfection, it sounds like your seniors got a band to commit for a YEAR and a HALF so they could finish their senior projects.
The senior project is the CV--that's what will be used to apply for engineering gigs after graduation. It has to be tight (they tell you). THAT's why these guys won't move forward with live work. They have the school project at the forefront of everything.
And after the projects are done? Will this be the band that takes the material on the road? Will the guys actually keep the band around? Will THEY stick around?
Wow - first, some questions:
- Is this a cover band, or do you plan to write 2-3 hours of music before you gig?
- Have you ever not used the click track, bc I doubt you'd use it live, right?
- What are the goals of the band?
First, I'll echo what everyone else said: learn your songs, go out and play. Do a studio thing AFTER you have people demanding an album to buy.
(My friend is a musician - soloist - who played every weekend for years until he stopped looking for gigs and his weekends would be booked with people seeking him out! Then people asked him for a CD - so he hit the studio. A year later he did a cd release concert and sold 500 cd's that night. A year later people were asking when his next cd will come out. These are people who are ready to buy his cd. (He now tours globally - but this was 10+ years in the making.)
The music industry doesn't care how good you are. A cracked cymbal? They wouldn't care if your drum kit was pots and pans from the kitchen. Its about money. Money! How many cds will you sell?
Gigs - clubowners don't care how good your demo is. The ONLY thing they want to know is how big YOUR following is, so they can increase THEIR revenue. They don't want to promote you to their regulars - they want you to promote their club to your regulars.
I was in a cover band and we had a TON of friends. We would get 100 people to each show. We would invite 250 people. One club wanted us as a regular every month - bc we brought in people. Our music was average.
With all your studio stress and no gigs or following, you're putting the cart before the horse. Play a ton of gigs, get people talking about you, asking when you're playing next, asking if you have a cd to sell or t-shirts, then record your stuff.
- Is this a cover band, or do you plan to write 2-3 hours of music before you gig?
- Have you ever not used the click track, bc I doubt you'd use it live, right?
- What are the goals of the band?
First, I'll echo what everyone else said: learn your songs, go out and play. Do a studio thing AFTER you have people demanding an album to buy.
(My friend is a musician - soloist - who played every weekend for years until he stopped looking for gigs and his weekends would be booked with people seeking him out! Then people asked him for a CD - so he hit the studio. A year later he did a cd release concert and sold 500 cd's that night. A year later people were asking when his next cd will come out. These are people who are ready to buy his cd. (He now tours globally - but this was 10+ years in the making.)
The music industry doesn't care how good you are. A cracked cymbal? They wouldn't care if your drum kit was pots and pans from the kitchen. Its about money. Money! How many cds will you sell?
Gigs - clubowners don't care how good your demo is. The ONLY thing they want to know is how big YOUR following is, so they can increase THEIR revenue. They don't want to promote you to their regulars - they want you to promote their club to your regulars.
I was in a cover band and we had a TON of friends. We would get 100 people to each show. We would invite 250 people. One club wanted us as a regular every month - bc we brought in people. Our music was average.
With all your studio stress and no gigs or following, you're putting the cart before the horse. Play a ton of gigs, get people talking about you, asking when you're playing next, asking if you have a cd to sell or t-shirts, then record your stuff.
I really admire the tenacity of you recording "group" guys/girls--- and by admire, I mean laugh to myself. As many have stated, you all are worrying and splitting hairs perfecting a cd with 11 songs, that no-one other than your friends and family will ever hear. People like myself have played 20 gigs in the time you have been recording this thing.
Yes- you could be the rare exception, that is discovered off this CD and catapulted to instant FAME and FORTUNE, but do you feel that lucky?
How would you play your material?
You haven't put in the road-time even being able to play this material, and if it is this difficult to even record. I won't think it is going to be an easy task playing them live well as a BAND.
Yes- you could be the rare exception, that is discovered off this CD and catapulted to instant FAME and FORTUNE, but do you feel that lucky?
How would you play your material?
You haven't put in the road-time even being able to play this material, and if it is this difficult to even record. I won't think it is going to be an easy task playing them live well as a BAND.
That's a good observation.
Another thing to consider is control issues. I was once in a band that was gigging some but heavily invested in recording an album funded by fan contributions (this was long before crowdsourcing websites). The bandleader was getting fewer and fewer gigs until we found out he was turning down offers. Since three of the six members were full-timers this was a real problem
The leader felt the band members were getting too independent, so he wanted to finish the album, fire the band and put together a new lineup. This all came out exactly one gig after I quit when the leader got in a fistfight with one of the percussionists. The album never came out but the leader did revive the band name with one of the previous members and both their wives.
