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Is it bad?

#21
Seems like your biggest challenge right now is the fact that the other members of your band are sophs and Jrs. that's a pretty big ball and chain around your ankle. If you're gonna make any headway in the next two years you'll need to leave the school kids behind and find some excellent players that have the same freedom, goals, and mindset you have. Then head for LA. Might want to read Watch You Bleed first.
 
#22
From all your writing, I still can't get my mind around your age of 16! You're a damn smart kid and would definitely do well in college.

That said, you're still young enough that you could make a full play at being a big-time musician and still pursue college later on. It seems you have the sweet luxury of time.

You also seem to have better grasp on how people operate than most folks and that would serve you well in the music biz.

How do your parents feel about all this?
 
#23
I will edit the OP later to include this. I thought it would be fun to post my band.

You can find us on http://www.reverbnation.com/themagistrate to check us out.

I am considering applying for online classes at Berklee to get a certification and some valuable education over the summer.
I really love this band and think we have potential. We practice typically 3 times a week and play once or twice a month.

We recently had to let go of our singer (I made a big thread about that a while back) because he was hard to work with. Without him, the rest of us are legitimately very close to each other.

We found that our lead guitarist is a better frontman than the old singer, and he has an awesome baritone voice. He needs help reaching singing potential, and the rest of us are even further away, so we brought in some friends of ours who are choir teachers. We made significant improvement in an hour and a half, and I think the guitarist can handle it if no one else turns out to be able to. Most likely at least 3 of us will be capable of doing back ups.

This summer, we will re-record the vocals and finish writing an album. We will probably record an album of 8 to 10 songs or so. From then on, our "school breaks" (Spring break, summer etc,) will focus heavily on playing new places. We'll start with a circular tour of places close to our area and maybe go as far as Tampa. My thing is to always move forward. More songs, more shows, more fans, more merch.

I'm learning that with enough time, money, and connections, you can make just about any project successful (if the product is even halfway decent and you allocate your resources properly). We'll he starting a Kickstarter soon to fund our albums.

My parents are fully supportive. The band parents and extended family have contributed time and good amounts of money. The drummer's grandma bought us our own lighting system and shipped it in. My parents are happy to see me passionate and intelligently pursuing something. My dad is a very prominent name in the software engineering sector of my town. He's said that, given my knowledge of computers, he could have me interning for $25/hour programming in less than a year if this doesn't work. My mom's the only person to complete college. She studied forensic science and ended up not pursuing the career. They acknowledge that college may not be the way to go, as long as I'm actively doing something. They're willing to pay for my above mentioned classes on the condition that I complete one and try it before paying for more.

As far as promotion, I do what I can, but I know there's going to be a time when we need someone else. I just don't know who or how to find that personl
 
#27
oniman7 said:
My parents are fully supportive. The band parents and extended family have contributed time and good amounts of money. The drummer's grandma bought us our own lighting system and shipped it in. My parents are happy to see me passionate and intelligently pursuing something. My dad is a very prominent name in the software engineering sector of my town. He's said that, given my knowledge of computers, he could have me interning for $25/hour programming in less than a year if this doesn't work. My mom's the only person to complete college. She studied forensic science and ended up not pursuing the career. They acknowledge that college may not be the way to go, as long as I'm actively doing something. They're willing to pay for my above mentioned classes on the condition that I complete one and try it before paying for more.

As far as promotion, I do what I can, but I know there's going to be a time when we need someone else. I just don't know who or how to find that personl
Click to expand...

Having a support system behind you is very important. Clearly, you have that in place.

About the only "downside" that I can see is dealing with the scum that run the music business.:spit:

Be sure to keep us posted on your success!
 
#28
skwee said:
Learn some business, marketing, and networking skills, and you have a better shot.
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^This.

mambo4 said:
go for it while also learning a skill set that is ancillary to music -skills a that other bands/promoters/connections can use.
study recording or sound reinforcement or instrument/amp repair or promotion or graphic / webdesign or photography...etc

Not for somethign to so instead of your dream, but something that will aid you in achieving it.
Click to expand...

^And this.

Pilgrim said:
If you must, go for it. But learn the BUSINESS side just as well as you learn the music side. Music is a business, and your band needs to be asute about the business side.
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^And this, too.

Honestly, I wish you the best of luck. But you're gonna need far more than our "good luck" wishes to get there.

As also said above, be prepared to sleep in the back of a cramped van, to choose between strings and an extra burger. Be prepared to have at least one piece of gear destroyed or stolen, and willing to accept the wear and teat that typically comes along with an unknown act touring - been there and done that, chose to find a more stable profession. Also, I know it sounds cool and you might personally LOVE it, but for me touring got real old, real fast. "I'm on tour with my band" is a cool pick-up line for the first week or two or three, but after a month of 5+ nights a week touring, you just wanna shower and find a quiet, solitary spot. I did, anyway, and I was only 18ish.

Most importantly, though - you're going to need to know far more than how to rip it up on the bass - and all these guys giving advice are right on point. Learn and network, that's how you're gonna end up on the big stages - knowing the right stuff, talking to the right people, having a decent working relationship with them, and being able to deliver.
 
#29
The touring lifestyle may get old, but I'm confident tha the smart guys in my band could make it work... at least in the short term. if we're still "making it work" in the long run, we've got bigger issues.

If i can't do it at say 17 or 19, there's no way I will at 28 or 35. It's largely a young man's game. So I've been told by the "older" guys

I run all of our websites, do roughly 80% of our promotion, and book all of the gigs. I seem to be good at making connections thus far, but I don't know where to go beyond meeting everybody I can , working with them, and delivering. I considered taking business classes of some sort online. I'm also a fairly good writer, and I'm considering trying to get in on one of the local publications.

An incredibly vague question, I suppose, but just for the purpose of banter. Where do I go now? What do I do? We just replaced our singer (our guitarist is now singing) and we're playing our first show as a new group Saturday. From there, we write, record an album, promote it, gain fans, sell merch, and then...? Tours? Better equipment?

My theory is we just need more work, more time, more money, more connections (all efficiently spent) to be successful. Right?

For the record, I plan on doing all of this by ourselves until such possible time as a huge agency (Roadrunner, Universal) wants to take us in. I say that as a hypothetical because until it was an agency that big, and while we can manage ourselves, I intend to do the recording, touring, everything on our own and contract out what we can't do (graphic design, advertising, etc.)

I think I need smaller milestones. I also think I'm ranting.
 
#30
My own "start-up" band experience is 20 years old, so times are different now to be sure. But I can share our own path, maybe there's something to learn from it.

We started locally, playing as many gigs as we could around our city, developing our songs and our chops. We never stopped writing and rehearsing - usually 3-4 nights a week, several hours at a time.

After a period of less than two years, we went in to record a short album at a local home studio. Nowadays you can do the same on your own. It doesn't have to be stellar, something to sell and as a calling card.

The next step was to begin to tour, and develop other markets. We were already a good draw locally, playing at the best rooms in town and pretty soon filling them every time we played - that's the time to move on to other pastures.

I think you're very smart to do as much as you can on your own and not to bring in outsiders until there is a real need for them. That's what we did, in touring for a couple years, but eventually we wanted to hit a bigger market (southern Ontario) that we hadn't been to and where there was a lot of opportunity, and do it right. We got an agent, and started working in that scene.

Eventually the owner of the agency started taking on our bookings, and wanted to manage the band. We held off, as we were hesitant about needing management - and the extra commission to be paid. He offered to do a one-year no-string-attached contract that we could pull out of unless he got us on a label within that year. We figured it was worth it - and in the end he did it and we signed to Virgin. Within a couple of years we had recorded an album in L.A. and were opening for some world-class acts and playing arenas in Canada.

Now, there are a lot of variables there - but there's a general trajectory. Don't stop developing your act, expand your market, and take opportunities but choose them wisely - you don't have to follow every path, and realistically you can't.

Be on the same page with the rest of your band - the record industry (especially if you ever get signed) can chew you up and spit you out very quickly.

Like I say, times are very different now, and a lot of my experience may not apply.

Good luck!
 
#36
To answer the "now what" question - get that album recorded, start shopping it out to A&R guys. Now, pretty much everyone else with experience here will tell you you're wasting your time with that, but I still firmly believe that it can't hurt, and I know for a fact there are a few of them that still listen to everything that comes in. When it comes to recording, figure out your budget, then add 25% of that to your final - IME, recording ALWAYS costs more than you think it will. Use craigslist to find local engineers or producers that will work with you, but vet them first - find other acts they've worked with and see if you like what you hear. I can recommend a guy in Orlando that's a pretty amazing producer, has been in some big-name bands, and has pretty reasonable rates if you choose not to go the home-recording route.

Get a really good press kit together, or have someone help you with it. Shop smaller labels and local labels especially, and if you even get a "thanks, but no thanks" email or letter, reply with a thank you note. Not ***-kissing, but professional. Little things like that will help you stand out.

Get to know the local venue people - owners if possible - and establish a good relationship with them. This will put you in their minds when they need an opener for a major tour, or have a free night. If that means playing for free occasionally, go for it - you want them to really like you. Touring bands are hit-and-miss, but some of them make a point of going out and listening to the openers. A friend of mine got picked up through the grapevine like that to play drums for a rather big name band in SoCal after he left this area - and no, I won't tell who. Their drummer just up and told the band he was done after the tour, so after seeing him play for the opening band, they asked him if he was interested in the gig. To my knowledge they've got two records now and are touring in support of the second one right now.

At any rate, networking is a huge thing. Get business cards from everyone, have business cards to hand out, and get an organizer thing to keep all your contact info and stuff in - also, from personal experience, once a month or so you may want to transfer that info to a computer file so that if you lose the organizer, you still have the info.

Get to know a local place for merch production - clothing, keychains, hats, etc - and use them exclusively if possible. As you get bigger (hopefully) they will be more willing to cut you a bulk discount, if you're bringing them repeat business.

The internet thing you probably know more about than I do - but a good website design, professional and fresh, won't hurt your professional image. Make sure it showcases you in the best way possible - whatever the genre, try to avoid stereotyping yourself - if you're a metal band, don't do the skulls and chains unless that's really a part of your image. Have a bio section and media section, and show folks just how awesome you are. Set up a Facebook page, and stick to news about the band, tour schedules, etc. Don't be like Emperor cabs and put up juvenile or offense status updates, and don't use it as a personal page - that's what YOUR Facebook page is for.

Talk to some lawyers who specialize in the music industry, or have experience. Don't retain anyone unless and until you get real label interest, but DON'T SIGN ANYTHING without looking it over top to bottom, preferably with someone at least somewhat literate in legalese.

Hrm... (Trying to remember all the tips I've gotten or come up with, in spite of the fact that I never "made" it farther than a couple of regional tours, is more difficult than I remember.)

Oh, local radio and TV. Shop them as much as possible. We have a "homegrown" hour on Saturday night that features local groups, and once you get a song out there and played start using Facebook to encourage your fans to request it. Same with local tv - it's a long shot, but some areas have tv shows that include local music.
 
#39
dude i know what you are saying, im in a band too and we have had a few small (yet huge for us) shots for the top that we took and mow we are in the process of recording our first full length album with roadrunner records. all in all, no matter what, you wouldnt be where you are if it werent for your band. stay with your band as long as possible. they need you more than you may think. a band is like a human body. while the singer is the head, the drummer is the heartbeat. the guitar is the skin that everyone will see. but as we all know, you can be as good looking as you want, but if there is no soul, no one will want to be around. the bass is the rich soul that needs to be at the center of every body and every band, stay with your band until the end. the only reason you should leave is if the chemistry stops, and you cant agree on anything.
just try for a while, i promise that the pay off will be worth it in the end.
 
#40
DeathFromBelow said:
I say go for it. Sure, the chance of actually making it might be slim, but if you don't even try you're GUARANTEED not to make it. I know that there are a lot of members here that will disagree with me and tell you to focus on your education and getting a job/family/minivan/kids/dog and stick to playing covers as a hobby, but frankly I feel it's pretty strange that there are so many anti-musicians on a musicians website.

The world would be a sad and empty place if nobody followed their dreams...
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Keep in mind that many them had, and pursued, rock star aspirations when they were teenagers....

Not having a "Plan B"? - bad idea....
 

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