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Helping Your Band Overcome The Drama
February 15, 2012 by band therapy

How To Run A Band

 
English: The German rock band "Can" ...

You got the job running your band.  Congratulations.  Now you need to prove a few things.  You need to show the rest of the band that you’re loaded with all of the following:

  • Concern for the future
  • Focus on the music
  • Sensitivity to the artistic needs of each band memeber
  • Organization where the others lack
  • An open door policy

Running a band is a mix of running a business, and managing a good marriage.  In some cases, it may be harder than either one.  You’re dealing with many different artistic, emotional minds.  They’re probably not getting paid, so they’re not your employees.  They’re still your equals.

You may take the role of “the leader calls the shots,” but that doesn’t tend to work very well in my experience.  I prefer the “you elected me to do the things you didn’t want to do” role.  

You’re now in charge of organizing the schedules and introducing new ways to do this.  Maybe Google Calendars?  Maybe a marker board on the band room wall?  You’re also in charge of communication – this means you need to make sure everyone is heard and not talking in a vacuum.  You need to be sensitive like you wish your boss was to you.  You also have to be approachable.  You need to be the person that the others can come to when they’re not getting enough guitar solos.

To run a band, you can’t do it alone.  You also have to divide roles to other players.  For example, if someone has more of an internet side, maybe they can run the Facebook or Reverbnation page.  Maybe they can do the tweets.  Ask them for status reports like a real business (and yes, I do recommend you start calling your band a business).  If you have a player who’s handy with Photoshop, elect them to be the person who designs the posters, cards, T-shirts, etc.  Get someone to create set lists.  Elect a sound director.  The leader must create an organizational structure in the band.

Think you’re up to it?  It’s a very rewarding but often frustrating role.  It’s only for those select, “special” types of musicians.  I hope you enjoyed these band tips.

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April 28, 2012 by band therapy

Best Practices For Setting Up A Band Event On Facebook

Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...

Facebook is the greatest marketing tool your band has.  But if you don’t use it wisely, you’ll scare off your audience.  Most Facebook users are easily annoyed if you’re coming up too often in their news feed.  Remember – for your band page to show up on their feed, they needed to “like” you.  Don’t make them dislike you.  So, just like any marketing, remember that timing is everything.

EdgeRank

The amount of reach your band post has is determined by a Facebook algorithm called EdgeRank.  If you have 200 likes on your band page, you can be sure that your post is not showing on all 200 profile pages, even if all 200 fans were looking at their newsfeed at the same time.  The higher your EdgeRank, the more you’ll show (reach).  Facebook doesn’t show you what your EdgeRank score is, but you can see your reach on your Facebook admin page.  If you see it trending up, and showing more impressions, you’re doing something right.  You’re doing something that’s making Facebook want to show you more.

The factors of EdgeRank are relatively unknown, but there’s a few things we do know.  The more your post has comments and likes, the more your general EdgeRank score goes up.  So, if you’re posting things that get people excited and causes conversations on your wall, the more your EdgeRank will improve.  You will begin to reach more of your 200 fans’ news feed.  Also, if you use Facebook Ads to promote events or sponsor stories, that also seems to help your EdgeRank.  As soon as my band bought a few ads, we noticed a very real increase in our reach.  We had a lot more eyeballs seeing our posts.

Timing

With more EdgeRank (or even trying to get more EdgeRank), timing becomes crucial.  You need to make your posts count.  I wouldn’t recommend more than one a day unless you have something really, really relevant.  Don’t act like a rock star and give off the vibe that your band is the most important thing in your fans’ news feed.  Don’t have an ego.  You’ll lose those likes – and fans – mighty quick.  It’s not too hard to unlike a band page.  But if you’re posting free tunes, or funny pictures, or links to other bands that you recommend, you might get more engagement.  Especially if you do that during peak Facebook hours (11am, 2pm, and 4pm for my band).  

As far as promotion, if you have a gig in April, and it’s only January, don’t start posting that on your wall until a few days before the show.  This shouldn’t come as a shock to you, but nobody is thinking that far ahead about your band (unless it’s your significant other).  Do it right before your show, a couple days or so is fine.  People who go to see original music do it as a secondary action – meaning, if they have nothing else planned, they might consider coming.  But you will always be trumped by family, friends, and other paid events.  Get on your fans’ radar a few days before the event before they make any other nightlife plans, and at the very least, maybe it will become the backdrop destination for family and friends.  You wouldn’t mind that, would you?  Every show is a chance to build a stronger relationship with your fans.  A local band that has even a few diehard fans is a huge success, and certainly not the norm.

Creating “events” is also huge for your band, but the same rules apply.  Do you not send out the event to far in advance or you will get ignores or declines.  Don’t “event spam.”  Since it goes to all your fans, you may also want to do an event as a band member (through your personal page).  Set up a duplicate event and invite only your friends who are in the area of the show.  Don’t invite someone you know will never go.  Don’t be that guy.  

 

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April 11, 2012 by band therapy

Band Advice

Deutsch: The Red Hot CHili Peppers live @ Pink...
 

You know how you think if you play really cool, really good music, the audience will come?

Well – do you know your audience as well as you think you do? You’re a musician. You think differently than non-musicians. What you like about music may be deeper than what they like. Most audience members just want to be able to stomp their feet to a 4:4 beat, and sing a catchy chorus. That’s why pop music is so successful. It’s simple, and it’s able to get into the heads of otherwise busy people.

When you write the progressive, super disciplined opus of your dreams, don’t be surprised if people don’t take to it like you. In fact, expect they won’t. If you don’t write pop music, don’t expect a mass audience. The mass audience wants Top 40 music.

An audience notices less than you think. They don’t care about how perfect your solo was, they care that they heard pleasant sounds that were in key. Some care more about how you dress because they feel like they’re involved in something “cool” and worth their time. They especially care that the band is at a good volume (believe me – nobody wants to scream over the band to talk to each other. It’s just not the reality). They also care that the vocalist is heard the most. Most audience members just want to hear the words, and they’ll judge the band first on the lead singer.

Remember these tips for your next show. Squash your ego, and start being a performer. If you do music for yourself, consider staying in your garage. If you do music for an audience, you need to consider these things. Another great band tip brought to you by the Mighty P!

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March 12, 2012 by band therapy

When Does Playing With Fill-In Musicians Make Sense?

We’re playing a show on St. Patty’s day.  It’s a new venue for us, and we expect a crowd.  A really big crowd.  This is a great chance to expose our musical brand to a new local market.  The problem is, our drummer can’t make the show.  He’s got a prior commitment.

The band decided to carry on without him and use a drummer friend of ours.  Some of us were against the idea, but the majority was for it.  ”We can’t cancel a show like this – we’ll be able to get up to speed with another drummer!”

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 12: Sevendust drummer M...

Now, with the show a week away, and only one rehearsal with the new drummer, it doesn’t seem very likely that we’re going to have a good show.  The band is pretty nervous.  The fill-in drummer isn’t available to play again before the show, and instilled no faith in us that he’s going to have the material ready.  He’s got a whole different style of playing that we aren’t used to.  

Our brand is going to suffer, and we’re pretty upset by that.

I’ll be honest – I was one of the opposing voices.  I don’t like playing with other musicians on the material we wrote together.  It takes me out of my comfort zone when playing our songs.  It’s one thing to sit in with another drummer and jam,  but another thing altogether to be working on your collective material with another drummer.  It takes time for the band to gel again; a point that I couldn’t get our band to see.  They see it now, though.  Unfortunately they got caught up in the moment of a St. Patty’s show, but now the harsh reality is upon us.  Our keyboardist proposed cancelling – which wouldn’t be fair to the venue – or finding a replacement who will do it.

I think this is a conversation bands need to have.  You need a position on playing with fill-in musicians, or just skipping the opportunity altogether.  I hope your band has this conversation before it’s too late (and I wish we followed that same advice).

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March 2, 2012 by band therapy

Umphrey’s McGee – Music Recommendation 3/2/2012

Umphrey's McGee on Earth Day 2007 at the Linco...

This is an amazing band.  Every time you hear them live, they sound different.  Technically they’re in the jam band scene, but they’re not your average jam band at all.  I’ve seen a show where they’d flip out something very progressive, right into a Grateful Dead type song, into a White Zombie cover.  They’re all over the map, and have an amazing ear for music.  They are masters of listening to themselves on stage, and responding conversationally… but with music notes.  They are all composing sharing a brain.

This song is called In The Kitchen. It’s one of their more popular tunes.  Question for your band: Does your band listen to itself as well, and work together as composers?

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February 28, 2012 by band therapy

Tobin Sprout – Music Recommendation 2/28/2012

Tobin Sprout came from the indie band Guided By Voices.  I didn’t really know that band – things I heard from that group didn’t really stick with me.  Now that Tobin is solo, I’m hearing a lot more of what I like.  He started putting out solo stuff in 1996.  Cool guitar progressions and picking patterns, with a cool voice.  Good songwriting that thinks outside the box.  

This song is called Angels Hang Their Sock In The Moon. Very cool song from his 1997 album Moonflower Plastic.  Huge fan of the guitar tones, intro effects, and the chorus effects.  There’s some great production here.  Question for your band: How would your band sound with this slightly-delayed, cavernous effect on your singer’s voice?

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February 20, 2012 by band therapy

Lotus – Music Recommendation 2/20/2012

If you haven’t heard of Lotus, let me introduce you. Lotus is a band formed in Goshen College (Indiana) before the turn of the century.  They’re a jam band, but usually get classified as an electronic jam band, or “jamtronica.”  They incorporate a lot of different styles of music, but with a more modern, more technical mix.  

A Lotus show is sick – huge lights, and always a very trippy setlist.  If you like some modernism in your jam rock, Lotus is a band to have on your radar.  

Here’s a popular Lotus jam from the album with the same name – Hammerstrike.  Question for your band: How would your band sound with a little of this technology?  

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February 12, 2012 by band therapy

Ike Willis – Eye Of Newt

Ike Willis

Cover of Ike Willis

I’ve really been enjoying Ike Willis with Project Object. And always loved him with Frank Zappa. He’s the main voice on Joe’s Garage, a Zappa triple album and a real masterpiece.

Here’s a song of his called “Eye Of Newt.” Same biting Zappa satire, but from Ike. Really shows his influence from Zappa.  If you are a Frank Zappa fan, you’d likely enjoy this.  Not to mention, it’s also timely with the republican primaries happening now.

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January 23, 2012 by band therapy

What Do You Do When A Band Member Isn’t Practicing?

I always say a band is only as good as its weakest link. You don’t want to be the weak link, so you practice. In a perfect world, the rest of the band is in the same “friendly competition” state of mind.

Sometimes though, this isn’t the case.

In my past band we had a bassist who was pretty much in place before I joined the band.  He was a “founding” member.  He was a fair player.

In a year, the rest of the band got a lot better, but there were things we couldn’t do because the bassist couldn’t keep up.  We asked if he was practicing, but he had excuses.  ”I had to work.”  ”The baby kept me busy.” These are valid excuses, but it was frustrating for the rest of the band who also had kids and jobs, and found the time to get better.

Then he stopped taking his bass home from the rehearsal room.  When we confronted this, he said, “don’t worry, I’ll have it down by the July show.” He didn’t.  We sounded really brown with all the bass mistakes.  There was a lot of animosity.

We finally came to our senses, albeit late.  This guy had to go.  The rest of the band talked about our rationale to make sure this was the best decision.  Here are the reasons we came up with.

  • Our song writing is hampered because we write for what he can play.
  • Our moral is down because we constantly have bad performances or jam sessions.
  • Our confidence is down that we’re going to be any better next year.
These were our reasons to keep him.
  • He’s a nice guy.
  • He’s a founding member.
  • He knows how to run the lighting.
After that list it was a clear decision.
The decision to get rid of a player like this depends on the type of band you are.  If you just jam for fun with your buddies, while having a few beers (like this bass player), then go on.  Have at it.  But if you want to grow as musicians, this kind of guy is an anchor.  And the dead weight needs to be replaced.  That’s just part of the game in creating music. I hope these band tips come in handy. Good luck!

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January 4, 2012 by band therapy

Making The Most Out Of Rehearsals – Stop And Go, Or Don’t Stop

Are you in a band where a member says, “let’s not keep stopping in the middle of songs – we need to go all the way through.”  If you have a guy like this, and want to make really tight music, remove that guy from the band room.

Now, with that said, if you are a typically tight band, with a full understanding of parts, then perhaps it makes sense to just be a straight through, non-stop rehearsal.  Use this time to get your feel back, your rhythm, and to play by the previously defined rules.

If you don’t have the song that tight, be prepared to stop.  A lot.  

I enjoy discovering bootlegs from my favorite bands.  Sometimes I find secret recordings of rehearsal sessions.  I have some from Frank Zappa, a notoriously strict band leader, and some from the Police.  There are more moments in those tapes where the band would flesh out a 10 second phrase for 2 hours.  There were times when I could just imagine Tommy Mars sitting there waiting for a chance to play, while Frank was working with the bass or guitar.  It’s a fascinating listen if you can get your hands on this kind of material.

But the results speak for itself.  These are amazingly tight bands, with a good original recipes.

I suggest you let one person lead the session.  If it’s a new song, it always starts slow.  The countless stops seem to lead to a lot of discussion.  But as the night progresses, so does the connection of the band and the direction of the phrase, passage, or total song.  Yes, folks… it gets easier and more fluid as the evening rolls on.  Once you start a new song, or a new day, you start all over with the intense stops.

This may be very trying for some musicians, but you need to decide what you want more – a tight, creative, properly functioning machine, or a “jam for fun, and to hell with the mistakes” type of band.  

 

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