It is never easy being the last one into a group. Whatever you have joined forces to do, you will be the ‘newbie’ for a while and it might feel a little awkward. This is especially true if it is your first band, or you are feeling nervous about playing in front of people you don’t know. Here is a guide to making sure your prospective band is a good fit for you.
How To Make Sure Your Prospective Band Is a Good Fit for You
It is never easy being the last one into a group. Whatever you have joined forces to do, you will be the ‘newbie’ for a while and it might feel a little awkward. This is especially true if it is your first band, or you are feeling nervous about playing in front of people you don’t know. Here is a guide to making sure your prospective band is a good fit for you.
Assess Musical Ability
If you have just started out and you are playing with an experienced band, you may feel very daunted. Be honest with yourself about your musical ability and assess the ability of the rest of the band too. Be open with them about how you are feeling. This will help you to make sure they will be a good fit for you. If they are willing to help and encourage you then brilliant, you will learn a lot. However, if you think they will intimidate you and be less than kind about your abilities, you may be better finding yourself a band that are on a more level footing with your ability.
Likewise, if you know you are better than the rest of the band and that this is going to frustrate you, it may be better to quit while you are ahead and find yourself a band with similar talent.
Influences
If you want to play thrash metal and the other members of the band are into reggae, this may not be a great fit. It could make for some interesting jamming sessions but there is no long-term future in it. Most bands members are happy to talk about who their influences are, so start a conversation about music and you will soon see if you are a good fit or whether you should keep looking.
How They Choose Material
How a band chooses material and what material they play does not necessarily match their biggest influences. For example, an indie-influenced band may get a lot of wedding bookings and therefore need to play more commercial cover music than they would otherwise like to. You should get a feel for what type of music the band plays when you audition with them.
If a band plays their own music, it is worth finding out how that process is achieved too. If you are a budding songwriter, you will want to have your own input into the music you are playing. Are you happy to play other people’s songs? If it is set in stone that another band member writes all the songs, then they are not likely to be a great fit for you regardless of how much you love their sound. On the other hand, if you are nervous about your songwriting skills and only want to play those that other people have written, being expected to be an integral part of the songwriting process is not going to appeal to you.
Future Aspirations
This may sound like something you would be asked in a job interview; however, it is crucial to find out what direction the rest of the band wants to go in. If you aspire to become a professional musician and you find that the band you want to join has already booked some studio time or clocked up some impressive studio time already, this is likely to be a good fit. You may find that they want to take the new line-up back into the studio straight away as their sound may change slightly with a new addition. If this is the case, you know they are serious, and you can go looking for the best studio for your sound. If you are looking for some new studio space in Dalston, London is a great place to go. Pirate caters to all styles of music, and they have the expertise to help you produce the sound you are trying to create in a Dalston space.
Make sure that your aspirations meet those of the rest of the band though. If you want to get into the studio as soon as possible and the rest of the band are happy to play for beer tokens and enough petrol to get home from a gig, then you are not going to be well-suited.
Location
They may be the best band you have ever heard, and they may feel equally enthusiastic about you, however, if they are based at the other end of the country or the journey to their practice space is going to take you hours to get to then, unfortunately, you may be better to walk away.
Finding a band that is local is going to be imperative to your enjoyment of the experience. You can practice easily together, get together for impromptu jamming sessions, and the venues you play aren’t likely to be too far away either. There is a lot to be said for keeping things local so unless you are prepared to move, look for a band in your town.
Schedule
To sound their best together, a band needs to play together often and if your schedules don’t match up, this isn’t going to be possible. Find out what days the band usually practices and whether there are regularly scheduled extra practices, such as before a gig. If their schedule doesn’t suit you exactly them it is worth asking if rehearsal night can be changed to suit you better. This may feel a little bit cheeky but the worst they can do is say is no, and then you can move on if you need to.
Joining a band is a great experience. There is nothing like it for learning musical skills, performing, and the camaraderie that comes with being part of a team. However, you will save yourself a lot of headaches if you consider whether you are a good fit for each other before you join the band. That way you will realize quickly whether you can work together or not and this will save arguments later.
