Starting a band with your friends might be one of the best memories you’ll have of your college years, or it might become a life-long journey toward fame, millions of fans around the world, and financial prosperity – either way, you should definitely try it. Many people try and fail, and only a few of them manage to pull together a group of great musicians who create the kind of music that touches the hearts and the souls of the music fans. So, how do you create a music band that goes beyond your garage? Here are a couple of ideas for you.
Reliable Band-Mates Are The Key
You need to find reliable people who take this music adventure seriously, people who would show up to your jam sessions, participate in the song writing process, help with equipment, and just be a useful and responsible member of the team. Even though you are a college band, you need to be responsible for what you do and how you contribute to the band. Some of you might come up with useful tips on how to get a better sound to bring more audience; some might help in organizing your first gig, some might bring up some equipment. All of you should make a contribution to the development and improvement of your band.
Find Your Sound and Style
With such an abundance of performers, it is really hard to come up with something unique and interesting. But! If you have big plans for the future, you need to develop your own unique sound. Yes, people love to hear something they are familiar with, but they also need something new, so you should make a sort of research to realize what the music industry might need right now and give people exactly that. Try to sound unique, find a style that is most comfortable for your band, and try to create some music. Hopefully, you will find that sound that brings you recognition and fame.
Come Up With a Name
Your band needs a name, that’s for sure, and that name has to be catchy. If you look at the names of the world’s most successful bands, you will notice that most of them are short – one to three words: Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Rolling Stones, Metallica, Iron Maiden. Of course, you may come up with some long name, but you’ve got to make sure it is easy to memorize and pronounce. As for the assistance of other students in your band, talk it through, try to figure a name all of you will feel connected to, a name all of you will be able to identify with.
Record Your First Demo
This is the most challenging part of it all – recording your ever first demo. This is where you put months or even years of your rehearsals to the real test, and that is where you can truly see what your band is capable of. Go to the local recording studio, save up some papers, rent it for a day, and play like you never played before, give it all you’ve got, and walk out with a couple of recorded songs on your hands. They will not be perfect, most likely they are going to be really flawed and not as good as you’d imagine, but these are your first steps towards a career in music. You can send those records to some label and see what they tell you, you can send it to your friends, and you can just publish it on Spotify for everyone to listen to. That way you’ll receive a fair share of criticism, which is the best helper for the young musicians, just remember to take that lightly and not get too upset if people won’t take your music exactly as you wanted them to.
Start Working on Your Image
Every band has an image, so yours should have one too. Who are you? Metal heads? Rock’ n’ rollers? Pop-rock guys? You need to stay true to your style and your image because it will define the identity of your band, and a specific culture your fans would hopefully adhere to. The image and the identity of your band is the key to your success in the media, so be sure to work on that too.
Wrap Up
Starting your own college music band is not an easy endeavor, but it surely is a fun one. This is much more fun than writing that dull paper you’ve got to submit next Monday, so you should totally try it. Of course, you need to find that proper balance between your passion for music and your college life to be successful in both of these areas, and if you do that, you might find success. This might be the beginning of an exciting journey or just a short-lived adventure. Regardless, you are going to cherish the memories of your college band forever.
This article was written by college paper writer from Papersowl.
