The Importance of Socialising and Teamwork and “I want to do my own stuff”
It is very common to hear aspiring musicians say “I want to concentrate on my own music.” Usually this has one of two consequences, the person ends up practicing endlessly in their bedroom, with no audience, and no band, or the musician ends up spending hours dilly dallying in front of the computer trying to record their songs, or a combination of the two.
Neither of these are a bad thing, BUT, few people succeed on their own. There’s a lot to be said to for getting the vibe when playing a band that suddenly fills people with inspiration. For example, the drummer will play a beat and suddenly the guitarist joins in with a fantastic part that just naturally fits. This sort of thing happens all the time when playing with others. It’s rarely possible for one person to have all the ideas, and often good musicians can take mediocre tunes and turn them into masterpieces.
A second reason for working with other people is that its social. Getting signed is as much a matter of who you know as how good you are. If there are two of you, the number of contacts you have has suddenly doubled, 5 of you, 5x time the contacts & opportunity. For example, here is what happened to me last week:
I replied to an ad on www.gumtree.com looking for an acoustic guitarist to play along with a soul singer. I thought why not, in the worst case I’ll meet an attractive girl and in the best case she’ll be an amazing singer too. Turns out she was amazing (and attractive though attached). While rehearsing, I played one of my songs to her and her flatmate. Turns out her flatmate is a p/a for a leading music law firm in London. What are the odds? A music law firm has a big interest in getting artists signed as they can recruit them as clients. She said the tune I played was top 40 for sure, and she’d take my demo and play it round. I know better than to take compliments like that easily, but now there is an opportunity which occurred just because I followed a social path and made a connection.
Another good reason for playing with other people is that they can be better than you. For example, I can play the guitar quite well; I’ve been playing for years. But I’m unlikely to be able to kick out a solo like Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb solo anyday soon. But somebody else certainly will be able to, and if they did it on my tunes, all the better. I like to surround myself with really good musicians who are better than me, they can make my tunes sound amazing. Usually they’re all too happy to play if I lead them and write the material.
Performing as a band is far more interesting than a solo performer. There is only so long that an anonymous solo artist, performing orginal material, can hold the interest of the audience. A band can let you explore territory that just isn’t possible on your own.
Recording as a band is also brilliant. Records that have been to a click, with sampled drums (even very good sampled drums) sound lifeless, and nothing like a live record, which usually sounds ‘hot’.
My compadres and I have realised (and voiced it) that no one of us is good enough to make it alone. We realise that if we help each other, and bring our particular skills together, we stand a much better chance. I’m more than happy to play other people’s songs if they write them!
In truth though, the best reason to play with others, more than any other, is that it’s damn good fun, and you will have many adventures together that will be memorable in years to come. I fill my life with colour and music and I love it for that reason.
August 24th, 2007 at 11:22 am
[…] From zero to hero in a fortnight? Well, not quite. If you read my article about the importance of socialising, you will have heard about my experience using Gumtree to meet musicians. In two weeks, this has […]
February 6th, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Leadership & Teamwork…
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