It's Like Three Card Monte, But With Bands...
There's actually no wrong answers here. I was just thinking about the process I went through with most of the bands I started. A few people in my scene know about this, but so many others don't and I thought it would be fun to share.
Write a few tunes. Find people to jam with according to the style of tunes I have written or take the first person willing to show up, cuz let's be honest, I can sound like a crazy person when I have a new band idea. The next step is to secure a practice time and location that works for everyone. Here's a hot tip: the less people you have in your band, the easier scheduling a practice will be. I love the sonics of a 6-person band, and any more that 3 people is too many. It's just a convenience factor. Likability is a must too. If you don't like the people you are playing with, then you're doing this all wrong. Idiot.
So here we are, 4 people at a place at a time and I am teaching them the first song. This is the song I usually think best fits the vibe I'm going for in this particular band. We learn that and nail it cuz I typically write some pretty simple shit. I let the bass and lead guitar flesh out the cool shit. I just laid the foundation. We jam on maybe 2-3 other songs I brought to the table. Everyone is digging it. We make adjustments to these 3 songs to flesh it out better and give it even more dynamics. At this point, everyone is super excited and really digging everything. I am pleased.
Then I hit them with the sleight of hand. A little bit of good old fashioned tricksterism! I feel out the room, asking everyone if they're enjoying the songs and the other members. They're all obviously really stoked and riding that high you get as a musician when you're in a room with other musicians and you all lock into a groove. It's just like crack. It's addictive. Now that I know I have them hooked, I tell them we have a show already booked in a few weeks and we need to write 6 more songs and I say it very matter-of-fact. Because it was a fact. There was inevitably some band that wanted to tour through Grand Rapids, MI and I was the guy booking them. And I love to play shows. Especially shows I booked. Sometimes the band(s) I was in wasn't available to play that day. In my brain, the easiest solution was to just start a new band. This, and the fact that most of the local bands in GR played too often, so very few had any actual draw. I'm guessing a lot of people would show up to my shows just out of morbid curiosity. Kinda like, “WTF are Kole and Taylor doing now??”
I seriously did this all the time.
I always got a kick out of the looks on their faces. Jaws open, the quiet "Uhmmmmmmmm," confusion on their faces. It was the best! Inevitably everyone would agree. I hit them in a state of euphoria so as to catch them with their guard down and then played it off like this was completely normal. Taylor (The Lippies) played in so many bands with me that he eventually caught on to what I was doing. He thought it was hilarious too and he was as much a victim of this scam as anybody else, if not more hahahahaha! I adored seeing him smile and shake his head slowly back and forth when someone new fell for my bullshit.
Speaking of Taylor, he passed on a few months ago. I'm really going to miss him. Especially playing music with him and making each other laugh.
Remember to enjoy every second you get with those you love. Every laugh and smile counts. Every hug counts more. And go eat some Olive Garden. Taylor legit loved the soup, salad, and breadsticks. He was funny like that. Maybe one of these days I'll share the story of how I got banned from Olive Garden. He loved that one.
