Re: Wanting to start a rock band, but need some advice
As Cinnamon posted, every member in a band is a part of it, which is why who you choose to be with is of great importance. You can't find three people who play various instruments and joim them together, expecting them to stay on the same page just because they are all good or even great musicians. I am living proof that a musician can adapt to the style of another musician and that other musicians can adapt to my style for a night or two if need be, but a band will spend sleepless nights practicing things, thinking over things, wondering about the overall direction of their music, and then there are the studio session, assuming you want to go that route. That having been said, compromises need to be made to accommodate all of the differences that will no doubt present themselves over that span of time.
Art does not exist within a basket from which we can simply extract it. It is not found in massive quantities throughout individuals or even grou ps; art is much too complex to simply be an object or group of objects of interest that a person can sift through to create something that thousands or even hundreds of people will come to enjoy. There needs to be a desired value system, an ontic referent, something to look back at that will give artists perspective and purpose in order to even consider creation of any sort. Since every mind differs slightly at the very least, you will find that this point of reference will see regular change as people grow older, wiser, attempting to learn from past mistakes while being implicitly and explicitly driven to change themselves. You need to understand this, because you will no doubt be a different person in 10 years, but assuming you haven't changed, someone around you will. Call it growing up, or selling out, or giving in, or whatever else you can think of to title it, but the fact is that change comes in many forms and affects everyone around it. IN some cases it brings out the best, while other people simply shut down and turn in on themselves or turn outwardly aggressive, which causes even more change.
IN a band, this will become even more noticeable. Bands that have been around seemingly forever have undergone many changes and lost many fans along the way in an attempt to retain a so-called integrity, but of course, if you think about it from an outside perspective that integrity is lost as soon as the band changes even slightly. Perfection is what every band strives for, eventually obtaining the desired value system that sets things in motion for everyone including the fans. if we study the idea of perfection for just a tiny bit, we find that were it to change even slightly, perfection would no longer be perfect, thus, that which fans once perceived as great and which is subject to change loses its integrity. Loyal and understanding individuals will follow you to the ends of the earths because they are true fanatics of something or everything you've done, placing confidence in you that you may not even have to turn things around and reshape everyone's image of the band with your skill and your greatness and your intelligence and your talents and whatever else you have at your disposal. You are superman!
For some people that is a responsibility too hard to handle. for others, the passion for music is yet another driving force that makes the matter just another walk in the park. Speaking as a person who has had the liberty to work with music however I see fit and with no one other than the fans to tell me no, this is my personal experience. As soon as I am part of a band, all of my knowledge, my ability to build a piece from the ground up and put all of the building blocks together to achieve the final outcome I invision is suddenly a moot point. No, it is not entirely useless, just uninimportant in comparison to the greater tas ks of coordination and seemless systematic operation of the band working in unison at all times, while keeping it easy and comfortable on everyone involved. if I excersise my knowledge just the right way, I may be seen as a condescending hotshot or a conceited and cocky individual. it doesn't matter how much I know anymore, because it's not all about me, not even if I manage to gain everyone's respect and become the head or leader or frontman or whatever else you wish to call it.
Understand these things; come to grip with these things. Learn to curb problems before they arise and be willing to take on the responsibility of playing mediator when no one else is willing to talk. You may find someone more capable than you as leader; they come in various shapes and sizes, and while you may have initially thought it would be you because you already have a vision, life doesn't work that way. A leader has to be able to inspire, to inst ill desires, to fill the minds of those he works with with the scope of what they are doing and motivate them to do it regardless of the weight or size of the burden they must shoulder in the process. At the same time, he needs to be able to listen to those he works with and understand the various circumstances surrounding every single individual that is part of this momentous undertaking, clearly anticipating any situations that may arise as a result of said circumstances or other influential events that may come into play. he or she does not slouch, does not pout, does not stand without firmness of mind and soul because at the point that this happens, the very discouragement or fear or sadness or anger or other negativity is felt by the rest. Yes, he can feel and think and be human; there would be no other way for a leader to lead otherwise, but those who are best suited to lead are those who don't look at it as a problem and have obtained the respect of eve ryone else they are leading at the same time. As a leader, you come to realize that you never truly know; you can't always predict the entire outcome. You have to be able to anticipate as much of it as possible however, as many senarios as can be imagined so as not to be surprised by something along the way.
I suggest that after reading all of these insane musings one goes and finds a capable psychologist or counselor, assuming your mind has not been destroyed by the convolution of thoughts I felt I could express but didn't do too well with. I gave myself a headache; my mind is screaming with the agony of bla I posted above. Bla bla bla bla bla; another nutty nest of notoriously naive nonsense, maybe. hey, forget everything I said, ok? I am not to be held responsible for any of the actions you take with everything I've written above, and the only reason I've submitted it is because I took the time to write it.
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