[atlantaprog] Re: Bandleading 101

Amen.  Preach brother.  I would add-- get a guy with a cool nickname, like... 
"The Wind".  And if he has endorsements and happens to be playing on Good 
Morning America today, that wouldn't hurt either.  As for the music, ~70% 
overlap of musical favorites, 30% differences keeps things interesting without 
pulling apart.  And the intangible chemistry or 'groove factor' trumps 
technique or anything else.
 
BK
 

Phil McKenna <theowlwatches@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thought I'd start a thread on bandleading and have it be a spot for people to 
share their collective wisdom, experiences, opinions and more on this 
precarious subject.

I am now in the process of audtioning and checking out musicians for a live The 
Owl Watches band (instrumental prog, self-managed, self-producing). 

Some things I've learned along the way:

1) NEVER settle for less, get the best musicians you can for your style of 
music even if it takes a while. COMPATIBILITY IS ESSENTIAL!!! 

2) As a counterbalance, get people you can get along with!! I'd rather have 
someone who may not be a super-technical wizard on their instrument and be able 
to get along FAMOUSLY respect each other and work in close quarters for 
extended periods of time, as opposed to a super-technical prodigy who is an 
overbearing, controlling egocentric jackass! 

3) Make your goals and expectations obnoxiously clear from the start. Spell it 
out upfront as much a s you can. Avoid unpleasant surprises as much as you can. 
COMMUNICATE!

4) RE: playing with other musicians, DON'T BE A CONTROL FREAK!!! Nothing sparks 
more resentment, bad feelings (or fistfights), kills creativity and causes more 
disillusionment than mercilessly micromanaging how each musician plays, thinks 
behaves etc. It's an evil, destructive way to act towards others. DON'T DO IT!! 
Allow people room to be themselves, they bring something to the table you might 
not have thought of yourself that will make the music that much cooler! 
Suggestions comments and direction are always good, but trying to absolutely 
control EVERY little detail is EVIL!! 

5) A committed dedicated musician is one thing, but you need to have a life 
outside of that too, be VERY wary of people who are obsessive to the point of 
NOT having much of a life outside of that, it's a SCARY place to be. 

Your turn------------------------




Hoo Hoooo  Hoo Hoooooo

Phil

http://www.geocities.com/theowlwatches

 

 



---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Make Yahoo! your home page 

                
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 Make Yahoo! your home page

Other related posts: