Tonight, I really want to dive into something that will most likely be a common subject matter for this blog: Your band's expectations.
By expectations, I simply mean what you want to accomplish as a band, and what you THINK you deserve to accomplish as a band.
I see a trend growing more and more every day where brand new bands, that are just starting out, start talking about "getting signed" and "touring." To me, this behavior is ridiculous. I know you love to dream, and I don't necessarily think it's a bad idea to keep some long-term goals in the back of your mind... but lets put it this way; what makes you think you've earned these things?
I firmly believe that you need to just BE a band... work hard at it, play together as much as possible, play for as many people as possible (because that IS the goal), and those things will come if you earn them ... but chances are, if you've been a band for less than a year, you are not ready for these things. You are probably not even ready to even start talking about these things...
In my experience, this method most often leads to success:
1. Make sure that your lineup is strong. Spend as much time together as possible, and keep in mind that if you DO get signed and start touring, these are the people that you are going to be spending every waking moment with, for weeks/months on end, in a very tight space... you NEED to be compatible. I personally don't believe that you can know these things if you've been together for a short period of time.
2. Get good. This seems like a no-brainer... but it's really the most overlooked step with bands right now. This means any/all of the following: write as many songs as possible, and find your sound. Play as many local/weekend-warrior shows as possible and make sure that you're not embarrassingly bad live. Make sure your gear is up to par, and you have a good, solid sound. Film/record yourselves playing (both in your rehearsal space and at any local shows you get)... review that shit like an NBA team reviews last night's game. Figure out what you're doing wrong, so you can fix it. If YOU wouldn't go see your band, you can't expect anyone else to want to do the same.
3. Get set financially. If you're booking your own tours, or getting put on small opening slots... there is little to no money. If your tour pays for itself, you're doing well. With the price of gas, the cost of a proper van and trailer, insurance, and food... there are some pretty major expenses. Even the smallest tours still cost thousands of dollars, and unless there's a good amount of people at all the shows, and you have somehow arranged for strong guarantees... you're probably going to be paying for most of this stuff out of pocket.
4. Make sure there is an audience! ... It really helps to be a band for a while before heading out, so that you can have time to record proper albums, get a substantial local and online following, build up a demand for your tour to come through certain cities.... THEN it's time to head out. This is tough work, and takes years to do properly.
Obviously, if your band is one of the lucky few (very, very, very few) that happens to put some demos online, and a couple months later gets scooped up by a label, and gets shipped off on a big fancy tour, all expenses paid (hahahahahaha.... we can all dream, right?) ... take the opportunity and run.... but be warned, 9 times out of 10, those bands burn out in a year or two, because they didn't go through the steps mentioned above.
After spending 3 years touring a LOT, and doing everything from the worst, shitty, self-booked tours to decent guaranteed tours booked by booking agents with reputable/big bands, it still ended up being too much of a grind for everyone in my band to handle.... and we had been together for years, and been best friends since middleschool... of course I don't regret a second of it though... Those were some of the best times of my life... which is why you want to tour!!! I get it! It's super fucking fun!! ... but just please take my advice and make sure that you're ready before you jump into it.
We also got signed when I was only 15 (first to Rise Records... then to Hopeless/Subcity Records when I was about 18.... not trying to name-drop, just giving you a frame of reference) ... and again, it was amazing... it opened up doors for us that would have been otherwise unattainable.... BUT, we weren't necessarily ready for it. We thought we were, and once again, I don't regret anything that we did.... but if we would have matured a little bit (both as a band, and as people), and THEN got signed/started touring... who knows what could have happened.
In short, it's super fun to dream... but you may just jeopardize your band's future by jumping into things before you're ready for them.
-Ryan
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