Do You Want To Be a Rockstar?

One of the most important questions that needs to be answered by all members of your band is, do you want to be a rock star? Now of course you’re thinking who doesn’t want to be a rock star? Sex, drugs and rock and roll right? This is true, but the real issue here is how you get to that goal. Earlier we talked about having a mission and vision statement in order to get your whole band on the same wavelength.

If half the band is daydreaming about getting a hit song recorded so they can be picked up by a label and shot off into stardom, while the other half is morally against molding themselves to fit the pop market just for success there is going to be a problem. The dangerous part about this problem is that it’s so easy to avoid in the early days of the bands growth. Without being confronted early on, this problem will wait patiently in the shadows until that day when your band is writing a $2,000 check for a demo and half the band wants to record their crowd favorite pop hit while the other half wants to do the experimental 7 minute epic rock symphony. All of a sudden the band is ripped in half and your all pissed off at each other and having to recap where you went wrong in the past 15 months of rehearsing.

If the band had sat down before they even played a note and asked each other, “do you want to be a rockstar?” They could have avoided this problem 15 months in advance. In the end maybe the band would have never got off the ground because these issues were too big of a problem. But avoiding this problem until it can’t be avoided any longer will leave you angry frustrated and confused about why your band is falling apart when you were so close to getting what you wanted.

Often with any band the issues that have to be brought out in the open are the ones that are the most uncomfortable to talk about. So if you really feel uncomfortable about sitting down to talk to your lead guitar player about his heavy metal tone not working with your soft rock sound, thats probably the issue that should be your top priority. We often avoid the things that need to be done because we’re afraid of how we might feel when we are doing them. Don’t invent things to work on to avoid facing the real issues that will end up making your band that much stronger. One common procrastination to look out for is: “It’s all about the music”. This mentality is too idealistic. It is conveniently used to avoid interpersonal issues that are brewing under the surface of your group, and asking band members to forego all other issues “for the good of the music”.

Thanks for reading the Simple Band Success Blog! We love when you interact with us! If you have a question you’d like us to answer, email questions@simplebandsuccess.com. For more solutions to common band problems, check out our eBook, Simple Band Success.

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