Courtesy of Mossy Log Archive
Starting a band can be daunting. From finding people who are motivated to learn songs, to figuring out how to land your first gig, there are seemingly endless challenges to face. As someone who has already faced a lot of these struggles, I would like to ease some anxiety by offering a simple guide on how to begin your journey from solo musician to a gigging band.
The first step to forming a band is to get some people together and decide what to play. The Mossy Log interviewed George Groebner ’28, the guitarist and bassist for on-campus band Mrs. Melvin Crow, on how he found his bandmates. Groebner is also a staff writer for The Mossy Log.
“The band started as a series of informal acoustic jam sessions on weekend evenings by the fountain outside Copeland, which moved to the Platteau when the weather got uncooperative around October. We started getting our act together as a proper band just in time for the Battle of the Bands in the Coop last semester, and have been jamming together ever since,” Groebner said.
Finding like-minded people can be hard, but if you keep your eyes and ears open, it can be easier than you think to gather a few people and start jamming. It could be a conversation you strike up with a stranger at a show or a classmate that you have sat next to for the whole semester. You will never know if you don not start trying to reach out.
The second step is to decide on a setlist. For bands starting out, the set is usually made up of song covers. To get some insight on how bands choose what to play, The Mossy Log asked Sebastien LaFontaine Sánchez ‘28, leader of student band Mitad y Mitad, why they chose to become a cover band.
“So, we can bring what people listen to on the radio, they’ll hear their countries back home. We bring that on campus here in Portland, so they can enjoy that and feel they’re closer to home and bring something they miss,” he explained. “We make sure everything is in Spanish and represents Latin culture.”
It is very common for bands to start out with covers and transition to originals after the members are all comfortable with one another, so do not feel pressured to play any originals.
The third step is to rehearse. It is imperative that your band knows what they are doing if you are going to go out and start gigging. Sánchez spoke to how his band practices songs.
“They practice by themselves and for rehearsal, it’s just to join all the parts together and maybe make sure we are all playing together the right parts, and we are tight as a group and sounding good together,” he said. “People practice by themselves and then we rehearse together.”
Groebner however has a different approach to rehearsals.
“Usually one or two of us have heard the song before and might know how to play it, but there’s almost always somebody — often me — who’s never heard the song before and is reading the tabs on the fly,” he said.
The last and most important step is to start gigging. This can be the most daunting task for a newly emerging band because of the networking required, but it does not need to be as scary as it may seem. The Battle of the Bands is happening on April 10, so if you are looking for a way to make a name for yourself and start networking, this would be the perfect place to start.
When asked for a piece of advice to give aspiring musicians, Sánchez reminded me: “Just try. Maybe the first one you make is not the one that’s gonna be successful, but trying is the most important step.”
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