Hello. My name is Mark Baxter, music teacher. Welcome to the blog. This blog will bring together in one place all the info I would like to pass on to my music students, present and future, when they form their first bands and start to play live gigs. This information, if heeded, will save them a lot of time, effort, frustration and heartache. It will help make the whole process of putting a band together more enjoyable and worthwhile. It will increase the chances of their bands being successful. This is my hope anyway.
My definition of a band being successful is as follows:
If you have stumbled upon this blog and are not a student of mine, you are very welcome to read the posts. If you are starting your rock band journey, I’m sure you too will find useful and time-saving lessons here. If you are further along this journey and have already been in bands and have some gigging experience, you may find many of the stories I will tell relatable and, dare I say, even humourous. (I don't want to assume too much.) Some of the info in the blog may reaffirm your thoughts about certain aspects of playing in a band. It may serve to clarify certain things. The blog is called “How to form a rock band. Also, how NOT to form a rock band”. The “How to form a rock band” part refers to tips, tricks and words of advice I have for amateur musicians. In upcoming posts, I’ll share my ideas on topics such as:
There is a science to all of these aspects of forming a band and playing gigs which you can learn by reading future blog posts here. The “How NOT to form a rock band” part of the title refers to cautionary tales of onstage disasters, band break-ups, toxic band members and other perils for the amateur musician to avoid. Many future posts on this blog will feature such stories. I will draw from my experience of playing in and managing amateur and semi-pro bands. You will be able to learn from my mistakes and also the mistakes of other musicians I have played with and known over the years. For example, you will meet Chaotic Divas such as Colin Europe, Fabiola Tantrums and Hugh Jazz, who each managed to torpedo a gig due to their ill-conceived behaviour. They never intended to be so disruptive. They were just being themselves and living their best lives. Nevertheless, venues and event organisers refused to hire them ever again. You'll also meet obsessive Gear Nerds such as Dave Pinoli and Gearophobes such as Careless Santana. The polar opposite behaviour of these two characters brought about exactly the same end result: a disastrous and embarrassing gig for each of them. I will introduce you to players with different varieties of Rhythmical Dyslexia, such as Ginger Faker and Pandiero Pete. Troy Alexander is sure to feature in an upcoming blog post as an example of a Ridiculously Loud Drummer: so loud in fact, that one popular local venue refused to host live rock bands ever again after a Troy Alexander appearance. Instead, the venue turned into a salsa dance bar to avoid further neighbourhood complaints and visits from the police. Likewise, Ian Womb, managed to shut down four open-mic nights in short succession due to his excessive volume on the drums at these events. We’ll likely hear from Mr X of the band O’Beast. Mr X suffered from a malady afflicting a surprising number of amateur guitar players. Namely, Overly-Ambitious Dunning-Kruger Syndrome. In addition, I’ll introduce you to a wide array of other characters falling into the categories of Goosers, Rampers, Wonky Subdividers and Dadolescent Rockers. These types of musician each have the potential to be the musical equivalent of a suicide bomber self-detonating on stage and causing havoc in any band. Indeed, many of the obstacles standing in the way of your forming a band and playing your first gigs will be human obstacles. As with most endeavours in life, it’s the personalities involved that cause the most consternation and annoyance, rather than other non-human obstacles… such as a malfunctioning guitar amplifier or a lack of available rehearsal spaces in your area. So, I plan to dedicate a substantial number of blog posts to identifying and then dealing with the troublesome types of musician you will inevitably encounter on your rock band quest. Also, in the course of writing this blog, I may include some of my musings on the state of rock music today, its place in the current culture and the history of rock music. This would be so you can view your band in a broader context. Despite the uphill struggle and frustration involved in forming a band, it is a very worthwhile pursuit. The end result of playing gigs can be hugely satisfying and even life-affirming. So much so, that when you wake up the morning after a great gig, you enthusiastically jump out of bed, play some quick air guitar, put your clothes on and continue to relive the highlights of the gig during your next 16 waking hours, despite a terrible hangover. And... you will continue to look back fondly on this gig for years to come. You and your band mates were able to magically transmit energy and joy to a room full of people for a one hour and 30 minutes, and you were appreciated for it. It’s a great feeling. My background A little bit about me. I started work as a guitar teacher in 1989 at Terry’s Music Shop in the small town of Boston in rural Lincolnshire, England. Since then, I’ve taught hundreds of music students in the UK and in Belgium. I’ve played in various amateur and semi-pro bands and have produced several bands of music students over the years. I play electric and acoustic guitar, bass guitar and drums. Musician and band names Many of my planned blog posts will include daft behaviour by musicians I have known over the years (including myself). These musicians are otherwise sane, decent and lovely people and so, in order to protect their identities and save them any embarrassment, I have changed some of their names and the names of their bands. The replacement band names used in this blog will all be names I have suggested for new bands I’ve been involved with over years. They were ALL rejected by my fellow band mates. I’m happy to finally give these unloved and discarded band names a home here, in this blog. I wish you the very best in your musical endeavours. Mark Baxter, late July 2024, Waterloo, Belgium. (c) 2024
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Blog: How to form a rock band. Also, how NOT to form a rock band.About this blog
These blog posts contain info I would like to pass on to my music students when they form their first bands and start to play live gigs. I explain more here in my first blog post.
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Mark Baxter, musician, music teacher, guitarist, bassist, drummer. English expat living in Belgium.
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