Blog post #2: A rock and roll quest

The instruments of the band "Wiggle Room", waiting for the musicians to return.

At this very moment, somewhere on the planet, a group of amateur rock musicians are standing around and waiting impatiently. They have gathered together in a place some distance away from their family members, so as not to annoy them too much with the barrage of noise they will soon unleash. Maybe they are in a garage or a basement. Maybe they are in the local village hall or a friendly farmer’s hayloft. Perhaps they have rented a small, windowless rehearsal room on the outskirts of town.


To kill time, while they wait, the musicians brainstorm possible band names. They throw out some ideas... Captain Testos, Mouldylocks, Murder Death Kill, Ronny Ray Gun... and quickly discard them all. They are looking for something “rock and roll”, something cool, something... edgy. But not so edgy that it would cause colleagues at their regular day jobs to raise their eyebrows. The band will be several more months before finally settling on the ideal band name which all band members like and agree to. They’ll discuss getting t-shirts printed with the new name on them. Sadly though, a belated google will reveal this name has already been taken, probably by some random band in rural Canada with 23 followers on Instagram. It’s incredibly difficult to come up with a unique band name in 2024!


The electric guitar player is not part of the conversation about band names. He is still busy setting up his equipment: plugging cables into electronic boxes and twiddling dials. He’s finished now and is starting to tune up his guitar. As usual, he is doing this at maximum amplified volume, much to the annoyance of his fellow band mates who now cannot hear themselves talk over the din. After tuning up, the guitarist launches into a short celebratory rendition of Foxy Lady by Jimi Hendrix, also at full volume.


Each band member has spent the last hour involved in the logistics of band practice. Their musical equipment has been:

• disconnected at home,
• packed into cases and bags,
• carried down the stairs and out to the car,
• squeezed into the back of the car like a game of Tetris,
• driven several miles,
• carried from car to rehearsal room,
• unpacked and reconnected.
  
  

Finally, after all this effort, they are now ready to rehearse. They are just missing one essential element. So, they wait.


By the way, the combined cost of all the equipment now laid out in the rehearsal room, all the drums, amplifiers, guitars, cymbals, electronic gadgets, cables, stands, microphones, etc., is the equivalent of a down payment on a two-bedroom house.


10 minutes later, the singer finally arrives, empty handed. Having skilfully avoided any heavy lifting, she cheerfully hugs and kisses everyone, takes a quick selfie, posts it to social media and the rehearsal finally begins.



All this activity, all this effort, expense and patience, is with the aim of playing 20 songs to a sizeable and enthusiastic audience at a local venue at some future date. The payment: 50 quid and two free beers each. Many bands succeed in this quest. More fail. And of those bands that do succeed, many of them fail to be asked back to that same venue to play a second gig.


Forming a good amateur band is a process fraught with frustration and disappointment, but the end result can be incredibly satisfying and perhaps even life-affirming if successful. 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.

The challenge

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, will be to...

1. Find several like-minded and similarly-skilled musicians to play with.
2. Rehearse between 20 and 24 songs with them. (For most of you, these songs will be covers of famous songs rather than your own compositions.)
3. Record a demo video of one or two songs to entice a venue to hire your band to play.
4. Perform the 20 to 24 songs live at the venue in front of an audience.
5. Perform well enough to be asked back to play again at a later date.

If you and your future band mates work full-time jobs, it will take you a number of months to accomplish these goals. Perhaps it will take you a year or more.


Next blog: General principles to keep in mind when forming a rock band.


Mark Baxter (c) 2024