Having formed and maintained a band for the past 5 years that has gigged consistently, put out two and soon to be three albums and an EP, opened for several big name bands, I get asked frequently by people who are trying to either form a band or keep one together for advice. In particular advice on how to deal with a band mates and issues that arise from them or their levels of "commitment" which is a word that gets tossed around A LOT when it comes to bands and music. So that's the topic of this post. What is "commitment" and what does it take for a person to be a contributing functional member of a band.

Well in my opinion the first thing that is involved here is that you have to love to play for the sake of playing. Not for the love of playing shows, hanging out with other musicians, networking, or just sayin you're in a band....you have to love to actually PLAY MUSIC. If you don't love to play your instrument then you have no business being in a band at all. This is the simple root of what we call "commitment". If a person loves to play, they will practice and show up to jam. It's that simple. If you don't love to play enough to want to pick up your instrument and practice at home, work on your parts and advance your skills on a fairly regular basis then don't join a band. If the idea of going to jam with your band doesn't excite you, that is to say that you view jam as a chore or work that "needs to be done" rather than something that you want to do, then you shouldn't join a band.

Practice is the key to being good.....BIG SURPRISE THERE! If a musician doesn't practice on their own their skills will stagnate or even degrade. If a band doesn't get together to jam regularly then they will never get tight. Simple right? Yet bands consistently have issues in this area. People either consistently no show to jam or they don't learn their parts or practice on their own time.

This shines through in both live shows and recording. You can ALWAYS tell the bands that don't jam enough, it just comes across in the live show. There are more than a few bands around that could benefit huge from an extra jam or 2 a week. Furthermore if you don't practice at home and your band goes in the studio to record it will show because you won;t have your parts down. Not everybody nails everything on take 1, but if you are properly practiced up you won't be fighting it at every turn. I've been in the studio with musicians that aren't prepared. Not pretty.

Fact is, I think missing jam is bullshit for the most part. If somebody misses jam regularly, fire them. Simple as that. To me there are only a small handful of reasons not to be there.....work, health, family emergency, you are out of town.....that's about it. Stupid shit like "I'm really tired from work" or "there's a hockey game on tonight" doesn't cut it. If you don't want to jam above all else, and if jamming tunes doesn't motivate you enough to get your lazy ass off the couch post work then you don't have "commitment".

But there is a flip side to this. As a band mate or band leader, you have to have some understanding and patience for those in your band. If your drummer gets called into work and misses a practice, it's not worth crucifying him over. Work pays the bills and chances are your band doesn't, so you cannot expect him to either quit or get fired and risk his livelihood to make it to jam. Shit happens, and everybody's schedule fluctuates. In my band Entropia, 3 of us have really irregular schedules, including myself, but we make it happen. If that means jamming at 10am on a Sunday morning then that's what it means. We get together when we can and we maximize the use of that time. And we don't get super mad at each other when somebody can't be there, cause I trust these guys enough to know that if they can't make it, it's because of something very important or serious.

The other thing you have to do is address issues before they become problems and potentially explosive. I have learned this the hard way. If you have an issue with your band mate, playing or otherwise, you have to take it up with them, and for god sakes act like an adult when you do it. When there's an issue, propose a solution. For example rather than saying "Man that guitar melody over the pre chorus riff really fuckin sucks!" try saying something like "Hey that melody we got in the pre chorus, while it's a good piece I don't think it really fits with the riff and here's why....." then start discussing whether it fits or not and try to come up with a solution. Not only will your band benefit but the music will as well. Being stubborn and not treating people with respect is nothing but counterproductive, and doesn't really show any "commitment" to your band or bandmates. However if something is just that god awful there's nothing wrong with lettin out a good ol sarcastic comment like "that sounds like cats fucking" or something. No need to be a stodgy diplomat all the time.

So this is basically what I'm gonna say to everybody who is trying to find or start a band, and especially to all those who have been in craigslist purgatory for the past 5 or 6 years and can't find or stick to a project (this is what I call the people who canstantly have ads on craislist and/or answer every ad for musicians. I have placed ads on craisglsit for new musicians 4 years apart and gotten the same responses from the same people!). PRACTICE AND SHOW UP TO REHEARSAL! If you don't love to play for the sake of playing then don't. If you aren't willing to take the time to improve your own skills and be able to keep up then sell your gear to someone who will. If you are too lazy to get your ass to jam at least 2-3 times a week then stay the fuck home! And to everybody in bands, respect your brothers and sisters that you rock with, and keep crankin out tunes! The world needs em!