“Dude, we should totally be a Slayer tribute band” / “no man, I think we should only do country music!”.
Yeah, that’s real. It exists. Two musicians discussing their goals and desires to form the ultimate band. Houston, we have a problem.
Most of the bands I’ve seen that are short lived happen for a number of reasons but at the heart of it is because members of the band simply don’t have the same goals in mind. Worse, the members are not flexible or they’re actually prideful.
I’ve actually been in projects where folks would not play a type of music because they apparently where “too cool for school” – Jason Harlow 1987. Yep, I remember telling myself I would never play a “poison” song. Fast forward 2019, I play them freely as some of the most fun songs ever to play. What was I thinking??? It’s interesting to see how perspectives change when you learn what is actually important.
If you don’t get anything out of this article, get this… music is about having fun. Period. We’re not curing cancer or doing anything that is that serious. I mean really, we’re getting the opportunity to get in front of folks and have a great time doing what we’ve practiced our whole lives. If I had a time machine, I would go back and punch myself in the face for even considering that one genre of music was superior over another. Turns out that most of that music I considered inferior (jazz, country, pop) is much more complex than anything I’d ever played. Good news is that I learned quickly and realized just how ignorant I was fortunately. If this is you, learn from me! I’m so glad with age comes wisdom and experience.
Back to goals! Inevitably, if bands and members don’t align their goals, they simply fail because everyone is pushing in different directions and there is no satisfaction.
So, what happens when you have 2 or 3 different people with opposing goals? How do you fix it?
If you have mature members, divergent thoughts and mixed goals can work to build a chemistry that makes something very special. If members respect each other and have those love languages I spoke about intact, there can actually be some goodness out of it.
Unfortunately though, if you have members who are at the opposite polar ends of the musical spectrum with song choices, attitude, likes, values that are unwilling to change…etc. You must remove them and place them in a project of like people. Sorry, it’s the truth because otherwise you are wasting your 86,400 seconds a day.
That being said, preventing these problems can be solved with a well laid out set of goals prior to taking on members or setting goals with your current members will greatly attribute to the growth and stability of your band.So, what do band goals look like?
Let’s play Harlow’s in the next 90 days. We can lock in 12 songs to play a 1 hour set. We’ll rock peoples faces and having fun while increasing our social presence through fans and followers (ok, shameless plug).
Let’s learn the songs: brown eyed girl, honky tonk woman, and mustang sally by next week and incorporate them into our wedding gig next Saturday.
Let’s save up $500 in the next 2 weeks to record our original “Rock your momma” at Sunland Studios. We’ll take $250 off the top from the Harlow’s gig to help fund and another $250 off t-shirt sales to fund it.
What do many band goals actually look like:
Let’s get signed
Let’s become famous
Let’s make money
Notice the difference?
In the business world we use “SMART” goals. Which stand for:
Specific / Measurable / Attainable / Relevant / Time-Based
When planning your band goals, be specific. Without knowing where you want to be specifically in your music journey, it’s likely you’ll take some dirt roads and find yourself lost and broke down.. mostly broke. Consider this when planning your song choices, venue choices, marketing choices. What specifically is needed.
If you can’t measure it, you can’t tell if you are making progress. To many times I see bands set a goal but fail to measure whether or not they hit the target. After a while of not measuring (whether performance, sound, or connecting with people), they seem to wonder why folks quit coming to their shows. Always measure!
Make the goals attainable! Example: If the singer can’t sing it, don’t do it. Sorry guitar shredder dudes (I’m one of them), people in the crowd aren’t really talking about your string skipping and legato, they are too busy saying the whole band sucks because you thought a dream theater song would impress people but the singer can’t sing it. Make the goals attainable for your band and put any song choices in the sweet spot and strike zone of your singer. Know your limits and play to your strengths not your weaknesses. Before setting the goal to write an album, set the goal to write one song.. then three..etc.
If the goal is not relevant to your band and it achieving something meaningful, it’s practically useless. I also like to use the word “realistic” here as well. You can have the most specific, measurable, and attainable goals but if it’s not really relevant or realistic, you’re wasting your precious 86400 secs.
Time based is key! It’s not only key to be able to measure but it creates the urgency needed and baseline needed for other members to achieve success. If no timeframe exists, you have no real management of expectations. BTW, it’s ok if you don’t make a timeline… this becomes knowledge. It’s likely you may not hit all the goals but if you set a timeline for a week to learn 4 songs and the band only learns 2, you’ve gained extremely valuable knowledge on your band’s velocity (2 songs a week). You can then adjust your timeline based on your new knowledge and continue to refine your capabilities for a well tuned face rocking machine.
Hopefully this rambling may give you some ideas. I recommend you start with small goals and grow. It’s really fun to look back as well to see the accomplishments. You quickly realize without goals; you would have been in the same place, doing the same thing, and expecting different results (insanity). You don’t even want to calculate how much time (your most critical asset) was lost. Rock on.
“Great Job Man”… for some, the most important thing you could ever say. More powerful than money, gifts, or acts. Why? Because these folks respond to “words of affirmation”.
Admittedly, this is what drives me and I think it probably drives most musicians. At the end of the night, I’m not thinking about money, what’s for breakfast..etc. I’m wondering if I made an impact with the music I played and if folks had a good time. The measure of success for me is someone coming up and saying “harlow, that was awesome” (or something similar).
So, let’s dive in.Hey, we’re all humans and we have feelings (most of us). Did you know your attitude and response towards other members will greatly impact your bands health and ability? Yeah, I know this because I’m the worst at times and have seen the impacts.
If you’ve not heard of the 5 love languages, let’s discuss for just a moment. I read this book many years ago and it’s written by Dr. Gary Chapman. Yes, it’s meant for marriages or relationships but isn’t that kinda like a band?Even if you don’t apply it to a band, this is real deal stuff that homeboy wrote about and can apply to your life, your relationships, family..etc. so get the book or read more about it online.
So, here are the 5 love languages:
1. Words of affirmation 2. Gifts 3. Acts of Service 4. Quality time 5. Physical touch
ok, i realize most of you are already saying, hell no, I don’t want #5 with my bandmates LOL… so let’s talk 1, 2, 3, and 4.
1. Words of affirmation. Again, to me, I believe this is a primary language for musicians. Why? Because doing music is not easy, it’s a lifelong commitment with years and years of practice, hard work, failure, struggle, and ups and downs. When those beautiful “words of affirmation” happen, it seems to make the effort worth it. Point is, take time to recognize the efforts of your band members and the hard work they’ve have put in. They are likely going to work even harder because after all “people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”. #BOOM. That’s some Teddy Roosevelt / John Maxwell in your face.
2. Gifts. The book talks about marriage aspects such as giving tangible property (flowers, necklace..etc). However, let’s consider “gifts” being money in the band lane. Some of your members are driven more by the dollar or items than anything else. Hey, that’s understandable and if that’s the language they speak, find ways to encourage them so all of you can have the rewards of gifts from your ultimate performance. Maybe buy them a drink at the next gig because they rocked someone’s face.
3. Acts of service. “Hey man, thanks for helping me with my air conditioner” as said by me on multiple occasions to our drummer who is an AC guy. Some folks respond to receiving acts of kindness or service. In doing so, you are building a trust outside the band environment and a long-lasting friendship. If your member is one who responds to acts of service, it doesn’t take much to build a bond. Simple things like helping members setup their gear is a great start.
4. Quality Time. A band that plays together stays together… or something like that. I’ve been in many bands and 1000% of the time, bands who can spend time together last longer, have more fun, and usually even sound better. Some of your members may just want to hang out once in a while, outside of rocking peoples faces. How simple is that? and the reward is great.
5. Physical Touch. Ok, I’ll address it. Some drummers like to stroke and touch other members. Just tell them no. Setup your “no zones” and spray them with vinegar. LOL
Bottom line, each of us are different. It’s what magically makes a band great, the yin and yang, push and pull..etc. All that said, we all want respect and to be loved and feel a part of something bigger than ourselves. Knowing others love languages and your own can greatly reduce problems and build a stronger and more effective band. Rock on.
Note: These are some perspectives, opinions, and truths I’ve found from my travels and dealing with humans for many years in music and business. These are no brainers for many but I hope these thoughts may assist you in building a great band and make you a better band member or artist. If you disagree with these, no worries.. these are just my thoughts and what I’ve found to make a difference in the development of great bands and people. There will be more of this rambling as time goes on. Enjoy
Have the same commitment:
Commitment (noun): the state or quality of being dedicated to a cause, activity, etc.
Whether it’s with a band, business, job, or life, finding folks with the same commitment is crucial to success and happiness.
What I’ve learned in my years of experience (surviving mistake) is that productivity, success, and achieving goals requires great commitment and sacrifice. Achieving those goals requires those around you (your band) to have the same commitment, values, and work ethic as well.
As a software developer and project manager, there is a corny story about a Chicken and a Pig that relates to commitment.
The story goes like this: One day a chicken approaches a pig and suggests they should start a restaurant. The pig is intrigued by the idea and says, “That sounds great. I’m an entrepreneurial type of hog. What are we going to call the restaurant?” The chicken suggests, “Ham and Eggs!” To which the pig replies, “No thanks, I’d be committed. You’d only be involved.”
It’s a goofy story but can relate if you’ve been in bands where some are just involved and not committed to the success of the band.
Commitment to the band means you personally hold yourself responsible for the success and failures of the band. It means you’re serious about taking time to learn your parts, be active in promotion, and also respect others time in their efforts to never be the weak link. It really means you have personal accountability and the band is a reflection of yourself.
Then there is the involved folks. Not bad people. Matter of fact, they are contributing to the sound and the band with their talent. However, maybe they just aren’t as serious or don’t have the same goals, work ethic, or even time. To those who are just involved, become committed!
Here’s why: if you’re unable to consistently put the same commitment as others in the band, you’re unfortunately doing the band a disservice. Even worse, you are most likely putting your very friends in a bad position and your actions can ultimately be seen as disrespect for those who have committed their time and energy into the band.
However, there is good news! The difference in being involved and committed can be solved with managing expectations and communicating what level of commitment you actually can offer. This requires the courage to actually look at your schedule and abilities and telling the band what you can accomplish (and acting upon it). By simply communicating what level you can commit will help others with their expectations and will help set the bands velocity (how much can actually be accomplished). By being real, transparent, and honest, it should lead to a better band and relationship among members.
BTW, commitment doesn’t mean you drop everything and focus only on a band… that’s silly. Being in a band is about having fun at the heart of it. It doesn’t have to be all that serious, but you do owe it to your friends and band members to give the best you have to offer and have integrity (do what you say you are going to do) in what you commit to. Doing so will always keep things fun and productive! Rock on.
Thanks for inquiring. We get a lot of requests to play our venue so this is to help explain how to go about booking with us, who we are, why we are doing this, and what to expect. First and foremost, welcome to Live at Harlow’s, a venue built by musicians for musicians for the betterment of our music community and to promote upcoming artists and bands.
Who are we? We’re musicians, just like you. We’re folks who are passionate about building a thriving music community and to support our fellow musicians. We’ve accumulating quite a bit of experience in the music business and we’ve developed a venue to help others on their musical journey. We believe #musicmatters and the idea of “creating the scene” #CTS. We value creating a long lasting impact and experience over creating income for ourselves.
Who can play? We are open for all people and genres of music. We look for bands and artists hungry to perform and interact with our crowds.
What is Live at Harlow’s? It’s a venue tailor made for the performance of artists and bands. In other words, we’ve created exactly what we would have wanted as musicians to include stage, great PA (JBL SRX), light show (Static and Moving), Backline (yes, we provide the backline for drums (DW collectors kit), bass (AMPEG) – guitar amps (KEMPER, JCM 800, 5150..etc), sound guy, light guy, promotional material, and most importantly the best crowds in the surrounding area.
How much do I get paid? We partner with bands to try and generate as much revenue for the bands. We provide 100% of the door to the bands and artists, unless there are other fees required for additional production costs. This model is transparent (as we always are) and puts everyone with the same goals, commitment, values, and work ethic to ensure an amazing night of live music, and, the best time you could possibly imagine.
What we are not: We are not a bar. Yes, we offer alcoholic drinks but the model is quite different that a bar where we hire bands to perform in hopes they will return profit. We simply don’t hire like that as profit is not our driver, we partner to develop a showcase to create an amazing and memorable experience to grow our community. Bottom line: We are a performance venue that invests in bands and artists.
Can I setup my own show? Absolutely, should you wish to do this, you can rent the venue and pay for our staffing services.
When do we rock faces? We have events every couple of weeks which feature 2 to 3 artists / bands each month. We like to theme our events and find others who are similar in your music genre.
Where do we rock faces? It’s in the small town of Ozark, Alabama. Near Dothan, Enterprise, and Troy Alabama. Address is 190 West Reynolds Street, Ozark, Al.
Why do we do this? We do this for several reasons but most importantly because its become our passion and our purpose to serve our music community. We believe that a rising tide floats all ships. If we can assist you in your musical journey and you have the right attitude, commitment, and values, we want to be on your team.
Can I sell merch? Absolutely, we will help you setup an area and we don’t want a dime!
Sounds great but I just want to know how to get booked! To be considered for a spot, please provide the following information via email at [email protected] or fill out the form below.
Video of your performances. We don’t just look for a great sound, that’s only part of the equation. We look for the performance and connecting with people. We are showcasing your talent and we want everything you got.
Previous or Upcoming Events. We would like to come see you and support you. We also are strategic when we book events based on your scheduling.
Number of members in your band
Social media pages (facebook, instagram..etc)
Your music genre (rock, country, blues..etc)
Average number of fans that attend your shows
Your goal with playing at Harlow’s
Some open dates on Fridays and Saturdays
We look forward to serving and seeing you at an event soon!
