This article was taken from Tom Hess, professional touring guitarist and recording artist. I couldn’t of said it better!
Have you ever been in this scenario? You are trying to find new band members. You put out flyers, ads, or even post on forums online. Then, whenever someone shows interest in your band (they call you, or audition), they do not have the same drive and ambition that you have. This situation actually occurs for most bands throughout the music business. Unfortunately, most bands do not know how to solve this problem in order to find the right musicians. To help your band be more successful, read the following tips for finding committed musicians:
Rule 1: If you are in the company of band members who are truly success minded, there are no boundaries to what you can accomplish.
Rule 2: If you have a band full of unmotivated band members, the chances of succeeding in the music business are close to zero.
Rule 3: In order to build success for your band, you will need to consistently put out a great deal of effort (this applies even once you’ve begun to ‘make it’). If your band only contains a couple of people who do all of the work, the amount of work will simply be too much to handle on your own. As a result, the band will likely not achieve significant success. Once you start to notice that the other musicians in your band are not putting out much effort to help the band, bring this up with them. Tell them that they have only one chance to change their ways. If you then notice that they have not made any efforts to turn things around, cut them from the band. These people will only drag your band down.
Rule 4: It is very common for potential band members to talk about becoming successful, but not actually follow up on what they say. Every musician wants to become highly successful in music, but very few musicians will truly put out the effort in order to achieve success. You will run into these kinds of people all the time. People like this will want to join your band, but won’t be able to help your band in the long run (they will only slow down your progress). Keep away from these types of musicians at all costs.
Pat O’Bryan once said:
“You would be surprised by the amount of musicians and artists who are just waiting around for opportunity to knock on their door as they simply follow what all the other musicians and artists are doing.”
“Losers in a losing cycle, perpetuated by following other losers. Not such a great plan, but it is by far the most popular.”
Rule 5: Some musicians make for excellent band members from a purely musical standpoint. However, it is a very common situation that talented musicians actually prevent their band from making progress in music. This is because talented musicians (like any musician) can still be the ‘wrong’ people for your band. If you want to achieve great success with your band, you will need to focus on the wider scope of where the band is going. This means, if someone is the wrong person for your band, you need to let them go (even if they can ‘play’ great).
Rule 6: Finding the right band members may sometimes seem like an impossible task. However, remember that the most dedicated musicians are also looking for you at the same time that you are looking for them. These people are also going through the same difficulties as you, and share the same desire to play in a successful band as you do.
Rule 7: There are many bands that have already achieved high success in music who are unsatisfied with some of their current band members. It is a mistake to assume that because a band is already successful, they are not actively looking to find the right musicians. It is very possible that people from these bands could join with your band instead or even that you could replace a member in their band.
Think about all that you will be able to do once you have found the right musicians for your band. This means being surrounded by musicians who not only ‘talk big’, but ‘do big’. These are people who are highly motivated, and work hard on a continual basis to make progress in their music careers. Once you have these people on your side, you will become a totally unstoppable force!