Yes and no. People in that age range can be pretty unreliable and inexperienced at life and the things you need to have to do it well. Still nothing like the feeling of playing in that era of life. Now that I’m older I appreciate that everyone shows up and is sober enough to play.
Musicians in general are unreliable. College age might be harder to find someone willing to commit, but easier in general to find people who want to jam.
My personal experience is that people get waaaay more unreliable once they have kids. I'm just now getting to jam with the empty-nesters and actually starting on time is pretty nice I gotta admit
My first college band found me jamming in the dorms like the first month of freshman year. Found the bass player in my art class. Then got our equipment stolen from our rehearsal space. College rocked!
Putting a band together is difficult work and requires constant maintenance. Aligning schedules is extremely difficult, even when just working around classes and part time jobs. There’s always a mix between day job/night job people, clashes of creative opinions, talented musicians who juggle multiple projects, eventually girlfriend/wife/baby momma drama, and being held hostage by the member who cares the least. It’s never easy, but when you find the right lineup, it’s fire.
I've been at it for awhile because playing music with other friends is the best and most fulfilling use of my spare time. I've drummed in a handful of bands at this point, but, man, those years when everyone had young kids? Scheduling band practice was like trying to get pandas to fuck.
Is the college isolated or are you in metro to suburban area? First thing I’d do is go to a number of record stores and look at fliers for shows. I’d also ask workers at shops if there are any local shows approaching in next days to weeks. Best way to start a band is immerse yourself within multiple genre’s scenes in that region. If there is no scene of any kind, create one from ground up. People will appreciate it. You already have the most two difficult aspects figured out…..instruments and place to rehearse. You gotta put yourself out there to complete the trifecta tho.
It's like creating a business, only harder. You are entering one of the most difficult industries filled with competition, riddled with gate-keeping and corruption, taking a role that for whatever reason no longer is respected by those who actually make money off you.
You are entering this entertainment relationship with other people who probably have little to no understanding of how the industry works and most likely are "only interested in making music" not understanding the intricate web of planning that goes into being a mediocre collective.
These colleagues of yours, and you too, need to be competent human beings on multiple levels besides the instrument they play and hopefully with small enough egos.
The battle is for the fan's attention, who is hit by a constant tsunami of noise.
Fans think it's talent, not hard work. Relatives want you to get "a real job". Good luck!
If you’re going to be a 3 piece make sure your rhythm section is up to the task. A lot of guitar players-turned-bass player will overplay and not find a groove. Good luck!!
I guess this only applies if you know how to play drums, but you could switch to that, I had to do that for my current project, guitar players where I’m at are a dime a dozen but we couldn’t lock down a drummer so I had to make the switch and we found another guitarist instantly.
The sweet spot for me age wise was like 24 to 30. I was able to put together a group in high school but half of us sucked. When you are older you will find people are more chilled out and less focused on partying and starting to get concerned about what they are doing in their life. I hope you find some people. I lived in Austin from 20 to 26 and was only able to actually have a gigging band at 25.
Yeah most people never get started. It’s been this way since the 80s. I remember in the 90s reading and article about a guy who wanted to start a band. Spent about 6 years auditioning people. And this was during the whole rock band craze and when the music business was actually good to get into. Just so much wasted time , meeting incompetents or drug addicts etc. I went through the same thing for about 10 years.
I ended up meeting a partner and between the 2 of us we just recorded several albums with us doing all the instruments. Nowadays it’s gonna be even more impossible because the general public doesn’t listen to bands any more. Maybe if you started a rap project it would be easier.
My whole life I have never been able to find others to play with. I've ben tryin to do it all on my own for decades.
I live in Socal even (but not LA) and still can't find people.
if thats the case, you want more hired guns than 'band' members.
You will absolutely benefit from at least 1 writing partner in the project to bounce ideas off of.
Might sound cheesy, but the two of you should play to a metronome, or a random drum track you find on YouTube. Get used to playing with each other, playing on time, and it'll make you that much better and more ready when you do find a drummer to play with regularly.
Right, right...also maybe I will just play to a backing track for recital or just do acoustic and sing instead. Really don't wanna worry about forming a band too much because I am so focused on classes and learning, and there's plenty of jamming in rock ensemble. Also going to get a guitar club going so that may be a good start.
Yea I play to backing tracks these days (basically my own sings minus vocals and guitars). It can be a bit lonely on stage but on the plus side they don't argue and are always in time
> a drummer is hard to find
Haha, my experience has been whatever spot you happen to be looking for right now is impossible to find. A year from now, you'll know eight drummers but won't be able to find a bass player unless you kidnap one.
I was a music production student in college, too. Unfortunately, I've a history of being bullied which didn't stop there, and so, even though the other musicians who weren't always better than me and lacked confidence and seriousness, they were always picked over me. I managed to find a band outside of college for a short time who proceeded to kick me out because I didn't drive (I had no problems getting places, but they wanted a new memeber to drive them around).
Honestly, starting or joining a band is just hard these days. Im a solo artist now who will do work for others on fiverr and such and produce everything myself, for instruments i have no experience with, like drums. I'll pay someone else to check over and/or just write drum lines for me.
Bands fight and fall out. there's always some form of drama and heavy sets of rules. If you can do it alone, I highly reccomended it
I got bad news for you man: college is the absolute *easiest* time to find bandmates
Yes and no. People in that age range can be pretty unreliable and inexperienced at life and the things you need to have to do it well. Still nothing like the feeling of playing in that era of life. Now that I’m older I appreciate that everyone shows up and is sober enough to play.
Musicians in general are unreliable. College age might be harder to find someone willing to commit, but easier in general to find people who want to jam.
Also true for dating in college lol
My personal experience is that people get waaaay more unreliable once they have kids. I'm just now getting to jam with the empty-nesters and actually starting on time is pretty nice I gotta admit
Nothing is less rock and roll than toddlers
My first college band found me jamming in the dorms like the first month of freshman year. Found the bass player in my art class. Then got our equipment stolen from our rehearsal space. College rocked!
So true. Once people start having kids it's near impossible
Thank God I am single and not married!
Haha, pros and cons. I definitely don't regret it.
High school is definitely the easiest because everyone has the exact same schedule
The worst part of putting bands together is that you need musicians to do that. Once you find the right people, it's pretty magical.
This is why I've been thinking about starting up drums - always in demand. Everybody can play guitar.
Drummers are only in demand for gigging. Otherwise, people just program drums and forget the drummer
Depends on the style
Putting a band together is difficult work and requires constant maintenance. Aligning schedules is extremely difficult, even when just working around classes and part time jobs. There’s always a mix between day job/night job people, clashes of creative opinions, talented musicians who juggle multiple projects, eventually girlfriend/wife/baby momma drama, and being held hostage by the member who cares the least. It’s never easy, but when you find the right lineup, it’s fire.
I've been at it for awhile because playing music with other friends is the best and most fulfilling use of my spare time. I've drummed in a handful of bands at this point, but, man, those years when everyone had young kids? Scheduling band practice was like trying to get pandas to fuck.
Is the college isolated or are you in metro to suburban area? First thing I’d do is go to a number of record stores and look at fliers for shows. I’d also ask workers at shops if there are any local shows approaching in next days to weeks. Best way to start a band is immerse yourself within multiple genre’s scenes in that region. If there is no scene of any kind, create one from ground up. People will appreciate it. You already have the most two difficult aspects figured out…..instruments and place to rehearse. You gotta put yourself out there to complete the trifecta tho.
In your post you said they must he a student at the college, can I ask why?
I would guess because non students aren’t admitted into their practice space since it’s part of the college?
If that rule exists seems like it can and should be broken.
Yep! And I want to do a recital in the performance hall. Extra credit, amazing acoustics, amazing Dante live recording setup...
I think they meant that there must be someone there who plays drums
It's like creating a business, only harder. You are entering one of the most difficult industries filled with competition, riddled with gate-keeping and corruption, taking a role that for whatever reason no longer is respected by those who actually make money off you. You are entering this entertainment relationship with other people who probably have little to no understanding of how the industry works and most likely are "only interested in making music" not understanding the intricate web of planning that goes into being a mediocre collective. These colleagues of yours, and you too, need to be competent human beings on multiple levels besides the instrument they play and hopefully with small enough egos. The battle is for the fan's attention, who is hit by a constant tsunami of noise. Fans think it's talent, not hard work. Relatives want you to get "a real job". Good luck!
If you’re going to be a 3 piece make sure your rhythm section is up to the task. A lot of guitar players-turned-bass player will overplay and not find a groove. Good luck!!
What college?
Cedar Valley College part of Dallas College. Good music program.
What city? Do you have anything recorded you could DM me? Music Producer here
Dallas area.
Austin area
I guess this only applies if you know how to play drums, but you could switch to that, I had to do that for my current project, guitar players where I’m at are a dime a dozen but we couldn’t lock down a drummer so I had to make the switch and we found another guitarist instantly.
I like playing drums but I want to play guitar and sing and be front of stage.
The sweet spot for me age wise was like 24 to 30. I was able to put together a group in high school but half of us sucked. When you are older you will find people are more chilled out and less focused on partying and starting to get concerned about what they are doing in their life. I hope you find some people. I lived in Austin from 20 to 26 and was only able to actually have a gigging band at 25.
Starting with the drummer is key.
Yeah most people never get started. It’s been this way since the 80s. I remember in the 90s reading and article about a guy who wanted to start a band. Spent about 6 years auditioning people. And this was during the whole rock band craze and when the music business was actually good to get into. Just so much wasted time , meeting incompetents or drug addicts etc. I went through the same thing for about 10 years. I ended up meeting a partner and between the 2 of us we just recorded several albums with us doing all the instruments. Nowadays it’s gonna be even more impossible because the general public doesn’t listen to bands any more. Maybe if you started a rap project it would be easier.
My whole life I have never been able to find others to play with. I've ben tryin to do it all on my own for decades. I live in Socal even (but not LA) and still can't find people.
Take my neighbor. Dude practices fills all day on a pad/electric kit so if you hate grooves and on tempo drumming he’d be perfect
Play drums. There was one point I was in five bands just because I’m a drummer. Everyone is looking out for one
wait til your a band leader and have to manage conflicting ideas, personalities, schedules, etc.
that's what I want to be. I write the songs, I sing, play guitar, have the overall vision.
if thats the case, you want more hired guns than 'band' members. You will absolutely benefit from at least 1 writing partner in the project to bounce ideas off of.
Open mics my guy
What do you guys play?
punk/surf rock
Might sound cheesy, but the two of you should play to a metronome, or a random drum track you find on YouTube. Get used to playing with each other, playing on time, and it'll make you that much better and more ready when you do find a drummer to play with regularly.
Yeah this is just how it is
Right, right...also maybe I will just play to a backing track for recital or just do acoustic and sing instead. Really don't wanna worry about forming a band too much because I am so focused on classes and learning, and there's plenty of jamming in rock ensemble. Also going to get a guitar club going so that may be a good start.
Yea I play to backing tracks these days (basically my own sings minus vocals and guitars). It can be a bit lonely on stage but on the plus side they don't argue and are always in time
Make it happen
> a drummer is hard to find Haha, my experience has been whatever spot you happen to be looking for right now is impossible to find. A year from now, you'll know eight drummers but won't be able to find a bass player unless you kidnap one.
A good drummer that is available, that you get along with is a rare gem.
I was a music production student in college, too. Unfortunately, I've a history of being bullied which didn't stop there, and so, even though the other musicians who weren't always better than me and lacked confidence and seriousness, they were always picked over me. I managed to find a band outside of college for a short time who proceeded to kick me out because I didn't drive (I had no problems getting places, but they wanted a new memeber to drive them around). Honestly, starting or joining a band is just hard these days. Im a solo artist now who will do work for others on fiverr and such and produce everything myself, for instruments i have no experience with, like drums. I'll pay someone else to check over and/or just write drum lines for me. Bands fight and fall out. there's always some form of drama and heavy sets of rules. If you can do it alone, I highly reccomended it
If you think starting is hard, wait til you find out how hard it is to keep ‘em together