As noted in the previous blog posting
(September 8, 2012), there will inevitably be turnover in a band. As you can imagine, the reasons are
numerous. Here are a few that you may
encounter:
1.
The band is not successful, members
begin to leave
2.
A member of the band is not at the
right performance level and needs to be replaced
3.
Lack of commitment; late or absent from
rehearsals and gigs
4.
Creative differences
5.
People leave for other bands or to
pursue solo careers
If you are a band member who is
struggling with whether you should stay with a band, take a look at this article
to help with that decision. As with most
things in life, be sure to think through the pros and cons, and don’t make
these types of decisions when angry or highly emotional.
On the other hand, you may be managing a
band
that needs to replace a member.
Knowing what to look for may reduce turnover in the future. Your role is to help make sure this person is
a good fit. The candidate should
audition for the band, and you should assist in the interview process. Ask questions about their background,
aspirations, availability, talents, etc.
You can also ask more targeted questions such as, “give an example of a
difficult situation you encountered and how you handled it”. It may be beneficial to use targeted
selection interviewing in order to determine past behaviors, which can be predictors
of future behavior.
The band I manage, Three Story Hill,
recently added two new members. The
first addition was a new drummer to replace one that was not performing well
(see #2 above). The other new member is
a vocalist. We hope these changes will
make a difference in the musical quality of the band as they prepare to record
some tracks for an EP. This EP will
become an integral element of their press kit, along with video footage, a band
biography and photos. This will be a
great marketing tool to introduce the band to venues. In a future posting I will chronicle our
efforts to complete this endeavor.
2 comments:
This is a great post. It was informative and straight to the point. I really love the link to the article "Should I Quit The Band." I highly recommend that article to anyone who manages, or plans to join, a band. My only recommendation is a link to your band's (Three Story Hill) website, music, or sound cloud page. It would be awesome for individuals, and fans, like myself to go and check out their music. Other than that, great post!!!!!
Excellent points! One of the best pieces of advice you give is to not make the decision to stay or go as a band member during times of emotional turmoil and stress. I would like to add to this to not let differences get out of hand between band members, especially when under pressure. Things can be said in ways that under normal circumstances wouldn't be approached or handled as in an "argument" type dynamic. While they may recover once or twice from these types of blow-ups, the damage will have still been done.
From the management standpoint, you make great suggestions about being involved with new band member selection. To add to that, as a manager, it is good to always keep your ear to the ground, scouting for possible replacements before anything happens. Try to build your own network of "go-to" artists in every genre, this will help you be a better manager overall, as your ability to "roll with the punches" increases, you can cover a member loss without loosing gigs or studio bookings, and keep the money rolling.
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