How old is too old to start a band?

Never! There’s a wonderful UK website called Rock ‘Til You Drop that features Musicians Ads on a page where you can be honest about your age, ambition and level of commitment. The last two seems to be far more important than the first one in forming and maintaining a band.

You can rock til you drop if your music has something to say and people want to hear it as the huge popularity of ageing stars proves week in and week out. If your lyrics speak to people and make them feel that they are understood, then even better! You have a moral obligation to form a band and start playing in public as soon as possible to lighten the load of the rest of us.

Plenty of Sites to Help You

Need inspiration? There’s plenty of interesting, honest and downright funny inspiration to be had on the net with a heap of tips and advice for the uninitiated on forming or joining a band. There are a zillion different articles covering everything from planning your rehearsals to deciding who makes the decisions, and nearly as many opinions on the Top 5 Things You Really Need to Know.

A common thread running under and through these if the need to work out right from the start why you want to be in a band because if bandmates have different expectations and motivations, conflict seems to be inevitable. Learning someone’s core motivation will also help you all spell out their ambitions and how far they’re prepared to go for the band – how many gigs, how much practise, and maybe in the end, how much travelling! Brandon Drury advises people not to compromise in their choice of band members because it will only spell trouble down the line.

While many of the musicians who have written their views in the links below spell out some of the downsides and how to manage them, they also readily admit being in a band can be one of the best experiences of your life.

Developing a band that is going to gig and or record music is going to take time – whole days and nights of your precious weekend that your partner is going to sometimes resent especially if you have a career day job. Not all band members’ inputs are going to be equal. People are going to bring different things to the table and it’s worth thinking about the things other muso’s have to say before you step out on a wonderful new adventure.