(Akiit.com) If you have a few friends and you are all wondering what to do next with your lives, there are a thousand options to go for. One which might be particularly entertaining however is to start your own band, as this is something that can be equally fun and possibly even turn into a career if you are lucky. But starting your own band takes times, patience and a little skill, and it is worth knowing fully beforehand what it is that you need to do to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. In this article, we are going to look at some of the major first steps you will need to take in order to begin your forays into the world of music-making. As long as you bear the following in mind, you should get a lot more out of it, and you’ll find it is enormously more enjoyable as well.
Finding The Right People
Probably the most important thing of all is that you have the right people around you with whom you can start the band, as if you don’t then it will likely mean that it doesn’t stand the test of time. It is hard to choose these people, as there needs to be a certain mix of qualities which you need to have in order to get it right. What’s 
more, it is often hard to tell whether or not you have actually got the right group together until much further down the line, so it is always a little bit of a guessing game. Nonetheless, there are a few things in particular to watch out for when you start to assemble the people you think you might want in your band.
First of all, you need to make sure that you actually get on with those people, and that you enjoy spending time with them, because being in a band together means that you are going to be spending a lot of time together indeed. If there are any major personality clashes, it is likely that they will become something of a problem further down the line, so it’s best to address those issues now, which might mean not even including someone in the band to begin with. Secondly, you also want to make sure that you are all into the same kind of music, and that you are happy to play it together. You’ll also need to think about who is playing what instrument, and ensure that there are no hard feelings about those choices. As long as you can find the right group of people and put them together, you have already done most of what you need to do to ensure that your band starts off right. However, there is still going to be plenty more to consider regardless.
Deciding On A Genre
There is no rule that says that you absolutely have to play one genre, of course, but you can achieve much more if you do decide on a genre, as it tends to have a way of drawing you all together. It gives you a focus, and that focus is often what makes the difference between an unsuccessful band and a successful one. If you are finding it hard to narrow down on one genre, then you might want to just start jamming together and see what happens. You will soon find that there is a particular groove which you get into which you can then work on, and this might lead you to a specific genre or set of genres. In either case, it’s something that is worth considering if you want to start your own band off right.
Choosing Your Name
Although you can start practising and playing together without a name, you will soon enough find that it is important to be able to call yourself something or other, especially when you start to talk to people about it. Having a name is actually very important, as people will be able to tell form that name what kind of band you are, what kind of music you are likely to play, and what they can expect. If you do ever start performing, you will find that the name makes a huge difference to whether or not you actually sell tickets in the first place, so it’s a good idea to make sure that you are putting as much thought into it as possible.
If you are finding it difficult you can always instead use a band name generator like Indiesound, which can do the hard work for you. Make sure that you and your bandmates are happy with the results before settling on one, and then you will walk away with a name you can be genuinely proud of. Choosing your name is going to really make an enormous difference to the band’s future, so make sure you do so carefully.
Practice Well
The success of a band is built entirely in the way that it practices as a group, and this is something which you need to think about if you are to make sure that your band does well in the future. You needs to make sure that you are practising regularly, routinely, and well together, as otherwise you are only going to be in trouble. The most important thing is that you are enjoying it, and that you are practising regularly.
As long as you are doing that, it will mean that you can expect to continue to see improvements no matter what, so it’s something that you should bear in mind. The more you practice, the better you i’ll be, and the sooner you will be able to start performing to people. That is the true sign of when you have become a genuine band, and it i probably what you will be working towards to start with at least. Practice well, and you might well find that you are performing before you even know it.
Staff Writer; John Ford