(For the purpose of this article I’m going to make a couple of assumptions before I go any further. They are that you have a little bit of vocal or musical instrument knowledge and that you additionally have a fledgling network of companions and contacts)
Starting up a band is a eminently interesting time in a artists life. There is a fine balance of nervous anticipation and the fear of the unknown that follows the whole process.
A band has a diverse dynamic than working as a solo artist. There are other people involved, other personalities, other strengths and weaknesses in character and abilities and because of this it’s really vital that you have several things worked out before you start looking for band members.
1. Have a nice idea of your own strengths and weaknesses
The performer members that you want to get will need to be around the same level of competence as you are. The main reason for this is that you may all grow together rather than have one or two performers carrying anyone else. This kind of player imbalance causes doubt in the group and doubt is one of the major killers of bands.
2. Know beforehand how the performer is going to be run
Is the band going to be run by you or the whole group? The personal ity types of the musicians that you select will need to be agreeable to the way the band is going to be run.
3. What instrumentation is the band having in its lineup?
This is mainly determined by the type(s) of music that you want to play but having an idea of what artists you are looking for will be of excellent stimulate.
It’s now time to hunt down some performer members 
4. Ask your network of companions and/or contacts
This is always a wonderful place to start. Ask everybody that you know or come into contact with. If you don’t have much of a circle of friends and/or contacts this will be a great chance to wide n it. This is one of the reasons why networking in the industry is so vital, for chances such as this.
Having a artist referred to you has a much better chance of working than one that comes from an advertisement. This leads me onto my next point.
5. Post an advertisement
Having said that I’ve had made some excellent contacts from musicians enquiring from a ‘muso wanted’ ad. The key to effective ads is that they need to be concise, to the point, not too lengthy and put in places where musicians are considerably prefer ly to see it and read it prefer in a music shop, a Regional music magazine or a music classifieds website.
A sample ‘ performer wanted’ advertisement can read something like this:
BASS PLAYER WANTED
To join folk/rock band
Influences include
Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Counting Crows
Some experience prefer red
Own gear and transport essential
Interested?? Give me a call
Corey – (put home and/or cell telephone number here)
As you could see, the ad is apparent in its intention.
It apparent ly states the performer wanted, the type of music the performer is playing, what the music may sound prefer and that the performer has some experience behind it. Make sure you have a apparent contact name and phone numbers (if you want to include an email address as well that’s cool).
Don’t put in stuff prefer ‘work waiting’ or ‘no time has been ters please’. You may judge those sort of things yourself when an interested musician contacts you.
Once you have done that the waiting game begins.
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