Jarrod Tutbury is a 20-something musician who has been managing and playing in a band for three years. He started where many young up-and-comings begin: busking on the streets and building up an audience the grassroots way. Now he’s scoring major gigs, such as Caloundra Music Festival, and is a pro at writing government grants. His band Ampersand releases their debut single at Solbar on Sunday. Jarrod shares his tips on starting a band.

Bands. We love watching them and many of us have always wanted to be in one.

The Sunshine Coast region has a burgeoning population of emerging musical acts, with youthful fast dreams and monetary goals aplenty.

With world-class academies such as Eumundi School of Music, Vanderaa Music School and Debby Parson’s Circle of Sound Entertainment, there is an exceptional pool of talent here.

And Noosa’s Hastings Street Association has a top-notch busking program which encourages young artists to take to their skills streets, giving them an instant community and audience.

So, how do we start the journey?

Step 1: Finding your people

You might meet them at school, online, or at an open mic. 

The most important thing, above everything else, when finding potential band members, is building the bridges of friendship.

This friendship should be founded on the mutual love of music. However, it that positive rapport needs to be clearly established from the beginning, and a great relationship between band members is far more important than the music.

When the teamwork comes naturally, everyone is contributing their best efforts. If the band works as a team and are loyal to each other, the music will instantly be better.

A band that has a great friendship is also far more engaging to audiences, as they pick up on the joy and fun that you’re having. 

So remember, the bond comes before the music, talent, gigs, money, song choice and creative direction. Trust your gut, and if there is any conflict, tension, toxicity, it’s sadly just never going to work.

Step 2: Expectations

Make sure you’re on the same wave length. This will be important moving forward as a team, and in mapping out your goals.

How many times per week are you willing to give up? Which Sunshine Coast festivals and live music venues do you dream about playing at?

Start small and gradually build the commitment as you earn more gigs, and hopefully more money.

Step 3: Finding your sound

Flexibility is the key here.

Never approach building a band with a hard and unshakable image of what sound you want to create, as you will always be disappointed. 

It doesn’t matter if you primarily play jazz and your drummer plays rock, the fact that you’ve built a team bond will mean that you will be able to create your own new sound. 

To find your sound, practice the art of “jamming”.

Find songs that everyone likes and jam them together freely. Let every individual band member’s distinct style and influence flow freely.

Within a few rehearsal sessions this will begin to coalesce into a unique fusion of genres and techniques. Try to avoid limiting yourselves to specific genres at this stage and be willing to try any song that a band member suggests and try to make it your own. The key is to try everything, and a lot of it. 

Before long, the team will be able to anticipate each other musically and begin to form your own non-verbal communication methods. 

Step 4: Decision-making and task division

Managing the different ideas and opinions of a diverse group can be challenging. 

One person may want to focus on covers, another on originals, while the other wants to do festival gigs. 

A band should work as a democracy, with a de-facto manager/leader as the “House Speaker”, and every band member having equal decision-making power. Every decision should be put to a vote and gain clear consent from the entire team before being actioned. The art of compromise is invaluable. 

Responsibilities should be divided equally as well, besides your individual instruments, songwriting and stage roles, each band member should be filling the roles of manager, booking agent, marketing manager, social media manager, treasurer, and researcher. 

For a young independent band starting out, having a manager/leader who actually isn’t a band member is a risky situation as a band should be 100 per cent responsible for their own plans, direction and decisions.

Managing yourself is how you learn your most valuable lessons in teamwork and the music industry, and then you actually understand how everything works. 

Step 5: Avoiding competition

The Sunshine Coast music industry is a self-contradictory beast. 

Everyone justifiably describes it as immensely competitive, and for good reason, as we are home the highest density of working musicians per capita in Australia.  

However, falling prey to the easy trap of treating the industry as competitive and attempting to compete with other artists is the most sure fire way to handicap your growth. 

You’ve already built your team, found your sound and are the best at what YOU do, and tomorrow you will be even better as you learn and grow. 

Choosing artists for a gig is the venue or booking agent’s responsibility, not the other artists. Everyone is going to apply for the same finite number of gigs. 

Showing animosity or resentment for those that the venues choose to hire will quickly sour both the musos and the bookers towards you. The industry is large, but word spreads quickly. Therefore, the best strategy is to be-friend everyone. Talk to other musos, support them at their gigs, support the venues and the good karma will come back around. 

It’s your job to work out the best way to appeal to the people hiring you, and learn the best way to communicate with them. It also helps to find your niche of gigs that you specialise in.

Check out Jarrod’s band Ampersand here: https://www.ampersandbandnoosa.com.