r/bandmembers

For real ?!?! I’ve posted in numerous classified, Bandmix, Craigslist, attend gigs, and crazy how drummers are so difficult to locate. Sadly in my area there’s not a lot of open mics to attend.

Suggestions ? We already play to drum tracks our other guitarist programs. And, while we could realistically play live with them to tide us over, I personally prefer the swing and flow of a human drummer. 🤷‍♀️

so, my lifelong dream is to start a band and make music. only problem is, idk what genre. I love so many genres and feel inspired by so many genres and musicians that I can’t decide. do I wanna make heavy metal/metalcore? weezer-inspired power pop? synthy alt rock? funk rock? Pop punk? Trip hop? Idk what to decide!

I have a name down, I have what instrument I’d wanna be on (guitar, once I get one), But it’s kinda hard to start writing music with no guitar, for one, and no genre idea in mind.

Currently having any issue in my band about my bassist not being a part of our songwriting process

I'm in a punk/hardcore band that's existed for almost a year now with a demo and an EP out. Well, I (drums) want our band to be punk, but my bandmates (guitarist, bassist, vocalist) are hardcore kids. But that's besides the point.

Usually at practice our bassist will just drop out when the guitarist and I sync up. The guitarist and I have good synergy together and can "just play," but this is something our bassist seems to not have.

I am also concerned that she never brings riffs to the band, and individually practices somewhat rarely. They get upset when our guitarist writes the basslines for them, but doesn't take an active role in trying to make them on their own to avoid this. I also don't think that the two of us have gone to the practice space together and jammed just bass and drums. I am not sure if they even could.

What are some ways I can approach this conversation with them/the band?

What’s up yall,

I play a telecaster in a country rock band. I’m getting an epiphone ES335 today. Obviously I still gotta get the feel for this guitar before I start gigging with it and figure out which songs it would sound best on, but I’m curious for guitarists that are switching guitars on stage, are you just using the exact same pedalboard settings for both guitars? Or are you adjusting on the fly? Or do you have a second amp for the second guitar? What works for you?

I’m currently in a band with three other guys. We are all near 40 yrs old and haven’t been in bands since our college years. One of my long-time friends who is also the central point of this post invited me to come jam with him and another guy about 6 months ago. We hit it off really well, invited a fourth guy to come play bass, and thus our band was formed. We mainly do small, local stuff.

The issue I am having is that the friend has decided he makes all the decisions for our band, without consideration of others’ wants. He chose our band name and because he likes it, he thinks everyone should like it too. There was no vote or discussion, he just started advertising us under that name. I hate the name, personally, but that isn’t the biggest issue.

He also decides what we play. He chooses songs that spotlight his instrument (acoustic guitar) and refuses to play any other style of music, despite me being mainly a Blues drummer with some interest in hard rock. Our lead guitarist and bassist also like Blues, Rock and Metal.

We have had numerous discussions about the types of music we play and we’ve all put in suggestions for covers we should play, but the acoustic guy refuses to play anything we want. The three of us also want to do more originals than covers, but the acoustic guy says “the people” don’t want to hear originals. He says our audience only wants covers because that’s what he would want to hear when he goes to local bars to listen to small bands.

So, the core issue is that this one member chose our band name, he chose our logo, he chooses the songs we play and won’t consider playing anything else, and he absolutely refuses to play originals, even though myself, the lead and the bassist have come up with a few good songs.

Any tips on how to contend with this? I’ve vocalized my frustration multiple times but the acoustic guy is flat out ignoring what I have to say or what anyone else wants from this, essentially stating that we must do it his way because he knows what’s best. I’m at the point of quitting the band, but wondered if anyone had any better advice?

im in the early stages of starting a band and im having alot of trouble with singing infront of others, i feel like this is a problem that happens with alot of vocalists so i would like some advice, this is something ive always wanted to do but never really tried to achieve it until now

I hopefully this is ok to post, I just created this group and thought it might be a really good place to for women specifically to ask questions and get help with music related questions.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Womeninmusicreloaded/

I know there's a bunch of similar general groups and its still worth asking here but maybe cool to have some kind of space specifically for women to post which isn't just who's your fav female bassist? :)

(NOT A PROMO PLS DONT DELETE MY POST)

so my band and i are unfortunately still teens and we dont go to the same school so we have nowhere to rehearse. we would go to each others houses but our drummer has pissy neighbours and we can't expect her to carry a full drum kit around.

we all met in an music group outside school but we see a future as a band and would like to do it as adults when were too old for the group. id really appreciate anything that aids in how to play music outside school hours.

any advice is appreciated!

I'm a late in life bandmember. I joined an established band a few years ago but due to a chronically unavailable lead vocalist we'd only performed twice before this past week. With our new vocalist we performed on Friday and we have a half dozen shows lined up this year.

So, all good. Except my more experienced bandmates forget that I don't know anything about performing, soundchecks, etc.

I managed to make enemies of our opening act by not moving my equipment off the stage prior to their soundcheck. I didn't know!

EDIT: by “my equipment” I meant a bass on a stand and a tiny pedal board. Opener was backlining my amp. Which they insisted on moving anyway.

So this is a plea to the experienced people out there: help us newbies with the basics. Remember that we don't know anything, and the pre-show nerves make us stupid when it comes to this stuff.

I was in a band back in the 2000s. Most of our money came from gigs, and selling CDs at the merch table after shows. I remember once making like $200 on a Friday night and feeling like a millionaire.

Now in 2026, things look totally different — Spotify, Patreon, Bandcamp, YouTube. Curious how it actually works for bands now: where does the money actually come from? Is it still mostly gigs and merch, or has the mix shifted?

I’ve always been curious about starting/joining a completely remote and online band. I wonder if it’s possible to remain successful solely through streaming plays, online merch and social media. I always wondered if bands really made any decent money touring considering all the costs involved and always thought most of their money came from merch sales or like meet and greets. Thoughts?

edit : solved, i already knew, but i guess i needed some other's opinions. it's a waste of time, she's not gonna change

I play guitar and met a drummer. She found a bass player and singer and some time ago we played together for a couple of months. All covers except for some jamming. The bass player was moving and we gave a little gig before he left and it was quite awesome actually!

Then stuff happened and we only met to play 2 or 3 times in more than a year's time.

One key part is that the drummer is incredibly self-centered, pushy and borderline delusional about where the band is going. It required the whole group, but we managed to keep her in check. Without the bass player it got quite difficult.

We kinda like the same music, but when choosing songs it's like there's no overlap. I'll say a band and she'll choose the one song I hate. Anything I propose seems to be boring or lacking "energy", anything energetic I propose she just doesn't like.

She found a new bass player and we met up again and it's more of the same shit.

But then, when we do agree to a song and play, I find we do groove together pretty well! I really enjoy jamming and when we lock in it can be sooo satisfying.

And then when I try and solidify our jams as a song or a 2min piece for inbetween songs or even a new part in a cover or something she shuts it right down. Like, it was fun to do once, let's keep it there, never to do it again and remain a shitty coverband.

Cut her out of my life or try and make it work?

I’m 18 and currently in a band with people around my age.
We play mostly catchy 50s/60s inspired guitar music and also want to do more originals eventually.
The problem is our drummer.
She’s extremely quiet and socially very difficult to connect with. Rehearsals often feel awkward because conversations just kind of die around her and nobody really knows how to interact naturally with her.
She also only started playing drums because of our leader (They used to be in a relationship, but not anymore.).
Musically, she can keep simple slower songs together, but once we try faster or more energetic material, things start falling apart.

The tempo becomes unstable and fills are avoided completely.
Our bassist (the brother of our leader) is frustrated too.

The difficult part is that she’s deeply connected to our singer’s social life, so replacing her would probably create massive tension and possibly destroy the band entirely.

What makes this even harder is that there honestly isn’t much of a youth band scene where I live.
I recently went to a local school band event and realized how badly I want to be in a band where the chemistry, energy and ambition really fit — but there just aren’t many people around my age who are into this kind of music. Most young musicians I meet are either metal-focused or not really serious about bands at all.
So now I feel kind of trapped.

I don’t want to be cruel and I know she’s trying
but I also feel creatively held back and frustrated

Have any of you been in a situation like this?
How do you know when somebody simply needs time to improve versus when the chemistry of the band just fundamentally doesn’t work?

self explanatory but in short, a band member has consistently been hit or miss throughout the time as a band. we can do shows without them because we started without them (they play an extra instrument for depth) but I’m at the point where I want to know what to expect out of a set and make sure everyone who’s showing up consistently is treated equally. do I just let it go and the shows they can’t do we just do without them and then pivot to plan for shows they can do? or do I go with the path of consistency?

I'm already heading an original project and was messaged on Bandmix about being invited to audition for a Heart tribute band.

I am aware those are "gravy" gigs for the most part. I was given the set list and their travel rider (they only tour within Florida currently).

What other questions should I ask? Contract involved? 1099 situation? Average rate for each member?

Anything else I should take into consideration? This is new territory considering I mainly play originals. Yes, they did hear samples of my music and videos before contacting me.

Did you start in a van and level up to a bus? What metrics did you use, financial or otherwise, to know you needed to level up to a bus?

i play the guitar and i do vocals too

we will be playing boys dont cry to be exact