Ask A Punk: More Cowbell… and Snare and Floor Tom and Hi-Hat.

Greetings. Here is a good question from a young reader.

Dear AAP — You never actually talk about punk rock, so here’s my question. What am I supposed to do about getting a band together? I play guitar and I’m sick of just sitting around and playing by myself. I put up ads at the music stores, I go to shows. I have some friends who play but no one seems to want to actually make a band. Or everyone wants to be the lead singer and no one wants to do anything else. What are you supposed to do? — D

Dear D:

If you just want to “be in a band” the quickest and easiest solution for you is the following: put down the guitar and learn to play the drums or the bass instead. The truth is, the world is full of half-assed guitarists (I know because I’m one of them) but there’ll never be enough drummers…or bass players. Look at every ‘Musicians Wanted’ posting at the wall of your local guitar store (right next to yours), they all say the same thing: “Guitarist seeks drummer and bass player” … I’m tellin’ ya — pick up the drums and you’ll instantly be in more bands than you can shake your drumsticks at… of course, you’ll have to endure a lifetime of ‘Drummer Jokes’, but hey, at least you’ll be gigging. Same thing with playing the bass… sure it’s a thankless job, but someone has to do it, and once you start telling people “I play bass” you’ll be shocked at how many new guitar-playing friends will be inviting you to bring yourself (and your bass) over to their garage to “jam and see what happens” … and who knows? You just might discover that you like holding down the low end… I remain convinced that guitar can be learned by anyone, but solid bass players are born, not made. Believe me, just because it’s got four strings instead of six, playing the bass is NOT easier than playing the guitar.

That’s the simple solution, but then again, maybe your guitar playing isn’t half-assed. Maybe you don’t just want to “be in a band,” you want to create YOUR band. Maybe you’re convinced you’re a songwriter with something to say. Maybe you can even sing on-key… How do you then latch on to those precious few drummers & bass players and get them to be in YOUR band? …Once again, the answer is simple: Write good songs. Write songs that give drummers and bass players a little room to make some decisions within them, and listen to their input… and when the drummer shows up at your garage, help carry his stuff in from the car. Drummers love that.

Meanwhile, start making yourself a solo singer-songwriter. Find a place to get some open-mic stage time to try out songs and be heard by other musicians. Mingle. Network. Of course, in this era of powerful (and cheap) music creation software, a guitar-playing lone wolf can still create full-blown songs without that pesky human element. Save up some money and get a semi-decent laptop and a microphone and you’re off to the races. That could be your first step toward attracting like-minded musicians to your music. DIY is just the start, you’ve also got to GOYA ( Get Off Your Ass.)