Starting a successful indie band can be incredibly challenging for those who are new to the industry, and maintaining one remains a challenge even for established bands. There are different personalities to deal with, disagreements within the group, as well as the added challenges that come with trying to get the band known. While there is a lot that goes into ensuring an indie band becomes successful, there are a few things every band needs that can make the process easier. Below, we are going to look at the most important things an indie band needs to be successful.
A Unique Sound
One of the reasons why musicians get into an indie band is so that they can stand out from “corporate” bands who end up sounding the same over time. This is usually dictated by what the masses want to hear as well as what the sales executive tells them will sell well. For indie bands, you do not have these issues and so you can develop a unique sound that helps you stand out and that is not influenced by external factors.
Developing your band sound will happen over time, but band members and leaders can get an idea of what their eventual sound is going to be right at the beginning. They can do this by looking at their influences as well as what types of music they like listening to. They can also explore the types of audiences and fans they would like to garner and that can influence how the band writes and plays its songs.
Another great way to develop a harmonious sound is to play a few random and organic sessions together. Once you have everyone together, jam out for a few hours to see what comes organically to all of you. Once you do this, you will find what comes naturally to you as a band. This will make it a lot easier to write and play songs.
The most important thing, though, is to ensure your singer can sing the genre you choose as well as make your unique sound come to the fore when you record or perform.
Artist References
Artist references are incredibly useful when developing your band sound as discussed above. They are also useful when putting together the band’s look. To stand out, the band also needs to have a unique look and an artist reference comes in handy here. You can decide to follow the look and style of an artist or band the band likes. The good news is that there is no right or wrong way to go about this, and you can choose the artist or band that you are most comfortable with and that you identify with easily.
Dedicated Rehearsal Space
Before recording any music or getting on any stage to perform, it is important to ensure that everything sounds right and that everyone is prepared for the session. Band rehearsal spaces work really well for bands that want to rehearse and hear how they sound before they start recording or performing. Rehearsal rooms also allow indie bands to get creative by allowing them to experiment with different sounds, feels, and instrument combinations before settling on something that works.
Band rehearsal spaces such as those provided by Pirate.com come with all the instruments a band would need to practice as well as their own spaces. This is incredibly helpful for bands that may not have the resources to purchase full equipment sets but who still have great music to practice, record, and perform. For bands looking for rehearsal spaces, Pirate.com has band rehearsal spaces in the UK, Germany, the United States, and Ireland. They have spaces for bands that want to practice drum solos, with a backing band, and those that just want to fine-tune their performance.
Website
Because there is usually little to no backing for indie bands, they have to promote themselves. There are several ways to do this offline, but the best ways to do this online are having a website as well as a social media presence. Having a professional website made gives your fans a single source of information about the band. It is also a great way to showcase the different band members’ stories and tell people what the band and its members are all about.
For the website to serve its purpose, though, it needs to have a few things. The first one is your music samples. Having samples on your website is a great way to let fans hear your music. You can then make it easy to find full songs or even your album on other platforms like SoundCloud and Spotify. If you still sell physical music copies in the form of CDs, ensure you add details about where your fans can find your music.
Do not forget to add a few music video samples because they are as popular as ever and easy to share. You can use platforms like YouTube and embed the videos on your website. This way, fans who visit your website can see the videos and those on YouTube can still discover you.
Social Media Presence
Social media remains one of the best and most affordable ways to promote an indie band. Social media also gives you extra benefits such as being able to reach your fans directly, allowing your fans to reach you easily, making announcements for tour dates, album launches, and the like as well as posting links to your music videos.
Bands that want to take full advantage of social media should be consistent with their posting. In addition to posting valuable content that fans will like and share, maintaining a solid social media presence helps you gain new fans every time your post is shared.
While an indie band needs some obvious things like band members and the right equipment, there are many more they need to be successful. Many of these extras not only help them reach fans and gain new ones, but they can also be instrumental in helping bands improve their performances and become better over time.