How do I start a band and how do I find musicians?

How do I start a band? This is a question many musicians ask themselves. It might look easy—well, at least at first glance. Most of the time the first place to go is always your own circle of friends or your friends' friends. If music is one of your hobbies or if you are a professional musician, you are usually already surrounded by like-minded people who share your passion. If this is the case, bands often arise from an association of musicians with the same interests and similar preferences. This, however, does not necessarily only have to be related to listening to the same music. It can be shared experiences through events or stories that bring musicians together, or spontaneous events, like meeting at a party. Bands like this, where a close connection and friendship develops, are the most successful bands in our eyes—especially if this association lasts for many years.

But how exactly do I find musicians and start a band?

Above all, how do you find suitable musicians if they don't yet exist in your circle of friends? Facebook groups like "Musicians in your city" or "Musicians wanted" haven't yielded good results for a long time now, and unfortunately you don't learn much about the person without sending a friend request first. And what about just doing internet searches? Well, you've probably tried that by now. Don't give up hope. We at mukken.com have dedicated ourselves to these tasks. And as with any successful idea, this one was born out of our own needs. So, if you haven't found a suitable musician for your band yet or if you couldn't find a suitable band for yourself, we can reassure you—you're not alone. Most likely chance just hasn't brought you together yet. But why wait for chance? Just take a look at our platform and start a search in your city. Maybe there is already a like-minded person waiting to be found by you. We bring musicians together and try to support you in your search.

What really matters when starting a band?

Remember that a band can become a family. In many cases, bands even spend more time among themselves than with their actual family. This is only possible if the groups harmonise and close friendships develop. Therefore, when founding a band, this aspect should definitely be in the foreground. You certainly don't want to spend many hours of your life together in a confined space with a person with whom you don't actually feel connected at all just because this person is perhaps an exceptionally talented guitarist. This will not work in the long run. Good music is always based on feeling and generally much more on gut feeling than on reason or logical connections that arise in the head. And especially when several musicians come together, there has to be a common vibe, a flow, a vibration, a common feeling - some say it just has to "groove". 😉

And what if I don't find any suitable musicians?

Have you ever thought that these musicians may not have shown themselves to be such yet, or may not even know it themselves yet? Look at the biography of Coldplay. The drummer Will Champion only took on the role of drummer at that time because it was the only free and meaningful position for him, and he didn't really know how to play the instrument yet. So don't give up hope, look for like-minded people and remember: it's never too late to learn an instrument!

Here is a summary of our most important tips for founding a band:

• Search for togetherness, friendship and harmony – not just for skill
• Define clear goals together as a group 
• Always remember: music is passion, and that's its purpose
• Put commercial goals in the background for now
• Practice together as a band as often as possible and meet regularly
• Don't let it fail just because of the distance
• As soon as it goes in a commercial direction, make sure to organize legally with contracts
• Get out when it no longer makes you happy
• What is not happening now can still become true tomorrow! 

If you've made it this far, thanks for reading! And if you are also looking for suitable musicians or a band in your area, have a look at our mukken Musician Portal.