How to set up a function band

Function bands are one of the most fun and entertaining ways of earning your money.
If you love music and especially love performing, a function band can be an experience that you will never forget, but only if you take it seriously and work hard. If you have the talent and the conviction, there is no reason why you cannot make a success of your band.

Forming your Band:

It’s not just the singer who needs to impress. Obviously, the lead vocalist is extremely important, but musicality is everything. You need to form a band made of musicians who really know their stuff, and unless you already have a group of friends who you want to work with, the best way to find musicians is to hold auditions.
Sounding great is vital, but it will be hard to achieve unless the band really work well together. This means finding band members who all get along. You are much more likely to perform well and stay together if you all get on well, so make sure you look for more than just great musicians when auditioning. Look for something more, a connection or great personality.

Rehearsing:

Once you have decided on your sound and the band members have been introduced, you have to get serious about rehearsing. Set aside a day or two during the week when you can all get together, and make sure everyone is on board. Unless you are free full time, then practice as if it was a normal day job. Practice makes perfect and perfection will get you those top clients. It isn't easy though, it takes a lot of commitment to get together week after week to perfect your sound, and if some members of the band are not as serious as you are then it will quickly become noticeable that you may need to do something about it.
100% commitment from all members is crucial.

Demo:

After you have perfected a repertoire of music, choose 3-5 songs that you feel are the best to showcase your band. Investing money into a high professional recording may sound daunting at the time but I guarantee that this money will soon accumulate and return if the quality is right.

Find Gigs:

Once you feel you are ready to perform and make some money, push your name out there as much as you can.
Create many social networking pages to broaden your audience.
There is no way you can get booked up pushing your own gigs when you start up, so seek an agent or sign up to websites such as Singers Pro to find work.
Or simply just go sole to an agent that will do the running work for you, and simply just tell you to turn up and play!

Attitude:

This is absolutely vital to any part of performing for any client.
The more professional you are, the higher the chances are of you receiving more work.
To be successful, don’t forget the little things. Turn up on time, carry out a sound check, prepare properly, be courteous and make sure everyone has a fantastic time. Remember that you are going to be a big part of the occasion. If you sound bad, or you are unprofessional or unfriendly, your chances of getting recommendations are slim.

Reinvestment:

Finally, once you have regular gigs in the diary, always reinvest.
Buy better equipment, instruments, costumes.
Make sure you are one step ahead of other function bands and you will never have a problem being a full time band.

Get forming your own band, its a whole lot of fun!