Hi, Levan here from Ronin. Read a little bit of the thread. I'm speaking independently, not on behalf of the band or anything, but will share my 2 cents worth with you and hopefully it helps. I'm not sure it will but here goes.
I guess a band should always be greater than the sum of its parts. You don't need the greatest fastest double pedalist drummer, or the guy with the quickest fingers, etc, to be in the greatest band. A band like U2, for example, who have been together for more than 20 years without a single change of member, are one of the few bands in the world to sellout stadiums across the world in every continent there is to play in. They aren't the most fantastic players individually, but when you put the four of them together as a unit, there is heart and soul to the music. Simply because these fellas have felt what it means to struggle, to experience the highs and lows together, to rebel, to bleed for their passion, and to overcome all these things together. When you go through that much together as a band, you stay committed, you stay focused and most importantly, you go beyond striving for your own personal achievements and see the bigger picture at hand; that music can and will change and inspire the world, even if its in little increments at a time.
Another thing about being in a band (And this is just my personal opinion) is compromise. Just like if you were to live with your family for too long, or share the same bedroom with a room mate for years, compromise is the key to survival and living with ease. If you can mutually exist with each other, admire the other person for his faults and his strengths, as well as accept that you have your own virtues and vices as well (that others will have to tolerate equally), then you'll find it easier to focus on the goal at hand; which is to be in a band that makes a difference to the people around you. It's very easy to see how another person is f*cked up, but it's harder to see how they actually help make the band a better one.
It'd be cool to make smart and well-thought out risks for what you believe in. In many ways, a band is like being a business entrepreneur. If you believe in what you are trying to achieve with the band, you have to invest time, effort, thought, money (and a lot of it), commitment, and passion into what you are doing. And that each member understands what they are undertaking. I think it's better to form a band with friends of mediocre musical skills and improve from there, than being in a band of talented musicians who might have too much personal ambition to keep their eye on the big prize of the band's collective success.
And many people might disagree with this, and this is just blabbering on my part really, but the most self destructive thing there is to do if you're in a band is to allow for too much outside influence (though some of it is ok!). Everybody will have their own opinion of what you should or shouldn't do, what you should or shouldn't be all about, but ultimately, it's the members who decide where when how what they are trying to achieve. Be it a great cover band, a kick ass original band, or just a band that jams in a studio because they enjoy it. As long as everybody in the band itself is on the same wavelength on what they hope to achieve as a band, there'll be people in the world who will love (and hate) you for what you are doing
NIL SINE LABOREEEE!!! Nothing Without Labour
just my two cents worth.
levan
