We’ve all heard of, or been a part of the stereotypical garage band. Your first band can be a huge step for you as a musician. Its your first chance to actually play with other musicians and become a performer. For me, my first band was a huge step for my advancement in music and performing, here’s my story.
The twinkle in my eye began my sophomore year in high school. I had been playing guitar for three years now and of course, like most early musicians, I thought I was awesome. I played in the jazz band, where I met my soon-to-be best friend, Erik. Erik played guitar as well and we immediately clicked and started to spend hours jamming and playing guitar together. We quickly realized two guitars alone couldn’t make a band, we needed a drummer. Luckily for us, Erik was friends with a great drummer, Brian. The three of us had a blast. Soon after, we acquired a fourth member, Omeed, and at the time he played guitar as well(first mistake). I’m sure to others it sounded like complete crap, especially in the beginning, but to us it was magic. 
Our first “show” was actually Brian’s drum recital, and in front of an audience of about 10, we rocked out to “Afterlife” by Avenged Sevenfold which we had practiced for months. After this we realized we could write our own songs and actually book shows. We learned a lot from the first show. We needed bass and we needed a singer. Thus began singing tryouts. Omeed, Brian and Erik were not very good singers, and honestly, neither was I, but I was chosen to be the singer for the band. Needless to say, I had a lot of work to do because I knew nothing about singing. 
We began writing songs and this was one of the most beneficial parts for me. We learned how to put songs together and what works and doesn’t work. There was a lot of frustration and a lot of bad songs. Finally we played our first show and completely sucked, in front of all of our family and friends. This was a very eye-opening experience, and from there we only got better. We realized we needed to actually practice stage presence and practice our instruments.
By the end of high school, we had played more than ten shows and written more than ten songs, we actually got pretty damn good! I learned so many valuable things from the whole experience and I gained a lot as a musician and a performer. I learned the basics of writing a song and the value of PRACTICING. I’d love to hear your “first band stories” so comment below! Don’t forget to check out my store while you’re down there ;)
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