Yo Kimmy! MSHilarious and Innovations are giving you good advice. Here's some more. First, slow down! Worry less about putting together a band, and more about being the best singer you can be. First, join a choir. In fact, join two. One at church, and the other in school. They'll do different material. Take every music class available to you in school. Learn to read music. If you play keyboards, take piano lessons. Learn to play guitar.
Get a part time job, because musical instruments and PA equipment are damned expensive. You are simply going to need money, more than anybody is going to give you. As money becomes available, get a good stage piano, say
a Yamaha P60 or P90, a basic acoustic guitar, a cheap bass, a good basic electric guitar, say
a Fender standard Stratocaster, a small PA, and a good stage mic. Singing with mics is a whole different ball game, and you have to be very comfortable with using them.
I doubt you are old enough to hang out in bars, so check for coffee houses that have open mic nights. See if you can get to know some of the people who sing and play at them. When you are ready, get up and sing something yourself. Stop worrying about forming a band and worry about becoming a real musician. When you get good enough, bands will be looking for you, not the other way around.
Avoid people who claim they'll make you a star, and people who want to control everything you do. Generally, they only want to sleep with you, and they want to feel important, because they have no talent. This often includes the ones who call themselves producers. If someone claims to be a producer, ask them for a list of albums they have produced, look them up online, check the credits on the albums, and listen to their product. Most of them will fail this test, big time. People like to take advantage of people who want to be music stars. Nobody can take advantage of someone who just wants to be a musician, because they can't give you that. You'll have to do it yourself.
Find out who on this board lives close to you, and when you've read enough of what they wrote to believe that they are what they say they are, make friends with them, if you can. Knowing a recording engineer or a recording artist or two can't hurt. In the end, to get the kind of direction you need, you will need to trust some people. Just make sure you trust the *right* people.
Like I said, figure out how to make money. Money will put *you* in control. Own your own equipment, hire a vocal coach, or a guitar teacher, eventually a producer, who can help you to make the music in your head into CD's you can be proud of. Eventually, buy recording equipment, and learn to record. This will have several benefits. It will turn the musician you want to be into the recording artist you want to be. It means you will have a better idea what is going on in a recording studio, so you can keep some control over what your songs are going to sound like. People will respect you more if they think you know what you are doing, and will be more likely to work *with* you than try to control you.
Remember, it's not money that's the root of all evil, it's *the love* of money. It's just a means to an end. There are people here who will try to help you. There are a bunch who will make fun of you, because they are small, and you are an easy target. Making fun of you makes them feel bigger. There are a few people here who will actually try to hustle you (not many, but a few). I will actually try, when I can, to help you. Why? because I believe that the general male domination of the entire recording industry makes it lopsided. There are many great women recording artists, but the women's recording engineer's association could hold their national convention in a good sized convenience store.
You know what else? If somebody had helped me when I was 13 or so, maybe I wouldn't have had to wait until I was 50 to be a recording artist. They're right about one thing, though- This is homerecording.com, not learningtobeamusician.com, or Ineedaproducerbad.com, or Iwanttobesuperstarinsteadofworkingatmcdonalds.com.
Take this place for what you can get out of it, and what you might get out of it is someone who lives near you who would be willing to help you make a demo when you are ready. When you are ready to start with the recording end of it, a lot of people here will try to help you.-Best of luck with all you do.-Richie
. That will give you experience and also it will allow all the band members to see if they can handle the stress of performing in public. Even if it is just family members and neighbours the pressure will probably get to all of you. If you practiced enough though, you should be able to give a good show. It will also allow to experience the rush of playing music. If playing live doesn't give you the biggest rush/high you ever had (It's better then se><) you should quit now because that is what playing in a band is all about.
