Just got finished watching a great documentary called Heavy Metal In Baghdad which focuses in on a band from Iraq called Arassicauda (which translates to “black scorpion”); the movie follows their trials and tribulations – how difficult it is to exist as a band, let alone as a human, in the conditions common Iraqi people endure. It puts into perspective how easy it can be for those of us involved in the music industry and playing in bands: that at the end of the day, it’s the music that keeps us involved. Even with the most harrowing times in our own personal lives, we still continue to do (most of the time) stupid things when it comes to our dedication to the music.

Now most can develop the idea and easily say that due to the instant access age of the online world that it is very easy to be in a band these days – so many barriers are knocked down due to previous generations’ hard work and sweat equity. The notion that being in a band is somehow still “edgy” is really a thing of the past, as probably within a 5 mile radius of you are 10-15 kids/adults playing in bands; especially with the increasing popularity of video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero. Putting that aside, being in a band is easy these days. You put up a MySpace page, record a few demos and wait for the kids to come in and throw their allowance at your feet through your Big Cartel merch store.

Well, reality check kiddies. Being in a band sucks just as much as it did five years ago. The flipside of bands becoming instantly popular is how they capture the attention of people for prolonged periods of time (beyond one record or demo for that matter). Not to mention the sheer number of bands chokes fans’ ability to weed through and find quality bands. There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors these days.

So keep this thought in mind before you start a band, and be completely honest with yourself: are you into it for the music? The purest of intentions can obviously be corrupted very quickly but at the root of all creativity is the desire to keep at it through adversity. You can see this in the number of artists still toiling and crafting music long after they fall out of the proverbial spotlight. I think most of us would rather burn out gracefully than being gone in a flash. Keep it simple and play for yourself