Finding a band member or collaborator is always crucial, and often a struggle.  I’ve been in the game on and off for many years, and I’ve developed my own best practice.  As I have a singer search going on right now, today I’d like to share how I’m going about it.

Start with the End in Mind

As with all other goals, I believe finding the right collaborator starts with a clear picture of who it is that I want to work with.   I draw up a list of must-haves and nice-to-haves.  In the process of making the list, I often make a number of discoveries — qualities that I originally thought were must-haves sometimes end up being nice-to-have, and vice versa.  It’s a useful exercise in figuring out which qualities are the ones most critical, where you just can’t have someone even when all else feels right if the must-haves aren’t there.

Spelling It Out Achieve Two Purposes

Once I figure out who it is that I want, then I put together a pretty comprehensive description of my project and what I’m looking for.  This serves two purposes:

1. By spelling out everything, the prospective band member can approach me knowing everything there is to know about my project.  They come into the picture with the right expectations.
2. It serves as an excellent screening process.  Unless s/he is really interested, they won’t make it through 4-page document to fill out the contact form at the end.  I don’t want my inbox bombarded with not-so-close candidates.  Also, you can tell from their e-mail if they read everything or not — a good indication of how they pay attention and follow directions.

One Central Description

Because I am a web developer, setting up special web pages with the descriptions is easy.  Having one central description also makes it effortless to get the word out in multiple places, as all each ad needs to do is to point to your dedicated web page.

E-Mail Conversation

The first e-mail from a prospective collaborator is a great indicator of whether that person is a good match or not.  E-mails reveal a lot about the person writing it, as people often write them in a similar style to how they orally communicate.  Passionate people often write longer messages explaining how they’re excited about the project — but then, brief initial message is not necessarily a bad indication, either, as some people choose not to write any lengthy messages initially, saving that for the time when the other side actually responds.

It usually doesn’t take many e-mails to reveal any fundamental incompatibilities.

Phoning Logistics

If someone really sounds promising even after a few e-mail exchanges, then I proceed to calling the person.  If I’m getting a good vibe from e-mails, usually moving on to phone doesn’t encounter any surprises.   Setting up the first meeting (usually a casual chat at a coffeehouse) is, however, a great test for the logistics compatibility.  People have different ways they go about organizing their schedule.  Unless it’s an online collaboration, a musical project involves people getting together, so the process of setting appointments and being there at the right time is a very important.  If this happens flawlessly and effortlessly, you can feel assured that you’re dealing with a mature and reliable individual.

In-Person Chemistry

Notice that thus far there’s been no discussion of music.  It’s because I believe that when two people have a good chemistry personally, then making music together is the easy part. Of course, it’s possible that two people who get along can have a wide gap in terms of skills or interests, but those differences should be fleshed out by the time we reach this point.  Even if I don’t hear the person making music, I can gauge their technical level by just paying attention to how they describe their own abilities.  Really able people often don’t need to tout their accomplishments, but have quiet confidence about themselves.  That’s not to say, though, that I don’t ask to listen to their previous recordings or don’t go see them play.  I’m simply saying that playing together is the final destination in my search process.

How Will It Turn Out?

I plan to find a singer, and then move on to the search for a cellist, so I’m sure this process will get refined even more.  But all in all, I feel very comfortable, confident and optimistic about my search method.  As long as I take my time, stick to my strategy and don’t “settle” with someone who doesn’t meet all my must-have qualities, I’m sure that sooner or later I will find the perfect person.

Sign up to the e-mail list to learn how my searches turn out, and I’ll continue to share any lessons learned in the process.