Should Bands Have a Leader?
One of the big decisions bands should make early on is who’s the artistic visionary?
Will everybody have an equal say or one will one person be the creative force driving the music?
It’s a safer bet to let one bandmate lead.
But only if the leader knows, without a doubt, when they like something or not. They have to have be confident in their taste. Because how good their taste is will determine how good their band’s music is.
You don’t need to play an instrument to have good taste. You don’t even need to be perform in a band to lead it, but that’s a story for another day.
Groups benefit from having a leader. Without a leader, the band’s music is likely to come off as a muddled mess of competing ideas.
That’s why I encourage bands to pick someone and let them lead.
A good leader will listen to ideas from other bandmates. Good bandmates will trust their leader.
But the leader should not have absolute authority: if everyone votes unanimously against them on something, let that be the only time the leader doesn’t get what they want.
The logical next question is who should the leader be? Assuming the band has a singer…
It’s a safer bet to let the singer lead.
The singer gets more people looking at them and listening to them than any other member of the band. Their vibe has massive repercussions so you want to make sure they’re comfortable.
They have to believe in what they’re singing or everyone will feel their hesitance. And that hesitance will have a domino effect on the entire experience.
If you don’t have a leader, you will constantly be compromising.
Nothing is more beautiful than multiple people’s visions blending together to create something greater than the sum of its parts, but most of the time, that doesn’t happen. Most of the time, compromises result in no one being completely satisfied.
Take the U.S. for example. It’s the result of a compromise between yeoman aristrocrats who wanted to live in Catan and neoliberal aristocrats who wanted to compete in the international money system. They settled on something in between and after they all died, half the country immediately starting killing the other half. 150 years later, the populace hates its own leadership.
Compromises aren’t as inspiring or effective as we make them out to be.
They might feel right in the moment, (it’s always easier to agree to disagree), but that’s just kicking the can down the road.
The winners of World War 1 did that and 20 years later, they ended up fighting an even bigger war.
If you want your band to get somewhere and avoid long term conflict, elect a leader and let them lead.
Every bandmate’s opinion matters
Even if the final product originates from one person, everyone in the band should play a role in its creation.
Maybe it’s interpreting the leader’s instructions and putting their own spin on a part or maybe it’s generating ideas.
It doesn’t matter how big or small the contribution seems, every member should matter.
I was in a band for 4 years a long time ago. Right before I quit, I told the lead singer and songwriter I was tired of contributing ideas because he always thought of better ones. And he shocked me by saying my ideas helped inspire his ideas.
I let my ego get in the way of what was good for the group. Now I know it doesn’t matter how it seems to the audience. Every band has a process that’s completely dependent on who’s in the band. Everyone has a role to play. Some are leaders, some are followers. Sometimes beauty comes out of conflict. Sometimes the smallest contribution has a huge ripple effect.
A single nut or screw falling out can cause a machine to break down. The best bands are the ones whose members accept their role and play it with love.
