Okay, so you've made the jump into the ?producer? world. You've found a band that trusts you and you've agreed to sink an enormous amount of time out of the band. You want the record to be fairly successful commercially because you still haven't figured out how you are going to eat during this project....much less during the producing gig you jump on. Before you get too worried about songwriting, song structure, and snare sounds you may want to so something that's even more important: BUILD UP A RELATIONSHIP WITH THE BAND MEMBERS!

Hang Out With The Bands Outside Of The Studio

After you have worked with the band long enough to understand that you are the producer and you fill a certain role, it's time to go out and party with the band. Whether your idea of partying is cocaine and strippers or Monopoly is totally up to you, but do SOMETHING with the band.

You need to realize that if you are producing a band for the first time, they are sort of uncertain about what's going to happen. They need to be able to trust you. You need to be able to trust them. This involved every issue from ?Will the guitar player show up?? to ? Can the band pay for the big drum room?? to ?Will this producer screw us somehow??. Almost all these problems disappear when you get to be buddies with your bands...hopefully!

You Will Have Band Problems

With any rock band with 4 or 5 guys, 4 or 5 girlfriends, and producer you are dealing with quite a few people. Anytime you get 5 or 6 people together to work, you are going to find that not everyone agrees on everything. You may find that the guitar player makes a clicking sound with his teeth and the producer can't take it. You may find that bass player openly hates God and the producer takes offense to that. You'll find that one guy is nailing one guy's girlfriend and you'll find that somebody is secretly playing in another band. These are all normal. Business associates would have a hard time working through these. Friends probably wouldn't have such a hard time. (I hate to use the ?business? word on a recording website because there is no money in the music business!!!).

When Things Go Well

Guess what! When things are going well, people get worse! I mean that if the record is turning out better than anyone had imagined, people will get scared that it won't get finished. I know, I've done this. I was so proud of the music we had made that I started to worry that the band members wouldn't finish the record. My paranoia was certainly a negative thing.

The band was feeling the same way. They began to worry that I wouldn't finish the record. All of this was due to the fact that we were very happy with the results of working with each other! All this worked itself out when we went out and partied a few times.

When Working

I've found that after I've became buddies with the band members, it's easier to work with them too. I generally won't say to a drummer, ?That's the worst beat I've ever heard in my life?. Well, when I'm producing, I have to say something. Now I that I'm buddies with the drummer, I know what I can say to him and what I can't. If I'm buddies with the drummer, I'll probably say, ?That's the worst drum beat I've ever heard in my life!?.

Down Sides To Being Friends

Some people say that the band and producer shouldn't be buddies. For myself, I don't agree with this. Some people find it easier to critic someone they don't know. I'm the opposite. It's easier for me critic a friend. So keep in mind that some producers have personality types that put them in a position where the band and the producer can't be friends. I couldn't imagine how you would work out your problems in this situation and I would find it totally awkward, but I at least had to mention this situation.

Conclusion

If you are producing a band, I think it's best that you get to know your bands personally. Put everyone in a situation where they not only screw over the band or the producer if there are problems, but they also have to screw over some friends. Not only that, but hanging out and partying (however you define partying) is usually a lot of fun anyway.