1)Many people have trouble finding band members. Modern online tools such as myspace and local music forums make it much easier to find the right band members. There are MANY guitar players. There are MANY drummers. Singers aren't so easy to come up with, but are definitely out there.

If there is a busy recording studio in town that often records your type of music, you may want to buy the head engineer a Whopper and talk to him. He'll know a lot of local musicians. Personally, I know just about everyone in the area when it comes to bands and have helped put together several bands. (In the recording studio you get to learn a person's personality type fairly quickly).

2)Try not to compromise when putting together a band. You may be putting together a band “just for fun” now, but anyone with any ambition will want to push it further than that. They'll probably want to play shows, build a following, make a few bucks, etc. So when you put together your band, think about the long haul. Is the drummer that just tried out, good enough? Is the singer good enough? Granted, some people will improve their musicianship, but many people play in a band because its something to do. Sometimes, these types don't practice on their own time. These people can often hold a band back.

Every major band decision (picking the members is the most important decision) is kind of like a fork in the road. I've seen many, many bands go with a terrible singer just so the guitar player doesn't have to do it anymore. That may be okay now, but there may be a day when you totally regret choosing a bad singer. Band members become friends and often downplay other member's shortcomings. If you are serious about your music, but your singer (who is a close friend) isn't pulling his weight, you are going to have problems with the band and/or your friendship. So be picky!

3)Somebody must have a PA. If vocals remotely matter in your music, and there is a 99.9% chance that vocal are the mega most important part, put some serious thought into how your singer is going to hear himself. It's fun for young bands to practice so loud that you rattle lights fixtures out of the wall (yes, I helped do that), but in reality if a band is that loud, the singer can't hear himself. It's as simple as that. If the singer can't hear himself, you can't hear the singer. When band members don't know what other band members are playing, 99% of the time, the band sounds like vomit. Make sure that everyone can hear everyone. You should hear your bass players mistakes. You should know if the kick drum feels funny in a certain spot, etc.

Anyway, I kind of got off on a tangent there. Basically, it may be worth finding a guy who isn't that great of a musician, if he has a PA. In other words, PA systems are monstrously important. For a rock band, whatever size PA you have, you probably don't have enough power or speakers!

4)Keep the band member quantity down in the beginning. There are a lot of problems that come from bands that have too many members. For young bands, it's mega important to spend the hours playing together in the same room. You learn A LOT about yourself as a musician when you do this. (But not as much as recording an album). If you have 5 or 6 people in the band, it's hard to get everyone off of work or ballet practice to come practice with the band. The smaller the number of members, the easiest it is to get everyone to the jamroom.

There is a downside to having a 3 piece band, for example. You have to split the cost of things only 3 ways instead of 5. You have to carry a lot more of the PA system. In general, there is more work placed on just those 3 members. Of course, usually only one or two band member do any work anyway, so maybe it's not that big of deal anyway.

5)Try to find band members in different circles of friends. One of the best things you can do for your band is find members with different friends than you have. If you can find a bass player from 10 miles away that has friends into the same style of music, the size of your shows will dramatically increase. If everyone in the band has the same friends, you will have problem. Good luck!

These are just a few guidelines to follow when finding members for your young band. They certainly aren't rules. Sometimes it's best to jump face first into this whole band thing and figure out the details later on your second band when you will probably be much more serious, more focused, and a little wiser.