What you look like vs who you are

When one is involved in a band or group musical project, this can take time as personalities emerge in the mix and influence the whole, and may end up being very different from where you started out. I think this is very important, as it is a key way to avoid becoming too predictable and generically similar to your peers.

 

If you can allow the natural creative expression of your band to dictate your sound and your look, your chance of looking and sounding just like everyone else is reduced. The group will have created a core identity that you can refer back to, as opposed to approaching matters with the intent to sound like something or other in order to exploit a trend that is current and cool. A small tip: once trends have become fashion, they are basically over. To imitate them as a new band is to doom yourselves to being out of date. Rather rely on your own creativity to create new trends and get ahead of the curve.

 

Strong visual image

 

There are a number of aspects that you need to consider when trying to put together a visual image. This is the look that you will carry for probably the next year at the least. It needs to include how you wear your hair, what you wear off stage and on, and it will feature in your photo shoots, your artwork and just about everything you do. It needs to speak to every member of your group and everyone needs to be comfortable and look good. Having a strong visual image does not mean that every member needs to look identical or have the same style. I mean, look at what the Village People did! But it does mean that every member needs to be recognisable.

 

 

An important factor to remember is that your public needs to buy into this look, which means it must sit well with you. If the group is not comfortable with a look, it will be noticeable and the look will become less convincing. To an extent, no matter what genre you play in, you can wear anything as long as your band can pull it off with confidence and a sense of style. The moment anyone looks awkward or uncomfortable, you end up not being believable. Why do you want to be believable? Because through your music and performance, you are selling a vision; a way of seeing the world.

 

Just as you have created the music and the lyrics, you can control the look that goes with that in order to reinforce your message or your vision. It is a part of the whole that too few new artists pay attention to.

 

Next week: Band info

 

Originally published in David Chislett's One, Two, One, Two: A Step By Step Guide To The South African Music Industry. Download a free copy of the book at www.davidchislett.co.za.