We all know being in a band comes with a hefty dose of competitive feelings towards other bands. Whether it’s jealousy over who’s getting booked as who’s opener, or who is blowing who off the stage, who’s getting signed, who’s not, etc… bands are very often comparing themselves to other bands.
The problem I find, is most times bands are comparing themselves to their local contemporaries, or their friends bands. Why is this a problem? It’s a comparison of accomplishments, and rarely a comparison of skill.
If a band truly wants to constructively compare themselves to others, in efforts to improve their status, I would start comparing yourselves to world class bands. Get live performance DVDs of the biggest and best bands in the world who are in your genre (and some who aren’t!), and study them. Strip away things like expensive production, lighting etc and focus on how that band sounds, looks, and performs…Go see those bands live, listen to their songs, try to figure out what is making them a “world class band”… Study their faces, their stage presence, their performances, their techniques. Hold your band to that high of a standard too. Don’t settle for anything less.
Work towards being so good you could blow the biggest bands in the world off the stage. And don’t worry about the other local bands. Instead, you can just be cool, support them and be proud of them.
