You ROCK Emily!

That said, you forgot to add that the chances of your special new band being insufferable are almost 100%.

This was even true in the days of huge rock stars {pre 1991?} AND now the ONLY revenue source for any band is live pervformace (sic). BUT, the best thing the interwebs did was to destroy the record industry.

If you can't pack the place your band will be far in the red forever. Even after you pack the place there won't be many perks and all tales told you will probably still be in the red. You might get some Strange so let out a howl or maybe just a hoot so when it happens you can say "THIS was worth the metric shit-ton of Euros I pissed off!"

Do it only for yourself. If other people appreciate what yer up to, then happy days for them, too.

You don't need a whole band! You can also use Ableton, sequencers (like the Korg Electribe series), looping pedals, switching between instruments, and the most important -- headphones!

Emily, as usual, your incisive wit makes me laugh (fog machines, fuck yeah!) and the importance of a web presence is indeed a sad reality for many musicians who just want to play music for people and not deal with the headaches and costs of promoting one's band. However, this is bad advice: "No practice should go longer than two hours."

No. No. No. You don't stop after an hour of stoned noodling and munching on Pirate's Booty. You practice until you're fucking better than you were when you started that day and you can play your set perfectly even while blindfolded and deaf with violent hand cramps. Bands that people actually give two fucks about are great because they are determined and work their asses off.

Exhibit A: Black Flag and their notorious 8-hour practice sessions.

Hey. Can someone interested in being in a band that can plug Shit in the right holes and has interest in shoegaze, dream pop and dancy basslines/beats email me? I need someone to play with. Knownobody

Jwshankle@Yahoo.com

Hey. Can someone interested in being in a band that can plug Shit in the right holes and has interest in shoegaze, dream pop and dancy basslines/beats email me? I need someone to play with. Knownobody

Jwshankle@Yahoo.com

Solid advice, except for the fact that you gloss over the hardest part which is "find some bandmates" um great, how? As someone who has done it repeatedly This process still seems like a mystery to me that i run up against everytime i start looking for people to play with. Also, i agree with the other commenter about length of practice sessions. No practice session should be less than three hours. You need the first two to remeber what you did last session and you will only actually improve if you put in another 60 minutes after that. At least.