Too Many Chefs in the Kitchen? : Do Bands REALLY Need a "Leader"? How to Split Duties and Credit...Or Just Split

One constant source of disdain and struggle with most bands who don't have their shit together is: just who is in charge of the band?

Often, it depends who you ask. A lot of crowds misinterpret a vocalist/frontperson as the band's leader, while others may think the band follows the flashy lead guitar player who seems to exude more confidence/cockiness than the others. In reality, it's different for every band, and in many cases I've seen (or even been involved with), even the band members themselves may be confused about who's actually calling the shots. Who really IS in charge? Does ANYONE really need to be the "leader"? How do you pick this leader? What happens when the power goes to their head or they do not efficiently handle the responsibilities, or you find yourself working as a yes-man for an egomaniacal narcissist? Well, let's see what I've learned over the years...

First off, you've probably asked yourself a time or two whether your band needs a bona fide leader. The answer, in short, is yes. But it's not that simple, and what's important---no, CRUCIAL to remember is that the role doesn't have to be filled by one person. In fact, it might be better if you split leadership into different roles. Plus, it shows not just commitment FROM the members, but TO them as well. Keep in mind that I'm coming from the angle of an unsigned, independent band who are either just starting out or relegated to their region/scene. It really depends on a few factors, but the most important ones are:

1) A representative for bookings/decision-making - this person is the go-to person when it comes to making contact with venues or booking persons, receiving calls for bookings, keeping up with the members' individual schedules to prevent scheduling conflicts, negotiating terms (and NOT just accepting ANY booking he/she is offered), confirming dates (both with the venues AND the other band members) and handling promotion for shows and events. It's fine if other members contribute to bookings too, but it works better if all the bookings are being funneled through one member, and gives off a more professional, organized vibe.

2) A fan/media representative - this person serves as the Q&A guy for the band (and should NEVER answer a question he or she isn't sure about), and not only handles first-contact with media/press representatives but also would serve as the first-line defense when the band is approached by fans. This person should be not only knowledgeable but personable as well, for obvious reasons. You don't want a drummer or guitarist who doesn't even know the lyrics to the songs, for example, trying to explain the "message" therein. And likewise, you don't want some douchey vocalist who doesn't even play an instrument talking about the "creative" process (that he only has to provide some "words" and a halfassed performance for), the elements involved in any of the instrumentation, or the inspiration for the sound of a song someone else wrote every other part for aside from the "poem" that would become the lyrics. This person (if they're up to speed and doing their job right) should also be the one taking the lead for handling the social page/webpage and responsible for keeping all the information updated. 

3) The onstage leader - this is the person who kicks things into gear onstage and makes it fun. Keyword: FUN. The person who helps everyone recover when the drummer fucks up a song, or who turns a certain way to show his fretting hand in order to remind the other guitarist/bassist the note they should be playing. The person who initiates and demands crowd responses/interaction. Often the most entertaining person to watch onstage, the one who most has his shit together performance-wise and the one people will talk about the next day. Sure, your "vocalist" might be upfront, but maybe your bass player is more fun to watch because he's getting into it, or you have a guitarist who does interesting parts that don't sound like someone wanking around in the guitar store trying to impress people. Those are the people your band needs to make sure are visible.

4) The creative leader - this is the chief songwriter/arranger of the band (for original music) or the guy who serves as the final say/set-list writer (for cover-bands). This is pretty self-explanatory in most cases, but in the case of original music, just like copyright credits and album credits, this person must be given proper credit for being the musical director or the pen behind the new art. A "lyricist", for example, is not necessarily a "songwriter", I've learned. In a certain project I was in for about a decade, someone else wrote "lyrics" (and really didn't want anyone else's ideas in that regard), but the "music" was always written by other members. At first everyone contributed, but as the project aged, members left and I was the sole creator of the actual songs, barring a cool bass-riff that our bassist played that I arranged into a song on one or two occasions. Part of the reason I have a bad taste in my mouth about that "band" was because I was never really treated like a partner, even when I was contributing 98% of the actual musical compositions, and it started becoming more like a vanity project for a "vocalist" who was not really pushing himself and had no real range vocally, and who was also not writing relatable or hooky lyrics to boot, causing many of my songs to feel shortchanged. So make damn sure you're ACKNOWLEDGING and paying proper respect to the creative power in your group.

Again, this all could be handled by one person, but in a relatively-busy working band it's highly unlikely, not to mention inefficient and insufficient, and definitely not recommended. An active band member probably should only hold one (MAYBE two) of these positions ever. Any more than that, and I promise, you will have to deal with booking fuck-ups, inconsiderate behavior, people burning-out quickly, information getting botched and eventually infighting that can lead to a shake-up or member loss. It goes without saying that you should choose who does what by not only their eagerness to do it, but also their competence to do it. The last thing you need is your flaky-assed drummer who half-listens to anything anyone says handling bookings, especially when he's made it clear he'll play every weekend, anywhere he can book regardless of your commitments and schedule. You also don't want your Lynyrd Skynyrd-obsessed rhythm guitarist picking your set-list. And you definitely don't want the stoner in the band representing you to fans or media giving off the wrong impression. Pick duties based on strengths, and if someone sucks at it, you have a responsibility both to yourself AND your band to tell them so, and to put someone more capable in that position.

There are going to be other struggles as well, I will warn you. It may be a member who doesn't contribute anything to the band insisting on admin rights to all the band pages you have put the time and effort into creating and moderating just so they can post their own drivel/insight and do other things that demonstrate a lack of experience and make you look like a high school start-up band, or worse, boot the other band members from admin-privileges and hijack everything altogether. I've also had self-medicating bandmates use the band's page to covertly try to score good weed and constantly drop covert drug references that make the band a liability, to venues and to themselves. Yes, nonsense like that actually happens. 

Also keep watch when a member's significant other who doesn't do anything "musical" handles all the bookings and money, and gets all Yoko on you with everything ranging from song choices to wardrobe to skimming "admin fees", pulling "rank" at every turn. Just learn the power of "no", and don't become a victim. If you cannot handle all the duties mentioned in the confines of band membership, do yourself a favor and get an outside, neutral party/manager to help out. That way no one will end up blaming someone on mishandling money or swaying band decisions based on cronyism/favoritism/nepotism.

Most importantly, if ANYONE who plays any of these roles, inside or outside the band, starts power-tripping, abusing their position or simply just isn't doing the job, redistribute it and relieve them of the duty. You might even have to relieve them from the group as a whole if it gets nasty. DO NOT HESITATE. Find someone else to do it immediately. Letting it go on for weeks, months or more will only create more tension, and will result in counter-productivity, not to mention it will make mortal enemies out of band members. And you will soon find yourself starting all over again with a new group, worrying about what to expect from them as well.

So yeah, your band should have "leadership", so to speak, but there should be no one chieftain if it is a BAND, because if your band members are all contributing their part you are all on the same ground, and no one is higher up the totem pole than the others. Choose wisely, because you have to live with your decision, at least for a while.

In another blog, I'll discuss what happens when you sign up for a band under the ruse of a democracy or "team" mentality and then find yourself dealing with the old bait-and-switch from someone wanting to essentially have a crew, not a team, with no intention of allowing true contributions or shared "artistic control" over what happens in the band. This is something that hits close to home, having reared its ugly head yet again in my life just last month, and I feel the subject deserves its own blog because it can cross both professional and personal boundaries like few other things. Stay tuned for that one, it'll be a doozy...