How to Start a Pop Punk Band

Aspiring musicians always reach the point where air guitar won't do it anymore. Even banging away on your drums with your headphones in your bedroom ceases to thrill you. Punk pop provides a great platform for launching your first band. Punk Pop combines punk's raw do-it-yourself sound with danceable tunes.

Instructions

1. Learn how to play an instrument. Learn keys, chords, rhythm, beats. Model your style after bands like Green Day, The Descendents, Rancid and The Donnas. Listen to as many punk pop bands as you can to get a feel for the genre and style.

2. Look for three to five band mates who can cover vocals, guitars, bass and drums. Since most bands start in school, classmates are a good place to look. Everyone in the band should be similar in skill and proficiency to avoid friction and lost time coaching band mates up to speed. Pick a leader (usually the most responsible) to call rehearsals and book auditions and gigs.

3. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. This is how you discover if you're a band, or just buds hanging out. Schedule your rehearsals with a specific agenda: songs to learn, songs to polish or songs to write. Start with covers but the goal is to play your own songs.

4. Put the word out. You can't keep playing in the garage and playing live forces you to improve your sound. Start with school parties and dances, but sooner or later you need to look for better gigs. Don't expect to play together forever, but make the most of your band while you can.

Tips & Warnings

• The more serious you become the more you should study the genre and its influences. Green Day and Rancid led the first wave, followed by groups like Blink-182, Good Charlotte and Bowling for Soup. But, don't forget to pay attention to your punks roots with the Sex Pistols and the Clash.