Thats a problem with bands, is theres no one usualy willing to be the organiser.  If everyone diffuses the organisation between each other, then things will get done a lot slower.

You need to nominate someone to be the organiser I think, depending on how many gigs you want, you might want to try and get a manager?  Could be a friend or a groupie, or one of you.

If you want to get anywhere you probably need someone to be in charge of getting gigs, setting dates etc.

Kick them in the Arse....  Or charge them for your time.  This is a BAND correct?  Not a group of people you hired to play your music.  If they want to be in a band they need to do the work.  A couple of deffinitions that I like to use;

BAND - a collection of musicians who all live, work, play, sweat, bleed, and live together with the common goal of playing music professionally.

GROUP -  a collection of musicians who make noise and want to be rock and roll stars......

Chances for success are with the BAND....

A demo for a promo pak does not have to be extremely high quality and should have no more then 60 Secs of the song (Verse and Chorus maybe).  The club/venue owner is looking for the way you sound not production so get the best mix possible.  A live recording edited to the proper length for each song will work if the mix was good.  The big thing is pics, bio and song list these need to be done with quality in mind.

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The big dreams and only one person working towards them has always been the begining of the end of every band I've played in...

Originals... Whew... Ok different approach.  Yes you need to do very high quality, only 30 - 60 secs still.  But here's my opinion on original music bands (and I play in them).  If you want to sell yourself as an original band don't you think you should have something to sell?  You need a CD (record) it only needs to be 4 - 8 songs.  But it does need to be done in a studio.  It needs to have a professional cover and label, be shrink wrapped and available for sale to your soon to be fans.  Without this your just wannabees.  If you show up with everything ready and professional the club/venue owner will hire you because you "LOOK" professional.

PROMO Paks are simple really.  They need;

1.  8x12 picture of the band.   some say B&W only but I like color sometimes.  Hire a professional photographer who has taken promo shots before or who you think has great quality shots in their portfolio.

2.  A short Bio on each band member.  How long they have played, who they have played with, who they have studied with, where they are from and any other cool things.  Keep it to under 2 paragraphs.

3.  A Band Bio.  How the band formed, influences and any other cool things. Again under 2 paragraphs.

4. A song list.  It should contain some covers even if your an original band.  This gives the Club/Venue owner some point of reference.  It also helps if you get called back for an encore or need to fill in time that you have music.  And as you said it also helps get the crowd over to your side if they know what your playing.

5.  Samples of your playing..  The CD from above, A Live recording, A live Video.

BTW find a manager and let them do all of this if your band mates won't help.  Just remind them the manager gets 10-15% off the top...

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Yeah everything Steve said.

It helps to know that this is a business, unless you just like playing for fun and for free. So if you want to grow a fan base, and make some money playing, you have to think of it as marketing a product. Get to know your market. Study with demographics in mind. What age group will your band's music appeal to most? What bars cater most to that age group? Get to know those bar owners on a personal level. Get them to know you by name and like you. BE PERSISTENT. You'll soon find out that most club owners will blow you off more than an intern in the oval office.

Also keep in mind that there are tons of bands in competition with you for those gigs. Come up with clever ways to market your band. The guitar player in my band does most of this kind of work for us, and he's good at it. He followed up a promo pack a week later by sending a club an attractive potted plant. Now you're thinking that sounds corny, but it worked. The reason was because no other band had ever done that, so it got us recognized, and got us the gig. Success in marketing sometimes depends on who "screams" the loudest.

If at all possible, try to build a good sized crowd of people that will come see you play on your first gig at any particular bar, because the bottom line for bar owners is how much money they make selling drinks, PERIOD. You can be the best frickin band in the world, but never get booked back at a bar if the owner thinks they had a bad night.

See this is what we need to teach people.  This is a business.  You can have fun and play around but if you EVER want to be respected and or successful then you must understand basic business concepts.  At the level most of us are at, our FIRST responsibility comes to the club/venue owner.  We must make them money in order for them to be able to ask us back, period.  If the club/venue makes no money how can they pay bills?  If they hire every stupid kid that comes along and thinks they are the next gift to rock stardom they will go broke.  So listen and learn I've seen a few post (not here) about selling out and just my quick 2 cents on it (it may come out somewhere else completely).  If you decide to create music that is popular and people like so that you as a business person makes money.  MORE POWER TO YOU...  Down the road you can make an art album.

But don't send flowers....  Man do the rock and roll thing...  A dead rat or bat or snake..  just kidding.....

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