10 years - 1 band: Carry on or restart?

[Dave1978]

I need an advice guys:

I'm the bandleader of a band that I've founded 10 years ago as a solo project. 2006 I formed a line-up and we had some ups and downs. We played great gigs with great bands in front of 300 people, little gigs in front of 3 people, we were featured in big magazines, had an independent deal, but almost no success in selling records - no matter if digital or physical.

In early 2013 the line up split up, I've finished and released the EP that you can see in my avatar for free. Just 10 people downloaded it officialy. A few hundred illegal on torrent sites and blogs. No one bought that thing so far.

As you can imagine there's no point for me in continuing it that way.

What I ask myself - does it make sense to fix a broken project like this, get some new musicians and be a "newcomer" with a 10 year old history, or start something completely different, where you have to build up everything from the ground again?

What would you do in a situation like this and why? I'd love to get some ideas from you. Thanks in advance.

 

[The StabbinCabin]

If you founded it and have the trademark to the band name then do what you want with it and keep it- otherwise I'd use that as a resume and start over. Nothing wrong with either!

 

[JeffTD]

I'd consider doing anything that could help you out with a fresh start; changing a name could help with that. While it's not a bad name, "Mirrored in Secrecy" would certainly not be my first choice.

You need new energy and life in your musical endeavors, it sounds like - changing up your aesthetic, name, online presence, etc. will help with that, IMO. I'm not sure if it's an issue now but it would also help avoid people thinking "Oh man, this band keeps releasing stuff and nobody buys it, why do they keep doing this to themselves?"

 

[Terminus]

Keep it and write a new album that blows the old one out of the proverbial water. Look to dah future, maaaaaaaan.

BTW those vocals you did on that Amorphis cover are great, I really need to get back to that and finish it up.

 

[Sweetnothing]

If you're not burnt out with the project, keep going, search for new people and go for it again.
But, if you are already fed up with the project and its ups and downs, I'd start a new thing.

Sometimes a fresh view is what we need. Some projects are cursed, don't ask me why but happens.

Either way good luck with it!

 

[Dave1978]

Thank you for your thoughts so far. It's good to read some different opinions on it. I'm sure things will progress in a natural way but for me it's the first time since I've started making music, that I don't know what to do next. That scares me a bit.

 

[LBTM]

That's a good name for a band. I would work for a new album that would blow out everything old and share it for free for everyone to download legally (you can also make it available as a torrent). Also try marketing around in labels. You never know, you might get signed.

 

[Dave1978]

Thanks again for all your opinions.

Today I deceided to end it. Here's what I had to say:

MiS: 2003 - 2013

As the last member of the band I like to inform you that I no longer continue this project. Since 2006 MiS has been the top priority for me. I even built my professionall path around this band. It was a wild trip that included many creative and livable moments, but I also had to sacrifice a lot for it. The changes in the music industry don't make it easier. When I started 10 years ago I could reach more listeners with a simple demo than today with a whole regular album. To do the EP DIY-style again was a last experiment, but the bottom line is - it became so much harder for muscians anyway to draw some attention, because the digital lifestyle is not only a blessing for its possibilities, it's also a curse because of the sheer masses of independet artists, that are flooding the net with freebies, spam, voting prompts and so on. People are oversatured and don't give a crap about small bands anymore and for upcoming musicians that means more investment and less chances. I can't do this to my family anymore. Although I always had this "never give up"-attitude it would be a half-assed undertaking to continue the band at this stage. Therefore I deceided to end this project after 10 exciting years. Judging from a more distant point of view I hopefully can tell it was worth it.

I'll probably take a break as a musician now. The next time I'm doing anything I'll make sure that it's going to be a success from the start. I've lost too much time in dealing with crap like unmotivated musicians, getting a clue how to deal with the changes in the industry, focusing too much on details like the audio production and so on. But for now I'm going to get a good job, earn a lot of money, buy myself a car and travel the world with my girlfriend

 

[LBTM]

You're pretty right with your statement bro... Hope it works for you