Live Music Society: Houseband Director

I believe I am a good candidate for House/Function band director because I am an experienced musician with a wide skillset across multiple instruments, I think it pays to have an understanding of the different instruments within the band and of music in general when directing multiple instrumentalists into a cohesive band. I have been an active member of House and Function band as both a Keys and Bass player, and I have seen it as a great opportunity to improve my musicianship. As a director I would love to focus more on the musicianship aspect of being in house/function band by perhaps running workshops on sight-reading, chart-reading, and general musicianship practices, I believe these are all useful skills to have as a musician tasked with learning lots of music in a short amount of time.

I would like to make sure that for any song that house/function band plays the members will have access to the same chord chart or sheet music so there is no confusion with the structure or keys of songs by each member using different chord charts. I would achieve this by collating the relevant charts into a google drive that can be shared with members. I would also like to open up the house band roles to brass and woodwind instruments which will not only increase opportunities for people to perform but will also expand the variety of music that could be performed.  

I have really enjoyed being in houseband this year and would love to be one of its directors next year. If elected I would like to make the following changes:

• Increase the number of external gigs played: This year houseband has only played in UCL venues. I would like to take advantage of UCL's great location and play in bars and venues across London.
• Make rehearsals more regular: Like how a sports club has regular practice, I would make houseband have rehearsals at regular times each week. This would improve the quality of our performances and bring the band closer together as there would be more time spent in the rehearsal room.
• Change the role of function band: When created, function band was meant to be a smaller band with a set repertoire of songs available for hire at short notice and as a back-up for houseband. I would bring it back to its original purpose by making it an Instagram account and website that advertise its services for hire, and by not having it perform at every UCL gig in order to give houseband more time on stage.
• Increase houseband's social media presence: I would work with the social media officer to give housebound its own Instagram account where highlights of the band’s gigs will be posted.
• Increase the diversity of instruments: Because everyone loves a horn section.

I would do all this while keeping the essence of houseband the same: a collection of brilliant musicians performing great music.