Band Dynamics
Lots of people like road trips, but what if it were your job? Do you think you and four of your closest friends could spend 50 weeks of the year together in the same van on a massive road trip without killing each other? What if your future was inextricably linked to those four friends? Can you imagine if your financial well-being were largely dependant on your ability to get along with them every minute of every day while you traveled?
A band's ability to get along becomes a key factor in whether or not they succeed. Many talented, popular bands have been destroyed because they couldn't get along. Kristen discussed one of the greatest challenges of being in a working band:
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I think that eventually you get so sick of each other. And you literally hate each other so much that you love each other. There's a thin line between love and hate. It's like, "If I hear your voice -- if I hear you open your mouth one more time -- I'm going to kiss you." You know what I mean?
 Photo courtesy Antigone Rising and Lava Records Twisted sisters |
Over time, Antigone Rising naturally found mechanisms to cope with the stress of living in a band. Kristen discussed their process:
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We do a lot of, like, big group talks...'This is how I feel.' I mean, there's a lot of that. Especially with a girl band, there's a lot of that, 'You hurt my feelings, I don't like the way you said that, What did you mean by that?' -- you know? But, we've been together now non-stop for five years, so a lot of that s--- has stopped ... we've already worked all that stuff out. Our dynamic is sort of already set in stone -- our dysfunctional dynamic. It's a blessing that we've been out as long as we have, 'cause now we're just best friends. We know how stuff works [laughing].
As we tick down the list of challenges associated with "making it," we now move on to one of the greatest: How do you keep going?
