Learn and feel comfortable with the basics of your instruments. Start by covering songs. Have a band manager (someone in the band, normally the most responsible person) who plans practices.
Have your band manager find someone to let you play a gig somewhere where lots of people go. While it can seem hard, this is good management and communication skill building for this person.
Before you play: it always helps for the singer to take a sip of water to get his/her vocals flowing. And don’t practice much on the day of the gig, you don’t want to be worn out when it’s time for the real deal. Pass out merchandise. Make CDs of the songs you’ve covered, and pass them out at your gig. Band t-shirts would be good too.
Make a kit of your music and stuff, and send your demo to record labels. This is how some school bands manage to get signed.
