im not in a band yet, but what i hear from people in bands is one thing. play often. play almost every night. get noticed on the local scene. playing alot will make you better musicians, and give you an idea of how to move forward. if you are at least somewhat good and you play enough you should develope a small local following. keep it up after that and it should be all uphill. (sorry if this has been mentioned before, im far to lazy to read any posts right now. sorry.)