My friend and I were considering starting a band, with him on drums and me handling vocals and electric guitar. Is that sufficient, or do you think we need a third person for bass?
The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Royal Blood, Death From Above 1979, and Soft Play are all contemporary bands with just two members (although they often bring in additional musicians for tours and recording sessions). It’s definitely possible!
I’m surprised to learn that Royal Blood and Death From Above 1979 are both made up of just two members. I need to revisit their music, as I’ve listened to quite a bit from both and never realized that!
Take a look at their live performances. For some songs, they have a keyboard player join in, but overall it’s just a bass guitar with plenty of pedal effects and some samples from a foot controller. I saw them live last year, and the show was fantastic—sounded just as strong as their album recordings.
You can definitely do it, but it won’t have the same sound. You’ll either need to find a way to make up for the missing bass or adopt a more stripped-down sound. ‘68 and The White Stripes are great examples of this.
One of my favorite bands, Japandroids, consists of just one guitarist and one drummer, particularly in their earlier albums. The secret to their sound lies in layering the guitars. The guitarist employs three amps—I’m pretty sure a clean Fender and two overdriven Marshalls.