Solo Artist
 

ok so i'v been in bands for years and frankly im sick of getting landed with uncommited idiots. im looking to start my own solo project which will be primarily acoustic/folk music but i dont want to be limited to just that
so i was wondering
short of getting a backing band / session musicians ( which sort of defeats the point)
how do i go about doing a solo project thats not just acoustic but has some heavy- er music ( some punky riffs or such. obviously not metal)

That all depends on what you feel comfortable doing. Can you play drums to a reasonable degree? If you can, for example, then I'd suggest recording everything one instrument at a time. If not, you can always use the ezdrummer software for some realistic drums in most all styles.

If you intend to play live, a drum machine might come in handy, or you might consider having an irregular set of friends ready to play with you.

It takes a bit of investment, imo.

You get yourself the guitars, the recording programs, the plugins, the mics and peripherals. It took me a while to get the minimum of what I needed and I'm STILL constantly replacing my stuff with things that I think will make my songs sound better.