First thing - put together some sort of recording that shows that you are capable at playing your instrument. If you need some help with this, post about it here. Put down some ideas over a programmed drum track, if you have two ideas you can put together a basic song out of that.
It's tough but true to say this, but you'll have a lot of trouble finding people online who are under 18 who are willing to play in a band with someone much younger than them. Check out youth centers in your area and look for local shows, spread the word that you're looking to start a band. You can even do this on Facebook, but keep in mind that it is very informal and looking in person is good. Between metal, punk, and post-punk as a whole, you can likely find people who want to make music pretty easily, though "easily" might take months or a year of looking.
hansgrinder wrote:
sound advice. you might also consider working on your chops so by the time you get exposed to a wider range of people to play music with you'll be better prepared. i also am all too familiar with your situation (including the NJ part...we metalheads are few and far between in this state it seems).
you could also focus on writing your own music and recording it yourself. this is what i started out doing, and i would have to say it turned out being incredibly valuable. learning how to program a drum machine can be pretty frustrating at first, but once you get the hang of it its easy to make the music you want. hell, doing stuff by yourself gives you an opportunity to practice and develop your sound, while simultaneously building up technical skills and knowledge that you'll be thanking yourself for later. being a good guitarist is one thing, but being a good guitarist who can also write songs and record them can make you VERY in demand when you start making music. i was one of the only people who knew how to record music in my town, and trust me, you can make a lot of musician friends very easily if you have that skill.
in the end, it really depends on what you want to do. i would recommend saving up a lil' cash and buying an
m-audio fast track, a middle-of-the-road mic and cable (there are numerous threads in this very forum that can point you in the right direction), downloading a freeware drum-machine program like
hydrogen, and a freeware recording program like
audacity or
other similar programs. the road is somewhat long and the learning curve somewhat steep, but if you stick with it you very well may be thanking yourself one day.
Good advice, meeting musicians when you are younger can be difficult, but skills like knowing how to record and being able to write music without a full band become extremely valuable once you become comfortable with them. Reaper seems to be the free DAW of choice, Audacity is good but very minimal.
Side note: it's seems like there are a fair number of people from both New Jersey and my home state of Connecticut on the forums. Both seem to have very fragmented and sparse metal scenes, but there are people from different parts of the states.