If you're a new band playing gigs what is the optimal originals

do covers of songs nobody knows so you get the best of both worlds

Depends if you want to get anywhere or not
Realistically you should only be doing a couple of covers otherwise you'll just end up being just another local cover band

>>74735801
Disagree.

If you're just trying to make money then playin covers is fine but at some point you should start to work more of your original material into your set lists. If you're actually good this shouldn't be a problem