When Starting Out: Advice for New Bands

Let me start this one again.

The post “new rules for new bands” was meant to be more of a harsh, realistic advice piece. Yet it came off as more of an aggressive, emotional piece. For that I apologize.

So again, let me start this one again.

Many people start bands in order to be rich and famous. This is honestly not very realistic as the industry of rich and famous musicians is crumbling. Independent musicians and record labels are doing much better in audience relations and (until the economy) profits (in relation to their market) than major record labels. The “rock star” is dead.

So, as a new band, to succeed you should not expect to be rich and famous. No matter how many people tell you that “you rock.” It’s easy to get an inflated ego when starting out. Look at most independent emo bands. There is a sense of egotism and entitlement in that genre. Most likely this is only because emo is popular and it fits a specific demographic. There are plenty of popular emo bands already, and no there is not room for many more in the world of musical indentured servitude.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that as a new band, your band sucks. I’m just saying it hurts to fall from high expectations. And if your expectations are fame and money, you will fall very, very far.

You need to build and maintain contacts. If there seems to be an issue with another band or a venue, and you sense that there is, it is a good idea to figure out what is wrong. In most cases it will be a miss-communication.

Which brings me to my next point. Miss-communications are incredibly common in the music world. Everyone has their own views, interpretations, goals, etc and it’s hard to get everyone on the same page.

As ?uestlove said in the documentary “Before the Music Dies,” you should have a band night. Like, Sunday night is band night where you just hang out and watch a movie. Switch up the person’s house and have someone cook dinner. Bands should have this kind of bonding experience in order to work as a successful machine.

If you get an opportunity to play a show. Any show. Take it. Be thankful for it. You might not (and probably will not) get paid. That’s okay because you will a) make contacts and b) introduce yourself to a new audience.

Treat other bands with respect and don’t talk smack about anyone because you never know who might be listening. Chances are the reason your talking smack is because of a miss-communication.

So, when you have your band day, instead of talking smack, assess the situation and examine both points of view. Burning bridges is never a good idea, so make sure there are no sparks to do so.

When playing with other bands, make sure you work on taking your stuff off the stage efficiently. It’s incredibly admirable in the eyes of other bands and the person working sound. It’s also very admirable to encourage your audience to stick around for the next bands.

Get to know everyone. Get to know your fans. Get to know the other bands. Get to know the people working the sound. To make this effort will make a world of difference. You never know who will be able to point you in a good direction.

Hopefully this advice is less harsh and more helpful. If you have any other tips or testimonials, please feel free to comment and I will post them below.

New Rules for New Bands

As everyone knows, and as I keep saying like a broken record, the industry is changing.

You will never be a “Rock Star.”

No matter how many of your friends treat you like rock stars, you will never be a Rock Star. Rock Stars are dead. They do not exist. Egos will only get you so far, but today they will not get you through the industry. Small bands do NOT jump from being small to being big by being jerks to those who provide them with favors.

Ray Charles walked on everyone who helped him out and so did a lot of other musicians, but that doesn’t work anymore.

In today’s world you need to be respectful of everyone. You need to respect your fans, other bands that you play with (the only allowed exception is if you are the band being shat upon), those who help you with promotions and label-like stuff and the people who book you and do your live sound.

It is a slow climb and once your friends are not able to come out to your shows, the climb will be even harder. Your friends are in one location treating you like a rock god while you talk shit about the bands you play with or the people who book your shows. Once you are in a spot where your friends have spread out and can’t make it to a show, you will have no one to rely on except for your contacts; the same contacts that you stepped on. And they will not want to help you.

New Rules:
1) Be Thankful – if a band lets you borrow their stuff, don’t talk shit about them afterwords
2) Be Respectful – if you demand a line-up switch with another band and they agree as a favor to you, don’t be a jerk and play forever
3) Check your ego at the door, or else it will check you in a year when you’re playing for a crowd of ZERO

Reader added rules:
4**) When the band before you is getting off stage, don’t put your stuff in their way. Wait until they’re off before you load on. When you’re done, get off stage fast. NEVER dismantle your drum set while it’s on stage. Get that shit off and tear it down anywhere else.

Advice for Bar Owners Hosting Live Music

Before I rant about negative experiences, let me take this brief statement about a very positive experience to say a big THANK YOU! To Tir Na Nog. Your staff is incredibly nice, and management as well. Please, please go to Tir Na Nog when you are in Raleigh. It’s a great bar and they do a great job with Local Beer, Local Band. And I was glad to celebrate my 21st birthday at your bar.

Anyways. I was always frustrated that I couldn’t get into The Cave and Slims to see local music. But at least their websites say they are 21+ venues, for that THANK YOU. Now I can get in, Yay!

It still bothers me off that there are 21+ places that have music. If you’re going to host music, you should at least allow people over 18. It’s not that hard to draw a big black X on someone’s hand. Hell, back when I was underage I would rather have a big black X on my hand for a week than miss a show.

I understand that bars are worried about their alcohol license. But they should also worry about future customers. If you have people who are between 18 and 21, these are potential customers. Why are you banning them? You should be WELCOMING people in that age range. Make them feel comfortable and at home so that when they DO turn 21 they’ll say “hey, I had a really great time at a live show at so & so bar I think I will BUY A BEER OR FOUR now that I am of age”

My recent experience was thus: I went to a show where those putting on the shows and the bands did not know that the bar (I’m not going to be an asshole yet and give readers the name of this bar, I will be kind this one time so let this be a warning) kicked people under 21 out after a certain time. The organizers of the show are not to blame. It was not their responsibility to find out. It is your responsibility as bar management to prevent issues by letting people know this simple fact. You don’t want to allow people who are under 21+, fine that’s your decision. PUT IT ON YOUR DAMN WEBSITE SO ALL PARTIES CAN FIGURE IT THE HELL OUT.

I am over 21 so it shouldn’t matter. Except it did. I was with someone who was under 21. This person is interested in local music so I suggested the previously mentioned show. And, as I said, the band, nor the organizers of the show were told that they would kick people under 21 out at 10pm.

Had the bar posted this ON THEIR WEBSITE, this would not have been an issue as I would not have suggested that the person give up his night to attend. Instead both of our nights were wasted thanks to poor bar management.

I am over 21. I plan on returning to this bar because I like the organizers of the shows and the bands. But I will drink water. I will not put a single cent towards a beer.

So here’s the moral to the story. If you run a bar and host music and don’t want anyone under 21+ in or will kick them out at a certain time, put it on your website. If you are smart and run a bar, you should allow people under 21 in because they could be potential customers and you like making money, right? You don’t want people to talk smack about you right?

That bar lost both a customer and a potential customer tonight. My advice to you is follow my advice and don’t be that bar. Also, go to Tir Na Nog in Raleigh because they’re awesome!

Living with Sound and Vision

There are three fantastic organizations with sound and vision right now. Two are from Greensboro and one is from Raleigh. I am of course talking about the dotmatrix project, Monkeywhale and Music.MyNC.

Greensboro is experiencing an artistic, cultural explosion. There is so much creativity coming from that area in the realm of music, art, design and video production. Sean Coon, the head of the dotmatrix project, can explain the Greensboro arts & culture scene best, so I’ll leave that to him.

the dotmatrix project
dmp is working with local talent in order to provide free live shows to the public. These-typically two band bills-shows also provide an opportunity for a team of volunteer filmmakers, photographers and producers to work their magic. The result for the bands is a live album recording, two live music videos and loads of photos. The volunteers get a great, fun chance to perfect their art. And the audience gets a free live, local show! dmp is one of the leading forces in the Greensboro local music scene.

the dotmatrix project

Monkeywhale
Another force in the G-boro scene is Monkeywhale. Monkeywhale takes a more “artsy” approach with video and they are also very involved with Greensboro’s 48-hour movie where teams make a movie in… 48 hours. Paste magazine listed Monkeywhale’s “Harvey’s Kitchen series alongside La Blogotheque and Pitchfork.tv as one of the best 10 out-of-context concert web series” They feature musicians in a small kitchen, unplugged environment. Some talk about saving the “monkewhale” a fun, fictional creature the site is based on. Bands are not the only features on Harvey’s Kitchen, as various interesting personalities are interviewed (including Sean Coon, his brother and local filmmaker Andy and many more).

Monkeywhale: Harvey’s Kitchen performances: The Never

Monkeywhale: Harvey’s Kitchen Interviews: Jeri Rowe

Music.MyNC
Finally we have Music.MyNC. Music.MyNC is a web project of NBC 17. It seems a lot of newspapers and news channels are developing websites for local, new media content. Music.MyNC is not as “artsy” as the Greensboro groups. However, it is a fantastic hub to go for Triangle local music information and performances. For the Studio B segment, bands are featured for 20-30 minute segments where they play live and are interviewed. Other posts include music videos and music news stories.

Music.MyNC Studio B with Lonnie Walker

I keep saying it and I’ll continue to say it like a broken record: Something is happening here. And I like it.

Living With Sound: Local Music Radio Show Episod One

The following is the first episode of Living with Sound, my local music radio show on WSOE 89.3 every Sunday from 2pm-4pm.

Episode 1

The sound I recorded is fine up until the 1:45 mark where it sounds a bit under water, though it is still listenable. I have no idea what happened with that. We are having a few station/webcast issues. Fortunately those held off for most of the show.

Episode 1 Playlist
1. “Blood & Oil” – The Old Ceremony
2. “Leave the South” – Nathan Asher and the Infantry
3. “We Let The Cat Out” – Schooner
4. “Providence” – The Love Language
5. “Tellin’ a Lie” – American Aquarium
6. “Ships” – Lonnie Walker
7. “Second Floor” – The Proclivities
8. “Blue Ridge Cowboy Church” – Aminal
9. “Morningside Heights” – The Strugglers
10. “The Sad Lives of the Hollywood Lovers” – Prayers & Tears of Arthur Digby Sellers
11. “Come Up, Come Down” – The Beast
12. “Old Grey” – The Sammies
13. “So Sweet (Without a Care)” – The Lights, Fluorescent
14. “Chinese Guitars” – A Rooster For the Masses
15. “Rust Belt Heart” – Red Collar
16. “First Time” – Embarrassing Fruits
17. “The Visitor” – Hammer No More The Fingers
18. “Evolution Blues” – Patty Hurst Shifter
19. “Hell” – Squirrel Nut Zippers
20. “Snookum” – Firecracker Jazz Band
21. “Hammer Fell” – Holy Ghost Tent Revival
22. “Why Modern Radio Is A-OK” – Roman Candle
23. “Air” – The Pneurotics
24. “Old Dogs” – Midtown Dickens
25. “Honeymoon” – Bombadil
26. “Gin and Tonic” – The Future Kings of Nowhere

Some people get it.

There is news that Billy Corgan will be releasing a new 44 song Smashing Pumpkins album. While hilarious for several reasons (okay, several more reasons), it is a step towards an industry change.

Even pop-rap icon 50-Cent is admitting (or was told to say) that piracy is a necessary marketing evil.

As I have stated many times on this blog and will continue to state: The industry is changing (and I still hate the word “industry” when applied to music) and the model is switching towards a more personalized, fan-centric model where music is used more as a promotional tool.

Let me now bring up Bandcamp.  Bandcamp is a fantastic website that bands can use as a great marketing tool.  Bands sign up for free, upload their albums (in lossless format) that are then converted down to mp3′s, ogg’s, etc’s.  From a fan’s perspective the download options are like a hearty Thanksgiving when compared to iTunes’ unhealthy happy meal. You pay whatever minimum you want for either a song or an album (the bands set the minimums, and the minimums can be zero) and you download whatever format you want (NO DRMs or crappy m4p formats).  Bands can also include art, lyrics and whatever other kinds of bonus files they want in the zip file you download. Oh, one more thing, you can stream the entire album because there is no B.S. 30 second preview that wont let you attempt to digest the song you are thinking of buying.

Bandcamp doesn’t gobble up most of the download profits like iTunes so most of the money you pay for the download goes to the bands.  Bands are also treated to statistics of what songs are being listened to, skipped and downloaded as well as increased google search results.

So if you are a band, get on Bandcamp.  If you are a music lover, go and browse around.  There’s cool stuff on there (and some is free).

Websites like these will be the fuel for the future of music consumption.  The superstar is dead and “long-tail theory” is in play.  People know what they want and they want the ability to find music that they like and they want to be able to listen before they buy.

Yay, some people are starting to get it!

Audio Production Class: Field Project 1

Our first field recording project we were assigned to compile a story with three or more voices (not my own). We were to use natural sounds for transitions and background; no music or sound effects.

For my project I decided to pursue my love of asking the question “what is music to you?“

Music Is...

Since we were unable to use music, and since it’s hard to find natural sounds that fit with a music related topic, I decided to take some nighttime atmospheric music. Music is not just instruments playing, but it is the beat, rhythm and emotion that comes from all sounds as noise blends together into something simple and beautiful. Music to me is the unification of things and my thoughts on what music is are conveyed in this audio piece without recording my voice.

So please enjoy this mp3 and four different views of what music means to different people.

Feature Friday on Brick Style

I just wrote a Feature Friday on Red Collar for Elon’s culture blog, Brick Style.

You can check it out here.

Radio On

It’s twenty years from now and you’re driving in your 6 person hover bus filled with all of your friends.  The Rolling Stones just released a new album to support their “final tour” and you want your friends to hear it so you plug your brain cable into the AUX input and rock out.

As you’re playing air guitar you see blinking lights in your rear-view mirror.  You pull over and the policeman floats out to your window and presents you with a fine.

“Was I speeding officer?”

“No”

“Then why am I being fined?”

“I count six people in your car, and you are playing music.  If you play music that you bought for anyone but yourself, it is considered public performance.  This is an illegal action that requires a fine for every person in addition to yourself.  The fine will go to the corporate executives who commissioned the songs and paid millions of dollars to keep The Rolling Stones alive.”

Sounds like a crappy future huh?

Well it will happen if nothing is done about the current agendas the RIAA, BMI, ASCAP and SESAC are pushing.

While I think that ring tones are a desperate attempt to make money and destroy the sanctity of music as art, it is still pathetic how ASCAP is trying to make MORE money from them by calling them “public performances.”

Meow-mix Ring tone? That will be $400. Pay up kitty or no catnip for you.

Ring tones are not the worst of it.  There is current lobbying for a tax on local radio that will most likely destroy any community and non-profit stations.  The reason?  “Public Performance.”  Apparently licensing fees the stations already pay are no where near enough to keep the corporate fat cats happy.

Last I checked, radio stations (especially small, local, non-profit stations) provided a service to record labels.  This little service is called promotion.  What’s hilarious, in an incredibly sad and depressing way, is that the radio stations that play top 40 music (constantly) are the ones that will not be hurt by this tax and yet they’re the ones playing the same music over and over (which is more on the grounds of public performance than any small radio station).

The conspiracy theorist in me sees these major labels and organizations realizing that smaller radio stations providing new music are contributing to the decreasing mainstream audience, and thus this is just another way to crush the competition.  The Internet is destroying mainstream music, and there’s nothing they can do about it except fine everyone they can think of.

If you think that this tax is a horrible, terrible idea and you want to save the local radio stations you love, you can do the following:

1. Go to the Free Radio Alliance for more information and find out how to join and what you can do to help.

2. Write to your congressman and tell them how terrible this tax is for our country.

3. Call your favorite local radio stations and tell them to keep up the good work and keep fighting the good fight.

This attempt by the four major labels is another last ditch effort showing how desperate they are.  If we can push their plans back into the depths of hell where they came from, we will see a more vibrant future for musicians.

If this doesn't make you want to give all your money to starving orphans in order to get into them pearly gates, I don't know what will.

If we fail to suppress this legislation, we are likely to see the future I started this post with.  If this desperate attempt succeeds, more will come.  So please, please, please, please help your local radio stations by learning more about the Free Radio Alliance.

Peace, Love and Keep Your Radio on…radio on…radio on radio on and on and on and on and on.

I’ll stay on until my soapbox is taken from me.

Last month I was a guest on a fantastic show called The Hidden Places.  It is an internet radio show on Taint Radio where Local Music and Local Food are the subjects.  Two of the things I love most in life in one place?  Count me in!

So, if you missed my appearance on this fantastic show you can now listen to it here.  It includes my ranting about the music industry, the importance of local music and some awesome Chinese food.

Beyond listening to the glorious episode, be sure to check out their first episode (and their following episodes as they are posted, or you can listen live on the internet at noon on Fridays).

The Hidden Places is now in my blog roll, so you need to check them out!