He Who Has The Power... Speak!

* Note from this point on, I will use the psydoneum of 'Charlie' for the VIP.

Okay, so it'd been 5 days since the 'showcase' and we hadn't heard anything from Charlie. I thought I would take the opportunity to email him and thank him for organising the show. I also wanted his advice on whether to take up that Canadian PR company on their offer ($799 for promotion via radio in 3 countries for 4-6 weeks - NB: not guaranteed airplay).

So I emailed a thank you note to him and his business partner saying that I'm not sure exactly where we go from here and asked what they thought of the PR offer from that company. I heard back from him later in the day saying "you're welcome" and that he was disappointed no record or radio people turned up. He said the next step is for the guys to start working on being a trio and for the lead singer/guitarist to work on featuring his guitar playing early on in the show - and eliminate the covers. He continued on to say "keep working on the next album and take it from there". Funnily enough he didn't mention anything in regards to my question re the PR Company.

I caught up with the lead singer later on who said that he, too, had emailed Charlie - just wanting to say a personal thank you. He had received a reply saying "that's fine, I think you need to lift your act now and play to your strengths - feature your guitar playing right off - even if it's only to make fans sit up and take notice. Your songs are great, the trio is strong - look how Silverchair have done, it's different - you can do it! Go well and good luck!"

So... with those emails, I figure it's the end of the road with 'Charlie' unfortunately. But I might be wrong - I'm only assuming and probably reading too much between the lines. At the end of the show last Thursday, Charlie did mention that if he were younger, he'd take them on himself - but he doesn't manage bands anymore. He said that he would always be able to help me with the business side of it though.

I guess it's now just a matter of plugging away at it ourselves and seeing what becomes.

Saga Of The Showcase - My Summary

Ok, if there was ever a time for me to have a b**** and moan about the 'showcase' then this is the post for it. When you look up a web definition of a showcase you get this:

"A 15 minute live performance on stage with full technical support (lights, sound)"

"A setting in which something can be displayed to best effect"

Well, neither of those descriptions even remotely depicts the 'showcase' this band played! For a start, they did their own sound - hired and set up their own PA (after which, the lead singer was exhausted - if you've ever set up a PA on your own, you will know how he felt! I guess it was just lucky that they had 4 hours to relax before they played). There was lighting there - but it was just random par cans that did their own thing - no lighting tech.

As for the second description "A setting in which something can be displayed to best effect" - my personal thoughts are that the venue really was the wrong sort of place for this kind of band (I will go more into that shortly). Not only that, but hell, it was a Thursday night! If you're going to play in a venue where no-one knows your music, it needs to be a Friday night when everybody is out on the town, and at a venue in the city that has a reputation for being busy - no matter what's on that night.

Now, the reason I think the venue was simply the wrong choice is for several reasons, but the main one being that it's wrong for this kind of band. Bare in mind, that these guys have been "likened" to Bon Jovi (I don't like to label them, but to set this example, I need to). Remember that I was told that if the band played too loud and didn't turn it down then we wouldn't get paid? Well, can you imagine a great rock band, like Bon Jovi, playing in a little bar and being told not to be "too loud"????! Course not! For a start, a 'little bar' in the suburbs isn't exactly a great place for a rock band like Bon Jovi! Give them a stage in a decent club in the city anytime... would be intimate - but they could still pull off a show I'm sure! haha Anyways, hopefully I have put my point across ok... that this band I manage is a rock band - not hard rock, not alternative or screamy rock - just great melodic rock - but no rock band can be expected to play quietly! So I think that was a bit ridiculous.

Basically, I'm fairly disappointed. I think I expected more organisation on the VIP's part. To me, it was just a gig the guys played. Nothing flash. Ended up costing us. Made nothing from it. Don't seem to have got anything from it. However, apparently we will find it a lot easier to get funding now (our VIP spoke with the top guy at NZ On Air) - so that's a huge bonus IF that is the case. Apparently the guy at NZOA was most impressed with the number of hits on YouTube. Either way, I will most certainly let you know if we get through as we will be applying for funding of a music video in the next round that closes on July 4.

At the end of the day it was an experience and was good to see the guys in their element as a 3-piece. So our ex-bassist can stick it where the sun don't shine, because we pulled it off without him! Woo hoo!

The Show Must Go On

[...cont...] As predicted, the venue was fairly quiet when the guys kicked off their show, and as it progressed it came down to only being friends, family and the crew watching (yes... just sitting there... watching). The VIP who had set this up stayed until the end, of course, and had only good things to say about them. He was really happy that the other bass player had left and that they were now a 3-piece. He said he prefers it that way and because they have a strong drummer, there's no need for another guitarist.

He was disappointed that no radio or record label execs had turned up and also the fact that the venue hadn't been very busy. He seemed to think the venue hadn't done their part in promoting the event. I had sent half a dozen or so posters to them weeks earlier and, admittedly, I did not see them up around the venue anywhere. But from my own experience, I would never rely solely on a venue for promotion of any event. I do as much as I possibly can myself - both online and offline.

My next post will be my own personal summary of the night; but as for our VIP, at the end of the night, he seemed happy with how it all went. He did have a few points of advice for the boys - which they have all wisely taken on board. One of those points was for the bass player to experiment with sounds, possibly a 6-string bass. Another was for the lead singer (who's also lead guitarist) to really feature his guitar playing - he was overwhelmed by the skill of his guitar playing and said that if he really features that early in the set, then it will appeal to the guys in the audience and keep them there, whereas the singing appeals to the girls.

That was about it for the night - after that it was all pack down, pack up and travel home! It was one long night - and even though it wasn't that busy, the guys still had a blast doing their thing. I was so proud of them - they really pulled it off! My summary of the night will be in the next post. Watch out for it soon.

Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining...

After all the negativity you start to wonder if it's all really worth it. I struggled many times with that - many times! However, every time I listened to the album, or replied to all the positive comments via social networking sites, or received emails from all those wanting to know when the guys are going to tour - that's what kept me going. It's all that that reminded me exactly what I had sitting right in the palm of my hand. At the end of the day - that is what it's all about: getting the music to the people. And as long as I kept that in mind, I knew I could carry on and do this.

A lot of my time is spent emailing. Emailing music industry 'movers & shakers', newspapers, magazines - online and offline, potential contacts, promoters, radio stations etc. On opening my email one morning, I had a very welcome surprise. One of the biggest VIPs in the music industry here in NZ wanted more information on this band!

I was very quick to reply of course and I ended up posting him a copy of the album upon his request. Consequently he loved what he heard, couldn't speak highly enough of it and wondered why it wasn't on the radio yet. He as also impressed with the 300,000+ views one of the tracks had received on YouTube.

We set up a meeting with him, the lead singer and I a couple of weeks later. Throughout that meeting we discussed all sorts including the state of the music industry at this stage and also the importance of owning your own material - it gives you so much more leverage! Which, at this vital stage, my artist has retained all rights to his music. He mentioned that he'd like to set up a showcase, to ensure that what is heard on the album can be pulled off in a live environment. In doing so, he would like to invite some music industry execs and other VIPs to come along and check them out.

We haven't yet had this showcase, and have no idea if this will open any doors for us or not, but it's one hell of an opportunity to break into an industry that will otherwise shut you out and show no mercy.

The showcase is scheduled for two weeks from now. I will still be posting every day, so be sure to stay tuned and find out how it all goes!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "Success is how high you bounce when you hit the bottom"