Promotion Is The Start - But 'Connecting' Is The Key

Let me give you a scenario: You're out on the town with your mates, checking out a couple of original bands. The first band comes on, they play an hour of cool rocking songs, they finish and head back off the stage. The second band comes on, they also play an hour of some cool songs, they finish up, they come off stage and go mingling with the crowd - one of the members comes up to you, introduces himself, asks if you're having a good night, did you enjoy the music etc.

Tell me something: a week later - which band are you going to remember? The one that went on stage, did their thing and left again; or the one that went on stage, played their songs and then came down and chatted to you? Well, for me, it's definitely the latter. There's something about being approached by someone that's just been on stage and now they are giving their sole attention to you. It makes you feel special and that your opinion matters. Suffice to say, it's one thing to go out and play, but it's quite another to gain, connect with and keep a fan.

You see, promoting your band isn't just about getting people to hear your music and like it. It's also about connecting with those people and keeping them coming back for more. Your fans are going to be your bread and butter... treat them right, look after them, and they will help you promote your band more than you could ever hope. Because one form of promotion that beats all others, is word of mouth. Each of those fans, going and telling each of their friends about you - is the end result you want.

I was reading a while back how Billy Corgan (formerly Smashing Pumpkins) spends as much as an hour a day on the his MySpace site exchanging messages with his fans. He says "For me, it is a way to connect with my fans on a one-on-one basis in a way that I wasn't able to do before. It's much closer to the feedback that I would get from someone on the street".

So, remember, promotion starts the process - but gaining and connecting with fans is the goal.

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.

Day Of The Showcase (Part 2)

[...cont...] So with sound check all finished, it was time to sit down and relax. Because the lead singer now does their sound (due to all that drama), he had set the PA up and organised everything so was pretty shattered and ready for a good meal and a rest. It was another 4 hours until they hit the stage so it was a good time to sit down and hang out with all our friends that had come to support the guys.

As 10pm rolled round, the main VIP that had organised the show turned up. As always, it was great to see him and chat about everything. I also noted a couple of other VIP's including The White Stripes international tour manager. Unfortunately at that time there was no sign of radio reps or record label execs.

The young couple arrived back with an awesome looking canvas banner!! We hung that up on the back wall behind the drum kit and the stage looked stunning!

The venue manager then came up and asked the guys not to start until 10.30pm as the restaurant below them still had patrons. Fair enough. But bare in mind it was a Thursday night and kicking off a show at 10.30pm seemed a little late to me - especially since everyone works the next day. Not only that, but the venue itself is quite a drive from the suburbs - it's not exactly in the city, so I knew we wouldn't get many people wander in off the street.

Predictably the venue became less busy by 10.30pm and I could foresee this was going to be a hard gig for the guys. You see, when you have a packed out venue with people dancing etc, the band feeds off the audience and it really fires up the show (if you're in a band, you will know what I mean). But when you have a couple of dozen people just sitting down... watching... it becomes quite a draining show. I'm not in a band, but I have been around long enough to see both sides of that coin.... [...to be cont...]

Day Of The Showcase (Part 1)

I was emailed earlier this week by the venue manager and told that if the band play "too loud" and don't turn it down if asked, then we won't be getting paid. I felt like writing back and saying "you do realise this is a rock band?! It isn't an acoustic trio...! How the #*#@!% do you make a rock band play "not loud"??!" I was starting to wonder if maybe this wasn't the right type of venue. To be honest, it put a real dampener on the show and now I had a lead singer (also doing their sound) who was now trying to focus on getting a great sound - but not too loud!

Anyway, Thursday morning we picked up the PA at 8.30am, loaded the van with everything else and hit the road at 12.30pm. It all seemed to be going to plan, we were right on schedule and had everything we needed (I credit the lists we made - lists are great!!).

We arrived up in Auckland at about 2.30pm and started unloading the van and getting the PA set up. By 5pm the guys were ready for sound check - although we couldn't do a thorough one unfortunately as the venue was already receiving complaints about the noise! Crazy!

After sound check, we were approached by a young couple who asked if we had a banner for the band. We had silver backing and 'drop' banners on the side with the band name - but no backdrop as such. They told me they had their own print company and would love to print off a massive 3m x 1.2m banner for the back of the stage! Not only that, but they would do it free of charge! Full colour, anything we wanted! What a fantastic offer and I was so grateful for it. They surprised me even further by leaving right then to design one up and print off - all for the show tonight! [...to be cont...]

The Wheels Are A-Turning...!

Good things are a-happening here right now! Showcase is tomorrow night and already great things are happening.

The lead singer has had two interviews with major commercial radio stations today!! One had been set up a while ago as it's currently New Zealand Music Month, and the other was hooked up via phone through the VIP that has organised the showcase! That station will also playlist the band's first single in a sort of 'homegrown' type segment - that is specifically for the really good unsigned bands. This is a major break for us - commercial radio is really hard to break into, even those homegrown segments - as it really is a 'who you know' industry.

So all is good in our world right now. There is more to add - and will tell you all about it in about 2 days time. I won't post tomorrow (Thursday 22nd) but will be back Friday and will tell you how it all went and also the latest on the drama that's developing with that forum... once again unfortunately.

See ya!

Gimme More.... (No, not Britney!)

Putting the subject of the showcase aside for this post, I thought it was about time to point out a very valid point that one might easily overlook in these particular circumstances.

This point: Never stop creating.

That's the beauty of having someone like me, a manager, to look after the business side of things - it allows the artist to keep on creating and do what they are good at. Because let's face it - if you are going to get anywhere in the music industry, you need to realise that there is more to it than just playing great songs! There's sooo much more to it! Yes, us managers are actually worth our 10%!! haha

So, back to it. Gimme more...!! No, not Britney Spears (though I must admit, I quite like a couple of her latest songs!) - but more songs, more riffs! Keep up those skills, keep creating new melodies, lyrics, riffs etc. Really work it and make each song better than the one before.

The artist I manage has been working on their second album - which I must say, is even better than the first! The tracks are absolutely awesome and I am very much looking forward to seeing that album go places! Strong hooks and good riffy feels! Lovin' it! I think they are on to a real winner with that one! And that's only 4 of the songs.

Basically, the idea is, to get about 20 or so tracks recorded as demo's - then we'll have a little party, check out the tracks and see if we can whittle it down to about 11 or 12 tracks to go on that second album. So good things abound...!

Counting down to showcase... 3 days to go! After the past week's drama, we want nothing else to go wrong! Lead singer is complaining he feels like he's coming down with something - I have dosed him up on Vitamin C & Echinaecia!!! So hopefully (fingers crossed) that stops any possible bug in it's tracks!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "It is not the hours we put in on the job, it is what we put into the hours that counts"