17 Things Local Bands Just Don’t Get

[ColonelZulu]

No scene, no gigs.

If my wife let me I would be out listening to music every night unless I have a gig.

That's true...but spending my off nights (if I had any) watching other bands doesn't get us more or better gigs.

I am going to have to leave that up to people with less responsibilities and more time on their hands.

 

[Kmonk]

I agree with most of it especially number 3. Many of the greatest musicians do not look like rock stars.I laugh whenever I see people who cut their hair and dress like rock stars because the majority of the time, they can't play. Its like they are over compennsating and trying to let people know they are in a band. I wonder if their thought process is that if I look like a rock star, I will be able to play like one. Or maybe, they are just delusional. The best compliment I ever received was when my old band was playing Bike Week in Myrtle Beach in front or over 10,000 people. When we finished our set, several people came up to us and said that when we first took the stage, they didn't know what to expect because we didn't look like musicians, but when we started playing, they were blown away by how good we were. People care more about how you sound than how you look.

 

[Richland123]

I disagree with the Facebook statement. That sounds like some old curmudgeon stuff there. In my area Facebook is far more powerful than any other method for promoting shows. I agree that it shouldn't be 100% of your promotional efforts, but it should be at the top (along with other social media). Young people that go to shows aren't roaming around the streets looking for a cool flier staple gunned to a telephone pole.

Be careful if you ever post flyers for your band, a garage sale, or even a lost puppy. It is illegal to post flyers on utility poles and you can be fined for it. It is a safety issue for the utility workers and the utility poles are the property of the utility company and not for public use. I know because I used to work for a large electric utility company and they would routinely put out media press releases about not posting things on utility poles due to the safety issues and they actually would track people down and they would get fined.

On the issue of supporting the local scene. The area musicians who complain to me that the general public, including other musicians, don't go out to support other bands are the same musicians who don't go out themselves to see other bands. Basically, if more people support the scene, more bands get hired. Fortunately for me, I am single and I raised my kids already; so, I can go out to see other bands. I know not everybody can do that. Hardly any of my musician friends or even recent bandmates ever go see other bands and they have all the time to do so. Even the two guys from my last band who are my very good friends don't come to see my new band but I have seen my former drummer's new band many times.

 

[OldPlucker]

6. Going to other bands’ shows is THE most important thing you can do to support your scene.

Ok, I don't disagree...but supporting my scene is not my biggest priority.

If I didn't have a family, a home, two other jobs, homework, I might have time to go out and watch other bands.

But, I'd more likely use that time to practice/rehearse/play out with my band.

We would occasionally be in an area with 4 or more clubs within a 2 block radius. In those cases, we would take our breaks watching other bands perform. That way we could see what worked and what didn't work. Likewise we would get visited by other bands. Sometimes we would jam together after hours with the bar closed.

 

[two fingers]

Most of that is common sense if you are trying to make it. Most of it doesn't apply if you are trying to stay local.

As for cargo shorts, I guess this guy was never hardcore enough......

 

[wallypip]

Totally agree with the support your scene stuff. I would add that you should also like and repost other bands gigs on social media whenever possible. The exception might be when it's the same night as you are playing. I'm actually cool with that personally, but promoters, club owners, and others in your band might disagree.

The thing I would add, particularly for new bands, is to try to play shows with other bands when the opportunity is there. It's a good way to draw a larger audience to the club and you can support each other and share PA and maybe backline. Again, that sounds like a no-brainer to me, but I've played with a few guys who don't want to play a shortened set. I guess playing for our girlfriends for 4 hours is better than playing for an audience for 2.

 

[MegaSwing]

There should be another: Quit with the navel gazing and entertain someone! You engage the audience as much with your presentation as with your music. If you're no fun to behold as a band or performer, the quality of your music alone won't take you to the top. The streets are littered with gifted players with zero stage appeal. 'Showbiz' is as much about the spectacle as the content.

 

[marmadaddy]

18. It is not the "music business". It is the "entertainment industry". You want to make money as a musician? Learn to be an entertainer.

 

[aidanPmC]

Why does everyone hate cargo shorts? It gets up to 100 degrees here!

 

[Chris 'Wighat' Jordan]

Title: 17 Things Local Bands Just Don't Get

#1: Trashing other bands in your scene isn't hurting their rep. It’s hurting yours.

 

[lfmn16]

I agree with most of it especially number 3. Many of the greatest musicians do not look like rock stars.I laugh whenever I see people who cut their hair and dress like rock stars because the majority of the time, they can't play. Its like they are over compennsating and trying to let people know they are in a band. I wonder if their thought process is that if I look like a rock star, I will be able to play like one. Or maybe, they are just delusional. The best compliment I ever received was when my old band was playing Bike Week in Myrtle Beach in front or over 10,000 people. When we finished our set, several people came up to us and said that when we first took the stage, they didn't know what to expect because we didn't look like musicians, but when we started playing, they were blown away by how good we were. People care more about how you sound than how you look.

It's not one or the other. The best bands can play AND look the part.

 

[MegaSwing]

Title: 17 Things Local Bands Just Don't Get

#1: Trashing other bands in your scene isn't hurting their rep. It’s hurting yours.

It's a small fraternity, and paths cross in unexpected ways. If you don't have anything good to say, keep it to yourself and try to find something constructive.

 

[iriegnome]

All good points.. FB Dying - I don't think so.. Only outlet,,, bad idea.. Handouts don't work any longer in my area/market. People are tight with budgets and word of mouth works best for us. Going to other's shows is super important. Trash talking other bands is really not cool at all..
There are some good points.. They have to be adapted for each person's market, but overall, if you can't draw people, you can't make money..

 

[fjadams]

I wish they would have added something about volume I stopped going to local live music venues because bands are getting louder and louder. I see bands where everyone is wearing IEMs or everyone has a monitor including the drummer and the stage is no bigger than a bar stool playing for a crowd of twenty people. I see full stacks and SVTs with 8x10s blaring so loud it's just a distorted mess so many bands simply can't manage their sound? maybe it's a generational thing and I'm out of the loop.

Bands have ALWAYS wanted to be louder. Back in the 60s we went from Silvertone to Vox to Fender. Why, because every new amp was louder than the one it replaced. Guitarists moved up to Supers and Twins, bassists went to using two Bassman, to the Dual Showman to the Sunn and Acoustic. Back in the 80s when my boy was still playing in bands his band did a tour where they were billed as London's Loudest Band. He was using a 200 watt Marshall stack, JC-120, and a Super. It was almost painful to be in front.

 

[mellowinman]

Most people have no common sense, though.

Including me. I disagree with about half of them.

 

[marko138]

Fairly accurate.

And FB is absolutely dying. Is it dead? No, not yet. But it's not nearly as effective as it used to be. It's still a tool to be used, but fading quickly.

 

[Altitude]

I disagree with the Facebook statement...Young people that go to shows aren't roaming around the streets looking for a cool flier staple gunned to a telephone pole.

I'm not sure what the most effective way to promote gigs is...but I'm very sure fliers are the least effective. They are expensive, take the most time to distribute, are completely untargeted, and in many cases, not even legal. They can be cool as art, though.

No scene, no gigs.

If my wife let me I would be out listening to music every night unless I have a gig.

Me too, probably. But this rule points towards an eventuality where bars are full of musicians watching one another play. Because most everyone else is at home watching Netflix these days. I do think the evolution of the "scene" is the largest part of the issue. You can be the world's greatest typewriter repairman but you still won't get much work these days.

Bands have ALWAYS wanted to be louder. Back in the 60s we went from Silvertone to Vox to Fender. Why, because every new amp was louder than the one it replaced.

Here's my indefensible position, and I've been carrying this around for a while: bandleaders whose bands play in small and medium-sized bars and venues need to start insisting on electronic drum kits. It's even better if you run all the instruments through the PA and eliminate amps. I know, I like my amp too.

Live drums, and the acoustic chaos they create, are at the root of 95% of the volume and sound problems in clubs. No drummer ever soundchecked at the same volume he played once the set began. From there, every other player starts turning around and cranking the knob, and we're off to the races.

Use a good electronic kit and run it through the PA, and you have total control over volume and mix, and you can do whatever you need to in order to keep people from flooding out the door. How many times have you guys played an early set in a restaurant and, despite your best efforts, have cleared the place out of 8/10 of the people who were in there eating?

 

[Big Hoss]

I agree for the most part with a LOT of the list, but a few minor quibbles stand out to me...

1. Trashing other bands in your scene isn’t hurting their rep. It’s hurting yours.

What, this isn't brain dead obvious? If you are trashing another band, or colleague of any sort, you end up hurting yourself. This should be common sense by the time children are in Jr. High...

4. Image is actually important. Cargo shorts are for dads at a barbecue. Not for musicians on stage.

Tell that to Jimmy Buffet and the Coral Reefer Band. The band has never been huge, but there is also no shortage of parrotheads out there. Yes image is important. If you wear Cargo shorts on stage, make sure you are playing cargo shorts appropriate music, in a cargo shorts appropriate venue... (Surf rock, Raggae, Drunk Country type stuff in any venue that involves Tiki huts leap to mind!). For the types of venues, and music / bands I play with and in, Cargo shorts, Hawaiian shirts, and Tevas are fitting, and appropriate. (Our last party we set up a stage literally between 2 large palm trees and we could hear seagulls between songs...)

5. Being respectful and friendly will take you much further than being superior and entitled.

In all aspects of life, not just music.

7. Your scene’s gatekeepers are friends with each other. Get in with one and you’ll get in with them all. If you piss one off, prepare to be blacklisted.

This is painfully true of pretty much every field of practice. Don't burn bridges!

10. Facebook is dying. If your entire promotional plan relies on it, you’re doomed.

That obituary is quite premature. I am not saying don't promote outside of FB, but Facebook is still valuable. Do NOT exclude it if you are trying to drive a crowd, put your presence where they are. FB is only ONE of those places... Coffee Shops, smoothie shops, book stores etc.. anywhere with a public bulletin board is a GREAT place for a promo flyer.

15. If you suck, you do not deserve to be paid. Get good first. Then you can start charging.

That's why I have never gotten paid for playing the parties I have. We have fun, the crowd has fun even though we mess up. We play with our mistakes, and even highlight them if it seems fitting... (Ever get flat out lost, or had an equipment failure in the middle of a song / set? We have, and we don't have spares enough to keep going while say I, or the guitarists swaps instruments mid song (although I have seen some other local guys do just that). We do NOT get up on stage, or practice with the intent to be perfect, or even good. We get out there, or just jam, to have fun, and to entertain. I don't think we will ever be "good", I am happy when I hear my friends, as well as their families and friends saying that "those old guys were fun!". And it happened a lot. I have recently stumbled back into contact with a local guitarist that used to jam with my old bass instructor and he wants to get back into the party jam band thing... Hopefully we can get the formula working again!

17. Go out of your way to help others in your scene. It will eventually come back around.

Just like all else in life. If you give, you will receive. Of course there are takers out there that never give back, but I firmly believe you get back out what you put in. Also something the list forgot to mention.

18. Get out of your own way. Meaning don't try doing everything all at once. Playing, sound engineering, marketing, etc... If you have friends or family that are willing to take on some aspects of running the band pass off the stuff you suck at in order to concentrate on what you don't suck at. Or at least don't suck so bad at...

For example, if I were doing the whole gigging locally outside of private parties thing and doing the marketing, I would get a friend of mine that likes doing the sound engineering stuff to do that, and would get my wife, her brother and his girlfriend to help with doing flyers etc... That way I can concentrate more on playing the music, and doing my part to keep up the show...

 

[ggunn]

I think most of this is common sense and agree with pretty much everything on the list except #13. If you played every 6-8 weeks, that's only 7-9 shows a year.

It really depends on where you live. If it's a small town with only a couple of venues it's a different scene from a town like Austin, for example, where there are hundreds. Even so, if your audience is mainly friends and family at first, playing every weekend is going to wear them out pretty quickly. It helps if your playlist is a lot longer than the number of songs you play at a gig so you can rotate material in and out of your set(s).

None of this is set in stone and may not be universal. Generally, being mutually supportive of other bands is a good idea, and there is definitely more to generating an audience than getting up on stage and playing well. But in the summertime playing outdoors in Texas, I wear shorts and a hat. Heat exhaustion is no fun. Been there, done that, won't do it again.

 

[danosix]

Seems to me I know a lot of local bands that know all of this. It really seems more like a rant than anything. Rather interesting seeing #3 and #4 right next to each other. Image doesn't matter... oh wait yes it does. Work ethic means more than promotion... what about one's work ethic at promoting? etc...

I felt the same way - also 12 and 13 - don't tour, don't play too much locally. Ummm...
What is "work ethic" beyond sounding good (which should be "fun" if you think you're going to "make it") and promotion?