How to Succeed as an Original Band

[Luckie]

I haven't even been playing bass for 10 years, so feel free to ignore me.
I can attest to the high volume of songwriting that takes place. I've probably
written 50 songs in the past few months with my new band, but only 10 have managed
to become popular among our fan base.
Keep chugging.

 

[mambo4]

I still have my day job, so I am not sure how qualified I am drop some thoughts here....

1.) Ditto to those who emphasize location. If you want to make money doing originals, don't stay in a town that's unsympathetic. Find a place with a scene - and be a part of it. If you think you're above 'joining' the scene cuz its fake and inauthentic, then you need to find a smaller, snootier scene: find YOUR scene , your tribe.

2.) "Getting signed" should abosolutely not be a goal. In todays music world YOU must do everything that the extinct species of record companies used to "do for you": promotion, recording, fan communication, booking, social neworking, etc,etc etc. Work,work, work as has been posted . For guidance on what work to actually do, 2 resources I highly reccomend are the CD BABY DIY musicians podcast and the book Music 3.0 by Bobby Owsinski. Chock full of smart, practical, and timely info. Labels now days are looking for you to have a built in audience/ market. If you succed in that, you may never need a label.

3.) Listen to your stuff with honest ears, and embrace all consrtuctive criticism without ego and attachment. The single biggst musical hurdle is going to be the quality of your material. Don't mistake the joy of creating something that 'goes together' for good songwriting. Its a craft worthy of at least as much attention as your own instrument, and its very hard to do it well consitently.

4.) Seek the company of players who are also good at the "other stuff" : most bands would rather have the pretty good bassist who can also run their blog over the excellent bassist who knows nothing else. Our singer is our graphic designer, our drummer is our web master and audio engineer...etcetc...Become a multi-tasker if you are not already.

5.) Be honest about what your in it for. Some people learn to play and write out of love for music, but really hate performing. There's nothing wrong with being bedroom player or home studio hermit by itself. But these players tend to be shoegazers onstage. If you're not 'On board' with what it takes to really put on a show for an audience, be honest and upfront about it.

 

[cjmodulus]

subbed. this is really helpful for all the aspiring players out there (including me!). Thanks for starting this thread.

 

[TRichardsbass]

I still have my day job, so I am not sure how qualified I am drop some thoughts here....

1.) Ditto to those who emphasize location. If you want to make money doing originals, don't stay in a town that's unsympathetic. Find a place with a scene - and be a part of it. If you think you're above 'joining' the scene cuz its fake and inauthentic, then you need to find a smaller, snootier scene: find YOUR scene , your tribe.

2.) "Getting signed" should abosolutely not be a goal. In todays music world YOU must do everything that the extinct species of record companies used to "do for you": promotion, recording, fan communication, booking, social neworking, etc,etc etc. Work,work, work as has been posted . For guidance on what work to actually do, 2 resources I highly reccomend are the CD BABY DIY musicians podcast and the book Music 3.0 by Bobby Owsinski. Chock full of smart, practical, and timely info. Labels now days are looking for you to have a built in audience/ market. If you succed in that, you may never need a label.

3.) Listen to your stuff with honest ears, and embrace all consrtuctive criticism without ego and attachment. The single biggst musical hurdle is going to be the quality of your material. Don't mistake the joy of creating something that 'goes together' for good songwriting. Its a craft worthy of at least as much attention as your own instrument, and its very hard to do it well consitently.

4.) Seek the company of players who are also good at the "other stuff" : most bands would rather have the pretty good bassist who can also run their blog over the excellent bassist who knows nothing else. Our singer is our graphic designer, our drummer is our web master and audio engineer...etcetc...Become a multi-tasker if you are not already.

5.) Be honest about what your in it for. Some people learn to play and write out of love for music, but really hate performing. There's nothing wrong with being bedroom player or home studio hermit by itself. But these players tend to be shoegazers onstage. If you're not 'On board' with what it takes to really put on a show for an audience, be honest and upfront about it.

Great discussion and everyone, note the references for further learning. Great sources. Thanks for adding to the conversation!

 

[thudfromafar]

nice thread, i can't say i have a lot to contribute but i will sure keep checking it!

 

[TRichardsbass]

Today's nugget from me:

"You are what everyone else thinks you are."

Translated: Band image is more important then band talent.

One of the keys to successful original bands is a wholistic and consistent image. It separates the best from the wanna be's. It is also probably the most neglected piece of the puzzle.

The band image has to match the music as well as be continually consistent. (The music must be consistent too, but I'll discuss that maybe tomorrow.) There are two ways to look at this. You can either fit your image to the accepted norm for the genre, or you can do something 180 degrees different. Either way, whichever you choose, you must stick with that path.

The Ramones originally didn't have the leather jackets. And not until later in their careers did they really where the leather on stage much. But when you think of the Ramones, the picture of them in the leather jackets is what immediately pops into your mind. Till the day he died Joey Ramone always wore those round sunglasses when he was in public. Johnny Ramone always had the leather jacket on. When they were out together anywhere, they were not Joey or Johnny, they were the Ramones.

Or you could do something like wear Kiss style makeup and sing country music. While that may not actually work, it is memorable. But you would have to do that every time you perform. Get people to expect and see it in their minds. 180 degrees.

The recent trends of most original bands is that they focus completely on the music, and don't think one second about image. I have grown woefully tired of going to see new original bands that basically just show up and play in whatever they pulled out of the hamper or dirty laundry pile. No coordination, no look. It doesn't help solidify to a potential fan what they are or stand for.

For the past few years whenever I play out or Dan and I are out together, we coordinate what we will wear. We are "aging" alt/punk/pop rockers. So we try to look appropriate for our age and maturity. Usually that means we both wear black shirts (each of us chooses the exact style), jeans (Dan is the king of black jeans so usually I wear blue), I will wear either an italian style leather jacket or a armani style sport coat, Dan wears his old Indian motorcycle jacket, and we both wear some sort of boot or both wear some tennis shoe. I usually wear the brown biker boots and Dan usually has a version of a Chelsea boot. I do the same even if I'm out alone. I am Tom Richards. In public I must always be Tom Richards, bassist/singer/songwriter.

My avatar here has become the most recognized shot of me. It is on my Facebook page, my Google Buzz and Yahoo profiles, It is on my business cards.

My merch matches my image. My social media sites match my image.

All bands, especially up and coming bands, should discuss and have an image, and make sure they basically live it. (No, this is not carte blanche to be obnoxious buttmunches, do massive drugs, drink mass quantities of booze or become a cast member of "Jersey Shore.)

Coordinated image immediately identifies you to club owners, promoters and even record labels that you are serious about what you are doing and that you understand what is required, even if you really aren't.

So, remember, "You are what others perceive you to be."

 

[bassbully]

No Luck? brother, life is about allot of luck.

 

[OPBASSMAN1994]

As far as image goes. I don't know what to do. I usually just dress in a black dress shirt, some mildly tight, worn-washed jeans, etc. Our guitarist just gets on some jeans and an Aeropostle shirt. Our drummer really doesn't dress up. We are kind of Prog-alt-Christian Rock. Any image advice?

 

[Thunderthumbs73]

First things first!

Figure out what is success FOR YOU.

Then try to figure out what success is for the band.

Then try to figure out if everyone agrees with that success for the band is.

Proceed...

 

[bassbully]

Today's nugget from me:

"You are what everyone else thinks you are."

Translated: Band image is more important then band talent.

One of the keys to successful original bands is a wholistic and consistent image. It separates the best from the wanna be's. It is also probably the most neglected piece of the puzzle.

The band image has to match the music as well as be continually consistent. (The music must be consistent too, but I'll discuss that maybe tomorrow.) There are two ways to look at this. You can either fit your image to the accepted norm for the genre, or you can do something 180 degrees different. Either way, whichever you choose, you must stick with that path.

The Ramones originally didn't have the leather jackets. And not until later in their careers did they really where the leather on stage much. But when you think of the Ramones, the picture of them in the leather jackets is what immediately pops into your mind. Till the day he died Joey Ramone always wore those round sunglasses when he was in public. Johnny Ramone always had the leather jacket on. When they were out together anywhere, they were not Joey or Johnny, they were the Ramones.

Or you could do something like wear Kiss style makeup and sing country music. While that may not actually work, it is memorable. But you would have to do that every time you perform. Get people to expect and see it in their minds. 180 degrees.

The recent trends of most original bands is that they focus completely on the music, and don't think one second about image. I have grown woefully tired of going to see new original bands that basically just show up and play in whatever they pulled out of the hamper or dirty laundry pile. No coordination, no look. It doesn't help solidify to a potential fan what they are or stand for.

For the past few years whenever I play out or Dan and I are out together, we coordinate what we will wear. We are "aging" alt/punk/pop rockers. So we try to look appropriate for our age and maturity. Usually that means we both wear black shirts (each of us chooses the exact style), jeans (Dan is the king of black jeans so usually I wear blue), I will wear either an italian style leather jacket or a armani style sport coat, Dan wears his old Indian motorcycle jacket, and we both wear some sort of boot or both wear some tennis shoe. I usually wear the brown biker boots and Dan usually has a version of a Chelsea boot. I do the same even if I'm out alone. I am Tom Richards. In public I must always be Tom Richards, bassist/singer/songwriter.

My avatar here has become the most recognized shot of me. It is on my Facebook page, my Google Buzz and Yahoo profiles, It is on my business cards.

My merch matches my image. My social media sites match my image.

All bands, especially up and coming bands, should discuss and have an image, and make sure they basically live it. (No, this is not carte blanche to be obnoxious buttmunches, do massive drugs, drink mass quantities of booze or become a cast member of "Jersey Shore.)

Coordinated image immediately identifies you to club owners, promoters and even record labels that you are serious about what you are doing and that you understand what is required, even if you really aren't.

So, remember, "You are what others perceive you to be."

Great post. My band has a good dress image but we dont go out and get goofy or anything. Its kind of easy in an Americana band thank God.

 

[Tampabass]

Hard work and professionalism are, indeed, admirable traits in musicians.

But, honestly, if hard work and professionalism were all it took to become successful on a huge scale, then there'd be LOTS more mega-successful musicians.

And there are plenty of "hard-working" musicians, doing all the right things, whose music bores me - and everyone else - to tears.

Contrary to the fantasy, it does take a good bit of luck to have a career as successful as, say, Springsteen (since you mentioned him).

And by "luck" I mean having a certain degree of natural talent, but, more than that, an ability to write and play (and, usually, sing) music that connects, in a big way, with masses of people AND having the good fortune to make the right connections with the right musicians, producers, concert promoters, record execs, etc, at the right time. Timing - how your music fits in with the zeitgeist, or does not fit in - has a lot to do with it, too.

IF all of those things happen AND you work hard to take advantage of the opportunities that come your way, then you might make it big.

There's no formula to "making it." Because, if there were, someone would be bottling it and selling it online.

No reason not to keep on pushing hard to become better musicians, play good music and get it heard. But the idea that you can do A,B,C, etc. and automatically land big-time success is a bit misguided, IMO.

 

[aztomr]

Good day,Tom. Thanks for starting an interesting thread. First, I have been playing guitar for decades, picked up bass
about 4 years ago. This may or may not fit this thread, but you seem to have a great understanding of the music business and I'd appreciate your opinion. I am in a band and we do mostly covers, we play about 6 originals during a 4 hour night. We plan to add more originals as time goes by, eventually doing most if not all originals. Do you think this is a wise plan or do you think we will have trouble down the road transitioning from a cover/bar band to an original. I'd appreciate any feed back. Thanks

 

[TRichardsbass]

As far as image goes. I don't know what to do. I usually just dress in a black dress shirt, some mildly tight, worn-washed jeans, etc. Our guitarist just gets on some jeans and an Aeropostle shirt. Our drummer really doesn't dress up. We are kind of Prog-alt-Christian Rock. Any image advice?

I'll hope others chime in here as well, but here is my thought. What you are saying is EXACTLY what I am talking about. Most of the band just wears whatever they were wearing that day.

My recommendation for you would be to review images of similar major bands. Creed and U2 come immediately to mind. See if anything they do you can match, or take elements from.

Band members do not have to match. Cheap Trick is a perfect example. Bun-E Carlos the drummer has the business shirt and thin tie. Robin Zander the white tux/suit. Tom Petersson the Leather jacket and suit pants. Rick Nielson has the baseball cap, Converse sneakers and funky guitars with checkerboard patterns. As they have aged they have morphed that look slightly but in image after image that is exactly what you see and when you picture them in your mind that is what you see.

At your stage right now, just get consistency. Everyone wears a black shirt and jeans. Each guy can pick whether he wears a T-shirt, dress shirt or "wife beater" undershirt. Jeans should be similar in wear, meaning if you all have torn jeans, wear torn jeans. The lead singer is the exception if you want. Everyone should wear either a boot or sneaker like a converse or Vans style.

Or maybe have a theme. Everyone must wear black, but it can be either jeans or shirt. So maybe you have a black shirt, the lead singer has a white t-shirt and black jeans, the guitard wears a black leather jacket or sport coat, the drummer wears a black bandana and shirt. You can change it every show, but everyone has to stay in the theme. I did a charity show last year where I had all my guns for hire wear something purple and I bought purple socks for everyone. Wish I could find pictures, as that night it was cool. I wore a purple sparke jacket, the drummer had a knarly purple shirt, the guitarist actually found bright but tasteful purple pants and we had a ball and looked like a band.

Sorry for the long winded response. So again, first start by looking at bands successful in your genre or who you all admire and see if you can use elements of what they do, and no matter what at least coordinate what you will all wear at each show.

Great question, keep 'em coming!

 

[TRichardsbass]

Good day,Tom. Thanks for starting an interesting thread. First, I have been playing guitar for decades, picked up bass
about 4 years ago. This may or may not fit this thread, but you seem to have a great understanding of the music business and I'd appreciate your opinion. I am in a band and we do mostly covers, we play about 6 originals during a 4 hour night. We plan to add more originals as time goes by, eventually doing most if not all originals. Do you think this is a wise plan or do you think we will have trouble down the road transitioning from a cover/bar band to an original. I'd appreciate any feed back. Thanks

Interesting question and thanks for it.

First, way to go. You play a four hour nite, which has become the exception (around here most are about 3 hours for cover bands, starting at 10 or 11.)

My experience has been that if a band is a great coverband, usually the transition to an original band is a large hurdle. Not insurmountable, but a hurdle. I have yet to find one band in my time that was able to do it successfully.

If you guys want to add original songs, then by all means do it. In my mind you would need originals that clearly stand up to the covers you play before and after them. If your material isn't as catchy, kitchy or accessible as the covers, then its just a musical black hole in the set.

One way to do it would be to put the originals in the same place every night. Lets say you have a great original beer drinking song, that everyone seems to like and its like an anthem. For this example, lets say you have an original everyone notices and likes like Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline". Probably the best place to put that song is in the next to last set at the end of that set. Two things will happen. (1) People will participate and get really "happy" and want to order more beer and (2) they will come to know that when they hear that and sing your seet is over and you have one more set to come.

Another is to place your best original next to last for the nite, and end the nite on a cover that leaves 'em wanting more. Again, it will signal to them that you are about to finish for the nite and most likely over time they will begin to know the words. At that point, if its good, you can drop the cover tune completely and it will become your ending/encore theme.

As you add originals think exactly about placement. You don't want to put say a rockin' bluesy original right after or right before George Thorogoods "Bad to the Bone".

Another thing that might help is to have a steady venue where you gig regularly and add your originals in higher numbers over time at that place only. The audience most likely will become used to you doing so and will look at that place as special or different. If they like your originals then they will be anticipating the days until they see you there again. If they like your covers, then they will follow you to other clubs and know that they will get to hear some different material every week, month et cetera at the other place.

The other hurdle for going from cover to original is that club owners all are very aware of who the big cover bands are and who the orignal bands are. Few clubs book both types of music, so if you are known as a cover band the original clubs will really question your match with their club. And vice versa.

In my area you would and have never had THE NERDS play the Brighton Bar. And you have never had Monster Magnet play Jenkinsons.

Even the legendary Stone Pony over the years has been formula on individual nights. When I was younger and it was really hoppin', on Friday nights you usually had the latest big original band (Beaver Brown for example) and on Saturday Nights you had the house/cover band (Cats on a Smooth Surface). So if you wanted to hear something new (and maybe see Bruce) you always looked for Friday nights and Beaver Brown. Wanted to just dance and drink and know the music would be good? Saturday nights and Cats.

So if there is a club that has this type of formula (books originals certain nights and covers other regular nights) then this would be a great venue for you to try.

Hope that helps.

 

[bucephylus]

After thinking about being successful with original efforts, I guess I have a Duke Ellington (If it sounds good, it is good) viewpoint.

Write good songs.

OK, duh, and all that; but really bands come and go and the thing that really endures is the songs. If you can consistently produce good songs, and not give up, somewhere along the way, you are going to find success.

IMHO, GL2A

 

[aztomr]

Thanks, Tom. I appreciate the advice, will share it with my band. On a side note, I've heard of bruce playing with Cats on a Smooth Surface, but not with Beaver Brown( He played with Cats quite a bit right before and/or after the Born in the USA tour).

 

[TRichardsbass]

Thanks, Tom. I appreciate the advice, will share it with my band. On a side note, I've heard of bruce playing with Cats on a Smooth Surface, but not with Beaver Brown( He played with Cats quite a bit right before and/or after the Born in the USA tour).

Bruce started showing up and playing with John Cafferty and BB all the time, as Bruce really dug their music and sound. That was one big reason they rose to some prominence and one of the reasons they were able to get the Eddie and the Cruisers soundtrack gig.

Bruce would frequently get up and play with them. It became almost like a curse to JC and BB, as most of the people who would go to a BB show were really there hoping to see the Boss. Toward the later years JC would often try and arrange shows when Bruce was known to be out of town or on tour.

Heck, even I've played a song or two with Cats over the years. The original Cats had all the bigger locals and they were Bruce's contemporaries. Kevin Kavanaugh was a Juke. Bobby Bandiera played fill in with the Jukes and LaBamba and the hubcaps. Everyone had a tour in Lance Larsen's bands. The rotating coverbands there were Holme, Cats and LaBomba and the Hubcaps in the '80s.

 

[MNAirHead]

I'll go...

We have a band that's an offshoot from my cover band.

Couple of notes..

1-Clicking with the guys.. unless you're on the same page and genuinely get fueled by each other, the magic chemistry is not going to happen.

2-Self censor... I can't tell you the number of bands that have 1 good tune and 14 sucky ones to complete the hour...

3-Today's market.. think a killer single.. produce it well and then start ith the cusotmer backwards.... in our world it's ok to have a band with one song.. that rocks and sells

 

[TRichardsbass]

I'll go...

We have a band that's an offshoot from my cover band.

Couple of notes..

1-Clicking with the guys.. unless you're on the same page and genuinely get fueled by each other, the magic chemistry is not going to happen.

2-Self censor... I can't tell you the number of bands that have 1 good tune and 14 sucky ones to complete the hour...

3-Today's market.. think a killer single.. produce it well and then start ith the cusotmer backwards.... in our world it's ok to have a band with one song.. that rocks and sells

Now there is a perfect nugget. Yes, we are back to the days of the "single" and "one hit wonder". Albums are no longer needed to start. Just one really good song and a great use of all the media available.

Thanks Airy!

 

[Zolbol]

Great thread - thanks Tom..

Subbed