silly little things to make a band better....

[Joe Nerve]

just thought i'd share something we did with the nerve a while back, that we decided to start doing again - and see if anyone else has any similar ideas.

randy (the guitarist and singer) and I have always done the work for the band. any promo, gig booking, scheduling, cd making, etc. all the things you need to do to keep your band moving along. what we started doing again is checking in with each other every day with a "What I Did For The Nerve Today (WIDFTNT)" email.

we list the work we've done, ie:
1. updated website
2. posted our info at a new music site.
3. called so-and-so and asked if they'd lend us 10,000 for recording and a new bongo bass.

ya, know - stuff like that.

it keeps us on our toes and becomes a competitive type of thing.

any thoughts?????? any things you do to better your band?

 

[jondog]

Get some lights. They don't actually make your band any better, but you'll look marvelous! We've got some par cans, and we just added strobes and smoke. Look out!!!

 

[Munjibunga]

Originally posted by SMASH
Make sure everyone has, and uses, a good stage tuner.

This is the number one thing. I'm with you one thousand percent.

 

[7Stringer]

I'm a fan of constantly evaluating band performances and direction. I try to videotape or audio tape each gig if possible, then have a meeting instead of another rehearsal next time we get together so we can talk about what went wrong and what went right. A change of scenery is nice for this (restaurant, bar). It keeps everyone thinking about how things can get bigger and better.

 

[Bassbarbie]

I keep a business card holder in my amp bag. At gigs, if people show interest, I hand them a card.

On the card I print the gigs for the coming month or two, and on the back, our contact no's, email etc.I only use a light card - being a cheap skate! the idea is they keep it until it runs out then collect another. It helps regulars know when you're gigging.

Another thing -I think its important to tell your band members when they've done something well. I think these compliments are more important than the ones from the general public.

We occasionally record our gigs and then analyse them too, and recently we've upgraded out P.A amp and speakers and got new lights. Its hard to gauge the effect of the equipment, but muffled or too quiet vocals is definitely not good!

 

[Andy Daventry]

<ol>
<li>Slipping the guitarist's Marshall half stack into a bag and discreetly dropping it off a bridge.

<li>Smiling

<li>Wearing dark shirts

<li>Practising

</ol>

 

[Bruce Lindfield]

Originally posted by SMASH
Make sure everyone has, and uses, a good stage tuner.

They don't seem help our Trumpeters and Trombonist much!!

 

[Edwcdc]

They don't seem help our Trumpeters and Trombonist much!!

Fire them!
I think just having a website period, goes a long way. Our website is our band name and is on our banner and people still don't know we have a website. You have to mention it a bunch of times so when they go home at the end of the night they can check it out. Our guitar player gets lazy with keeping it fresh so I think our fans get bored with it. Got to keep things fresh. This includes song lists and sets. Yeah and the tuning thing is a must. I've seen good bands sound like crap because they are out of tune with each other.

 

[DirtDog]

Originally posted by Munjibunga
This is the number one thing. I'm with you one thousand percent.

Standard Issue for PUSH and LBB:

 

[rickbass]

Kind of after-the-fact: at the gig, make a big deal out of giving away some of your band's swag or your CD during a break later in the night when the crowd is soused.

Sometimes the competition to get at it can look like the Jerry Springer Show, only the contestants are much better looking at your gigs.........I certainly hope!