Forming a successful Band Part 2

Once you've decided on the internal runnings of your band you should carry on with the theme we discussed in the last issue of separation of the art from the industry.

This does depend of course on what sort of band you are in, and what your goals are. If your over riding goal is to be a teenage idol pop band, the above does not apply, as these days, chart pop is usually an entirely contrived process, where business and music become one.

Lets assume you are concerned primarily with your music as it stands in its own right, not with being a pop star. But we'll also assume that your wish is to bring this music to the maximum audience. This is an entirely different stance from the one of the would be teen idol. It may seem an obvious point, one below your consideration. I suggest you think it through anyway, as its one that most bands have to deal with later on, a bit more seriously. Once you get close to a record deal, there may be a lot of pressures, pushing you in directions you hadn't perhaps considered seriously.

Its a cliche and cliches are often based on truth: Many a band with promising beginnings ends up 'selling out' after the first or second LP (and many more before then).

Generally speaking, these days, art and big time commerciality don't often mix - rarely with new bands. I urge you to make a choice and stick to it. Either you want to be a teen idol or you want to be a serious artist. Don't think you can be both, we are not in the 60's any more. If you don't want to be either, you are probably just playing music for your own enjoyment, this is great, but you don't need to bother with all the things we are about to discuss.

People who change their mind under pressure half way through typically end up in 'pop limbo'. Neither credible enough for serious adult fans, nor contrived enough for the teen market - its a sad place to be.

If you are serious about your music, and your only other concern is to get it to as big an audience as possible, read on. If you primarily want to be a big pop star, you will need to be willing to sacrifice anything including your art so stop reading at this point. I urge you to reconsider - there are better ways of life. Anyway its not for me to say that.

The fact that if you put your music first, you might become famous, is a different matter. It is important that that is not your primary concern. Otherwise as soon as a bit of success comes your way, the pressure will be on to get more commercial, cut out your 'intense stuff', get a hit together, change your image etc... etc... As I've said, if you give in to such pressures you'll end up in pop limbo land - not a good place to be. If your success and your career are built on the merits of your music, the are far more likely to last longer.

Choose now and stick to it.

So onward with those interested primarily in their music.

You need as I said earlier, to separate your art from the business, and you must keep them separate.

What you are looking for is a following of people who are really into your art. The better your music (whatever that means), the more devoted your following. You won't be instantly launched to pop stardom, but you will be pointed towards something far more certain: a devoted and growing following.

This leads to record contracts. More importantly, if the companies interest is based on the quality of your music (proved by your following) you'll be negotiating with them on YOUR terms. This is VERY important.

THERE'S NO ACCOUNTING FOR TASTE

Public taste is a fickle thing, what seems new and strange now might become the next big thing next year. Or it might not. Before a new musical movement has gained popular momentum, its impossible to say where the record buying demand will be in a years time. Record companies know this, its their business.

So how can they tell if a new band with a new sound will be a sellable item in a years time?

Creative musicians, songwriters, programmers have a good track record of predicting where things are going. That's because they are on the inside, on the cutting edge. From a record company's point of view, its hard to see where things are going.

ASSURANCES

They need some assurances, something to give them the confidence that they should risk investing in you. This is why it is SO important to get a following of some kind. If an A&R person from a record label sees you play or hears your track played at an event- that's your moment. If the audience gets into it, even better if your own following is there going crazy to it (or what ever they do), then the A&R person has SOME evidence that you might sell, that people like your stuff. If 150 people in this club like it, there's a good chance lots of others will as well.

If you play to an empty hall with a couple of drunks who give a disinterested clap at the end, the A&R person is being asked to rely solely on his or her own judgement. As I've said they know that personal likes and dislikes have little to do with what will sell next year.

If you perform well and professionally, the live sound is good: they'll have some confidence that you'll look good on video, and that you'll perform well in the studio.

If you bumble around between songs, great buzzings appear from the guitar in quiet moments, the songs end messily, the sounds of the instruments clash, this doesn't help. An A&R person might wonder if you'll be untogether in the studio. If your live set is a mess you are likely to be the same in the studio. They also know that it will take some time and work to get you to a stage where you can play big professional venues.

CAN'T THEY TELL GOOD MUSIC WHEN THEY HEAR IT?

Record company A&Rs are pros, its their job. This means two things: 1) They know that what they personally think is good music only goes so far. They may have hated punk, but it sold very well. They may have loved industrial music, but it never left the underground. They know they can't personally tell what the constantly changing public will like this year. So seeing a hundred people at a club go crazy over your music is some indication that perhaps a lot more people would if they heard it.

2) If they take a risk on you and you don't sell, or you prove an expensive liability in the studio or on the road, and the company drops you, it doesn't look good on the A&R person's record. Their career, to a lesser extent than yours of course, is involved in their decision to take you on or not.

BEHIND THE MASK

It is important that you view the people involved in the business end of it correctly. They are human beings, they have all the pressures, job insecurity, and ambitions as everyone else. Their profession is by nature a risky one, so they are looking for all the assurances (of every kind) they can get.

If you have a following at your gigs, this is one assurance in their eyes that we've talked about.

You might send them what you think is great demo tape, but without the gigs and following, you are asking a lot of them, if you're looking for a contract.

If an A&R person attends a gig and you go down a storm, they are human, and quite likely to be affected by the atmosphere. Remember part of the fun of their job is being involved with exciting bands, and exciting music / cultural scenes.

Getting press is also very important both in terms of building your own reputation / following and in terms of giving a record company confidence. Press is VERY important at every stage of a band's career. If the press likes you, or even if they don't but they feel you're worth reviewing, that means to a record label that the same will be true if they take you on. Its one more assurance.

Getting press is not that hard. If you're in a big city, its usually about playing in the right venues. There tend to be certain venues which are reviewed all the time. If you play there regularly, you're bound to get reviewed.

Contacting individual journalists is also important. Send them something interesting visually as well as a tape. if they (or anyone else for that matter) are visually attracted by what you send them, they are far more likely to listen to the tape, and come down to see you.

Of course, if you play at a venue where the journalists you've contacted regularly review, your far more likely to get a review then if you play somewhere they rarely go. Just look through the music press, note down who reviews what, where and build up a data base.

So this is all the business end of it: Starting with

1) Getting the internal organization of the band sorted out

2) booking a rehearsal room,

3) then getting regular gigs in the right places,

4) followed by contacting the press regularly,

5) followed by recording a demo,

6) followed by contacting record companies.

GETTING GIGS

This is hard work when you're starting out. Because you have to convince the promoter at the gig (the person who books the bands) that you are worth booking, even though you haven't done many gigs yet.

You'll typically find that it takes number of trips down to the venue to find the right person to talk to. Then you give them a tape and some publicity material and typically you have to either ring them up or go down and see them several times to get them to listen to the tape.

It sounds like a lot of hassle just for one gig, but once you've played there, if the promoter thinks your any good and if you bring in some people (who buy drink and pay admission), you'll find booking the next gig there very easy. The more you do there, the easier it will be to book, and you'll end up booking a string of gigs at a time with them once you're established.

Getting friendly with a good promoter at a venue can be important for other reasons. Promoters (this is just a name for the person who runs a club and books the bands) usually know the journalists who review there, they are often very friendly with them. So if the promoter gets to like you as people and they like your band (or what ever it is), they'll often help you be either getting a good journalist down on a night when you are playing, or booking you on a night when they know a journalist will be there (a night when a big band is playing for example).

If a journalist goes to see a bigger band and you are one of the support bands, if they like you, you'll get reviewed.

JOURNALISTS ARE PEOPLE TOO

Its worth remembering that music review journalists are human beings. A bad journalist can dent the reputation of a good band. But If it weren't for the good journalists, no one would ever get reviewed! Many a journalist has helped along new bands.

Like everyone else in the music industry, a journalist more than likely wants to be responsible for 'discovering' a new band. So if you are good, if they like you, they'll give you a good review. In fact they are often just as likely to review you even if they don't like you, its still entertaining for their readers!

If you haven't got a good following yet, that won't stop you getting reviewed. Typically, journalists are not swayed by an audience's reaction and make up their own minds as to how good the band is.

Remember, reviews are important but if you have no following, if you are playing to empty halls, you are making it harder for a record label to believe in you. Ringing up a label and telling them you have lots of press reviews will definitely get them to take you seriously. You'll get past the receptionist to the A&R people, which you otherwise might not do.

If you ring up and say to the receptionist that you have recently been reviewed in several known music magazines, you'll normally get past several barriers.