Tips on getting band recognition?

C

Casey

Guest
Wondering if anyone has any tips on getting band recognition, As in ways to get your name out there?

So far my band has a pretty good little following in the Portland metal/rock scene, We have a few clubs that want us back over and over again. A few clubs have even made it sound as if we were the talk of the town. We are known by quite a few bands around here and are usually the first they bring up when theres an opening for a band to hop on the set list, etc. etc. etc.

But it still feels as if I can do more to get out there, We have looked at by a few record labels... But things still feel a bit slow for me. So I was wondering if anyone had any tips on advertising the band a bit better? Or anything that would convince more people to come to our shows?

www.myspace.com/grenadiersofthedoomed
 
well i reckon your doing a great job as it is. im from downunder and iv heard and liked u guys, its all bout word of mouth, someone hears you and they like and tell another person you know?
myspace n all thats is exellent!

jus really put urself in the position to be heard by the public and the big cats upstairs.

your doing a tops job, keep it up!
 
Here's a couple...

1) Drop by your local rock radio station in the morning and take bacon butties etc with you for them. They'll be grateful, maybe play a track or two (if you have them) and an interview.

2) If they use hand stamps where you play, ask them if they'll use yours to mark people. Dead cheap to make a few rubber stamps with your band name and web addy on it and everyone gets branded with it.

3) Make friends with ALL the venue owners - if they like you as people you're more likely to get support gigs. Buy them drinks, invite them to your gigs etc.

I'll think of some more soon :-)

G
 
Oh yeah - don't worry about label interest yet. You kind of need to build up a critical mass of support first (as well as be sellable) - if the band is good enough...and I don't mean that in a critical way, the A&R guys will hear about you.

Most bands will do at least 5 years before they get signed up.

G
 
My best advice is to get out there, and play live everywhere and anywhere, consistency over time is key, don't do 15 shows then disappear for 9 months.

When we were more underground, we just got a van, and booked shows anywhere in Europe, went to Poland, Czech, everywhere - don't be afraid to lose some money, as the expreience/exposure will pay off! We went to a label with all this touring experience under our belts, and they realised that we were willing to put in the extra effort to make things work!

This is just my experience, but the best lesson I learned, was that no matter what level you get to, never think that things will be done for you - always look for opportunities and ways to get it out there that little bit more!
 
You just need to get out there and make a name by being professional and not Rockstars. The bands that always showed and acted like they where owed something always got left out in the end here.

One of the things we did where to have some small sticker and buttons printed up for cheap and hand them out. Just so people would put them around and people would ask questions. It worked for us we had a name established as a band to be put on the big shows for crowd draw.

Also buddy up with a promoter to try and get on the shows with the nationals coming thru your town
 
The best Advice I could give you is to not worry about it too much. Just keep enjoying the music you're making. Of course Making presspacks and sending them out to labels isnt a bad thing, but lots of bands often put all their efforts into just getting signed and often forget about their music. Getting a deal isnt the be all and end all of your musical carreer. In fact Sometimes getting signed for the first time can be an absolute nightmare. People find themselves bending over backwards and jumping through hoops for crappy labels and get absolutely nothing in return. As a person who has been signed to a couple of independant labels before, I have no real interest in getting signed anymore. I'm just happy to play shows when I want to.

Unless you're getting signed by sony or some huge company that can give you everything that they've promised, I would really have a good think aboput what your getting yourself into. Keep it about the music and less about the guy with the promises.

Perhaps I'm just bitter about what happened to me and my previous bands, but ending up homeless and 4000 miles away from anyone you know with a guitar isnt cool. Some of these companies can really shaft you if your not careful. Just keep it about the music. If it happens, it happens. If not, feel comfort in the fact that you're doing what you want to :D
 
first up loose the name :twisted: just kidding.

You've received the usual advice, and one of the best IMO, play till you can't play no more.
We've had several bandmanagement sessions(as part of regional and national bandcompetitions) and the thing that I remember most, is the "spread like virus" story.
Expand your horizon thoroughly(from town to town, county to county etc.), building a large fanbase. Not that they told us not to take the bigger gigs in major cities, but the major strategy(and it worked quite well) is spread like a virus...

You have to be/get keen on finding ways to turn things into your advantage, playing in a new town? contact local radiostations, newspapers etc.
A sneaky one(shoot me) I used every once in a while, call the owner off another similar pub, club or whatever nearby and ask him about the place(what kind of folks, get creative) you're playing. Doesn't work(it should match the style of the club) all the time but on several occasions after we've played someone of the other joint came up to us.

You could also join a booking agency, but I've had my fair share of wankers in that division, so they'll have to have a more then just a "good-reputation" before I/we will join one, but they can help no doubt about it.

Make it a band-thing, not just one person. Discuss it, two heads know more then one.
 
my advice would be to imerse yourself in it... breathe the band and enjoy every ounce of it. Make it your purpose in life!
 
toeturecellbass said:
You just need to get out there and make a name by being professional and not Rockstars. The bands that always showed and acted like they where owed something always got left out in the end here.
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I really agree with this... don't be the ones to get plastered (i.e. drunk) at the shows, drink all the rider etc... be there on time, etc. You'll get hired over the flakes any day.

The other thing (and this has probably been said) is to get chummy with other bands you like, see if you can do a joint tour, etc.

That's about all I can offer because I've been a sideman most of my career... when I had my own band the internet wasn't really what it is today.

Of course the other thing to do is really REALLY connect with your fans, take the time to respond to emails, comments, even set up IM for the band, create mini competitions etc and have your fans create stuff for you (i.e. design-a-tshirt comp)... make them feel involved.

the 100 people that LOVE you will bring more value to your band than the 500 that just like you.

hope that helps!
 
Some really good advice above! As I've discovered recently, if you just play the same local venues over and over again, you're not going to get far... you need to go futher afield and spread it around.

Just go for it and enjoy it... someone said, "it takes years to be an overnight success!"
 
Nothing wrong with being underground Matt... just do whatever you want to do. :wink:
 
Some advice I was given by a musician from a signed band:

Be relentless

By emailing lots of different venues I managed to book up a fair number of gigs. I've got things to a position where I'll make slots available for other bands that may be from another area, which can lead to gig swaps.
 
Well we do have a few big shows coming up in '08...

One being in New York City, and televised to a few million people worldwide... So that should get the name out pretty good :P - I wont mention the show until we have a concrete date though.

We will also be playing at The Burning Man Festival '08

I'm really surprised at how things have taken off so far considering we only started gigging in October of '07. I'm still looking for ways to speed all this up and get the name out a bit more.

I managed to print up a few flyers and will be posting them up around town in the next few days, plus I hand out flyers at our shows. Not to mention advertising like crazy on myspace... We're up to an average of 150-200 plays a day now :)

Now we just need to finish this cd...
 
thumbin said:
Well we do have a few big shows coming up in '08...

One being in New York City, and televised to a few million people worldwide... So that should get the name out pretty good :P - I wont mention the show until we have a concrete date though.

We will also be playing at The Burning Man Festival '08

I'm really surprised at how things have taken off so far considering we only started gigging in October of '07. I'm still looking for ways to speed all this up and get the name out a bit more.

I managed to print up a few flyers and will be posting them up around town in the next few days, plus I hand out flyers at our shows. Not to mention advertising like crazy on myspace... We're up to an average of 150-200 plays a day now :)

Now we just need to finish this cd...
Click to expand...


Casey make sure you let me know when you come to NYC... would be great to see you.

Lex
 
Lex said:
thumbin said:
Well we do have a few big shows coming up in '08...

One being in New York City, and televised to a few million people worldwide... So that should get the name out pretty good :P - I wont mention the show until we have a concrete date though.

We will also be playing at The Burning Man Festival '08

I'm really surprised at how things have taken off so far considering we only started gigging in October of '07. I'm still looking for ways to speed all this up and get the name out a bit more.

I managed to print up a few flyers and will be posting them up around town in the next few days, plus I hand out flyers at our shows. Not to mention advertising like crazy on myspace... We're up to an average of 150-200 plays a day now :)

Now we just need to finish this cd...
Click to expand...


Casey make sure you let me know when you come to NYC... would be great to see you.

Lex
Click to expand...

I think it will be around August or September... I just hope the recording date isn't pushed back again... Once we have a exact date though, I will be advertising like crazy :D
 
Started giggin in Oct 07 and you're gonna be starred on international TV soon? that's big man.

As for me my drummer cum band leader left, got a new one and we kinda screwed up a high profile gig. have to start from scratch all over again. seriously Casey, i envy you! All the best!
 
Z3r0_G said:
Started giggin in Oct 07 and you're gonna be starred on international TV soon? that's big man.

As for me my drummer cum band leader left, got a new one and we kinda screwed up a high profile gig. have to start from scratch all over again. seriously Casey, i envy you! All the best!
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Yeah, I'm insanely lucky that I jumped into the right band... It's funny because I turned them down about 2 or 3 times before joining. I was looking for something closer to home, I have to drive about 45mins out of my way to goto band practice and with gas being as high as it is I had to pass it up. They saw my myspace page and kept bugging me to join the band so I finally did :P - And am now very happy that I did.

Another crazy thing is this is my real first band, I've played with other people but I hardly considered it a band... Seeing how most of the people never made it to practice and we never did any shows togethor... Also, My first concert was my own :P I'm still new to all of this and in a couple of months I'll most likely be in NY on a tv show :P talk about crazy.
 
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