Getting gigs just starting out

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antispatula

antispatula

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Hey, I just released my first album. I had my album release show in my hometown last friday, and was able to draw in around 50 people for my first show which I thought was pretty good. What should I do when I want to play out of my town though, maybe in a town an hour away? It seems as if venues select bookings depending on how much audience you can draw to the show. How am I supposed to draw a crowd when I'm new and from out of town? Do I just try and get booked anyways? Thanks!
 
antispatula said:
Hey, I just released my first album. I had my album release show in my hometown last friday, and was able to draw in around 50 people for my first show which I thought was pretty good. What should I do when I want to play out of my town though, maybe in a town an hour away? It seems as if venues select bookings depending on how much audience you can draw to the show. How am I supposed to draw a crowd when I'm new and from out of town? Do I just try and get booked anyways? Thanks!
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You make friends with bands that will draw crowds and open for them until people know you.
 
Going in as an opening act is certainly an optiion. Depending on the venue you may be able to book an off night (say a Wednesday) and play for a lower price. Doing this a few times may help you pave the way for a better paying weekend gig. Naturally, if you have marketing materials, posters, CDs, press releases, etc - these all help present a professional image.

Depending on the market area you are in, the venues you want to target and the musical genre, you may be able to appraoch a booking agent (vs. trying to approach the venues directly). Normally, agents only want to book bands that meet certain "commerical criteria" - cause the agent wants to make sure his/her 15-20% is financially worth the effort, but if you find the right agency, it could be an option.

If you do book some gigs, if possible, get whatever marketing materials you need to the club a couple of weeks before the gig - so the club can make some effort to promote your gig.
 
do you think offering to play for free is a good idea, or would it make me seem cheap and not worth it? Because I don't care if I get paid at this stage, I care about getting my music out there.
 
There's probably a lot of other acts out there trying to get openings just the same as you are, so free is probably fairly standard. However, others might have to weigh in, as I don't gig much myself.
 
Are you friends with anybody in bigger bands? I'm not talking like Metallica big (haha), I'm talking bands that draw 100-300+ kids. If not, you should go to some shows of bands with similar genres and try to make friends! As a band that (finally) is starting to get a fanbase in our area, the one thing I hate is new bands trying to get shows with us who we don't even know. It's obvious they just want to use us for our crowd, and their music almost always sucks! Better to make friends first.

Do you have a myspace? If so, you need to be adding 100-300+ people a day. Go to other local bands' pages, view their friends lists, and start sending friend invites. Build an online fanbase: it's all about networking, and myspace is the world's biggest social network! You can't rely entirely on myspace to build a fan-base of course: it's all about playing shows & getting to know people in real life, but myspace can help augment the process.

Since you're on a recording website, I can only assume you're into recording? If so, offer to record cheap/free demos for local acts. If you're worth your salt, and they're happy with the finished product, they'll be in your debt and will be more than happy to let you open a show. At that show, talk to fans, talk to the other bands playing (specifically the bigger ones haha), and try to make friends. That's what it's all about :)
 
Gigging for free is a matter of the market you're in. If other bands gig for free -then you may not have a choice.

I don't know if this still happens - but many, many years ago - in LA you actually had to "Pay To Play". You paid the venue x amount and they would give you tickets to sell (in theory to recoup the amount paid to play). Naturally, most bands gave away the tickets, hoping to pack the place - so they did literally pay to play. For a while some other larger cities tried to use pay to play, but other than in LA (where everyone thought they could become a star - and where record industry people actually came to shows) it never really caught on.

You are correct that playing for free (or even playing for a lot less than a fair wage) does cheapen the value of the entertainment. Unfortunately, there are so many bands willing to play cheap (or free) that they run the price down for everyone.

I don't make much more per gig now than I did 40 years ago - why, cause I have to work as cheap as other bands - or not work at all.
 
Ya know, I never thought of that, but its not a bad idea (recording a live act to get an "in" with them).

Pick a place that plays the type of music you play, and offer to do a night of recording for em for free, and as a trade, perhaps have you open for em the next time, if they like the results of the recording.

Of course, this depends on your equipment list. When I was a senior in high school, beyond my drums and electric bass, I had a 7-year old Pentium 1 desktop and no recording system beyond a Portastudio cassette 4-tracker. Things have changed since I went to college, graduated and got a job... bought a decent PA system (nothin fancy - a sub, a couple woofer cabs, some power amps), and I can integrate my DAT recorders and pre's into the PA system for seemless recording of the shows I play.

Never thought to offer that whole packaged service for free to somebody (which would of course include mixing the stuff yourself as well), and then giving them the final results, to trade for a chance to play.

Its a shot in the dark, since the quality of the recording is up in the air to an extent, and you won't know if they are pleased with the results until afterward, but it would give ya good recording practice in any event. Again, this is if you have the equipment to do so, and many people do not (and understandably so, this shit costs a pretty penny to get and maintain)...
 
This is kinda off-topic, but Cusebassman's suggestion is a good idea for several reasons. Lots of bands have no studio experience but sound great live, and that's how they would like people to hear them. Thus, they may prefer a live CD rather than going into a studio. Venues may appreciate the ability to chronicle the best performances for display on the internet.

Whatever reason you do it for, recording a live show will bring you closer to bands and management/sound at local venues, plus exposure as an engineer. You may end up getting a job subbing a few nights for the house guy, or perhaps a band will like your work enough to call you into the studio when they do a CD. I've had it happen.
 
steve.h said:
Since you're on a recording website, I can only assume you're into recording? If so, offer to record cheap/free demos for local acts. If you're worth your salt, and they're happy with the finished product, they'll be in your debt and will be more than happy to let you open a show. At that show, talk to fans, talk to the other bands playing (specifically the bigger ones haha), and try to make friends. That's what it's all about :)
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mwahaha steve.h came up with it, but now its cusebassman's idea! :D
 
steve.h said:
, you should go to some shows of bands with similar genres and try to make friends! . . . the one thing I hate is new bands trying to get shows with us who we don't even know. It's obvious they just want to use us for our crowd, and their music almost always sucks! Better to make friends first.:)
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Seems like no matter what you do, you are always going to come off sounding like you are trying to use them for their fan base - how is some attempt at making friends going to be successful?

I ask beacuse I am naturally a skeptic, have had other artists trying to link with me (offline, at least) and have tried to link up with other artists . . . it never worked, no matter what side of the table I was sitting on . . .

I have tried to fake it and have approached artists that I genuinely liked for the song or performance that I heard/witnessed . .. either way - they all took it like "DON'T TRY TO USE ME!!!"
 
gullyjewelz said:
Seems like no matter what you do, you are always going to come off sounding like you are trying to use them for their fan base - how is some attempt at making friends going to be successful?

I ask beacuse I am naturally a skeptic, have had other artists trying to link with me (offline, at least) and have tried to link up with other artists . . . it never worked, no matter what side of the table I was sitting on . . .

I have tried to fake it and have approached artists that I genuinely liked for the song or performance that I heard/witnessed . .. either way - they all took it like "DON'T TRY TO USE ME!!!"
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It's hard, no doubt! The biggest thing is to stay in your league. If you're brand-new on the scene, and you've got zero fans, don't try approaching an act who sells-out 500-2000 seat venues. They're miles ahead of your man, and they've learned to recognize a mooch. Instead, find an artist with like 10-20 shows under their belt and a smaller fanbase. Or make friends in another way (like I said, being on a recording messageboard, offer to give free demo tracks!)
 
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