Rock Band

Starting up a band is relatively easy. Four mates that all wanna be rock stars, can all play reasonably, right some songs that you all think are the nuts (or learn covers that make money) and find a place to practice. Most starting up bands though all have jobs that help them fund their obsession with the latest release from Gibson or whoever you adore. That’s just the problem though, working men in Indy (or whatever your music scene thing is) bands don’t have the time to promote themselves. Its just not realistic to be a super mum and plug your band at the same time. So what precious time they do have needs to count. Here are three easy steps from RouteNote.com that should make it easier. And I hope that RouteNote.com subscribers are all reading this! (if not, shame on you!)

  • Gigs. The bottom line for a band is playing in front of people. There is no point in rocking out and singing about saving the universe if you’ve got on-one to listen. Open mic nights are good place to start if you can make it. Offer to play every week with the establishment, so there is always someone there at least, they’ll appreciate that and you’ll find yourself in a  semi-house band situation. You’ll end up playing with other people too and eventually creating a name for yourself in the local community.
  • Social Networking. Social network yourself like crazy. Make friends with every band that slaps themselves on Myspace or Facebook and they’ll make friends with you right back. Even if they make a thousand empty promises to go to your gigs, they’ll still know your name an recognise it if they see it on a poster or their friends tell them about you. Try to go to as many of their gigs as possible. You’ll not only be able to create some more contacts and friends along the way, but it will encourage them to go to yours. More people at your gigs means things are improving already. You can then start to plug your social network site and contacts to your fans.microphone
  • Contacts and Circles. Semi-contradictory to the second one, don’t follow everyone else at once, sometimes its nice to be missed. Spend most of your social Network time (when you go out i mean not in front of the PC) at a lot of the same places. Follow local promoters that you think have a genuine interest in your band and follow bands that you want to work with. You’ll start to become a regular and will become synonymous with the music scene. It should result in you becoming “that guy” people think of if they need an amp or whatever. They’ll start to ring you and offer you gigs, soon after that the band should start to look after itself.