Every artist has a unique journey to success in the music industry, but they should all start with the same goal.
Now is the best time ever to start a music career. The opportunities for exposure and success are at an all-time high, and virtually everyone can begin making money for their creative output as soon as it’s uploaded to the internet. Artists have never been as empowered to express themselves as they are right now, and that has made music as a whole far more interesting.
But regardless of who you are and the kind of music you seek to create, the goal of every musician starting today should be the same: Growth.
Jesse Cannon, music producer and author of numerous books geared at helping musicians succeed, says all new artists should prioritize growth until they have at least 20,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.
Why Spotify? If you asked a few years back, Cannon would have said the goal growth on Facebook or Twitter. Online metrics matter significantly in the industry, and having a sizable audience on any platform is a clear sign to the industry at large that people care about what you’re doing.
These days, however, Spotify is the most sought-after platform for strong performance stats. After all, the streaming giant is where digital engagement transforms into money. Every stream on Spotify counts towards an artist’s income. When labels, management, and the like are looking for new talent, Spotify is the place most turn to gauge an artist’s value.
When asked for more information, Cannon said 20,000 was indicative of an artist having “buzz beyond those of us who talk about [music] all day.” Meaning, an artist with a large Spotify following confirms the general public has discovered and taken an interest in their music. There are many artists that critics and industry professionals love who may never reach a following that large, so it’s important — from a business standpoint — to know music consumers are embracing someone.
Cannon further suggested that artists should avoid releasing or working on albums until they hit the 20,000 listener goal. Until that time, Cannon recommends releasing singles regularly. Consistently giving people a new reason to care or give you a chance is a proven tactic for developing an audience. Until people are willing to wait for something that could take a long time to complete, stick with singles as a means of showcasing your talent.
Careers are built on fans. In the age of the internet, engaging with listeners is incredibly easy. You can tweet at people, post to Facebook, share stories on Instagram, create videos for YouTube, and maintain a mailing list, among other things, without spending a dime. Growth on any platform is excellent, but growth on Spotify makes a difference that other digital communities cannot. Focus your efforts, build a community, and in time you will have the audience needed to support a full-time career.
Ahead of his upcoming album, Dragons, Drew Holcomb returns to Inside Music to chat about the latest developments in his life and career.
More than three years have passed since Drew Holcomb last appeared on the Inside Music Podcast. In that time, Holcomb has released another album with his band, The Neighbors, as well as an EP with his wife, Ellie. He has also toured across the country several times over, raised his children, launched a music festival, and began curating a monthly vinyl club. To say he’s been busy would be an understatement, and today, we are going to pull back the curtain to learn how he’s handling everything happening in life.
Holcomb’s currently preparing to release a new studio album entitled Dragons. The record won’t arrive until August, but the title track is already available to stream online. Check it out:
More than any previous release, Dragons captures Drew Holcomb as a man with everything most hope to gain in this life. He’s a father, an entrepreneur, a husband, and someone who can claim to be living out their wildest dreams. He has carved a path in the music industry that no one can duplicate, and he’s done it all without falling into the trappings of the music business. Dragons captures where he is in life right now, and it does so by shining a light on the many sides of his personality.
On this episode of Inside Music, Drew Holcomb chats with host James Shotwell about the latest developments in his life. Drew tells James about the new album, as well as his Moon River music festival and all the work it entails. The pair also discuss Drew’s secret to success, which can benefit any artist willing to put themselves in a somewhat vulnerable position. Take a listen below:
There are many ways to get attention for your band, but regardless of what tips and tricks you may have picked up throughout your experience in music, there is nothing that can impact your careers like a great hook or brilliant melody. This is not a theory or a thought, but instead proven fact that has worked for artists trying to make it in every corner of the music business. Everything else that follows, from touring to merchandise, must take a back seat to songwriting.
All that aside, artists still need to make money. Music sales have dipped across the board over the last decade, and with streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music on the rise, it seems like the amount of money most artists see from their new releases will continue to dwindle for the foreseeable future. Great music still sells, yes, but only a fool would rely solely on the strength of their music sales to support themselves in the entertainment business. Merchandising beyond albums and singles is an absolute must in today’s music business, and the one item every artist can use to generate income while trying to craft that perfect song is a t-shirt. There are a billion ways to customize shirts, some far more expensive than others, but by considering the following tips, you can keep costs low while furthering your marketing:
BASIC TIPS
Two-sided designs cost more than those with a design appearing on either the back or front.
Shirts requiring the use of many inks (colors) will cost more than those created using a single ink.
Dark fabric often costs more than light fabric because more layers of ink must be applied for the design to stick
THINGS TO CONSIDER
Large designs can make a significant impact.
Why incur the cost of creating a two-sided shirt design when you can make a more meaningful, more cost-effective impression with a large, single side design. The vast majority of printers charge the same rate for a design measuring 3”x5” as they do for those measuring 12”x12”. That said, not everyone is a fan of big designs so it would be wise to check with your fan base before moving forward with any plan.
Stop printing on both sides.
The occasional two-sided shirt design can be cool, but trying to cover both sides of every shirt you create will only raise the overall cost of merchandise. Using the knowledge you gained from the tip above regarding design sizes, artists should think twice before incurring a potentially unnecessary extra expense.
Use fewer ink colors.
Fans of alternative and punk music have been one of the leading forces behind a recent trend toward more color-heavy shirts. Bands like A Day To Remember and Asking Alexandria have found great success with shirts featuring cartoonish designs and many bright colors. Similar branding efforts may work for smaller artists as well, but those musicians should first consider the additional costs incurred from use of multiple inks. The number rises with each color, and unless artists plan on ordering a large number of shirts up front (500+) the upfront cost may be more than some are willing to pay for a few extra colors. Our advice is this: Keep it simple. Try and use one color whenever possible unless you know the idea you have is going to be a hit with listeners.
Order more shirts.
We touched on this a bit in the tip above, but one way musicians can lower the cost of their merchandise is to increase the number of shirts they order at one time. The price due up front will rise, but the cost per unit will drop, which in turn raises the revenue potential for your order. 100 shirts are better than 50, but 500 shirts at a time would be an ideal place to start. Of course, if you don’t have an engaged audience large enough to support such an order, then you should keep things small.
Consider offering shirts for a limited time only.
One way to cut out virtually all costs from merchandise orders is to create the exact number of items needed. Most print shops will tell you the per unit cost on whatever design you wish to print, as well as the number of units you must purchase to lower that cost. With this information in hand, artists can launch shirt designs that are available for a limited time as pre-sale only items. Once the purchasing period ends, artists can order the exact amount of shirts needed without having to make any investments out of pocket.
Think twice about upgrading your shirt choice to a fashion brand.
One determining factor in how well your merchandise will sell is how comfortable that item is perceived to be. There was a time not that long ago when artists with shirts printed on any type of fabric would sell, but in an age where brands like American Apparel exist this is no longer the case. There is a demand for high-quality material, and if you meet that demand you will give listeners another reason to consider purchasing your
This post is the latest in our ongoing collaboration series with Sonicbids. Enjoy.
Be honest: have your lyrics ever found you down on your knees and begging please, or noting that when things change, they also rearrange? Has anything in one of your songs ever cut like a knife?
If you’re 16 and in your first band, you can be forgiven for coming up with the same metaphors and phrases that have occurred to thousands before you, but if you want to be a real lyricist, you should be aware of these overused lyrical concepts. It’s the only way to avoid them!
1. “Cold as ice”
This tired simile, usually applied to a woman who’s not interested (or no longer interested) in the male songwriter, might be the number-one most trite phrase in music.
Try this instead: You can change the subject and the substance of this silly simile. Roger Waters flipped this one on its head all the way back in 1977 on “One of My Turns” when he sang that he felt “cold as a razor blade.” Better still, he was talking about depression and self-harm, not lost love.
2. “It cuts like a knife”
This is not only a common metaphor for love, it’s a stupid one. Love makes one feel lots of things, but it’s never once made me feel as though I was cut by a knife. Stabbed, perhaps, but not sliced.
Try this instead: If one must use a painful metaphor for love, consider some other sources of pain and/or death (probably skipping drowning – that one’s overused, too): choking, electrocution, burning, gunshots, blunt-force trauma, road rash, or some sort of allergic reaction. All of these have been used, and some of them used a lot, but most songwriters go for the knife.
3. “I’m down on my knees”
Usually rhymed with “please,” this bluesy couplet retreads the same theme of lost love, and more specifically an undignified plea for affection that once was freely given.
Try this instead: Throw the whole phrase out, and find another way to express your feeling. Warren Zevon, an encyclopedia of interesting lyrics, dodged all cliché when addressing this concept on “Accidentally, Like a Martyr,” singing, “Never thought I’d have to pay so dearly / for what was already mine.”
Surely there are other, more colorful ways to address the demeaning act of begging a lover to stay… like mentioning whatever you did to piss him or her off in the first place.
4. When everything happens “tonight”
Is there a word or syllable missing in your lyric? Just add the word “tonight.” This word haunts the end of millions of phrases, more common than a comma or a period. It’s the inevitable word that replaces an actual idea the lyricist might have.
Try this instead: The worst thing about this one is the total lack of any sense of time in most lyrics that feature it. It’s always “tonight,” a night that is going on now and will never end… and it would be more effective in future tense.
For example, “You’re my baby tonight” (more on “baby” later) is a lot less interesting than whatever is going to happen later, creating a sense of tension. “I’m crawling out my window tonight,” or “Meet me at the railroad tracks tonight” are examples.
5. “Things aren’t always what they seem”
Well, no, they’re not, but this trite vaguery doesn’t actually mean anything, like when Polonius cried, “To thine own self be true” in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. What the Bard intended as the babble of a fool has become universally cited as profound advice. For some reason, this cliché has come home to roost in hard rock and heavy metal more than other genres. Maybe it’s the drugs, but even when the world is confusing and strange to sensitive artists, this one should be left out.
Try this instead: Maybe this concept of confusion and uncertainty can be expressed more easily through music than lyrics. That’s what psychedelic music is, right? Grab your wah-wah pedal and soak those tracks in delay.
6. “Walking,” “climbing,” and “swimming”: the triathlon of love
How many times have we heard about how far the songwriter will walk, climb, or swim to reach a lover? And isn’t this whole concept a little archaic? In a world in which one can drive through a tunnel from England in be in France minutes later, the idea of a loved one being thousands of miles away just doesn’t have the impact it did when all those miles had to be on horseback.
Try this instead: Being a week’s ride from your beloved meant a lot more in the 1800s than it does today. That power of distance returns when the song itself is a period piece, taking the listener back to early times, as Cordelia’s Dad does on this folk number about sailing across the sea in exile.
7. “Baby”
Who knows when or why we started calling everyone “baby”? Think about your friends and family. Who in your circle can get away with calling you that? Technically, calling an adult a baby is a metaphor… just a really, really lame one. But if you’re going metaphorical, the sky’s the limit.
Try this instead: You can use any pet name or any comparison you’d like. Nobody thinks of AC/DC as an especially poetic band, but when Brian Johnson sang “she was a fast machine” on “You Shook Me All Night Long,” that was actually a pretty nice metaphor. Think how much weaker the line would have been if he sang, “She was my baby.” Try anything, anything but the baby.
8. “Soar like an eagle” and “learning to fly”
Birds, with their beauty, their spectacular aerial skills, and their long migrations have always inspired artists of all kinds. Songwriters are constantly learning to fly or mending damaged wings, two metaphorical clichés that deserve to finally die. That doesn’t mean that all flight metaphors need to go, but if you’re going to call someone a bird, at least be specific.
Try this instead: The names of specific species or types of things often have more poetic and evocative value than vague terms like “bird,” as Sun Kil Moon explore on their whole album Admiral Fell Promises. Songwriter Mark Kozelek mentions hummingbirds, pigeons, and gulls to give his listeners a sense of place, evoking oceans, deserts, or pastoral scenes.
Think whip-poor-wills, mockingbirds, redstarts, harriers, and nighthawks. The sounds and appearance of different birds can conjure thoughts of specific places and times, like geese flocking in the fall in New England or the calls of thrushes in the spring. But let’s give the eagle and the dove a rest; they’ve definitely done their bit.
Jesse Sterling Harrison is an author, recording artist, and part-time farmer. He lives in Massachusetts with his wife, three daughters, and a herd of ducks.
The following post is part of our ongoing content partnership with the team from Muddy Paw PR.
The creative path sometimes feels like a selfish and lonely road. Finding ways of using your talents to make a difference and give back to the community can truly be a positive shift. It was for me.
Several years ago, I came across an ad for a nonprofit event that was truly transformative. It was a screening of the documentary, Very Young Girls, about underage sex trafficking in our own backyard, the US of A. When the movie was over, everyone in the room was bawling or enraged. All of us wanted to get involved somehow. As an artist, I immediately started thinking about how I could raise awareness through my work.
Due to my background in film production, I decided to make a PSA. After researching for several months, I reached out to local organizations, the police department, and abolitionists to deepen my understanding. Upon completion, Channel Austin added the video to their rotation. I also screened it at one of the music showcases I put together as the Editor and Event Planner of The Deli Magazine. People were shocked and disturbed, the community was moved. They wanted to know more, including ways to get involved, so I referred them to local organizations working to fight against modern day slavery.
To be able to make a positive impact on the world with something I created was not only fulfilling, but also very motivational. It was a game changer for me as an artist and entrepreneur and something I work to incorporate into projects I take on moving forward. As long as you are authentic in the charitable work you align yourself with, the change you can make as an artist is limitless.
A worldly musical soul at heart, Oakland-based Charise Sowells – under the moniker of Lake Lady – is combining styles past and present to create a refreshingly modern new sound that holds your attention from start to finish. With influences ranging from the chilled-out trip hop of Massive Attack and Portishead to the blues stylings of Billie Holiday, Lake Lady is ready to take 2016 by storm with her brand new EP titled ‘Better Day’.
Co-produced with Midnite Tiger, Lake Lady’s ‘Better Day’ EP is set to release on March 25, 2016. At times haunting and always bursting with soul, these five songs see Sowells paying loving tribute to her influences while crafting a sound that is entirely her own. Check out the EP’s opening track, “Will Your Feelings Change” HERE.
This post is the latest in our ongoing content collaboration series with the fine folks at Sonicbids.
It’s probably one of your biggest fears as a musician. You’re pumped for your upcoming gig, you’re ready to hear some noise, but when you make it onto the stage, your heart drops as you see the audience is practically empty. For any number of reasons (weird weekday, bad weather), you have a crappy turnout. Your first instinct may be to jump off the stage and run out of the venue, hoping in vain that no one even notices you were there, but pause for a second, and ignore this urge.
It’s too late to get more people to the show, but as long as you do have an audience, you need to play for them. At worst, it’s still a practice opportunity, and at best, you might make a few more diehard fans who greatly appreciate the effort you put in despite the circumstances. Just because there’s a bad turnout doesn’t mean it has to be a bad show, so here are some tips for making the most of a crappy turnout.
Use it as an opportunity to have more personal interactions with the audience
One of the few upsides to a small turnout is that you can see the individuals in your audience better and personalize the show more than you typically could. Make the show intimate. Treat the few people that are there like they’re a group of your friends, and make them feel special for coming out. If you see a funny shirt, comment on it. Ask someone else what the best bar in town is. Ask if anyone who knows your music has any song requests. The specifics don’t matter – it’s much more about letting your audience know their presence is noticed and valuable. This is a great way to create fans who want to see you again (and maybe bring a few friends next time!).
Take advantage of the low-risk atmosphere to try out something new
Another pro to playing for a small crowd is that if anything you do isn’t received well or just falls flat, you haven’t screwed up in front of hundreds of people, and you can calibrate your act for future, larger shows. It’s actually the perfect space for getting honest feedback without alienating too many people. Now, the content of this “new thing” is entirely up to you. It can be a brand new song you just finished up and haven’t gotten any feedback on yet. It can be a personal story you’ve thought about incorporating in your show. Whatever you do, be honest with the audience members that this is the first time you’ve done it. They’ll feel extra special that they’re the ones getting the sneak peek, which will make them compassionate even if it doesn’t pan out.
Give it 110 percent
It might seem counterintuitive, and you may not be in the right mood given the state of the crowd, but you should actually try and go above and beyond when you’re playing for small turnouts. They deserve your best effort anyway, but even more importantly, everyone in that audience is perceptive enough to know you must be bummed due to the turnout, so if they get a truly kickass show anyway, your attitude and performance will blow their expectations out of the water. Rise above the circumstances and show the crowd – all nine people that may be in it – that absolutely nothing gets you down, and you put your heart and soul into your music no matter who’s watching. This is how you leave a lasting impression. People love talking about a great experience that they and only a few others were a part of, so you may be surprised how the word spreads.
Stick around until every single person has left
This goes beyond just working the merch table after the show is over (though you should definitely still be doing that). This is the point of the night where you can solidify a lasting connection with the concertgoers. If you’ve successfully implemented all the tips above, then you should be catching your listeners in very high spirits, which you can capitalize on. Ask people how they’re doing, what they liked about the show, and what they didn’t like. Exchange as much contact information as you can, and let them know how they can interact with you in the future. If you’re financially comfortable enough to part with a shirt or EP for free, use that to “seal the deal,” as giving away free merch is a sign of gratitude that will continuously remind them of you. Ultimately, show how grateful you are that they gave you your time, and convey that this is the kind of musician you are all the time.
Playing to only a few people is not on many musicians’ bucket lists once they’ve gotten used to bigger crowds. This is still no excuse to not give it your all. If you’re ever in this situation, take a deep breath and use everything in your arsenal to make it a great night. You’ll be amazed by how meaningful that small show might become.
Katarina Underwood is an editorial intern for Sonicbids.
Sometimes you know exactly what you want to say and when you want to say it. Other times, life comes along out of nowhere and slaps you in the face with an idea or thought you then immediately feel compared to share with others. It’s a momentary eruption of thought that can be influenced by anything, and that is especially true in the digital age. For me, such a moment struck last night as I was scrolling through my Twitter feed, and I will admit up front I was initially looking at my phone in hopes someone would be sharing something I had written earlier in the day. The answer to my inquiry was a definite no, but before I put my phone down to throw a personal pity party for myself a tweet from Michigan punk favorites The Swellers caught my eye and I knew right away there was a topic we needed to discuss on the blog today.
“We’ve been a band for almost twelve years, played on five continents and never had to sell tickets to play a show,” The Swellers wrote. “You don’t either.”
For as long as I have been a part of the this industry, which at this point is well over a decade, pay-to-play performances have been a topic of debate in the music community. Some will have you believe they are a necessary evil that exists to protect promoters from booking bands who do nothing to promote their own shows, while others – including myself – will tell you they are little more than a bullying tactic used by essentially needless middle men and women to make money off live music without needing to promote or perform themselves.
So, what is ‘pay-to-play’?
There are a number of ways to describe pay-to-play situations, but essentially it is any situation where promotion companies require musicians to pay a “fee” to get on a bill for a show (aside from application fees to appear at musical festivals and conventions). You may be paying with your own money out of pocket, or with funds gathered through advanced ticket sales, but as long as you are paying the venue/promoter/etc. before you step foot on their stage then you have found yourself in a pay-to-play situation. Independent promoters developed this method of booking to take advantage of naive talent, and over the years a countless number of excuses have been developed to cover up this fact, including the need for artists to help cover venue costs. That is not your job, and you should never feel obliged to pay a promoter, including in circumstances where they incur expenses at the end of the night. That is a risk that accepted when they took on the role of promoter, and anyone who is an actual professional will never ask that you help chip in to cover their loss. There is of course an exception to this rule if you are somehow directly involved in the planning of the show, say as a ‘co-promoter,’ but 99% of the time that should not be the case.
Are there good pay-to-play situations?
In short, no. Artists are asked to enter into pay-to-play situations because the promoter either has very little faith in the success of the event or because they know it will be a success and want to cash in as soon as possible with the free promotion presented by local talent. If the show you are paying to play on involves a national headliner, there is a good chance the tickets you are selling will go towards paying that touring act’s booking fee. You know who didn’t have to sell tickets in advance? The touring act who gets the money from your sales.
As I mentioned a few paragraphs above, the risk of loss/expenses in on assumed by the promoter when they decided to book the show. You are not responsible for making sure they break even at the end of the night, and you are definitely not responsible for guaranteeing a profit. You are responsible for showing up on time, performing your set to the best of your abilities, and doing your best to not be a dick to anyone in charge. You’re the talent, not the lead salesman for a promoter who offers you little-to-nothing in exchange.
These companies are asking artists to promote. What’s wrong with that?
When you require someone to do something you are not asking them anything. You are demanding it. Artists should promote shows because that is part of their job as musicians, yes, but nothing in the job description of a musician states that they will market until a specific amount of people agree to purchase a certain product. In pay-to-play situations artists are being forced to hard sell fans, which has been proven to be a terrible marketing approach in music, and furthermore they are made to assume the promoter’s risk, as well as the stress associated with handling the cost of putting on a live performance.
From personal experiences, I have known many small bands to make last minute calls to family and friends hoping people will buy tickets to a show – even if there is no way that person can attend – just so the artist can perform for fifteen minutes an hour and a half before some mid-level national headliner comes out and half heartedly thanks the ‘local talent’ that opened the show. In situations such as this, which happen daily in cities and towns across the country, who benefits except the absent, uninvolved promoter? No one.
It can also be argued that pay-to-play actually hinders marketing efforts, as it forces artists to focus on those they believe they can immediately sell on attending a performance and makes no mention of the need for general, routine marketing. They may send out a few digital posts asking those in need of tickets to contact them, but at the end of the day they are going to focus on hitting whatever threshold they need to meet, be it a number or tickets or an amount of money, and then the initial pressure is off. Once an artist meets the goal set by the promoter they can play the show, and even if the only people who show up are the twenty people who were able to come out of the twenty-five that artist convinced to buy tickets there would be nothing the promoter could say to put the blame on the artist because the artist had, at least on paper, met their obligations as talent.
This is all great information, but if we’re being entirely honest Haulix is a company dedicated to fighting piracy. What do you know about booking?
GREAT QUESTION. We may have built our company online, but as individuals our team has years of experience working with live music, both as promoters and musicians. That said, we understand that when dealing with matters related to tour life it can be more reassuring to hear things from people who are currently involved in your area of the music business. With that in mind we reached out to a number of influential people, including Nate Dorough of Fusion Shows and DC Area show promoter Tyler Osborne, to learn their thoughts on pay-to-play:
"I think it’s bullshit. If you’re required to pay to play an event, that’s not at all cool. Bands should never have to fork over money or do any sort of crazy thing just to get on a gig. However, I am a big believer that for local acts, their draw is best when they help sell tickets to their fanbase.
One of the biggest pushes we make in the concert industry is to get people to buy tickets in advance. That way, it’s sealed that they’ll attend. You can budget based on advance sales, whether you need to spend more marketing dollars or not, how much money you can spend on hospitality for the bands, staffing, etc. If someone does not hold an advance ticket, they may decide the day of the show that the couch looks nice, that they’d rather stay home and watch TV, etc. All of our marketing efforts are pushing to get people to come to the show, however they choose to do so, but it’s easier on everyone if they buy tickets in advance.
So when a local act is added to a show, they have the unique ability to physically deliver tickets to friends and family who would attend. So at Fusion, we give artists the OPTION of selling tickets, and usually pay better the bands who sell more tickets. We also pay bands who don’t sell tickets, if the show itself does well. But no one with our group is ever forced to sell. If they’re just not into it, that’s OK by us.
Unfortunately, some of the folks who want to make a huge fuss about pay-to-play will lump the way we do it into some sort of "scheme”, and we couldn’t be more against pay-to-play situations.“ – Nate Dorough, Fusion Shows (Founder)
”Does it make sense for a promoter to have opening bands sell tickets to play their shows? Sure. That doesn’t mean as a band you have to. We played houses or rented out VFW halls and chose the places where we could build our own fan base. It worked. I still feel guilty when we play a show and the local band had to sell tickets. Sure it helped us get our guarantee, but they did the legwork. The goal is to become an entity to where you get asked to play by a promoter because everyone knows you draw people. Or be good/cool enough to where the headlining band asks you directly. Selling tickets is the insurance policy, but in the grand scheme of things it isn’t guaranteeing those people staying to watch the other bands. Make a good reputation for yourself by promoting the hell out of your shows, building your own scene and following through with a killer show. That’s how you can sell tickets.“ – Jonathan Diener, The Swellers
"It would be easy for me to just give a one liner and say "pay to play” is completely bullshit, and yes that is the case, but there’s more to this. In my time involved in music I’ve seen this play out in many different ways. Most of the time I see promoters give a band X amount of tickets and have them sell as many as possible and then have them pound the pavement hocking tickets to whomever will fork over the money; most often parents and close friends come in to save the day and the show for the promoter to cover the cost of the headliner. Now, this is BS on so many levels. First off the promoter has put all the pressure on the bands to make the show a success and absolved themselves from any risk. Also in doing this, the promoter diminishes the value and morale of the bands that they want to sell their (the promoter’s) tickets. Shows need to be a two-way street with promoters and bands working together and being paid fairly to have a truly successful show. A lot of times bands feel trapped, having to play this game in fear of not being booked again at that venue and that fear is abused by SOME – not all – promoters to keep bands in their pocket. This also bleeds the scene dry and makes concert-goers not give a shit anymore because they’re tired of being hassled by bands to buy tickets. Another somewhat common practice is for a promoter to say you need to sell X amount of tickets or you can’t play. This is the worst of them all. Bands bust their asses to sell tickets, over-post on social media, and still need to come out of pocket to play the show. This makes for a shit show on so many levels…..the bands are pissed out of the gate that they did not meet the promoters goal, that their fan base is not what they thought it was and so on and so on. Then the promoter is pissed because now they fear having to come out of pocket to make ends meet. All that being said it often turns into a crap show with fans/friends/family showing up and watching their kids/friends band and then leaving, leaving it a half empty or less show for the headliner. So I’ve said what is wrong but the real question is how to fix the problem. That’s a way harder question that I think about a lot. So I would love to hear from the fans and bands on what they think would be fair.“ – Danny Fonorow, Jonas Sees in Color
"I know some bands get some good use out of it, but as a concept pay to play shows generally suck. Some scenes are so deeply entrenched in this model that it’s almost necessary, but within the punk scene, if you make good music, people will notice and your band will play shows. I never have and never will run or have my band do play to play shows, there’s just no need at the DIY level.” – Tyler Osborne, DC Area Concert Promoter
If it’s your first tour, your mind is racing at a thousand miles an hour. You have visions of what you’re going to do while on the road, what you’re going to sell, and what the lifestyle will be like. That said, before you pack another box of CDs or pair of shoes, here are the top three things the experts advise you not to overpack to make your van a little less cramped and your tour a lot more enjoyable.
1. Merch
Yes, you want to have enough albums and T-shirts to last the entire tour, but too much merch takes up a ton of space, and can be a pain on your back and your wallet. Brooklyn hip-hop artistRabbi Darkside remembers, “First time out, I brought, like, 300 CDs. My bags totaled something like 55 kg! Paid a price, too, literally. Flew Ryanair from London to Germany and didn’t realize the luggage weight limits were so low. Ending up spending an arm and a leg to get all my bags to our first destination.”
After that experience, and touring with J-Live, he says, “I’ve studied how people pack, kept track of my own sales, and learned to bring a reasonable amount that turns a solid profit margin. I set realistic sales goals for shows, and cap the amount of physical product.” He also notes that certain items sell better in certain areas: “Having vinyl, especially overseas, has been clutch for me since 2013. I try to pack as many double LPs and seven-inches as I can, and I still can’t bring enough.”
Rabbi Darkside adds that Dropcards come in incredibly handy. “A hundred and fifty of them take up as much space as 10 CDs,” he explains, and although Dropcards retail for less, “it more than evens out because their overhead is so low.”
When it comes to merch, if you’re planning on hitting the road in the near future, start paying attention to how much you sell at shows now, and be realistic about how much you’ll need to take on the road with you.
2. Clothes
Just because you’re going to be gone for a month doesn’t mean you need to pack a month’s worth of clothing. Kristen Marie of the metal band Conquer Divide remembers this being an issue for her band, saying, “We brought way too many clothes on the first tour, and I think we’ve definitely learned how to condense down to the essentials. We also had a giant wardrobe closet in the trailer, which was nice, but took up way too much space.”
Phoenix based hip-hop artist Mega Ran starts his tours with as little clothing packed as possible. “I’ve now realized that packing more than two pairs of socks or T-shirts is pointless. A simple stop at Walmart will do fine for socks, and you’ll pick up tees from the bands you play with at the shows.”
Rabbi Darkside seconds this, saying, “Wherever you’re going, and for however long, you only need clothes for a week. Have some dedicated performance pieces and running/exercise gear.”
SpaceLAB Recordings founder Jake Palumbo adds that the one time he packed too much in the way of clothing, “it made my bags heavier and landed me additional baggage fees when it was time to fly back home, not to mention [it was] annoying carrying [it] on the crowded subway when I got back to NYC. If I’d used my noodle, I could have washed my clothes at almost any hotel we stayed at, and saved money and space.”
3. Exercise equipment
While we like to emphasize the importance of staying healthy on the road, there are smart ways of doing it, and there are cumbersome ways of doing it. Thomas Becker of Kansas City rockersBeautiful Bodies remembers one tour experience that exemplified the latter: “I am throwing my singer [Alicia Solombrino] under the bus here, [but] she decided she wanted to stay in shape on tour, so she brought a personal trampoline on tour with us. The thing took up half the trailer and knocked equipment over day after day. In the end, she only used the thing once on the tour. We now have a ‘no trampolines on tour’ rule.”
Anika Pyle, frontwoman of the Brooklyn punk rock band Chumped, adds that if you don’t already have a workout routine, on tour is probably not the time when you’re going to start one. “I bring my running shoes every time in hopes that I might motivate myself to conquer my laziness and go for a run,” she says. “Never gonna happen.”
Adam Bernard is a music industry veteran who has been working in media since 2000. If you live in the NYC area, you’ve probably seen him at a show. He prefers his venues intimate, his whiskey on the rocks, and his baseball played without the DH. Follow him at @adamsworldblog.
The post you’re about to enjoy was written by Lance Waste, vocalist and founding member of the indie punk band Darling Waste. Lance has spent more than a decade of his life building a career in music, and along the way he has been able to secure some amazing opportunities, including multiple song placements on major television networks. Through it all however, Lance has struggled to continue chasing his dreams while barely making enough to pay his bills and keep a roof over his head. Still, where there is a will there is a way, and in today’s guest post Lance shares the biggest lessons he has learned from his time in music.
After you read Lance’s words, please head over to Bloody-Disgusting and watch the new video from Darling Waste. From there, follow the band on Twitter and give them a ‘Like’ on Facebook. Helping one another succeed is the fastest way for any of us to make it where we want to be, and we thank you for helping us help Lance further pursue his dreams.
Hi there. My name is Lance. Over the past 12 years I’ve been in an indie rock band. I’ve also ran a record label, ran an artist management firm and worked for various labels and management firms. A couple times over the years I’ve been approached to write books on touring or marketing your band and various things like that, but I’m really no expert and I’m not sure I have much to contribute that hasn’t been said a thousand times before. This is a list you’ve probably already read before, and you will probably roll your eyes at how obtuse and general these “Lessons” are, but I promise, they come from a place of honesty. If you follow them, you will succeed.
1. ART COMES FIRST. ALWAYS.
BE ORIGINAL BUT BE ACCESSIBLE. DEFINE WHAT YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU STAND FOR. Work harder than anyone else. be obsessed. The first thing I will say is this. Always put the music first. If you want to be romantic about it, art is the reason we are doing what we do. If you want to be practical about it, you are selling a product. That product is your music. It doesn’t matter how good of a salesman you are or how flashy your pitch and branding is, if the product ain’t there, nobody’s buying. Spend time thinking about who you are, what your music wants to say. Find your voice. Find that line between being original but being accessible. Don’t ape your favorite bands. But find a perfect blend of your influences while finding your original voice. Be tireless in perfecting your craft.
2. LEARN HOW TO PROPERLY RECORD YOUR MUSIC
There are no short cuts while being a DIY musician. You’ve got to write the songs, perform the songs, find like minded individuals who want to play your music, teach them your music, sometimes even write their parts for them and sometimes even teach them how to play their instruments.
When it comes time to record you need to know your stuff as well. You could pay to go into a studio but the reality is you probably won’t have a good enough budget to get the sound you are looking for. So get a DAW, get an interface, get a couple of decent mics and start recording. Just like anything, practice makes perfect. Be diligent. Can’t get the sound you want? Unsure of how something works in your DAW? Youtube it. The answers are all there.
3. BOOK AND PROMOTE YOUR OWN SHOWS
Booking shows in your region is as simple as doing our homework and putting in the calls and emails. Often times I look up bands that are slightly larger than mine, I research their tour schedule and contact all of the venues and promoters they are working with in my region. I ask for available dates and send them a one sheet. Make sure you follow up. Don’t ask for more money than you are worth. If you can only bring 5 people to an out of town show don’t ask for $100 for gas. Why should a club or promoter pay out of their pocket for you to live out your rock n roll fantasy? Take door splits. Ask for food. You may lose a little money the first couple times out but nothing burns a bridge faster than getting a big guarantee you didnt earn.
4. PLAN YOUR LIVE SHOW
Growing up, I loved music, comedy and magic. As i got older, I realised something they have in common: Each artform takes something that involves a ton of preparation and makes it seem effortless. In jazz, you can’t improv and solo before you have mastered the basic track. This is true for live music. You can’t have those “magic moments” during your live show if you don’t have your songs down perfect. Your will see your songs begin to evolve and take on lives of their own the more you play them. Over the years I learned to drive to the next town after the show. This way we would be hours early to the venue. We would have time to meet locals, promote the show, do radio interviews, lineup in store performances and get a great sound check. All while not being rushed or stressed for time.
We play roughly the same set each night. We play around 45-60 minutes if we are headlining and 30-40 if we are opening. We have our first three songs and our last three songs practiced perfectly. They stay the same each show. Then we add in songs to the middle as needed. Before we start our tour we think of what type of set list we would like to have. We plan our lighting schemes (we use foot switches, smoke machines and work lights most of the time), and even plan out the segways and interludes between songs. I like to think of our live show as a Vegas show or a Broadway play. I always want it to be an experience the fans will remember.
5. TOUR SMART
You don’t need to stay in hotels. That drains all of your cash. Sleep in the van. Or set up places to crash with your friends,fans and family. Ask the clubs and promoters for places to crash. Also as I said earlier, I like to drive to the next town after each show. Part of the reason is to have a great show the next day in the next town, but part of it is also to save on places to sleep. Rotate your drivers. One person drives for two hours, the copilot stays awake and plays the music. The Copilot is so vital to keep the driver awake and keep you all alive. Everyone else sleeps in the back. Every two hours, rotate. The Copilot drives, the driver sleeps, and every two hours one of the sleepers becomes the Copilot.
Also, try and plan your routes so there are no days off on tour. Nothing bankrupts a tour more than a day off. No income is coming in, everyone is bored and hungry and spending money. Book every day of the tour. Days off will happen anyway. Vans will break down, clubs will cancel, clubs will close unexpectedly.
6. BUY INTO THE LIFE …..
If you are in this to get rich, get out. Save yourself the years of disappointment. Spoilers: you won’t make millions. Especially if you are in a subgenre. My biggest idols barely make ends meet. Lead singers are living with girlfriend’s parents and their children are on WIC.
On the other end of things, you also can’t half ass this life. If you want to work a full time job, have a nice house and a social life, just resign now to make music a hobby. If you are going for the brass ring, mentally prepare yourself for the life of crashing on couches, eating dollar menus and having no real friends or relationships.
Understand that touring at this level is to grow your name and your brand. It’s to show your music to people and to build a fanbase. Do not tour with the frame of mind that you will make money or even break even. If this is what you want out of life. Do it while you can. Do it full on. Take no prisoners.
7. ….BUT NOT THE LIFESTYLE
You are about to run a sleepless, thankless marathon with no monetary reward. No need to destroy your body in the process. The best way to not become an addict is to never start. Don’t cloud your mind with drugs and drinking. You aren’t a rockstar, no need to party like one. Also, most of them die. And being dead probably sucks, so no need to rush to it.
8. REFUSE DRAMA
When I was young, I would watch football with my dad. I love the endzone celebrations. He loved when a player would score and hand the ball to the ref on his way back to the bench. He loved the quote “Act like you’ve been here before.” The older I get, the more I realize how right he was.
One thing I see at almost every local show is the one band (or one member of one band) kicking off. Getting loud and angry over something stupid. Usually time slots, sound checks, drink tickets etc. For some reason, bands think that being the loudest makes it look like you are important. It is absolutely the opposite. The pros have seen it all before. We all want to play right in the middle of the show, in front of the biggest audience, but at the end of the day, we get that it’s just music, and it’s just not worth getting upset over most nights.
This also goes for drama in your band. If something happens on stage, wait until later to discuss it. Nothing is less professional than a band arguing before, after, or god forbid during the show. Also remember that things seem a lot less dire after a good night’s sleep.
9. BE KIND ALWAYS
One of the keys to our longevity is our kindness. Sure there are people I’ve fought with over the years, promoters and other bands who hate me. You can’t please all the people all the time. But I’ve learned the easiest way to exist in the DIY scene is to hold no grudges. There are promoters and bands I don’t work with anymore. Maybe they screwed us out of money or were just personalities I don’t gel with. That’s fine. I don’t hold any ill will. It’s just entertainment at the end of the day. Kindness is important and will get you far. Don’t yell at the sound guys. Don’t fight with the bartenders. Strive to be the nicest guy in the room. Don’t back down on what your band needs to have a successful show. Don’t be a pushover. But find the nicest way to express yourself.
This goes for your fans as well. Don’t blow them off. The cute ones aren’t your personal playthings. Have restraint. And this should go without saying but never ever ever touch another band’s merch or gear. Ever.
10. TAKE A DEEP BREATH AND ENJOY.
Just by writing a song, releasing an album or getting up on stage in front of people ,you are doing something most people only dream of. If you are on tour, take lots of pictures. Keep a journal. Live blog each day. Record your memories and share them with others. This is a very special time in your life. Meet new people. Explore each new town. These will be the memories you cherish for a lifetime and the stories you tell your family for the rest of your life. Remember, live in the moment, don’t stay mad. Band members will quit. People will flake out on you. Your songs may flop. Fans will abandon you. You will make mistakes. Promoters will fuck you over. And it’s still awesome. Take a deep breath, relax and have fun.
There is nothing easy about taking on the responsibilities of marketing your new song or album, but if handled correctly the reward for your efforts will vastly outweigh whatever difficulties you faced along the way. That has always been the appeal of DIY promotion, and today there are more artists than ever taking matters into their own hands. Some admittedly have a better grasp on key marketing concepts than others, but I’ve always thought there is something to be learned from every marketing campaign you see. For example, you may not be in a Canadian metal band with a brand new high concept album being prepped for release, but if you take time to understand how someone in that position is dealing with the need to find exposure for their efforts you may learn a thing or two that can be applied to your future promotions.
With that in mind, I want to introduce you to Silent Line, which just so happens to be a Canadian melodic metal band with a brand new high concept LP that is being released later this week. The band has been around for the better part of the last decade, and along the way they have self-released everything they have produced, but this new record marks the first time the group has attempted a concept album. I thought it would be interesting to see how the members are marketing their release, especially given the fact they have no label to help them get the story of their LP in front of influential industry leaders, and thankfully for me the band was happy to oblige my request for an interview. You can find highlights from our conversation below, as well as a sample of the band’s new album.
I said this above, but it bares repeating: Even if you do not have a metal band of your own I can guarantee you that there is something in this feature that will aide you with your next release. Promoting a concept album is one of the most difficult tasks in metal PR, especially for a band that is still working to be recognized on a national level, and what works for the members of Silent Line will almost certainly work for your next release. Pay attention, take notes, and apply the lessons presented here to your own situation. The similarities may surprise you.
H: Let’s start with the basics. While I’m sure there are many Silent Line fans in this world who will read our interview, I’m willing to wager there are a lot of readers who will discover you through this feature. Please take a moment and introduce yourself.
SL: Hi everyone! We’re a melodic metal band from Edmonton and we’ve been around in one form or another since about 2008. We’re pretty laid back until it comes to our live show, then we’re all business and focusing on making it the best, most professional set we can each and every time. Most of the time, we are planning for the next show or album and jamming whenever we can, our nights usually end with a few dead cases of beer and some greasy pizza.
H: I want to talk about your new album, Shattered Shores, but before we get there I’d like to talk about the band as people. I’m told you originally met in high school?
SL: Yep, we started jamming covers of our favourite bands like In Flames at the local “Rock Jams” which were a glorified talent show specifically for music. They were really amazing experiences at the time and was the only chance we had to play live until we were old enough to play bars. Myself and Randy were in the same grade, Andy was a grade or two below us, and Adam was ahead of us. We were introduced to Adam – who is a bit older than us – through a mutual friend who knew Adam played drums, quite the matchmaker he turned out to be. TL DR; we grew up in a crappy town and our only option for a passtime was to find other people and friends who loved music as much as us and wanted to dedicate their time to practicing!
H: Was metal the genre you immediately gravitated towards, or were their other bands and sounds created before you settled on what would become Silent Line?
SL: We’ve always been pretty set on making metal, it’s what comes naturally to us. We were called “Variance” before we switched our name, but we had the same songs and lineup so it was essentially the exact same thing. Really early on, in 2006, we were yet to develop our sound; at first we had “songs” that were just a bunch of riffs mashed together and didn’t have vocals. By the time we switched our name toSilent Line we had the whole first album written.
H: We might as well address your name now, as I’m sure it’s got many curious. Can you tell us a bit about the story behind Silent Line?
SL: Well… to be honest we are a bunch of video game dorks. On every CD there are multiple references to games we hold close to our hearts. For example, Born of a Dying Star, the song Titan’s Winter is a map from Heroes of Might and Magic III, on our first album, One Body Blade, the song Phoenix Down is from the Final Fantasy series and Attacker Takes Damage is an item stat from Diablo II. Our name doesn’t stray far from this sort of thing, it is from one of the most played games in our lives: Armored Core: SilentLine. Between it and Diablo II, our highschool years disappeared. On Shattered Shores, though, the term “…silent line” is incorporated into the song Erosion and refers to a lack of communication in a desperate time.
H: You’ve been releasing music since 2010 (One Body Blade), but your new LP is the first time you have created a concept album. What initially inspired you to turn your creative focus in this direction?
SL: It’s been something that I’ve personally wanted to attempt for a long time. I’m a huge fan of Coheed and Cambria and, if you aren’t a fan and don’t know, every album except their newest release are all concept albums. I think it makes the album feel more complete and cohesive. It’s like every song fulfills a purpose and belongs to the whole and with a deeper connection than a random assortment of songs that were written at roughly the same time and thrown on a disc. Having a riff or lyric appear in more than one spot connects those two ideas together and, for me, helps me appreciate the artist’s message a little more.
H: With that said, can you tell us a bit about the concept behind ‘Shattered Shores’?
SL: The main idea can be taken in two different ways: one is that we are truly stranded on this island, and the other is that it is a metaphorical island inside of ourselves that we are stranded on. Either way, we have no memory of how we got there and no idea when it will end. It was written from a dark place, but, as some songs depict, with hope for the future. We wander the wastes alone in seemingly a never-ending remorseless winter broken only to bring about an inferno and there is an ever-present fear inside of us that we can’t identify. For example, the song “Black and White” is about aging and discovering not everything is simple, most decisions you saw as being black or white before are actually shades of grey and much more difficult and complex than you originally thought. Basically, everything is written from an individual’s perspective on this island and their travels and endeavors, but everything could be taken as a metaphor to real life situations. I hope that makes sense, it can be hard to explain the mess that is in my head.
H: It’s easy to understand how some may view that concept as a depressing one, and I guess that is going to be true for any story addressing feelings of isolation, but when listening to the record I get the sense you don’t see it as a doom and gloom narrative. How do you view the parable being shared?
SL: It started out being quite dark, but in the end I view it as a very stiff middle finger to depression. Yes, it is dominated by images and feelings of sadness, melancholy, and hopelessness, but the message is that no matter how bad it seems there is a ray of light somewhere ahead, even if you don’t know it. “Summersong” was written last but carries the concept of hope in times of hopelessness; as we could see the rest of the album coming together, it just felt right and came naturally. “Embrace the End” is similar, and does close the album. It should be an up-and-down experience that in the end leaves you elevated and defiant.
H: What came first, the concept or the songs?
SL: By a very slim margin a few songs came first, but by the second or third song we had the basic idea and the title worked out and everything flowed from there in roughly equal parts.
H: How did you shape the narrative through the music? Was someone in the responsible for making sure your story made sense?
SL: We incorporated a lot of rain and storm effects, they’re always present somewhere in the background even if they aren’t audible all the time. The music is more laid back but more powerful – at least in our opinion – than our last albums. On Shattered Shores we concentrated more on the overall feeling of the songs than the intricacy and complexity of each drum fill and riff. No one was responsible for making sure our story made sense: Andy wrote the lyrics for a few songs and I wrote the lyrics for the others and everything tied together nicely.
H: Member Mike Burton produced the record. Has he produced everything you’ve released? How does having a member with studio access and know-how help the band? Are there any drawbacks?
SL: Fortunately for this interview, I am the one writing it and if there is anyone more adept at shitting on myself than I am, I haven’t found them yet. We’ll start out with the benefits first though. I did indeed produce all our releases, and One Body Blade was my first real project ever, but Born of a Dying Star was co-produced with our old keyboardist Morgan Szucs. The major benefits include a lot of money saved – well, after purchasing all the incredibly expensive studio gear – as well as being able to take your time since you are not on the clock with every note you pick. There is room to be picky and strive for perfection in this sort of environment. If that take had a crappy out-of-tune chord, redo it. If that vocal take was 95% there, scrap it and go for the extra 5%. Also, the amount of orchestrations, weird effects we experiment with for hours, and Pro Tools witchcraft on this album could simply not be done if we were to send it away for mixing somewhere else. Much of the orchestrations were added one at a time, sometimes subtracted only to be added back again. All of this eats up expensive studio time but since we own the equipment and plug-ins, this wasn’t an issue. We can create our own backing tracks for live use and bounce personal practice tracks for each band member (our drummer Adam would have each track as you hear it on the album but with all of the drums muted). An album with so many moving parts would be hard to communicate our intentions to someone else and would likely end up with us frustrating the hell out of them. As for negatives, the most detrimental point is that you get far too close to the mix and it is hard to be objective. Is that snare good? Does the guitar tone sound as amazing as you think it does or is it actually a wall of angry bees? I’ve always hated my mixes the second I am done with them, nothing is good enough. This album stands out in that we got Jens Bogren to master it, so he was able to provide mixing feedback as well as his magical mastering skills! I am quite terrible at guitar in comparison with so many people I know, so some of the takes were numbering in the hundreds. I’m not afraid to admit that. The only thing I am “good at” on guitar is writing our songs and the occasional sweep-picked lead run. We have been practicing our nuts off though and we are quite able to play all of this live. I think every band goes through a panicked phase when their new stuff is done. “Shit, we have to play that now?” At least for us, every album we make we try to challenge ourselves beyond our current skill level.
H: Shattered Shores is being self-released, which is admittedly what initially drew me to this album. You don’t see many metal bands taking the release of a concept record into their own hands, but with Burton on the boards I get the sense you guys prefer having control of your material. Did you try for a record deal prior to settling on a self-release plan?
SL: We did send our previous albums away to the big boys like Metal Blade, Nuclear Blast, and Century Media to name a few. We also sent press kits and albums away to smaller labels as well. It’s a brutal market out there and instead of waiting around we decided to take matters into our own hands.
H: To be fully transparent, you have hired someone to help promote the record. Is this your first time working with someone in that capacity?
SL: Yes we have! And it is the first time. It’s also the first time we’ve paid for professional artwork and mastering. We’re now wishing we did this before since Jon and all of Asher Media Relations have incredible contacts and have worked their ass off to promote our album. It’s not something we would hide, we know several local bands who have also hired promotional help, it would be impossible to do in addition to the album and still have a life.
H: What have your experiences been like thus far? Has bringing an outsider made a noticeable difference in your reach or exposure?
SL: Most definitely it has, we’ve got some articles and tunes up on Bravewords and MetalNationRadio with more to come, including you sexy bastards at Haulix Blog. But seriously, we really couldn’t have done this on our own, the best way to promote is to hire people who are skilled and have contacts from years of work. We have to support each other, and we are not afraid to pay fellow Canadians and support their careers in music as well.
H: Do you feel it’s better to outsource individual needs such as publicity and retain control of everything than signing a record contract? Is DIY your plan, or do you ultimately hope to sign a record deal?
SL: It’s hard to answer since we have never been on a real record contract, but it goes without saying there are some horror stories involved that make us happy we retain all our material and copyrights. If we had a vetted and reviewed contract in front of us and it would mean we could tour full time and release music, then we would jump on it in a heartbeat. It’s what we’ve always wanted to do after all.
H: What advice would you give to other up and coming artists who may be trying to promote their own unique release?
SL: If you’ve got something you really want to promote then do whatever you can to get it out there. We sat by as our last albums were released and received little coverage since we didn’t do anything except set up a release show. As a band there are only so many things you can concentrate on and achieve at any one time. Don’t spread yourself too thin or compromise on anything.
H: What goals do you have for the coming months, and what would you say is the biggest obstacle standing in your way?
SL: We’re organizing a big release show with some of our fellow Edmonton bands. This means that we are playing the full album Shattered Shores front to back, which is going to be a feat in itself. Planning the show to be a handful too.
H: Do you have a plan to overcome it?
SL: Lots and lots of practice and perseverance. We just had a practice session on October 3rd and we completely shit the bed on one of the songs, we couldn’t play it to save our lives. The next day we got it nearly perfect after just a few run-throughs. There are always going to be obstacles, there are always going to be failures, but it’s not the end of the world. As the old Trailer Park Boys saying goes, “That’s the way she goes, boys. Sometimes she goes, sometimes she doesn’t cause that’s the fucking way she goes.”
H: Well if good music is a sign of career potential I think you’ll be just fine. Before I let you go, do you have any final thoughts or comments to share?
SL: Thanks so much, the last comment hit us right in the feels. We can’t thank people enough for spending some time listening to our music, even if they’re not fans. The response so far has been amazing, and we need to thank the online magazines, promoters, publicists, and our promo company enough for the awesome job they have done. We just hope that people get as much enjoyment out of listening to our new album as we did making it! Thanks for the great questions.
