Indie Rock 101

Running, Recording, Promoting your Band

Richard Turgeon

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781136121654
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Acoustical Engineering
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Indie Rock 101 is a clear, concise, all-in-one primer for beginning to mid-level musicians looking for the essential fundamentals behind running, recording and promoting their band. It's all the basics that can take years to collate from more specialized or technical books, magazines and websites-and it's written by a real independent musician. * Part I, Running Your Band covers the topics most relevant to forming and running the band: the people, practice and songwriting * Part II, Recording covers pre-production considerations, gear and how-to basics, and timeless fundamentals and techniques around recording, mixing and mastering * Part III, Promoting covers what you need to know to establish and grow your fan base, including graphic design, your press kit and website, sharing and selling your music, playing out and making a video Whether you're just starting out or looking for a 360-degree primer to help take your music to the next level, Indie Rock 101 is the one book that covers it all. Featuring photos and Q&As from: Birdmonster * CDBaby founder Derek Sivers * Juliana Hatfield * John Vanderslice * Karate * Mark Kozelek of

PART 1
Running Your Band

There’s a certain magical quality to a great band. Any band essentially consists of people standing on a stage playing instruments, but a great band’s collective chemistry, proficiency and energy inspire proportionate enthusiasm in their audience. As music is a universal language, the connection between performer and audience can be very powerful, even transcendent.

A great band is a matter of working with the right people, using practice time wisely and writing great songs. (All of this, of course, results in having a great live act, and we’ll cover performance in Part III, Promoting). While a great band is usually the result of the members’ collective experience and dynamism, there are certain basic principles that can help you make your band the best it can be, or at least better than it already is. Let’s start by looking at your…

CHAPTER 1
People

How to find good band members

Post ads online, hang flyers

Network

Find like-minded players

No weak links

Every team needs a captain

Next, consider…

Your band name

Know when to part ways

Even if you’ve already formed your band, the following information is still pertinent to optimizing and running it most efficiently. And if you’re just starting to look for people, let’s start by covering the following sections.

HOW TO FIND GOOD BAND MEMBERS

Post ads online, hang flyers

There are plenty of places online to find other musicians to work with (www.craigslist.org is a no-brainer), but it can be just as effective—if not more so—to advertise with flyers.

The best place to post is in rehearsal spaces in your area because this is where real musicians go, the ones who are actually rehearsing, recording, and probably playing out. Other good spots to post include those where other musicians are known to hang out, like coffeehouses and bookstores. Below is a sample flyer with typical fundamentals and comments below each “field.”

Headline (Who You Are And What You Want)

Attractive female indie rock-minded singer/songwriter seeks band.

Get to the point and make it sound interesting.

Influences (Who Do You Like, Sound Like, Want To Sound Like)

Veruca Salt, Breeders, Juliana Hatfield, Donnas, to name a few.

Try to limit this list to 4 to 5 artists. We all have eclectic tastes, but you don’t have to list everything you like since you’re trying to establish your overall vision here

Links/Samples

Samples and photos at myspace.com/yourname Official website: www.yourwebsite.com.

I Have

A van, a rehearsal space, I know how to record, mix, and master on my computer

Talk about what you have to offer.

Where/When

I live in the Mission District and am looking to practice twice a week in or near that area.

No one likes a long commute to band practice after work, and you won’t either. Plus, GUDs (Geographically UnDesirables–nyone more than, say, 20–45 minutes away from the space) are often chronically late and eventually drop off. Save yourself some hassle and try to get someone in the neighborhood.

Age/Experience

I’m 22 and looking for people between 18 and 30. I’ve recorded and put out three records with different bands throughout college, and I’ve played at a good number of clubs in Philadelphia.

Setting expectations regarding your age and experience further helps you screen flakes and bad fits before you both waste time with an audition.

Goals

I want to do this for a living. Serious inquiries only, please.

A statement like this may sound a little strong, but you’ll more likely hear from someone equally as ambitious if that’s what you want. If not, be up front and say something a touch lighter like “I have a day job and plan on keeping it–ust looking to jam locally on weekends and do the occasional local show.”

For Consideration

Please send links to MP3s and preferably, photo(s).

As you get more experienced–or you’re paying for your rehearsal room time–you’ll want to screen with samples and, yes, even photos (especially for lead singers) before you potentially waste time auditioning them. At least get a recording–any recording: it’s still the best way to judge people’s level of experience and tastes without meeting them.

FIGURE 1.1

This is one of the best places to find your next band: flyer boards at the local rehearsal studios. (Photo by R. Turgeon).

Network

In business and in the music business, there’s no faster way to fill a post than through referrals (who also come with at least one reference right off the bat). If you’re just starting out or are new to town, go to local shows, start chatting with good bands, and pass out your music. Don’t be shy: ask if they know anyone who’s looking for someone like you to play with. Every local music scene features a smaller cast of characters than you think. So start passing out demos to bands you like or want to sound like. If you’re polite and have good material, most people will be happy to help you. (More on networking with other bands as it pertains to live shows will be discussed in “Playing Out,” Chapter 12.)

A word on appearance

It would be nice to think that bands are judged solely on the merit of their music, but in the music biz, that’s never really been the case. Some might say that it’s superficial to concern oneself with one’s band’s image or appearance, but whether it’s fair or not, doing so gives you an advantage. Even if the rest of the band doesn’t want to amp it up out of some misguided sense of purity or comfort, it’s important that at least the singer projects their band’s ethos, music, and image by carefully considering what they wear on stage. It’s less important that your act try to dress cool than it is to at least discuss how you’ll be presenting yourselves–and that there’s self-awareness cohesion and competence in this area. Regardless of what your image (or non-image) may be, a useful exercise is to look at video or rough photos of your stage presentation and ask yourself a few questions: Do we look like a unit? Do we somehow stand out from the millions of other bands out there? Would ours be a band someone might pay to see or hear based solely on our photo?

As you start to meet and audition people, you’ll also want to be sure to:

Find like-minded players

It’s said that the things that bind and break couples are sex, money, values, and beliefs. When mates are aligned on these things, the relationship has a better chance of lasting. It’s not surprising that similar considerations might be made in choosing band mates. More specifically:

Do you like the same bands and types of music?

Do you have the same goals for the band?

Do you have similar personal values and beliefs? (drugs, work ethic, punctuality)

Are you clear on (and happy about) roles and responsibilities?

Collaborating with diverse opinions and personalities can be rewarding and result in some great music, but you ultimately want to be able to say at least a soft “yes” to these questions. As you gain more experience in your band and possibly in other bands, you should be able to more quickly and instinctively evaluate whom you should associate with or avoid.

Once things start tO firm up a bit, or it’s time to narrow down to a few choice candidates, it’s important to keep a few things in mind…

No weak links

When choosing your bandmates, it’s important that everyone adds value and that there are no obvious weak links performance or business-wise. People who are playing at the same level but who can also push and challenge each other make a good team. Ideally, you want to choose people who are happy in their respective roles and who work well with others—a valuable, developed skill in itself that plenty of good musicians never develop.

The lead singer is, of course, the band member whose primary role is to ini- tiate and maintain that connection to the audience, so they’re naturally the most prominent member of any collectively decent band. In the minds of general audiences, the singer sets the level for the band as a whole. while it’s important for every member to be good, it’s important to keep in mind that a band even with the best musicians will rarely rise above the charisma and ability—or lack thereof—of their singer.

Regarding related roles and how they relate to the logistics and business around running a band, it’s most effective when roles are clearly defined and everyone contributes. The bands that tend to get ahead fast are those who are clear on what their role is as both a performer and as part of the business, if th...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Full Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Book outline
• Introduction
• Part 1 Running Your Band
• Part 2 Recording
• Part 3 Promoting Your Band
• Appendix A Audio production magazines
• Appendix B Glossary of audio terminology
• Appendix C Recording process and gear list
• Index
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author