freemusiciansecrets.com

So you have a band! Great start. So now you have to get out and gig. Without getting out and playing, you will never get a fan base and you will never take it to the next level. Step one…Get a myspace page, or any other page on the internet where you can put your music up. This is very important to give the people booking you at their establishment some reference on what you sound like and where they should put you into the lineup. Its also good for you so you can see what you’re up against. You want to get in where you play with other bands that may have fans that like you as well. To get started, go down to your local music store and ask the guys that work there where a good place to play is. Usually these guys have a good info on what places pay or where would be a good crowd for your band. So contact the venue and find out how long the set is. Normally, you get a half hour to an hour to play. Still find out so you can make a set list that fits the time slot. Remember when you play live the tempo magically ends up faster than rehearsal. Plan a few extra songs so you can fill in if you end up with extra time. Too much is better than not enough.


Personally, I like to know what kind of space you have to set up as well. The rig may have to get smaller if you have to fit into some corner of a dive bar. BTW if you don’t have a big following, dive bars always have people and can be packed weather you have a ton of fans there or not. If you have a video camera and a friend who is willing to record you guys I highly recommend getting the video. Its amazing to see what you guys really look like on stage. It will really help on gig number two. A word of warning…at gig number one you may run into the guy in the band who wants to be a rock star, but when it comes down to it, they flake. With vets, you don’t have to worry so much, but if its your guys first show, get ready. It could be a real surprise. Talk with your band about what you guys want to do on stage. Your look and presentation should have an impact. Make it mean something when you play.


Ok, so you have the deal at this place you are playing and you guys have a set list and some extra songs. Time to do a trial run on set up and tear down. If you have a complicated rig, you might have to cut some of the gear out of the live rig if it takes too much time to set up and tear down. Typically, you get fifteen minutes to do set up and tear down. Big tip: Make sure your cables are not tangled. If you have to use cable ties or tape, get them user friendly. Worst thing is to have the crowd waiting for you to set up while you are cutting into your playing time. A lot of times, if you are fast, you can play a longer set! Its kind of obvious, but you have to have transportation that will fit your gear.


There are a few kinds of gigs you can get. Paid…killer! Pay to play where you have to sell tickets for your gigs. Showcases, which usually are after you have been playing for a while and you are trying to get label interest or a slot on a tour. Backyard gigs that can be very rewarding for getting a local following. Finally, you can just go and play for free at a local venue. What is better? I think I would rather test a new band at a local venue. Your friends can be a real driving force for your band and you should at least try to get a few gigs before you present to your friends. You want to give them a great show and really make them dig you so they will spread the word. If you have a CD, give as many as you can out. When you have a really good looking and sounding package for your CD, then yu can sell them. Nobody wants to buy a CD that has bee hand written and in a CD slip. The CD might just get them to come back to see you again though. Put your name and URL on the CD and if you can put a song list on them. You want them to sing along at the next show or at least know the songs. Tell them to make copies as well. Free advertising is always good!


If you have a budget, or not, check out my post “Stage Show vs Recording vs Both” It’ll give you the steps to build your band from ground up. First thing is first though, get your band tight! Get comfortable in front of a crowd, and make sure you are performing for them. Entertain them! If they have a good time, they will be back for another show. As part of the entertaining, try to hang out after the show and talk to the people there. If they like you and you are personable, they will be much more likely to come back to see you again.




As always, questions, comments, concerns, hit me up. And if you liked the post let me know. BTW, if you have any topics you want covered, we are here for you. Ask away and we’ll see what we can do.


Jeremy Gift


Free musician

So you got the band. You got the songs. You got the gigs. Now what about the merch? If getting on a tour is the goal for your band, or if you just want to make some money at shows, merchandise is the way to go! One, it makes you look more professional, two it can generate cash flow for gigs, and three it helps build the band as a “brand”. If you’ve ever opened for a headliner on a national tour, you know they have a booth set up with a tone of merchandise for sale. Everything from CD’s to buttons to t-shirts. Why? Because that’s how they afford gas to the next show. Unless they are the Foo Fighters, they most likely aren’t making a ton of money on their CD sales in retail locations. So they are hustling at every show. You should do the same. Weather you need to pay for the gas or just need some strings, every piece of merch that goes out has your name on it and when you can get people to wear your shirts around town, you can bet people will come to see you just out of curiosity.

So should you DIY or have somebody do it for you? The answer depends on what you can figure out yourself and how much you’re going to use it. As far as I’m concerned, I wouldn’t ever recommend buying the gear to make t-shirts and sweaters unless that is going to be your day job. There is a fairly large investment of time, space, and money. Buttons however are a different story. For $200.00 to $300.00 you can pick up a button press that will do everything you need and its really easy to punch out a ton of buttons. The nice part about doing it yourself is flexibility. You can have a large amount of styles of buttons without a huge change in time required to make them. Remember, you never know when someone will see something that they can’t live without! Same goes for apparel variety, is the spice of selling them shit!


Now you have to sell CD’s. That at the end of the day is the whole point…or getting chicks. I forget, but anyways you need a CD. Rule is a good looking demo is better to sell than a crappy looking polished recording. Once they get home and listen to it the polished CD is by far better. So basically you need both. How to get it depends on time and your skill level. Recording it yourself has more than just the CD as a benefit. You can also record songs or pieces of songs to work on it. You can take your time on the mixes and really experiment around with your sound. Cost usually ends up being more than cutting one CD after you get a whole studio full of gear, but you can cut as many CD’s as you want. If you guys are tight and can really lay down some clean tracks in a studio, you can do a good sounding demo for fairly cheap. They’ll do the mixdown and give you a CD you can have mastered and duplicated in an attractive package. (Don’t forget to get a barcode if you want to get it into retail locations) Either way is fine, as long as you end up with a good looking good sounding CD. If it still looks like a demo, no one will buy it. Just a little warning if you are trying to sell CD’s with hand written sharpie on them. Pay the money and get the logos and covers printed. You’ll sell a ton more CD’s.


So back to apparel. T-shirts are the first thing you need to get together. Various sizes in one style is ok to start with, but if you want to build your band and sell some gear you need to get more than a t-shirt. So most girls like girl shirts, and they usually look better in them than a regular guy shirt. Get the girls to wear your shirts…if the girls go, they guys will go. Get a few designs going with your bands logo in a few different but instantly recognizable styles. Think the Rolling Stones “mouth” or Aerosmith’s wings logo. Something you can lay out many different ways that will represent your band. IMPORTANT! It has to look cool enough to make someone who sees it want it without knowing who you are. Style! Style! Style!


So, at the end of the day sell whatever will sell and put your logo on everything. Boxers, lighters, key chains, whatever. But before you invest a ton of money on a large quantity of merch, test it out in a small quantity. You don’t want to get stuck with $2,000 of watches that won’t sell till the price is $0. Be careful till you know it works. Just because one person asks for it doesn’t mean everyone will want it. Once you know something will sell, get large batches of them produced. Usually you can get quantity discounts on most things you have to get manufactured, and price shop! I hate seeing friends getting ripped off on merch when they could have done a google search and spent 5 minutes price shopping and saved 50%.


Good luck out there and as always, let me know if you have any questions about this subject.


Jeremy Gift
free musician