26th
The Specialization Myth: DIY Booking By Patrick Callan
I’m a singer songwriter and board member with Blanket Statement Records, considered a complete asshole by some and a really good person to know by others, with the help of Turn Back Now! and Disposition, we were able to create the momentum that is now, this really cool DIY label I’m happy to be a part of.
My main point of contension among musicians is Specialization and waiting around for outside help, to meet the right people, to get that big break….
Specialization keeps us in the dark ages in a very personal way, whether you do something or not doesn’t matter, but if it affects you directly you should understand how it works.
This is especially pertinant to musicians, ask an ambitious highschool band what they want from their music, they’ll say to be famous, get signed to a label, not even knowing what a label does, I’ll tell you right now in a practical sense so we can move on: It gives you a loan to make a record and promote the record, if it has a vested interest in you, it’ll do everything within it’s power to help you pay it back, the band-label relationship can be a horribly vulnerable one for the band if the loans are too big and the band is not popular enough. On the wonderfully small scale, a label made up of bands, artists, engineers, photographers, etc. who love what they do, it can be a wonderful thing that offers support and encouragement.
You also want to play shows, let me tell you now, there are far shittier bands that get shows on the regular, you can do it to. Start out with open mikes and just get comfortable. Make friends with other bands, musicians, sound guys, meet everyone, make that contact, be friendly and on good terms, but only work with the people you want to work with.
Bands rely on people to get them shows, put together thier press kits, get them on the radio make their record happen.It’s on par with any person needing a wing-man every time they want to get laid, even into the context of a loving relationship, past marriage.
Booking agents are born, when there’s a task to be done, someone needs a show, it’s not about doing it right, it’s just about doing it, failing, trying again.This can be anyone, in fact, I’d like to meet more people who book shows as a hobby, and aren’t in fact musicians, it would take away from the serious self interest issues that happen with many bookers, namely, myself.
If you wait around long enough, nothing will happen, do it now and do it yourself. The more tools you have, the better you can achieve your goals, the better you can recognize bullshit when you hear it.
I had a friend once who said- “You can’t snow on a snow man.” Basically meaning, you can’t lie to a liar, I’m going to teach you in a series of entries, how to book shows, put out records, gain that underground success you’ve craved since you bought your first Nirvana record and started a shitty cover band. Doing all this is essentially just being a tactful liar, and an ambitious dreamer, you’ll get stressed out, pissed off, but you’ll achieve you goal.
Since I didn’t go to school to learn any of this, I just had to jump into it, I fucked up a lot, made a lot of friends but also couldn’t deliver on promises or said things out of passion and stress, I’ve made enemies too.
All I tell you isn’t necessarilly the best way to do things by any means, but it’s one way, it will give you at the least the basic idea.
Here’s how you book a show: you get the contact of the booking agent of the club you want to play (email, phone, whatever, just be persistant, you’ll have to do it many times before you get a response) under the heading of booking inquiry,
Try to make it a special event, this can be anything, but mainly a reason other than a bunch of bands are playing at this club, this date, blah, blah, blah, consider a benefit, a CD Release party, a locally well known band that your acts are able to open for, anything, just a good reason to go. You will book a lot of shows that are just shows, but every chance you get, make it a big deal.
Have your shit straight before you contact them, get 4 bands or artists, have a rough date, just giving a month or a week (ie: late may) is fine. Take the number of people you know you can draw and multiply it by 2 or three, and that’s what you tell them will be there. Put it in a concise and to the point presentation, here’s a mock up of what I do.
Hi, my name’s Patrick Callan, I’d like to put on a show at your venue in late may, early june of 2009, the bands I’d like to have will be-
-band 1
myspace.com/band1
-artist 1
myspace.com/artist 1
-band 2
myspace.com/band 2
-band 4
myspace.com/band 3
Realistically, we could expect a crowd of a 100 people, I’d like it to be an 18 plus show, and if it is necessary to have a cover charge I prefer it to be under 5 dollars.
Thanks so much.
-Patrick
Please note: Ever situation is different, some club owners think they’re more important than they are and need more convincing, some clubs are at a loss monetarily as soon as the doors open and need to get people in, some are busy and will view your persistance as a virtue, Some require a press kit. Do your research, check out the venue and see what a good night for them is, and be honest with yourself about what you can initially do, don’t set yourself up for failure, but perpetually set your goals a little bigger.
before we move on, let me stress something, this isn’t a big deal, this is fun, never worry, and never get stressed about putting on a show, you’ll make mistakes, you’ll have bad shows, work hard, act competant, understand, you’re putting yourself in a really awkward position, someone’s going to get pissed at you for something. Someone will decide they will never work with you again, as far as bands go, and club owners, there’s always more, some are worth begging to and saying it will be better next time.
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Alright, now lets say you get the show, it’s 2 months in advance. What do you do?
First, tell all the artists and confirm it with them, load in times, set times, whether it’s all ages, 18+, or 21+, and what the cover charge is, if there is any.
Second, after all the bands and artists have confirmed, let the club owner know, thank them, and keep them updated on any changes with the lineup, if you have to cancel, whatever else. (I’m not great at this, I’ve had shows hit the city pages where maybe one of the bands is listed, and the rest are bands that dropped out, and it’s a completely different lineup, looks bad, it’s a mistake you make when you’re busy.)
Third, Promotion is key, a lot of people suck at it, personally I’m learning not to suck at it. If you’re in Minnesota and you’re thinking of getting into booking, don’t start in winter, do your booking in advance and start in the spring. I started in the winter, and had a lot of bad shows, club owners gave me shit, I moved on, I don’t care, I was learning.
Alright, there’s a few things to focus on, times are changing, so promotion is different, but do not rely soley on the internet for your promotion. While working with MPIRG doing community organizing I was taught you have to contact people three times before you actually know they’re coming to an event. So lets look at our options-
-Facebook- event invites our great, but sorely limited in their reach, put up the event invite, after that, send messages individually to let people know, also being personable-you’re not a rockstar, so don’t pretend. This person is your friend or aquaintance. you want them to come to your show, tell them why, be cool about it. (note: and I’m mainly saying this as a joke, don’t focus on ex-girlfriends that you want to show how much better you’re doing now that you don’t do drugs anymore. You may be homeless but you’re a booking agent now!)
-Myspace- Myspace posts are cool, it counts as .05 of a contact, it’s name recognition but don’t depend on it, post your stuff, but understand it was probably a waste of time, unless you message back and forth with people and tell them individually, then it counts for more in terms of promotion.
-Telephone- Yeh, call everyone, tell them about the show, talk like normal, but have in the back of your mind the purpose of the call and slip it into the conversation.
-Real Human contact- same deal as the telephone, but you can give them a flyer, they can see you, by far it’s the most effective method. Parties, shows, on the street, on the bus, just talk to people, make new friends with strangers, they’ll think it’s exciting or they’ll think it’s the way of things because they have lots of friends who are in bands, either way, it’s a good thing to do.
-Flyering- Does nothing unless you’re well known. Put up a few flyers in the area you’re going to be playing, but don’t expect much.
-Street teams- Asking your friends who like your music, or like you, to talk to people and pass out flyers in their every day routine. You probably know some genuinely extroverted people who would love to lend a hand in making this show come off well.
As far as promotion, that’s it, if you can, if idealy you only have one show coming up, start get the information out there ASAP, after that, start aggressively making those contacts 2-3 weeks before the show.
At the show- Don’t expect to be able to watch all of the bands play all of their sets, you have shit to do-
First off, Call all the bands, a week, and then a day before the show, to make sure the plan hasn’t changed, if anyone drops out, you need a replacement, you need to be aware of all changes and able to adapt accordingly. People will be late, just make sure the show starts on time, and continues.
you can drink, but you can’t get drunk, unlike all the other bands on the bill, you’re responsible for what happens. If you can function while shit faced drunk, I’m not going to tell you how to live your life, I’ve put on good shows without missing details with the spins and barely able to stand.
Pretty much introduce yourself to everyone, network, it’s the perfect time for it, sound guys are great, other bands will want to meet you, to set up shows for them, meet the club booker if he or she is there, meet they owner too, in a few hours you’ll need to get paid, if this is a paying gig.
Make sure sets don’t go over the given times, you’ll be checking your watch constantly, standing by the stage motioning to the band, you’ve got to be aggressive about it,doing this you may feel lame at first.
That’s it, you’ve pulled off a show, it’s near the end of the night, the crowd is thinning, now is the time you ask to get paid. The club owner or booker for the club seems to be evasive, he knows you’re there, you ask politely the first time,
“Hey man, I’d really like to pay my bands now.” It’s up to you, but if they say there weren’t enough people, that’s an unacceptable answer to me, even if it’s a dollar, if it was a paying gig, no matter the circumstances on my end, it’s a respect thing, I will never walk out of a paying gig with nothing to give the band.
so you’ve gotten paid, awesome, you’ve got a wad of cash, and you understand it’s not all yours.
The shows I put on these days, it’s understood if it’s a Blanket Statement Records show, all the money goes to the label, if it’s a benefit all the money goes to the benefit, if there’s a touring band, really the money they need comes from somewhere, if you didn’t make enough off the door or from the bar it’s proper etiquite to pay out of pocket so they can keep going.Just my thing anyway.
If it’s just a show, no strings attatched. You get a 10-15 percent cut, and you split up the rest among the bands.
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I hope some of you find this helpful, I encourage you to do it, at least to try it out if you’re a musician, or have the interest.
Next blog update from me will be on starting and maintaining a DIY label.
-Patrick
http://www.myspace.com/patrickcallanmusic
patrickcallanmusic@gmail.com
