Last night I met the lead singer of a band that I really like here in Denmark. After a little bit of figuring things we decided that I must be the first American fan of his band! Well I think their sound is really cool and ought to be heard in America. Unfortunately I have no idea of how I can help them, but I really wanna do that. One thing that I’ve always considered would be to encourage them to go play shows in America. I’m sure I could help them line some things up, help them buy a van, etc… But I really like these guys and wanna help them become more successful. They aren’t well known outside of Denmark. They are barely known here. Anyone have any suggestions?
The most straight forward way for a real band,… Do shows, build a following, pack the house at every show. Most labels aren’t interested in a band that can’t fill a house.
The next step is to open for larger like-bands.
They should probably produce a cd, if only for use as a demo. I wouldn’t be concerned about what record companies like at this point. They can use the web to find clubs that book bands in their genre, and work out a schedule. At the very least, they should have t-shirts to sell (preferably with something wierd and Danish).
They’ve already got a couple of CDs out here. That’s kind of the thing. It would be a while before anyone notices them in America based on their stature here…If you wanna google them their name is Green Concorde
+1 - basically by any means necessary - Myspace page, CD/downloadable songs - whatever it takes. Look up **The Sounds **from Sweden - they are making a play in America and doing a reasonably good job of it - they filled a pretty big club in NYC a few weeks back on a Wednesday night.
Also look up **Shiny Toy Guns **- my drummer produces them and they were just iTunes Download of the Week - and they tour their asses off.
No real easy way about it…hard work and a lot of sweat.
Oh - and reach out to the Doper named Birdmonster - he is in a band of the same name that is doing really well touring the hell out of the US, too…
Something I think about (this is the easiest way to find out of town gigs for me) is to think of someone you know in the USA who is into the same type of music. Pretty much, let them hear the band, and do the “street crew” thing. It works for me because if I know a friend who is really into my music in another city, I’ll talk to him or her, send a demo, and let them suggest a place near there that I go play. If you know people who would be into the band, it’s kind of given they will know 2-3 people, who will know 2-3 people. It works pretty good, but not at getting labels attention, just at gaining a small following - which leads to a larger following…
Brendon
Moving thread from IMHO to Cafe Society.
IANA expert, but I would have them send their best songs to Nic Harcourt at KCRW. He often plays unsigned bands, and he has a huge audience. I imagine there’s an equivalent person in NYC too.
How about anything BUT a webspace page.
I won’t visit them anymore and I know more and more people who feel the same way. A simple domain is easy to set up and everybody and their brother can create a basic webpage these days.
IMO, if a band is serious, they should fork over a few bucks a year for a domain, and another few a month for hosting.
If you must make a myspace page, bounce the traffic over to a real web location.
Sorry, Correct the about to “How about anything BUT a myspace page.”
The advantage to MySpace is that it makes it so simple to network with similar bands and for people who are looking for new music. Myself, I never do random websearches looking for new bands, so I’d probably never see your band’s regular domain webpage.
However, I do use myspace and follow some bands on there, so if I see that a band I like has your band on their “top friends” I might very possibly check out your band’s MySpace page too.
(Although, like many people on that site, I find it VERY ANNOYING if bands randomly solicit me on there, so I’d advice against the “shot gun” approach to trying to drum up attention for the band).