Read this Before You Join a Band!: My Life as a Touring and Session Musician - Softcover

McManus, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1496914058 ISBN 13: 9781496914057

Verlag: AuthorHouse, 2014

Inhaltsangabe

Every person who dreams of "making it" doesn't take into account the cold, harsh reality of the music business. Neither do parents, spouses, friends, and other influences, who are undoubtedly instrumental in helping them achieve their goals. During his career, Michael has had many triumphs, but not without hard lessons learned. His successes with international bands, tours, and recordings also came with failed record deals, false promises, and empty hopes (and pockets) These are just a few of the struggles with which anyone in the music industry is all too familiar. Read This Before You Join a Band! is a very real look at the everyday life of a working musician. It is a personal tale of Michael's career - the highs and the lows - as he tells you what to capitalize on as well as what to avoid. Whether you're entering the music industry, or if you've been in it for awhile, this book is a valuable resource in helping you prepare for - and succeed - in your career.

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Read This Before You Join a Band!

My Life As a Touring and Session Musician

By Michael McManus

AuthorHouse LLC

Copyright © 2014 Michael McManus
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-4969-1405-7

CHAPTER 1

PROMOTION

I have been involved in two aspects of promotion: one, for bands I was in and two, for myself. I will discuss certain tactics I/we used in an old local band, but after I quit the band, I took what I had learned and applied it to my personal career as a solo musician—or rather a "drummer (work) for hire." Whether you are a singer/songwriter or a solo musician like I was, looking for a group to join, use these techniques to help you get to the next level.

Grassroots Promotion

My father and brother are in politics. My dad has been an elected official for the past seven years, and my brother's career has taken him all the way to the White House and will undoubtedly land him in public office someday. One of the things I have picked up from listening to their conversations is the similarity between running a campaign and promoting yourself as a musician. The term grassroots essentially means getting out there and doing everything yourself—setting out on foot and knocking on doors, shaking hands, etc. I applied this to my own career. Here's how you can too ...

When I was much younger, I ran triathlons. A triathlon is a sporting event that combines swimming, biking, and running, in that order. This was before the days of rampant internet use, and after school I'd be in my room thumbing through Triathlete magazine and would see these professionals running all sorts of races around the world, such as the Ironman in Hawaii, and I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to get to know them. So, what did I do? I picked up the phone and called 411 and tracked them down. I found out what city and state they lived in (even in Australia and Canada—thanks to my parents for paying the phone bill!) and called them. And they always talked to me. They had a soft spot for an aspiring triathlete in his early teens and sent me numerous autographed pictures—and even a bike. One day I tracked down the winner of the 1994 Ironman, Greg Welch, and his wife, Sean, in Australia. After developing a relationship with them, one day I asked, "Mr. Welch, I need a new bike. Do you have one you're looking to sell?" He said something along the lines of, "Actually, I do." And thus I bought a bike (for a killer price) from the winner of the '94 Ironman Triathlon, and the stem even had the Ironman sticker still on it! I keep it to this day as motivation that you can do anything you set your mind to. Eventually, his wife sold me her carbon fiber rear spoke wheel, too, and I had a bike that amazed even the pros at the local bike shop.

When I was in college, I was interested in film scoring—making music for movies. One of my favorite scores at the time was for March of the Penguins, so I tracked down composer Alex Wurman's contact information and called him. He said that he had received lots of fan mail but no one had ever called him, and he believed that my persistence would take me far. Additionally, he gave me personalized advice to take my career to the next level, which proved to be very useful.

You can take this same approach. Pick up the phone and make calls, e-mail people, knock on agency/studio doors—the epitome of grassroots promotion. Now, if you're going to knock on doors, you have to have your ducks in a row, and here are some tips. If you're going to pass out your information in hopes of getting shows (for a band) or studio work (for an individual), you will need to have a press kit that includes such things as a photo, bio, bullet-point resume, press clippings, and a CD. It's very important that you have these items and that the kit looks professional. Also, it's good to have business cards—ones that people will remember. Make them stand out. One way is to use thick or glossy paper. Another method—something I used to do—is to have a nice color picture with your information on the front and a tip chart on the back, so people can use it when they go out to eat. An old friend of mine gave me his business card that used this method and I hung on to it—and used it—for years. Nowadays, I have my bullet-point resume on the back of the card. If you can't fit it all, just include the most impressive accomplishments. Get creative; the possibilities are endless.

Note: Knocking on doors without an appointment hasn't proved to be as effective as reaching out by phone and e-mail first. It's virtually the same as a "cold call." There's no connection, and in a town like Nashville, it's all about who you know. If you're going to knock on doors, set up an appointment ahead of time so people know to expect you (more on this in example 4 below). Nothing, and I mean nothing, however, takes the place of getting out of your house, walking to the hot spots in town (such as bars and venues where people are playing, etc.), and shaking people's hands. Introduce yourself, tell them you're new to town, give them a card or swap information, and keep showing up. Make yourself known. After all, out of sight, out of mind. The most important tool to me thus far has probably been the internet. For instance, recently I met with Taylor Swift's drummer. I reached out via e-mail, Facebook, and Twitter. He said, "I know you've got the hustle because you hit me on all three of my social media outlets." We don't live in the world of 411 like we did when I was younger—getting phone numbers is harder than ever. Instead we live in a world of social media. Take advantage of it. You can effectively reach people at the click of a button.

Here are four stories of things I have done that epitomize grassroots promotion ...

Example 1

Techno artist/film composer Brian Transeau (BT) came to a now-defunct venue in Memphis called Elvis Presley's, or EP's, Delta Kitchen. I was a big fan and had sent him a MySpace message, but he didn't respond. So I decided to meet him face-to-face. When I got there, I immediately walked upstairs to the VIP section and straight to the private dining room in the back. I acted and looked like I was on a mission, like I had business being there. I walked into the lobby and a man in a suit, who was guarding the door, held up his hand and said something like, "Sir, you can't come back here. This room is private." I walked straight past him and into the room. I interrupted BT's dinner, but I got to shake his hand and introduce myself—and give him a business card, of course. Nothing ever came of it, but if you don't try, you'll never know. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Example 2

When I was playing with my old band, Chosen View, in Memphis, Linkin Park came to the Coliseum, and I decided that we should use that to our advantage and hit them hard—using their fans for our potential fan base, as the genre of music was similar. I told the group that we should print flyers and hit every car in that parking lot and every person walking out of that door. We did. We went to Kinko's and printed off thousands of copies. We took them to the Coliseum, and each of us grabbed a couple hundred and took off in different directions, pinning them beneath the wiper blades of every car in the arena's parking lot. We saved some flyers, and when the concert was over, we went up to the front doors and handed one to every person leaving the arena. It was not only a good idea because a lot of potential fans were in one location at one time, but also because they had all just seen a...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: AuthorHouse
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2014
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1496914058
• ISBN 13: 9781496914057
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 56
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: preigu GmbH & Co. KG; mail@preigu.de; ; Lengericher Landstr. 19; Osnabrück; Niedersachsen; 49078; Deutschland