to play or not to play?

bryan_kilco

bryan_kilco

Member
Nov 22, 2007
4,618
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38
Poconos, PA
The band I'm in has been together for about 4 months. We have played 2 shows just recently. Basically, we are just starting out. We have about a half hour set. A few of the members decided it'd be a good idea to get us on a show out of state, 7 hour drive round-trip, where we have to PAY TO PLAY. $300 to enter, they give us tickets to sell and somehow we keep the ticket $$.

Now, we are 3 1/2 hrs away from the venue, no one knows us, rarely anyone will likely travel with us to the show. I feel this is a horrible idea, and a waste of probably $500. Thats all our band fund plus some.

Should I murder them all at practice tonight?

Maybe I'll just voice my opinion. I feel it's a really bad move.

Any thoughts/insight?

/rant
 
Their biggest concern right now is "marketing", networking, and playing out as far from home as possible. I feel that we need to radiate out a little slower...get a name for ourselves locally, sell music online, etc and slowly reach out. Doing stuff like this is just going to drain our funds. Yeah, we get free food and beer for the entire day, but plan on driving back that night.....right......:bah:

If the majority of the band is all for it, I cant really say much. I just feel like they are thinking outside the circle too much and pushing too hard too fast. Sure, the more shows anywhere, the better....but not when you have to pay to play.
 
DONT do it!

PAY TO PLAY is the worst invention EVER!. Selling tickets is such bullshit for up and coming bands! Keep playing local, build a good following. Get a GOOD DEMO recorded, get the songs out on MySpace and the internet and build a following that way. Then go and play where your fans are!
 
bryan_kilco said:
Their biggest concern right now is "marketing", networking, and playing out as far from home as possible. I feel that we need to radiate out a little slower...get a name for ourselves locally, sell music online, etc and slowly reach out. Doing stuff like this is just going to drain our funds.
Click to expand...

This. Show the other guys this thread. You'll get plenty of better (WAY better) opportunities in the future.
 
Besides, if the band isnt as tight as you can be going out too early can use you to get a bad name, then no venue will want you!

I spent 4 years with my band in a basement hashing out songs, hooks, marketing, and this was wayyyy before the digital age. We were signed after our 2nd show.... So going slow and taking your time to do thing right is the way to go in my experience.
 
that is what I am really afraid of. We are decently tight, as we've all been in bands before, but there are definitely some weak areas. If we try to make a big name for ourselves and we arent all-that, then we are just screwing ourselves in the long run. I've been in 3 bands before this one, and by far this band is making more progress than any other, but still....I want to come out on stage and KNOW we are kicking as and not worry about the audience thinking "meh, they were alright.

Most of us are pushing 30. Not getting any younger. I'd love to do this for a living but if I'm already starting to disagree with decisions being made, maybe its best for me to step down now? I feel like my opinion is out-voiced since 3 of the members live together, and end up making these kind of decisions usually without discussing it with the entire band first.
 
im 34 here dude, so I totally understand.

But hard work pays off, get yourself a killer demo / EP and get your ass hooked up with a killer myspace page. Then start promoting all around the country, stay active, find fans, and stay in contact with those fans. Record lables and Distros are more likely to pick up you if you already have a fanbase that is willing to buy! Its less of a rish on their end. You could also go the DIY Route if you wanted to. But the band needs to be TIGHT!
 
Agree 100% with the above posts. The way I see it, think of how many local metal bands there are. How many of those bands would you actually listen to on their own merits, rather than just cause they're opening for a bigger band or something? Not a lot, right? 95% of them are pretty mediocre, and I never expect anything from unknown local openers anymore as a result. I would go in assuming the audience feels the same way.

How do you get people interested then? Well for starters, good songwriting, tight performance, all that good stuff... But that's not necessarily enough. Here's the thing - most of these bands don't SEEM professional, and that's what will differentiate your band from the others. Your first goal should be to establish legitimacy, via an awesome demo and myspace/website that can be taken seriously. You need something to show people, which you don't have to explain or apologize for in any way - something you are 100% proud of. You should be able to just hand a demo to a potential fan and let it do the work for you. I would maybe invest in some cool artwork/logo, put a web address in there, yknow... Hand them out at shows and make sure to stay in contact with your fans. Focus on your hometown first, then start playing regional shows. Don't do the pay to play bullshit unless you've got enough of a fanbase to make your money back, and are opening for a band that draws a big crowd.

As for your current problem... Your bandmates are clearly doing it wrong. I would try to get them to call it off if possible, and if they don't care about your input on these matters, probably find another band. I sure as hell wouldn't get roped into paying 100 bucks, driving 7 hours and playing to no one. Best of luck man. :/
 
Screw paying $300 to play. Its hard enough for most bands to break even playing out with gas, etc. Build a nice local following then slowly pay around. Get in with bigger name local bands from other metro areas that are close and support each other in your respective towns every so often.

If your voice is being ignored now it will get worse as time goes by and (if) success builds
 
Well, discussed it at practice last night. I let them know how I felt.

I dont care about traveling and playing, that'll be fun. I just dont want to give away $300 for a half hour. But they all want to do it. We do have a band fund going and we'll use that to buy in, maybe we'll make a little off demos and whatnot, but hey, its not really my money....I didnt front any $ to start the fund, to buy cds for demos or anything so I'm not going to lose out on anything.

We do have a myspace and a demo out that we recorded ourselves. We seem to get better reactions when playing out of the area at some venue we never played before than at our more local shows....

A few of the guys really feel that I am being negative towards a lot of their ideas. Maybe I am, but if I'm going to try to do this for a living, I want to do it right. Who knows, maybe the crowd will totally love us and there are supposed to be labels and whatnot there.....

the local scene here....is shit. There's nothing but bars and maybe 3 actual VENUES with stages. Basically the guys dont want to be stuck playing the same 3 places over and over like the previous bands we were in.
 
Sorry to hear you're in a band with members who won't listen to reason, and the experiences of those who've "been there, done that".

Another way to look at it is this - you're driving 3.5 hrs for a gig in a town you've never been before. Let's say you do make a few fans. Are THEY going to drive 3.5 hrs in your direction just to see you play? Or are they going to spend $5 on your demo, and be done with it?

I understand the frustrations with a scene being shit, but you're dealing with a shit scene and now you guys will be out $300 on top of that.
 
Sorry for the rant, guys. Just wanted to see what ya'll thought of the deal. I knew it was bull from the get-go....but oh well. When it flops and nothing happens, I'll say "told ya so".
 
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