Getting the gigs!

[Brobjer]

Hey everyone!

I have a few questions and feel free to come with suggestions from your own experiences.
I now have 5 band that I play in. None of them are really out gigging for the moment but two of my bands have discussed the subjects a lot lately.
When I played out at gigs earlier on, our keyboardist took care of all the bookings etc. By the way, I was 11-12 years old at the time so I didn't have much to say and didn't really grasp/care what/how he did it. ;-)

For the moment, we are really hot on getting out playing as much as we can, but all the good clubs are booked with bigger bands that have been around longer.
In some way, they must have started somewhere too.
Due to all the routined 'oldboys' that have been around in the business longer than me, I am asking what are the real good ways to go? Of course we want to get out as fast as we can and play, but like any other bransch, you have to make the right moves to get the good gigs.

Is booking agents any good idea? In Sweden, booking agents are more popular than managers. If so, should we contact a big booking agent firm with bigger artists or a smaller one, where we'd get more in the centerspot?
Another way, I guess, is to 'ship' out demos to clubs etc. and hold your thumbs for someone liking it and get the contacts from there.

By the way, I am talking about a commersial cover band and a jazzy fusion band.

Please come with all your good suggestions. I would be really thankful!

Drum on!

- Brobjer

[MaltBuddow3]

My parents band has a booking agent. That's always a good thing. One way my band got started was playing a free concert put on by the local music store. Even though there weren't many people there, it gets you some exposure. Good luck with the gigs!

[Fede]

I don't know that much about getting gigs - just that generally the universe rewards action.

What I do know from my own experience, though, is that it's a very good thing to think the concept of your band through before you start going somewhere.

I mean, first of all:

A. Are you in it for the money?

or

B. Are you in it for fun?


Points A and B are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but it's good to be aware of the conflict. Very few people are lucky enough to really enjoy both at the same time. You can easily wind up in a band that's not really paying off enough economically to be of any significance, yet you're also practicing and fiddling around so much that it's not all that fun a lot of the time.... That will make you more and more grumpy and dissatisfied with the band until you finally have to choose: A or B.

It seems like you have this thing somewhat sorted out, though.

I'm in two bands right know - an instrumental funk/fusion band and a symphonic rock/metal band. I'm very much aware that neither of the two bands is likely to make any money - so I'm definately in them for the fun of it. Should we somehow catch a break with a record company or whatever - fine, but I'm not gonna waste my time chasing that like everyone else....

However, I have been thinking about making a coverband, solely for the purpose of scrabing home dough, with minimum practice time. So in this case, I'm thinking maximum profit. A band consisting of only three - only three people to split the outcome, only three people to gather each time, only three people to transport and a very efficient setup, equipment wise. Minimalistic drumkit as well as everything else. All three must be good musicians - cutting down practice time, while maintaining a good product. Also, a thourough set-list and lyrics/score-book must be made, each page containing a whole song, chords, lyrics, intro, ending and everything in between, set up in a well thought-out way, so that everything can be played straight from that.

This way, I would have a band that could take all these little cover-gigs that always arise ..."hey, Frederik - you play music, do you know a band that could play at my uncle's 50th birthday next month?"....that sort of thing, and still earn enough money each to make it interesting.

A bit, OT maybe, but still somewhat related I hope....