Building
Band Recognition One big gig can get you heard above
the fray.
by Jesse Gray
In a music world filled
with people trying to get noticed, it can be a frustrating endeavor
getting recognized. Every day thousands of acts search out a small
group of music industry contacts in hopes of getting their shot. Not
everyone will get heard, but there are things an indie act can do
to increase their chances.
The music industry is a multi-billion dollar business, and it takes
a business approach to seriously compete in its saturated market.
Creativity and talent are critical attributes, but at the end of the
day, that and eight bucks will get you a set of guitar strings.
Independent bands and artists need to market themselves in order to
gain exposure. In advertising it’s called brand recognition,
in the music industry it’s called band recognition.
Putting your skills on display at showcases and competitions is an
excellent way to ramp up your band recognition factor. It doesn’t
mean you have to become a regular at every local battle of the bands.
Sometimes one opportunity is all it takes to start making things happen.
For three of the 2006 Independent Music World Series (IMWS) winners
– Philadelphia’s BurnDown All-Stars, Greensboro NC’s
Urban Sophisticates, and Dallas’ Dura Hale – one night
opened a ton of doors.
Building a name for the BurnDown All-Stars
“Since the IMWS
we’ve gotten a lot more media attention,” says Dave Quicks,
guitarist and vocalist for the BurnDown All-Stars (2006 Northeast
Grand Prize Winners). “There have been articles in the newspaper
and we’ve linked up with different DJs who know about our situation.
It’s renewed and invigorated attention from certain people we’ve
been in contact with. So while they knew we existed, this kind of
accolade gives them more of a reason to shout your name out.”
It’s not just industry folks that have been knocking on the
door, but other bands as well. “We are recognizing that when
you get this kind of attention and get a little light shed on you,
other bands have a reason to want to network with you. It amounts
to opportunities, and you can multiply that by ten over the course
of the next year.”
It doesn’t hurt
that at the same time as their IMWS win, the All-Stars advanced in
the Bodog Battle of the Bands as regional winners. At the time of
publication, they have made it to the final eight and are competing
in L.A. for the grand prize – a million dollar contract with
Bodog Music. Quicks points out that these high profile accolades have
heightened the band’s profile at home and elsewhere. “IMWS
named us the top unsigned band in the Northeast. Since we’re
not the ones saying it, we’re now perceived as that –
and that really helps.”
Urban Sophisticates and the art of follow through One of the bands that
the BurnDown All-Stars have linked up with to do some gig trades are
the Urban Sophisticates (2006 Southeast Grand Prize Winners). Benton
James, vocalist for the Sophisticates, has roots in Philadelphia,
and hooked up with the All-Stars via MySpace. James is quick to point
out how winning the IMWS has brought both positive attention and tremendous
opportunities for the band.
“When we won, it sealed some deals for us. We got in contact
with a producer named Nicolay out of Holland, who is the up-and-coming
European hip-hop producer. As soon as we finished the IMWS, we entered
an agreement with him and we started recording our new record.”
Building on their contact
with Nicolay, and using their recent victory as validation, the Sophisticates
have seen the spotlight turned on them. “The cool thing is the
attention has allowed people to come and inquire about what we do.
Being an independent band, exposure is everything, and it’s
important to get out there and just rock-and-roll. It opens a lot
of doors for us to move in a positive direction.”
The show came at an opportune time, because getting things moving
is exactly what the group needed. Once they garnered some positive
affirmation from someone in the industry, cold leads warmed up, and
warm leads turned into genuine opportunities.
“Everybody kind of paused on us to wait and see what the outcome
of the contest would be. The IMWS carries some weight. They all wanted
to see if we would win, and what kind of clout we would have after
that.”
And with their victory came the opportunities they had been working
so hard for. “We had lawyers that told us to go play and see
what happens. As soon as we won the IMWS show in Atlanta, they contacted
us and said they wanted to work with us. It creates a lot of attention.
You just have to have the networking skills and enough direction to
know what you want to do with the attention, to use it as a reason
for people to get involved in your project. It’s a big validation
of what you work towards.”
Dura Hale: recognizing an opportunity
With talks and contacts
with both Interscope and Epic records, and a pending USO tour of Southeast
Asia, Dura Hale’s (2006 Midwest Grand Prize Winner) stock has
clearly risen since his IMWS victory. And this was his first gig ever
with a full band.
Prior to performing at the Chicago showcase, Hale had always performed
as a traditional independent hip-hop act, with just himself and his
DJ, for over two years. When he was selected to play in Chicago for
the IMWS showcase, he knew it was time to make some moves.
“We had to put together a band because I didn’t want to
go out there with just a DJ and a CD. My DJ also works with a band,
so we got some of his people to play with us, and I got a couple of
my friends to do background vocals. We put together this band within
four weeks, had a few practices to get our set tight, and went up
to Chicago to do our thing.”
It goes to show that you don’t have to be music competition
regulars, or even to have been together long, to take a big step forward
if the opportunity is right. What it takes is the wherewithal to recognize
an opportunity, the creativity to explore it, and the bravery to take
a chance.
Hale was obviously committed to making something happen. Not only
did he put the band together just weeks prior to the show, he had
to get the troupe from Texas to Chicago just to play a 20-minute set.
Some artists would have done the minimum to participate, rather than
thinking big to fit the scale of the event.
Since the showcase, the band has continually picked up steam. “The
reaction from the audience was so good, especially being that it was
our first show together. After that, we came back to Dallas and we
wanted to keep it going, so since then we’ve been doing a lot
of shows.”
The calculated chance that Hale took is also paying off by generating
a lot of positive press. “The upcoming show that we’re
doing for the Dallas Music Arts festival, they’re pushing the
whole band in the newspaper and running commercials for us. We’ve
been doing a bunch of interviews. I also did an interview right after
we won the IMWS with Billboard, and that was pretty cool. We’ve
gotten a lot of good opportunities through this.”
