Members digwhisper Posted May 21, 2006 Members Share Posted May 21, 2006 Originally posted by Beachbum Good to hear it Caveman, thanks. I believe it is just common sense and common courtesy to clean up after oneself, bus your own tables, never be 'too good' for any chore/task, and to treat every clubowner the way you & they both want to be treated - with respect. Not just because they're paying you to do what you love (which is reason enough) but because they're people just like us. Probably the hardest part of getting a gig is convincing the club owner that you won't repeat the same antics as the last band he had there. I can't count the number of times I've heard, "Well the last pack of jackasses we had here left a huge mess, they were on break longer than they were on stage, and they thought with their rock star attitudes they were the reason we were even open that night, like everyone was working here to support them". I always laugh and tell him a few more 'jackass' band stories I've seen happen, and vow to never be the same way. Conversely, once you do get the gig though, it isn't hard to prove the difference to the club owner by putting on a good show, demonstrating that you're gonna earn the club owner some money, sticking around afterwards to give some thanks, and basically just being polite. Rock on. My cover band actually took those stories into consideration. In the press kit we hand out to every potential venue or customer their is a FAQ section. The questions are based on some of the horror stories I've heard about other bands. The answers we give on them make us sound pro and responsible without being all preachy.You'd be surprised the number of truly frightening stories I've had potential clients tell me about live bands they've either booked or seen. It gives us a great good cop / bad cop routine with putting their mind's at ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members geoffo Posted May 21, 2006 Members Share Posted May 21, 2006 Originally posted by digwhisper My cover band actually took those stories into consideration. In the press kit we hand out to every potential venue or customer their is a FAQ section. The questions are based on some of the horror stories I've heard about other bands. The answers we give on them make us sound pro and responsible. digwhisper, are you able to put a copy of your bands FAQ on here? I would be most interested to see how you went about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beachbum Posted May 21, 2006 Members Share Posted May 21, 2006 Originally posted by digwhisper My cover band actually took those stories into consideration. In the press kit we hand out to every potential venue or customer their is a FAQ section. The questions are based on some of the horror stories I've heard about other bands. The answers we give on them make us sound pro and responsible without being all preachy. You'd be surprised the number of truly frightening stories I've had potential clients tell me about live bands they've either booked or seen. It gives us a great good cop / bad cop routine with putting their mind's at ease. Genius idea. Creative. New. I like it.Yes, the absolutely frightening stories customers/clients tell can get pretty bad. Some of the self proclaimed 'rock stars' have paved a rocky path for bands & musicians these days to travel. Just seeing how some of the more experienced musicians here refer to customers/clients illustrates the problem's vastness.It can be turned around with politeness & personal respect toward the customer/client though, don't give up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members digwhisper Posted May 21, 2006 Members Share Posted May 21, 2006 Originally posted by geoffo digwhisper, are you able to put a copy of your bands FAQ on here? I would be most interested to see how you went about it. I don't have the final one with me but here is one of the later rough drafts: X Factor Frequently Asked Questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members caveman Posted May 21, 2006 Members Share Posted May 21, 2006 Originally posted by digwhisper I don't have the final one with me but here is one of the later rough drafts:X Factor Frequently Asked Questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beachbum Posted May 21, 2006 Members Share Posted May 21, 2006 I think you've got a real future in the biz, digwhisper. Great attitude, good business sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted May 22, 2006 Members Share Posted May 22, 2006 Originally posted by digwhisper I don't have the final one with me but here is one of the later rough drafts:X Factor Frequently Asked Questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members plunky Posted May 22, 2006 Members Share Posted May 22, 2006 digwhisper, you should have someone good at writing proofread that for you. Lots of improper comma use in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members digwhisper Posted May 22, 2006 Members Share Posted May 22, 2006 Originally posted by plunky digwhisper, you should have someone good at writing proofread that for you. Lots of improper comma use in it. Yeah, I know. I'm not much of a writer. That's why I mentioned that this was just one of the drafts. My bass player was the station manager of the local radio station for years and is much better at advertising speak so I gave him the drafts and he massaged into something more workable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members digwhisper Posted May 22, 2006 Members Share Posted May 22, 2006 Originally posted by BlueStrat All of this stuff is pretty much common sense, or ought to be, but I'm appalled at the number of players I know who book a gig and then piss and moan about getting asked to turn down or play requests. Didn't they ask these questions before they took the gig? Apparently not. the only one that's a question for me is this one:"Q: I run a small club, and we are on a tight budget. Can you work with me on price?"A: We play all sizes of events with all kinds of budgets. Maybe you cannot afford a full weekend or even a full night. That is why we offer hourly rates as well. Treat your customers to a three-hour performance. You still get the entertainment of a live band but at a price, you can afford."It costs me the same amount of time and effort to move and set up my gear whether I play one hour or 5. Rather than offer the client less time, I offer them a stripped down band, maybe a trio (I usually have 2 horns, making the band a 5 piece) or even an acoustic duo with some songs done with a drum/bass machine. Or I even offer to do it as a solo. With a smaller band, I need half the PA, and will just use two mains, two monitors, and a powered mixer. With the single, I just use one main, no monitor, and a powered mixer. This gives them several options of what they can get for their budget, and if I make less money, I don't have to lug around a ton of gear and do an extensive sound check. Yeah, I know it sounds like common sense but many potential clients have these worst case scenarios in their heads. By simply identifying the potential problems and acknowledging that some bands do it we seem to fall into the "good" guys with them quickly. I think the biggest thing is that it shows that we care about their event too, not just the gig for us. I certainly don't think these would work for every band in every region. In our situation they do pretty well. We're in rural eastern Oregon halfway between Boise, ID and Portland, OR. My actual hometown claims a population of about 13,000 but I think they're being optimistic. The area is literally littered with super small little towns with one or two bars in them. They literally can't afford to have bands very often at all and we cut them a break as often as possible. There's only one bar in town that books and rather than burn out the only scene in town we refuse to play there more than once a month. So we end up doing a lot of little short hop jobs. We could either sit and home and make nothing or go do a shorter night and make some money. These little towns are the most friendly and gracious gigs I've ever done though and even when the money's a little lower they always find a way to make up for it. If we were in a region where there were more venues booking it wouldn't be a stategy I'd employ but it helps make up for the gaps in regular jobs and weddings and the like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BlueStrat Posted May 22, 2006 Members Share Posted May 22, 2006 Sounds like LaGrande! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members digwhisper Posted May 22, 2006 Members Share Posted May 22, 2006 Originally posted by BlueStrat Sounds like LaGrande! Been through a few times? Or did you have the misfortune of residency? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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