How To Get Gigs For Your New Band
So your new band has got a few rehearsals under it’s belt, a name has been decided on and you have 10 or twelve songs perfected. What next ? – A gig of course! You need to get in front of people now and the sooner the better. You don’t need to be perfect as audiences at live gigs are usually forgiving of the odd little mistake – especially as it’s likely that you will be providing the first audience yourselves from friends and family. Lets look at how to get gigs.
It’s the experience of being at a gig that people enjoy – the volume, the performance and of course the music. Some of the best bands in the world talk about how much they hated certain gigs although these same gigs are often the ones their fans enjoy most and think of as the best.
Finding Gigs Isn’t Hard
Finding gigs is easier now than ever although getting paid for them is probably harder – especially if you play your own material rather than covers. Social media makes it easy to connect with venues, promoters and other bands. Demos can be sent or links to your Reverbnation or Facebook page.
You can get someone to video your gigs too, chuck them on Youtube and then people can see/hear you play. Put a link under the video to your Social media stuff and get some interest going. Watch the quality though – a badly recorded sound does you no favours at all. Maybe think about recording in the rehearsal room instead.
In general you can easily get gigs locally with one or more other bands. For quickness and minimal hassle there is usually an element of sharing kit at these gigs – usually drums – sometimes bass or guitar amps. There will usually be a PA system and some mics supplied.
Battle of the bands nights are another option and sometimes have the advantage of being held in bigger venues with better sound systems. The downside is that you will usually be required to sell tickets to friends and family to cover the costs. This is Ok for your first few gigs but even the most loyal friends will lose interest in buying yet another ticket to see you play the same set every week or two.
Finding Gigs – Social Media
In theory these give you the chance to pick up fans that aren’t your existing friends but in practice the audience is usually made from each bands little group of fans. Often they clear off as soon as their mates have played so every band battles not to be on last. Every chance to play live is a good thing but I would recommend not doing too many “battle of the bands” type gigs.
Every band goes through the experience of playing to one man and his dog – just part of the getting gigs deal and still worth doing for experience. There is no substitute for live playing and the bigger the audience the better so embrace every chance you can to do it.
When you’ve served your apprenticeship for a while and are a solid, professional sounding unit you cab start looking for and getting better gigs. A great route to take is to look for bands to support. Start with up and coming local bands. You will need a decent recording for this as it’s not likely anyone will come and see an unknown band so get a demo done. Which will be the subject of the next post ….
