PROC Band Camp - Part 2

14th Apr 2008

PROC Band Camp - Part 2

Danny Elbow

With dodgy Dublin
bands often dominating column inches and hogging the airwaves over superior
Cork acts, we need to double our efforts to get Rebel bands and solo artists
to the top of the pile. For all you serious outfits that really mean business,
shedding the dead weights and ramping up practice sessions are the least you
should be doing.

Last week we were
banging on about the importance of a good practice session. Being on time, banning
mobile phones and giving stick to those who don't pull their weight. Now some
of the issues we've seen crop up when bands are ready to gig…

Prohibition

Nobody wants this band thing to get too serious too quick but, the minute your
new drummer pulls a can of Dutch Gold out of his kit bag as you discuss the
new eight bar bridge, it should hit you that this is not the man you're looking
for. A few treats after the session is great to look forward to, but only once
the work is done.

Get a Gig

Nobody expects you to be able to gig after just a handful of practice sessions
but book a gig about two months after you've got four or five songs together.
Having something to aim for will put some light pressure on to build a ten or
eleven song set.

Don't buy into
the "I'm waiting until everything's perfect to start gigging" rubbish
we hear so often on the website. A football team wouldn't play the first round
of a championship without a practice match.

The gig doesn't
have to be anything major and you don't need more than 50 minutes of music especially
if you're supporting a more established local band which is an ideal way to
get your stuff out in the open with the added pressure of being the headline
act and trying to draw a crowd.

Practice the
Performance

Only musicians believe that people will warm to their music based on the quality
of it alone. In jazz, classical and trad that might be the case but in the cold
world of popular music it is upon the entire package and the performance that
keep the audiences will rate you…whether you like it or not.

The minute you
step on stage the audience are judging you - your clothes, your stage manner,
the way you dance and what you say to the crowd. Irish crowds don't go for showmanship
as much as say, Americans and we're far more cynical of anybody trying to be
something they're not so be sensible. If an Irish audience get a sense that
you're trying to be somebody you're not you're in deep trouble but it's not
undoable. We just have higher standards of acting…

If your lead singer
is a bit loopy this helps greatly. Encourage him or her to be a bit eccentric
and weird in the practice room. Dance around a bit and really get into your
tunes because if you don't and you look bored on stage the audience is going
there with you. There's nothing more draining than watching a bored musician
go through the motions.

Get Tight

You don't have to go into an immediate state of post-gig analysis and take cold
baths after a performance but try to fix the things that didn't work. If people
are complaining that they can't hear the singer don't blame the soundman, maybe
you're drummer is smashing his kit so hard that he can't be heard. It's a problem
that comes up in bands time and time again.

If people are bouncing
up and down at the front of the stage that's great but don't assume because
a few drunk impressionable eighteen year olds are worshipping you that the rest
of the room are tongue wagging too. Watch the middle of the room and see how
people are reacting.

When you hit a
dramatic part of a song are they looking up and bopping their head or are they
reading the crumpled John 3:7 pamphlet that they just dug out of their pocket?

Launching from
one song into another song quickly makes you sound really tight. For loud bands
the more parts you can put into a track that require good timing and staccato
stabs, the better.

Practice these
parts until your fingers bleed because in a venue in town, this is what'll impress
Average Joe, not the unexpected use of onomatopoeia in the last line of the
second verse. After all it's Average Joe who will make you or break you.

Be Wide of the
Bluffers

Lastly, listen to any advice you get locally but don't take any of it as gospel
(we humbly include ourselves in that). Do your own thing but keep all the various
bits of advice in the back of your head and find a balance that suits.

Find out how successful
Cork bands made it and talk to people who have a track record. Narrow down any
potential mentors to those who have achieved a few things and listen to what
paths they took. Be conscious that the music industry is very different to when
bands like the Sultans and The Franks hit the big time. 81% of single sales
are now sold online and massive labels like EMI are shedding hundreds of big
name acts while DIY bands, without any label surpass them in the charts.

When an inebriated
aging rocker stumbles up to you after a gig and tells you he can get you a record
deal because he knows the aunt of someone who knows someone who might be able
to give Johnny Sony your demo, find out what's on his CV before you give him
any credence - the local scene has its fair share of, often well intentioned,
souls whose energy and passion often conceal their bluff. A healthy dose of
cynicism mixed with some true Rebel determination will get you off the ground.
Rock on feens.