Band-Age (Tips Pt.2)

Sometime ago I wrote Band Aid (Tips Pt.1) for bands.  After being involved with Versus and going down to a bunch of Gigs I've been inspired to write a few  more Tips and Tricks.  These are only my humble observations as a music and band appreciator for most of my life.  Hope you find them useful :)

1) Get a good promo kit done

A good band bio outlining your music and achievements (properly written) is important.   A picture paints a 1,000 words..so get a good promo picture taken.  It does not need a professional but a nice friend with a nice camera will get the job done

2)  Build an image/personality

Nothing kills good music more than NO personality. Artists say they are serious about their music and are not interest in glamour or fame but that does not mean you do not need an image/personality.

3)  Build a fanbase

You cannot go from zero to hero without support. If you release something and people don't even know you're alive it's pointless.  So work on building a fanbase in the right target market.

4)  Competition is good.

Once in a while competing helps to keeps you ON you toes, gives you a REALITY check and forces you to DO better.  When you compete it pushes you to do better.  Fed up of competitions then perform together with other bands and compete against each other.  Just because you’re on top now doesn’t mean you’ll be there forever.

5) In life you NEVER stop learning.

And neither do bands...technology changes so fast that you NEED to keep up whether it is in  performance or marketing.  Keeping up with the changes pays off.

6) Don’t fall into the Rockstar trap

If you have a group of 50 diehard fans DON'T FORGET you have another 500,000 (or 5,000,000) more to capture. Too many Artistes get carried away in believing that they have fans when actually it’s an entourage of hangers-on.

7) Stay together

When in a room full of artistes/celebrities always stick together if you want to be known as a band and not as individuals. Especially in a room where there are photographers you want to pictured together.

8)  Never-ending Perfection

If you think you’re perfect, you're not…When U have perfected the music/vocal, work on the way you look, work on audience interaction, work on fitness..there's always a lot to do

9)  Achieve Excellence

The difference between mediocre & excellence is sweating the small stuff (& big stuff) "the devil is in the details”.  When you’ve done all the obvious you pay attention to the smallest detail of how you look, practice in front of  mirror, what clothes you going to wear, how clean your equipment is, what you pack for a gig… down to the last detail.

 10) Don’t take your music for granted

Many bands have been performing the same songs for years but NEVER take it for granted…All the more reason u should NOT be making mistakes.  Some play the song with a bored look on their face, some make careless mistakes, sing harmonies out of tune. Fans and audience are smart they can pick-up  these things. Keep practicing and if you’re bored rearrange the popular songs or play different versions.