You need to set yourself apart in some way from the thousands of other bands out there. Here’s a few ideas to help.
- Artwork -Take a look at the other bands in your genre and take note of what they are doing- then try to have an original take on what they are doing. Death metal band Cannibal Corpse started having artwork with ultra gory and shocking covers, the success of it meant that almost every other band in the scene started trying to do it. By trying to take the artwork in another direction your going to ensure that it’ll stand out from similar bands.
- Use the internet. Nothing has helped bands more in recent years than the internet. A lot of what can be done on it can be done well for fairly cheaply. You can promote gigs via social network band profiles, have a band website, post news about upcoming gigs on forums and contact fans, promoters and a lot of other people within the music industry.
- Image. Most bands believe that the music is more important than your looks, sadly its a mixture between the two. So some bands have a image/ gimmick -Slipknot wear masks to hide their faces, GWAR wear costumes and claim to come from an alien planet, so image can help sell your band to people.
- Letting people know about your gigs. The more people who know you are playing a gig, the more chance their is that more people will come down. Do whatever is necessary to let people know about your band -develop a online newsletter, use your social network, hand out flyers and put up posters around town. If no-ones aware the gig is going on, then no-one is going to come out.
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We all have our favorite album artwork that means something to us, or reflect on us what the album stands for, or is just that damn awesome we had to buy the album. I’m gonna write about two men who had an impact on the artwork of album covers in metal.
- Cannibal Corpse and Vince Locke. There’s no denying Locke’s artwork has contributed towards the success of Cannibal Corpse. The artwork has not only helped Cannibal Corpse rise to the top of the death metal ‘elite’, but also given their infamy, causing the covers to be banned. The covers seem to mix perfectly with the music -your under no illusion that your getting something else with that artwork. The latest album ‘Evisceration Plague’ isn’t as gruesome as usual, but there was uproar when the album ‘Kill’ didn’t have his artwork on it.
- Derek Riggs- Iron Maiden. Number of the beast is Iron Maiden’s classic album, and the first to feature a bloke you may have heard of- Bruce Dickinson. You have to wonder how many albums got shifted just because of the artwork of Eddie being controlled by the devil, who in turn is being controlled by Eddie. Just who is manipulating who in that artwork? It was originally done for the album single ‘Run to the Hills’, but manager Rod Smallwood thought it was far too good to be used for a single and kept it for the album. Riggs has since had Eddie lobotomized, being a futuristic bounty hunter and missing the bottom half of his torso. Although he hasn’t done any studio album artwork since ‘No Prayer for the Dying, surely were due a new one soon. Please?
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It can be very hard work trying to promote your gigs as an unsigned band. No-ones really that interested outside of your circle friends, so you’ve gotta do the best you can to try and get people down to them. Here are some of the ways to get people down to your gigs. (Try these at your own risk.)
- Sticking up posters. A classic. This will get you going around town to get posters up for the event, making sure no wall is left blank. Music shops, colleges, rehearsal studios, newsagents, bars/pubs and other venues are always good places to get the message out there. Check with the owner of the place before putting them up, because they’ll tear them right down off the wall if they want. Putting posters up on the streets may see your council fine the venue if your not careful -and that venue wont be too happy with you. Trust me, this doesn’t go down too well with the people who own the venue.
- Flyering. Producing a load of flyers and standing out in the street may not sound very appealing, but even if it gets a few more people down it’ll be worth it to spread the name. Not everyone is going to want a flyer, so don’t be pushy with them. It can be disheartening, but you’ve gotta promote the gig.
- The Internet. {The power of the Internet has helped smaller bands greatly, advertise your gigs on many different related forums, Myspace, Facebook groups}{The internet has been a godsend to bands, so advertise on different forums, Myspace, Facebook and anywhere else you can think of}Cyberspace has allowed bands to keep in contact with their fans more easily. Forums and social networks are good places to promote your gig. Getting to know some of the people on these forums can also open up new opportunities and get these people themselves interested in helping your band out, and even coming down. Social websites allow bands to create groups and events and invite people down to them. Not everyone is going to come down, but the more people who know about it the more chance there is that they will come down to the gig. Over the internet people can agree to come out but may not show up in the end, so don’t be too disappointed if this happens.
- Promote your gig in the local gig listings. Those free papers with gig listings in them? Somebody reads them, so getting your gig in there is more exposure about it.
Go to these guys to get colour laser printing and print services for your flyers and posters
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