I was just googling information on local bands and I came across this interesting list and I agree with most of it. Check it out and see for yourself…

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/permalink/2014/02/27/17-things-local-bands-just-dont-get

My response to the ones that I agree with the most:

1. Trashing other bands in your scene isn’t hurting their rep. It’s hurting yours.

Yes. This has been a huge problem for years in local music. Bands talking trash about other bands and musicians in your music scenes. Bands do this stuff all the time in all music scenes but band and musician bashing is a lot worse in Albany though. I used to trash talk other bands & musicians publicly a long time ago but I don’t do that anymore. I regretted it and stopped doing it. Yes, there are other bands & musicians that I don’t like but I try my best to keep my opinions and thoughts about them to myself. Other bands should follow the same advice. It’s just an unprofessional thing to do to talk bad things about other musicians and that includes when other musicians shit talk me. When other musicians decide to shit talk me publicly and try to make me look bad publicly… they all don’t realize they are hurting themselves. Sad but true.

2. Acting disinterested with folded arms at the back of the room at other bands’ shows does not make you cool. Singing along at the front of the stage does.

I agree with this one too! I have seen plenty of musicians who just hang in the back and sit down with arms folded or have a beer in their hands rather than being in the front of the stage with the crowd. I have seen certain musicians who would watch the band by the side of the stage for a few minutes and then they just leave. I have also seen musicians do much worse things like sit at the bar or hang out outside with their friends smoking cigarettes. They do this stuff as a way to pretend to be a rock star. They’re like, “I’m too important to be up there in front of the stage with the  crowd”.

Look… when a band asks you to open for them or they open a show for you… you definitely got to show your support by not hanging in the back but in the front of the stage with the crowd. Why is this important?

It’s because when another band shows you support, you need to show them support in return. When you play shows with other bands and when you watch the show in the back with your arms folded or drinking beer, the band who booked you will feel like, “This guy doesn’t care. I feel like I booked him for no reason”. You see what I mean? When a band shows you support, you need to return the favor so the band won’t feel disappointed.

3. Looking like a rock star isn’t as important as sounding like one.

Rock on! Image is not important. You don’t need fancy clothes, costumes or gimmicks or fancy hairdo or weird glasses. All you need to wear are blue jeans and a t-shirt. Just be yourself and rock out!!! \m/

5. Being respectful and friendly will take you much further than being superior and entitled.

Yep. Another good one. You can’t beg for respect. It’s gotta be earned. Just be respectful, positive and friendly at all times… you’d be surprised where that takes you. Good things will come out of being positive and leaving your ego at the door.

9. Physical promotional materials are still incredibly important. Get out into the world and put up some posters and hand out some flyers. Don’t spend all of your time on Facebook.

Agreed! Not everyone uses computers or even social networking. When I used to gig all the time in the past, I would do my best to promote all of my gigs. Print out flyers and hang ’em all over town as much as I can. I used to tell people about my gigs all the time. If you ever wonder why nobody goes to your shows, do you think maybe that you don’t promote yourself hard enough? Bands are always crying about how people don’t go to shows but they shouldn’t take it out on other people… they should blame themselves.

10. Facebook is dying. If your entire promotional plan relies on it, you’re doomed.

Indeed. I hate when bands rely on facebook as their official band site. You need to do more. Start a blog, twitter, etc. Whatever. There are tons of ideas to market yourself on the internet. Not everyone uses facebook. Some avoid facebook like the plaque.

14. HOWEVER, when you’re starting off, you need to play out everywhere and anywhere all the time to get practice. Record every show. Once YOU love listening to your live set (and non-friends and non-family tell you they love your band) then you can book real shows and charge a cover.

I like this one. When I used to play out, I used to try to record my live shows as much as possible. Just to listen back to see whether or not I was good or did I suck that night. Listening to your live recordings helps. There are a lot of bands that don’t record all of their gigs. Some do, some don’t. Recording your live gigs help. Whether you record by audio or video either way is cool. Don’t worry about sound quality. That’s not important. I’ve always loved to record my live shows. It’s a good thing to do. I used to have plenty of cassette tapes of my past shows but don’t know what happened to them all.

16. No one in the industry cares about how good your music is. They care about how successful you have become on your own.

Sad but true. Bands are always going off about how they get a lot of gigs and becoming successful because they believe their music is so good. That’s not always true. Venues and clubs don’t care whether or not you are good. Reality check: They only care about how many people you can pull in. They would still book the shittiest bands ’cause they pull in a lot of people. Go figure. If you want the gigs, the good ones, you gotta be able to pull in some people. If they see that you don’t have the draw… if you can only pull in two or three people, you’re done. They won’t book you again. You’re on your own on your promotion. Clubs don’t do it for you. You gotta show them you can be successful.

That little blog above was an interesting read.

Kev

There is a local music festival called,”Festival Of The Dead”… which is a Halloween show for local bands. There is a contest going on and I thought I would help spread the word and help out a band called, Skull Bandit. The band Skull Bandit deserves to win and they deserve a slot for this festival. They’re actually pretty good too… I am digging their tunes. They’re an all original rock band who writes horror songs and things like that.

Vote for Skull Bandit… not the other bands on the list. Just thought I would spread the word and help out a bit the best I can. It only takes a few clicks to vote, that’s it! Anybody can vote, not just Albany people. So if everyone reading this can vote Skull Bandit… that would be great!

Kev

How are local bands these days getting more successful and becoming more established??? In my opinion, it isn’t because of the songwriting. It isn’t because of how they promote themselves. It isn’t because of how hard they work. I think it’s none of that stuff.

I think that how some bands are getting big and huge these days is that they just write music that fits the mainstream. Ya know, pop music. All these bands have to do is become a party dance band whether you do originals or covers or both. Just be a party band. Just make music that people can dance to. A lot of local bands these days want to be a party dance band. Not naming names. All they want to do is play fast and upbeat dance music that people can dance to.

Why are bands obsessed with wanting to become a party band these days? It’s because this stuff draw crowds. When people go out for the night… they just want to go out to a bar or a venue to have a good time and dance all night. So people have chosen to support local bands so they can have live music to dance to whether it will be a cover band or an original band.

My question is, whatever happened to the real music around here? The art. Bands don’t always have to be obsessed with writing party music just to draw out large crowds. Bands shouldn’t be shy of writing ballads. You don’t always have to write fast and dancy music that people can get their dance on.

If you notice with my music… I never cared to write party music. I never cared to write music that people can sing along and clap their hands to. Never really been my thing. I never cared to write radio friendly songs for radio airplay either.

Don’t get me wrong… I would write fun songs that people can dance to but I wouldn’t obsess with it too much. You want to write songs with different tempos and a different feeling. You don’t always have to write upbeat music all the time.

When I get a band going, we’re not gonna be a party band. We’re gonna focus strictly on the art and write songs whatever comes out of us. Doesn’t matter whether it’s a slow song, moderately upbeat or a fast song. Like I said before, tempos of songs needs to vary. Don’t be afraid to go different directions.

I think bands wanting to become party bands and pop bands are a bunch of posers and they are just desperate for popularity and fame. I like bands that focus on the art and the songwriting. You don’t need to write music that fits the mainstream. Do you really want to be looked at as a pop band? I certainly don’t.

Kev

I just read this article and it’s a great read!!! It explains how “relationship” with musicians on stage is a great way to put on an exciting show for the audience. “Relationship” with other musicians means is that if you’re proud of his/her talent you show it. Like for example, when your lead guitar player is playing a face melting solo, you pay attention to him/her by watching with a smile on your face with eyes open. When your lead guitarist is playing a face melting solo, another way to show that you care is that if you play guitar just walk up close to him/her and jam along with them.

Looking like you really care for the band member’s talent will get the audience and your fans to respect you even more.

I have seen tons of bands on stage with good “relationships”. When they’re playing on stage, I have seen musicians have different ways of showing they care. Like watching them play and smiling and things like that.

I have also seen certain bands that don’t show “relationships” at all. These are the guys who look like fuckin’ zombies or something. They just stand there. Staring at the floor while they play or when the lead singer is singing, he/she will sing with their eyes closed throughout their entire set. They don’t even give eye contact toward the crowd either. These are the guys who don’t move around on stage while they play and they look like they’re bored.

Some bands are great with the other members on stage and some are not.

When I pay my money to go see a band, I expect them to look like they’re having a blast with each other, not look like they’re a bunch of zombies.

So when somebody plays a mind blowing guitar solo or a sings a face melting vocal line, you gotta show that you care.

I’ve seen too many bands who make claims that they find their other members talented musicians but they don’t show that they care for their talent on stage.

This is a great article and worth a read.

http://www.onstagesuccess.com/2014/08/a-12-letter-word-1-secret-to-a-great-live-show/

Kev

Some people may find my criticism toward Albany’s music scene a little offensive or negative ’cause why? In my belief, I think it’s because I’m one of the very few around here being realistic and honest about local music. There are plenty of local music websites and local music blogs out there writing about the music scene and writing reviews but many of them are afraid to be brutally realistic about things. Most local promoters, bloggers and critics like to treat the scene all positive and “happy, happy, joy joy”. Nobody wants to be realistic on anything. Most people like to treat this scene positively but it don’t hurt to be brutal about it either.

Everybody wants to see this scene as positive and “happy, happy, joy, joy”. Well, sorry to say but it isn’t. Far from being positive. I’ve been saying for years that we’ve been living in one of the most negative music scenes in the United States and I still by stand it today. You can’t trust everything and everyone around here. Everybody wants to be critical and opinionated about you if they decide to dislike you. If we had more people being honest and real around here, then we could live in a better music scene.

If you find what I said about the local music scene in the past offensive or negative, wait ’til you see what I have to say next in the future. I got some great ideas coming up. It’ll get even better for ya’!

Some people make ridiculous claims that my local music criticism will hurt my own music. Well, quite honestly, I think people say that ridiculous shit just to try and shut me up. That’s it. I don’t think my honesty will hurt my music at all but in fact, I think it’ll only help make it better. Even if it’s true that my local music criticism might affect my music, I don’t give a shit. I do music for me anyways.

There’s a lot of musicians around here with horrible attitudes and they have large egos that’s out of this world. Many of them think they’re professional but a lot of them are not. There are too many scum bags around here and you shouldn’t have to be afraid to call them all out so other people can be aware.

Don’t be afraid to be realistic. Don’t be afraid to tell the truth even if it hurts others. I’ve never have been afraid. Yes, the truth may upset others and others will try to retaliate by trying to call me out, rant, vent, etc. Whatever. Nothing is stopping me.

I’ll talk about local music and bands any way I want to. I think it’s actually a good thing to do is to be brutally realistic about things. I enjoy it. No regrets at all.

Kev

This post isn’t aimed at anyone in particular but I just feel the need to get this rant off my chest.

Yeah, sometimes bands & musicians don’t get along with each other. Not just with me, I have seen some pretty heated feuds with other bands & musicians lots of times. It happens all over in the music world.

The way I see why this sometimes happens is that the other guy wants to make it seem like you started it when you didn’t. All you did was trying to be helpful, be supportive, offer some advice and express some constructive criticism for this band. For example, when all you want to do is give this band some advice and criticism like for example watching out for pay to play scams like AftonLive, disagreeing with them entering band competitions like Battle of the Bands and such, giving them some live performing tips (which is what I did), give them some tips on songwriting or their musicianship, etc. They won’t like it. All it is that it was just some of your 2cents and advice but they didn’t listen to you. They’ll lose their temper at you. Insult you, judge you and call you every name in the book. When you want to say things like music shouldn’t be about the money and things like that, they won’t like that either. All of this was just your opinion and you were just being a little honest… and this band didn’t like it so they get all over ya. They start to call you out publicly and retaliate.

Some bands respond to criticism in this way ’cause many of them mistakenly believe they know everything in the music world and they think they know what they’re doing. So because you’ve had some success and accomplishments in music, doesn’t mean you know everything and know what you’re doing. All I did was warn some bands on being a little more careful on how they put themselves out there ’cause it’s a crazy world out there.

When you give bands some helpful advice and tips, they become defensive and they’ll hate you forever for it. I don’t sit here and call bands egomaniacs for no reason ’cause that’s exactly what they are if they lose their temper  and becoming defensive over a little honesty. Instead of them saying, “Thanks for the tips” like a professional, they’ll be all confrontational with you instead.

When I give bands helpful advice, tips and a little criticism… it doesn’t mean that I dislike them or hate them. It doesn’t mean that I was bashing them. It means that I was just doing it as a fan. I was looking out for them. That was all and they try to make it seem like that I was getting all over them when that wasn’t my goal. I was just warning them about a few things about the music world. That was all I did.

These guys think they can give me advice but if they won’t listen to my advice, why should I listen to theirs???

If they don’t wanna take a little bit of honesty, that’s their problem. Not yours. You have every right to offer constructive criticism all you want to. Nothing wrong with it ’cause that’s what music is here for.

Don’t get yourself into band drama. It’s a waste of time and something you shouldn’t get yourself into. Talking to some musicians is like talking to a brick wall. When they get all confrontational just immediately back off and walk away. You can’t win with them ’cause they’re a piece of work.

Think about this, if you offer bands some constructive criticism and they respond negatively… it means you were right. They didn’t like the truth and it bothered them. So don’t ever think you did something wrong. You shouldn’t apologize to them either. They are their own worst enemy… they don’t owe you anything. It’s their responsibility of how they respond to people, not yours.

Just say what you need to say and just move along. If you’re getting them mad, then your work is done.

Kev

Like I said, if you’re one of those musicians who have a, “Waaah, stop writing about my band” attitude read this blog…

The Art of Complaining About A Bad Review: Musicians and Critics

Yeah, it’s just unprofessional and stupid so do yourself a favor. Grow up and knock it off. Grow a fuckin’ spine and deal with it! 🙂

Kev

This post might piss off some musicians out there but it needs to be said. If you’re one of those bands who are like, “WWAAaaaaaahhh, stop writing about my band. I don’t like it” or “Stop Criticizing the music scene” then you guys shouldn’t have become a musician in the first place.

If you’re going to whine and cry about online criticism toward yourself or your band and blah blah blah… you get the deal… then you don’t have what it takes to play music professionally.

Like I said before, wait until you get your first negative review from an online music site or where ever. Not everybody is going to write positive stuff about your band. That’s the name of the game in the music business. If you’re gonna get easily offended  at a little bit of honesty, then you should retire. Quit what you’re doing.

So if you get offended at some of the stuff I say on here just wait until some of the critics  at different music sites write about you out there. I’m sure you bands out there google yourself everyday to see if people write stuff about you. When you google yourself and you discover a blog site or a music critic site and if you get an album review or a concert review that is not so kind, don’t be surprised. Seriously, there are tons of music sites out there that are pretty honest toward unsigned talent. You’re gonna get a few bad reviews ripping the hell out of your band… whether you like it or not.

I just wanted to say that musicians starting their own blogs or venting in facebook to lash out at the critics is not the way to go. It’s just unprofessional for musicians to respond to critics. I have seen bands respond to nasty reviews before and really it makes the band look bad when they do that. I know it’s bad that bands sometimes get bad reviews but it happens. Responding to critics in a harsh and nasty way, bashing the writer is not gonna make things better.

When you see some online criticism toward your band best thing to do is ignore it and let it go. Take it as a compliment and be flattered anyway.

I mean, if you respond to everything negative being written about you online… think how that’s gonna make you look. It’ll make you look arrogant and egotistical. I know you expect everyone to be positive about your band but it’s never gonna happen. If you keep replying to negative criticism or negative reviews… then your career isn’t gonna last long.

When bands respond to critics, it makes them look extremely childish. Bands retaliating against their critics is not the way to go.

I get criticism all the time and still do. I just try my best to ignore it all. I can’t do anything about criticism aimed at me. I would like people to treat me more positively but I know it’s never gonna happen. I can’t please everybody. You can’t please everybody either.

You can’t force everyone to like everything you do. You can’t force everyone to agree with everything you do. So get over yourselves, dudes.

Most successful bands get negative criticism all the time. They just don’t reply to any of it. I can sit here and say Phantogram sucks ’cause I think they do suck. It’s my opinion and I have the right to it.

Go ahead. Keep responding to the bloggers and critics out there when they decide to write nasty stuff about your band. You’ll be keeping your fingers busy.

Kev

This is the one thing that bothers me about this area’s music scene in the Capital Region. Everyone thinking that they’re superstars or they just wanna be. Everybody wants to move forward and become successful. Everyone is hoping to get signed to an indie label or a major. Yes, local artists around the Capital Region can get some fame. It can be possible but it’s very tough to do. It’s very rare that bands & artists gets fame nationally. Well, it may have already happened with Sean Rowe and Phantogram but they are just indie artists for now. They aren’t on a major label just yet. Due to the success of Sean Rowe and Phantogram, I believe that’s what made everyone else in the area want the same thing. They are going after the same success that those artists just got.

Most bands and artists will never admit that they want fame & fortune but you know that’s what they all want. You can tell how they market themselves and promote themselves. Most of them promotes themselves as if they are on a major label when they are not. Crazy isn’t it?

A lot of people like to knock me and criticize me for not chasing the same dream. Truthfully that’s not what I do music for. I don’t care to get signed. I don’t care to get huge and popular. I don’t care to perform the bigger stages. I don’t care to get all that good stuff. That stuff would be nice, don’t get me wrong but I wouldn’t care to get there at all. I don’t do it for money either. I don’t care for fame and success although, I do know that some people would like to see me get there. I don’t care to win Battle of the Bands or any of that garbage.

I don’t know why this area is obsessed with “stardom”. I’m not.

I never cared to promote myself like that.

The only thing I care about is writing songs and getting it out there. Sharing it with people and giving feedback on my songs. I never cared to write hit songs or music that people can dance to. I just wanna make music and make art.

I’m never worried about being a star.

On top of that, it’s pretty pointless getting fame anyways. I’m not a big fan of record labels be it indie or major. They’re both garbage. Being unsigned is pretty cool, in my humble opinion. This is where I like to be.

There are too many bands wanting to be superstars. My advice is don’t. You don’t need fame. You’re doing fine just the way you are now. Bands wanting fame and thinking they’re superstars are just musicians with serious delusions of grandeur. Just play music for the love of it and don’t take yourself so serious.

Kev

… I know that’s never gonna happen.

Now… I know these blogs are gonna attract a lot of haters. I know this blog will inspire other people to start their own blogs to talk shit about me. I know people will talk shit about me in social networking. I know people will even use youtube to talk shit about me too. This stuff is gonna keep happening. The bigger my blog gets, the more haters I’m gonna get. That’s just the way it is, ya know? I’ve been dealing with this shit for the last 10 years or more so I’m pretty used to it, I think.

Some people make the mistake that some of my blog posts are aimed at one person but they’re not. I try not to write blog posts that are aimed at people.

Some bands and musicians don’t appreciate online criticism? Well, that’s the name of the game. Bands & artists are putting their stuff out there publicly for the whole world to see. If these guys are putting their stuff out there and getting their stuff out there, you’re gonna get criticized… good or bad. I know I put myself out there for the whole world to see so I know I’m gonna get criticized so I can handle online criticism just fine. I just ignore it and let it go.

However, there are some out there that can’t take it. Especially musicians out there. Musicians get upset easily and they become immediately defensive when they are criticized. If that’s how they’re gonna be, then they don’t have what it takes to make it in the music business. Just wait until they get signed. When you get signed to an indie label or get signed to a major, either way, you’re gonna get criticized by a lot of bloggers and music critics.

Like I said before, when you get your first negative music review, lets see how well these guys can handle it.

These guys are putting themselves out there. That gives me the right to criticize them. If I’m going to shows or buying records… that gives me the right to criticize. I’m paying my money for local music so that gives me the right to criticize. I criticize ’cause I’m a fan of music. That’s what I do it for.

I criticize everything with national music… I have the same feelings for local music.

I am human. I have eyes and ears. I have the right to an honest opinion.

If I’m going to band shows… I have the right to criticize everything I see. The way they run their shows. I have the right to say how they act professionally. I have the right to call out their attitudes if I don’t like it. All of these things, I have the right to do.

If you’re getting mad at my criticism then you don’t have what it takes to be a professional musician. Professional musicians don’t reply to online criticism.

When I used to go to live shows in the past, I have been reviewing everything. I was honest with everything. I’ve been doing this for years and it hasn’t changed today.

There’s nothing wrong with being a critic of local music. I don’t really hate the local music scene btw, I just want it to be better. There are great bands around here, it’s just that this area is not much of a scene anymore like it used to be.

I have every right to be realistic about local music. I won’t change no matter how many out there hates it.

On top of that, I haven’t been a part of the music scene in a long time and don’t really care to be. It’s not much of a music scene anymore. There are no venues. Nobody goes out to shows. I can go on and on.

I’m a critic and that’s what I do and if I’m pissing you off… my work is done.

This post isn’t aimed at anyone by the way. Just had to get this rant off my chest.

Kev