I know there are plenty of local websites, radio stations, newspapers, etc. that love to interview bands & musicians. You know what? In my opinion, most of that stuff is crap when it comes to band interviews. When bands get asked to do an interview for a website, radio station, or a newspaper, most bands would jump on the opportunity ’cause interviews is good marketing and promoting for your music.

If the interviewer wants to get more respect from the band, the way to do that is not ask the same damn questions that you ask every other band. I’m sure the band gets the same damn questions every interview they do and I’m pretty sure they get tired of answering the same stuff. Don’t make the questions too easy and simple. Make them different and unique.

If you want to entertain your readers and the band’s fanbase, you want to make the interview entertaining. Almost every local band interview I read or hear, you always hear the same questions being asked, “What inspired the music on the album”, “What is the songwriting process like”, “What instruments do you play”, “What is this song about”, etc. *yawn*

Hmmmm….lets see, how about questions that are more interesting? Here are some better questions to ask bands: “How old were you when you first picked up the instrument”, “What was the first song you learned”, “What equipment did you use”, “How do you come up with songs? Do you improvise them or write them down”, “What scales did you use for that solo”, “What is your dream guitar that you can’t afford?”, etc. Ask musician questions like those, and they would be talking non stop.

Soon I’m going to start doing band & musician interviews in this blog, and I’ll show them how it’s all done.

Kev

Loren Weisman put up another great blog on how musicians using staged names for your career:

Read the article, here.

I agree, that a lot of musicians seem to be using nicknames or staged names. Even a lot of unsigned musicians been making up names for themselves. It’s happening more and more.

Why do musicians do it? It’s a good marketing ploy, period. If solo musicians released music under their real birth names, their music may not reach a wider audience. A staged name, fans would recognize that artist a little better.

My actual name is Kevin Brockway Jr. I used to release music under this name, but I figure it would be better, if I come up with a staged name. I tried to come up with all kinds of different staged names, by writing down on a piece of paper. Didn’t like any of them, so I thought, why not cut my name in half and just call myself, Kev Brock?

The name seemed to work successfully as people know me better that way. People always called me Kev, sometimes people called me by last name, that’s how I came up with it, so I put ’em together. That’s how the Kev Brock name came out to be. Now that name is all over the internet and all over the world of local music.

If I still released my music under my real name, then people would have a hard time getting used to.

There is nothing wrong with changing your name to release your music. Musicians do this stuff all the time.

Kev

These days, the world of unsigned music seems to be a huge hit on the social networking giant, Facebook. Pretty much all musicians are promoting their stuff to get heard either on their fan page (or like pages) and even their personal pages.

On my facebook pages, I use my fan page, to promote my music related stuff. I use my facebook fanpage as my official website like a lot of unsigned bands seem to be doing. On my personal page, I use it to talk about whatever, interact with friends, family, supporters & fans.

Thing that bothers me about facebook is that not only that people have weird communicating skills on them, a lot of people on there seem to be getting hurt & upset easily, when you decide to be honest & criticize them about something. A lot of people will mistakenly see it as if you were trying to bash them or trying to put them down, when you are only trying to be nice, and helpful.

When musicians get too upset and pissed off, over a little bit of honesty, are they really this emotional and sensitive? Maybe a little bit, yes, but I truly believe that when musicians get too defensive over certain things you say about them, it is definitely all ego for sure. Some musicians are pretty self centered, period.

I don’t mean to sound like a broken record and repeat myself, but I just go by how bands & musicians socialize with people on facebook and other places online. The fact is, that a lot of musicians have horrible communicating skills.

Some musicians can be easy to get along with and some can take criticism by fans, but most of them can’t take a little bit of truth. I can handle criticism with no problem. I don’t mind a little bit of honesty when people talk about me, but as long as people are not attacking or bashing, I’m okay with that.

When you put up a facebook page for everyone to read and everyone to post on, people are not going to write on it however you want to. Everything is not going to be perfect on your facebook pages. You will run into some positive people and negative people. You will also run into some honest fans that will give you a bit of criticism.

I try my very best to keep my internet world as positive as possible, but no matter what happens, negative and honest people will always come around. That’s just the way the internet is. You put yourself out there for the world to see, people will be honest about you.

If you or your band can’t handle a mixture of responses and emotions on facebook, then you shouldn’t have gotten a facebook page to begin with. What is it with musicians getting emotional over silly stuff? Oh that’s right, they want to think they’re so important and talented all the time, so you don’t deserve to criticize them.

Bands think they can have all the right to criticize the amateurs but when you decide to criticize them, it’s the wrong thing to do. Boo hooo….

This is why I don’t write on band pages too much in facebook, you never know if their tempers will flare. Bands have anger problems around here, and that’s what I’ve been trying to say in my blogs for years.

Kev

If you think other bands/solo artists, and promoters can be crazy and weird, when it comes to music, the bookers at venues can be much worse. Seriously, I’ve dealt with them over the years! They can be pretty unprofessional, disrespectful and have bad attitudes as well! I’ll leave venue names out, so I won’t get legal threats.

A lot of venues in your area, book shows in different ways. Below I’m going to explain how they do it and why I think it’s wrong. Then, I’ll explain how venues should book bands/artists so they can be more welcoming for us all.

The Way Venues Book Bands and why I think it’s wrong…

• Venues will sometimes book bands/artists, only if the music is good. They’ll reject the bands/artists that they think are crap. Why I Think It’s Wrong: Simply put, bands/artists don’t like being rejected. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been rejected when I try to book a gig at a certain venue. Trust me, I’ve been rejected a lot over the years, when I tried to send my demo for a possible show booking. All those few gigs I got booked over the years, I got pretty lucky for those venues to actually support my music.
• Venues will book bands only if you have a large enough following, doesn’t matter if your music is good or not. Why I think it’s wrong: Sometimes it’s hard for a band/artist to pull in more people. I also think it’s disrespectful to unsigned artists getting rejected if the venue think they aren’t able to pull in more people. They should just wait for the night of the show and see what happens. Who knows, more people will come on their own, never know. It is also disrespectful to not let the band/artists perform there again, if they didn’t bring in a large enough crowd at the night of the show.
• Venues will force you to play an open mic before booking an actual gig. Why I think it’s wrong: I can’t tell you how many fuckin’ times, I tried to book a gig at a venue at a certain place, then they respond back, saying I should play their open mic first before actually booking a show with them. When venues do this, it’ll make me want to avoid that place like the plague. I can understand why the venues want to test the band/artists out to see if he/she can bring in a crowd or see if they are real, those are the reasons, but it’s still disrespectful and rude to a band/artist.

The real way venues should book bands/artists:

• They should support all local musicians. I know some venues that are supportive of everything, even if the stuff are bad. Believe me, they are out there.
• Instead of rejecting bands/artists because they don’t have a large enough following or if their music is not good enough, they should book that artist a gig for one night and give them a try out, anyway. Who knows what may happen, and the gig may turn out successful, it’s just a matter of giving them a chance.
• The person in charge of the booking, should have a professional and good enough attitude. Leaving your egos at the door as well. Seriously guys, bands & artists can have feelings too ’cause us musicians are human beings just like you. I’ve met plenty of rude booking agents over the years.
• Don’t worry about money, and not worry about how many people, a band/artist brings in. Not all bands & musicians will bring in huge crowds every night. All musicians will play in front of huge crowd to no crowd at all. That’s just the way things are. The venues need to get over their big crowds obsessions. I understand they need to make money and keep the business going, but believe me, they don’t need to be too money hungry. It’s not the end of the world.
• If a venue feels that a band/artist can’t bring in a crowd, help the band bring in people! I’ve seen this before! I’ve played a few venues where I had trouble getting people in and the venues were on their phones, trying to pull in as many people as possible, so I can have an audience. Why aren’t other venues doing this?
• When a band artist sends you a link where you can listen to their music and asks to book a gig at the place, reply to all requests. I’ve written to many venues over the years and gotten no response back from a lot of them.

That’s all I can think of as of now. Yeah, the way venues book gigs is bullshit, but it is what it is. This is just local music. I believe people take it too seriously around here.

Kev

I remember years ago during the 90’s, there was a local music TV show called, “Sounding Board” that used to air on WMHT years back. It was a pretty popular TV show that lasted for quite a long time and I remember watching it every week. I remember the show used to be hosted by music writer, J. Eric Smith and Amy Abdou.

Then in early 2006, local music TV briefly made a return. A TV show called, “Groovin On” by Billy Leroux, which I actually performed on once, (the video is in my youtube channel). Billy quit doing that show, which lasted for about a year or so.

I remember, Glens Falls had their own TV show with “8 Trax” by Bob Smith, that featured local bands.

Then there was Ralph’s “Capital Underground” show, but that only lasted for several episodes, I believe.

Today? There’s no local music TV anymore. It needs to make a return!!! A TV show where local bands and acoustic acts can get on to perform. I do miss local music TV though. It’s great publicity for bands & artists around here.

I wish somebody out there would set something up.

I could set up a TV show myself, but I don’t have a place for bands to play or a soundguy to do all that stuff with. So I’ll let somebody else do the work. It would be nice if local music TV made a return though.

Not so I can get on there and perform myself, I want local music TV to return ’cause I support local music and a fan of unsigned music. I just like seeing unsigned acts performing on TV. It’s a pretty cool thing.

Kev

After a band or a solo musician wins a huge competition like, “Battle of the Bands” or some other contest, it really bothers me, that after their huge win, they continuously act like it’s the biggest thing that ever happened in their life & career. I mean, really? I don’t mean to disrespect bands and not trying to, just being a little honest and expressing my opinion. I have every right to, as well. I’m also sure, many of you out there would actually agree with me on this one.

After a band wins a huge competition or contest, they’ll go on and on and on about it. Talking about it non stop in interviews and with other people. Congratulations on your win, but that doesn’t mean you’re the biggest band in the world. Sure, winning a battle of the bands or some other competition will definitely help give you a little more exposure, but don’t expect that will help give your band a break through in the music industry. You still have a long ways to go and tons more work to do before thinking about trying to make it in the music business.

When I get my own band going, someday, I’m not going to have anything to do with this stuff. I’m never going to have anything to do with Battle of the Bands or any of the stupid competitions on the radio or whatever. I will also not have anything to do with pay to play schemes.

To me, winning these competitions would mean very “little” to me. I might be a little excited, but I’m not going to be all over it like a person winning the lottery. The only thing that would matter to me the most, is playing the music for the people. That’s more rewarding than anything else. All these silly awards and competitions,  it’s not the Grammy’s or American Idol, folks. They need to get over themselves, no offense. It makes them a bit egotistical, the more they go on about this stuff.

This post isn’t aimed at any band in particular, I’m just expressing my feelings on this stuff. I wish some bands would quit being an opportunist and focus on the music. Bands do what they want to do, sure, but they must do things carefully and responsibly, so they don’t get screwed in their career, sometime down the road.

Kev

Loren Weisman wrote up another great blog, about the confusion of “tours” vs. “regular gigs”.

Read the post, here.

Once again, I totally agree! I too have seen plenty of bands who work regular day jobs and only play a couple of shows on the weekends in their hometown, they all call it a “tour”!!! It’s not!

A tour is when you travel many miles away from home, playing gigs across the states or even other countries! That’s called a, “tour”.

Just more evidence that other bands, can be “delusional” too.

Kev

One thing some folks out there like to call me is a delusional musician. I seemed to be getting called that a lot, but I learn to ignore it and laugh it off.

Definition of delusional, here:

When I first started performing live on stage in the past, I used to be scared as hell when I get on stage to perform. I used to get nervous, and shake a little bit. Messing up my singing and guitar playing a lot too. I notice a lot of musicians and bands STILL have stage fright. Even some of the most successful and well known musicians can still have it too. They stand on stage looking like a zombie. While playing their instrument, they would either stare at the floor or stare at the instrument, or worse, a lot of singers would sing with their eyes closed a lot. I see this all the time that singers, sing with their eyes closed. I don’t know why they do it, but I always believed it is very important to have eye contact with the crowd.

If you seen my live photos and videos over the years (or even seen me live at a show), you would know, I have full confidence performing on stage. I believe, confidence is key to playing a great show and drawing a crowd.

Ways to overcome stage fright, before booking an actual gig, play as many open mics as possible. Playing open mics at bars or cafes or where ever, will definitely help you get used to performing in front of large crowds. When rehearsing at home alone, pretend you’re performing in front of an actual audience. Picture yourself playing in front a lot of people even if there’s no one in the room or even  practice playing in front of a mirror. That stuff helps too.

When you have full confidence being on stage, you’ll be able to put on a much better and more exciting show. Remember, eye contact at the crowd, all the way through the performance. Smile often. Look like you’re having fun and enjoying yourself. Move around on stage, dance a little, do a little head banging, or whatever. When you want to give the crowd a blast of a good time, you want to look like you’re having a blast too.

I can’t wait when I get my own band going. When I do get a band and start playing full band gigs, you can very well believe, I’m not gonna stand there. I’m going to move around like a fucking rock star. Trust me on that.

Kev

So you play an instrument and want to get yourself out there. When you play an instrument, decide to play in a band or go acoustic solo or whatever, all musicians pretty much want to think they’re so great. A lot of them like to pretend to be great and not be honest with themselves. Other music fans would go along with it and agree that they’re great ’cause they’re not musicians and don’t know anything about music. When an actual musician starts criticizing this other musician saying he/she is not really great that they think they are, other musicians can tell if they are great or not.

How can musicians tell if other musicians are not really that great? Well, if they are not playing in time, not playing in key, bad singing, playing sloppy, out of tune, etc. Yet, the musician they are criticizing will still think they are great no matter what is said about them.

For the past several years on my blogs, you can immediately tell I never had that kind of attitude. I’ve always admitted, I don’t play like a pro yet and still got a lot of work and plenty of learning to do. I’m always looking for ways to improve my playing and songwriting. I know I’m no music god, I’ve always been honest with my own talent. People accused me of having an ego problem and some out there think I’m a big shot musician. I hear some of them say, “This Brock think he’s a great musician, doesn’t he?” I never thought of myself that way.

I can’t even tell if I’m good or not, so I just play the music and let the people do the talking. If they want to call me a great musician, that’s fine. If they want to call me a crap musician, that’s fine too. There are actual musicians out there that think I’m good at what I do, and there are actual musicians out there, that think I suck. I love mixed opinions with my talent.

It is weird, the way people think of music.

Kev