There’s a common belief that an original music act just has to face the harsh reality of little to no pay and limited show possibilities that cannot possibly offset the rather expensive financial investment of playing an instrument in a band. While it’s true that you’re probably not going to get rich playing your music, it’s not an impossible task to get your music to at least pay for itself. It just requires a slightly different approach, and is easier to manage than one would think.

The first thing to do is to forget the big showcase clubs in each town you want to play in unless you already have a strong draw. Barring an opening slot for a well known headliner, you’re going to play for the bartender. Most of these type of clubs don’t do much walk-in business anymore, probably due to the infinite fragmentation of modern music genres. The answer that I’ve found is to scale way down. Once you’ve built a following for yourselves, THEN you can go to back to the big club. In most towns of any size at all, with a little hunting, you can find smaller venues that do a decent business and generally pay better. Little dive bars, pubs or breweries usually draw a pretty regular crowd. Some of them do live music, albeit in a much more ‘casual’ atmosphere than your typical ‘Big Rock Club’. So let’s weigh that for a second...play the ‘A’list club for nobody and MAYBE get gas money home, or play where folks may actually hear you and make a little cash for the band stash. Seems pretty simple, eh? It is. In order to build an audience in a market, you have to play to somebody.

There is a catch or two, of course; many of these ‘hole in the wall’ places don’t have a house sound system. Don’t let that alone scare you off- you probably have a practice PA, yes? Maybe a mixer head and some monitors? Perhaps you’re friends with another band that you could combine some gear with? You’ll find that in these small places, a very modest PA works nicely. Don’t mike anything but the vocals (maybe the kick drum) and mix your amp volumes around the drums. Walk out front and check the sound.. Make your guitar player turn down. Easier said than done, I know, but do it anyway. You have to remember that a) you’re in a much smaller space, and b)these people don’t know who you are or what you sound like. If you scale everything down, they might actually listen, like you and buy a CD. If you crank the Marshall’s up, you may clear the room.

As far as lights go, you’ll find you don’t need much-go to the hardware store and get some of those clip lights. Put in a colored bulb. Clip it on your micstand, drum hardware, or the chair you set your amp on. It’s a small thing, but it’s easy and adds a little atmosphere.

Perhaps the biggest catch for most original groups is much longer time slot. This alone scares most bands away from the DIY shows. For the most part, if you can cover three forty-five minute sets, you’ll be fine. The majority of the time, there’s nobody standing over you with a stopwatch. If your sets are a little short and your breaks a little long (within reason) nobody’ll notice. There are a few ways to cover the time if you don’t have enough material. First of all, you have to keep in mind that these shows are usually much more casual and loose. This can equal disaster if you’re not prepared for it, or a lot of fun if you are. Time your set(s) ahead of schedule. Block out areas in songs where you can play with the song structures. If you’re a jam oriented band, stretch out and play with dynamics. You can start with an acoustic set, take a break, and then play the electric versions of the songs in the next set. Remember, these people haven’t ever heard you before. More than likely, they won’t even notice if you repeat a song as long as you space them far apart. Play some covers if you like. Fool around a little. Have fun. If the time slot just seems too ominous, pair up with a friend’s band. It splits the money, but you’ll still make more than you would’ve, still expose living, breathing human beings to your music, and have some people to sit with on breaks.

You’ll find that more often than not these smaller, more casual venues will treat you with a great deal more respect and consideration. That alone makes it worth the search to find them. Decent sized cities and college towns are full of them all over the Midwest.

Having an indie-rock ethic is all fine and good, but music is expensive. Gas is expensive, keeping the band van running is expensive, and recording is expensive. You need maximum exposure when you leave town. You need to make as much money as you can, so you can afford to do it more often. Besides, what could be more DIY than basically building your own show from the ground up?

Chris Meck
chrismeck@thezone.org

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