We tore it all down. Everything.
Two years of blood, sweat and beers washed away. After painful deliberation, we decided to drop every song Onward We March wrote for our first EP, The Golden Vine. No more playing these songs live.
It hurt, mentally and financially,
But it had to be done.
The idea for our music was to have a concept running through all our albums (similar to Coheed & Cambria), since we're all about depth in our music. But this story was the child of our departing singer, and it felt wrong to try and raise it as our own. The lyrical style, too, was all his.
It hurt, but we realized we would have to give up all we've done so far to start fresh with our new singer.
Which is ok.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post about getting songs stolen, it's not an individual item that makes you important, it's your entire body of work. If you want long-term success in music, you have to have a legacy of great work.
Otherwise you're just a one-hit wonder.
Showing posts with label onward we march. Show all posts
Showing posts with label onward we march. Show all posts
6/27/11
5/5/11
Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. Fun. And so on.
File this one under "Learning Experiences."
Recovering from losing our singer back in January, the band was understandably a little shaken up. Each of us responded to the stress in out own way.
My response was to keep pushing hard and working on anything possible to keep up our momentum. New songs, putting up flyers and messages trying to find someone new, managing the album release... anything to keep moving.
You could feel the negativity slinking thick through the air at practice. Progress on new material was frustrating and everything felt sloooooooooooooooooooooooow.
We decided to take a month off from the band.
I spent time talking to everyone to see what we could figure out was the cause. We wanted to get the energy back, but until we knew what was sapping it, we were stuck.
Finally, it came out.
It wasn't fun anymore.
My initial response to the stress of losing a singer was to push hard, and it was this push that drove the fun out everything. Practice was somber because we were "not making enough progress."
You can feel when a song is lifeless. Even though every note was spot on, there wasn't a heartbeat to a single measure.
With all the business advice and focusing on "getting things done", it's easy to get caught up in 'work mode'. But, above all else, music is about Love.
So I tabled my "to do" list, forgot all the grandoise plans, and we started jamming for the sake of jamming.
And all was right again.
Recovering from losing our singer back in January, the band was understandably a little shaken up. Each of us responded to the stress in out own way.
My response was to keep pushing hard and working on anything possible to keep up our momentum. New songs, putting up flyers and messages trying to find someone new, managing the album release... anything to keep moving.
You could feel the negativity slinking thick through the air at practice. Progress on new material was frustrating and everything felt sloooooooooooooooooooooooow.
We decided to take a month off from the band.
I spent time talking to everyone to see what we could figure out was the cause. We wanted to get the energy back, but until we knew what was sapping it, we were stuck.
Finally, it came out.
It wasn't fun anymore.
My initial response to the stress of losing a singer was to push hard, and it was this push that drove the fun out everything. Practice was somber because we were "not making enough progress."
You can feel when a song is lifeless. Even though every note was spot on, there wasn't a heartbeat to a single measure.
With all the business advice and focusing on "getting things done", it's easy to get caught up in 'work mode'. But, above all else, music is about Love.
So I tabled my "to do" list, forgot all the grandoise plans, and we started jamming for the sake of jamming.
And all was right again.
2/3/11
Phantom Progress
The more time I spend working on the business side of Onward We March, the more I begin to see what all those entrepreneurship teachers were talking about in terms of the dizzying complexity of running a business. From constant spam emails offering "We'll Get Your Band Famous in One Month!" services, to getting our copyrights correct, to passing out promo CDs, the list is NEVER ENDING.
It's becoming more and more clear to me that it's nearly impossible to run out of things to do to run a band. There's only so much effort one can exert in one day before the cost of effort exceeds the productivity. We all know what it feels like at the end of a practice sessions where there's no point in playing anymore because our brain is gone.
So, with limited time and effort, I've noticed a bit of a problem. There's a million things you can "accomplish" that will have no impact on your business. I called this Phantom Progress.
Some examples:
-Cleaning your practice space
-Sending myspace messages (Yeah, I said it. The website is spam.)
-Promoting your band through craigslist ads (I see people do this all the time and it makes me nauseous)
-Signing up for yet another "Hey, we'll promote your band for free!" website
-Applying for royalties (at least in our current stage of development)
-Reading music strategy blogs but NOT APPLYING what you learn
The reason phantom progress is so insidious is because it gives you all the warm fuzzy feelings of "I accomplished somthing!" while not contributing anything to your business and, more importantly, wasting your time and effort. Filling out a checklist doesn't mean anything if the items on the list aren't important.
I will admit I'm quite guilty at times of procrastinating on more important issues by crossing off "easy" items on my to-do list. It's an easy emotional payoff. But take the easy route too often and you'll end up burn out with nothing to show for all your work.
It's becoming more and more clear to me that it's nearly impossible to run out of things to do to run a band. There's only so much effort one can exert in one day before the cost of effort exceeds the productivity. We all know what it feels like at the end of a practice sessions where there's no point in playing anymore because our brain is gone.
So, with limited time and effort, I've noticed a bit of a problem. There's a million things you can "accomplish" that will have no impact on your business. I called this Phantom Progress.
Some examples:
-Cleaning your practice space
-Sending myspace messages (Yeah, I said it. The website is spam.)
-Promoting your band through craigslist ads (I see people do this all the time and it makes me nauseous)
-Signing up for yet another "Hey, we'll promote your band for free!" website
-Applying for royalties (at least in our current stage of development)
-Reading music strategy blogs but NOT APPLYING what you learn
The reason phantom progress is so insidious is because it gives you all the warm fuzzy feelings of "I accomplished somthing!" while not contributing anything to your business and, more importantly, wasting your time and effort. Filling out a checklist doesn't mean anything if the items on the list aren't important.
I will admit I'm quite guilty at times of procrastinating on more important issues by crossing off "easy" items on my to-do list. It's an easy emotional payoff. But take the easy route too often and you'll end up burn out with nothing to show for all your work.
1/14/10
How To Design a Flyer
BLAOW! Back from break, ready to drop some knowledge.
Good flyers make me wanna hug whoever designed it and bake them fresh chocolate chip cookies. Bad flyers piss me off. You want some chocolate chip cookies?
DO THESE FOR COOKIES
Eye Catching- Everyone's got a built in noise filter. Without it, we'd go insane trying to pay attention to everything at once (Jonas Brothers). So it's mostly a good thing.
But you're fighting it too. Be different. Be vibrant. Be worth my attention.
If all the punk-rock bands have 8x10 color collage style posters, do a 4x6 black-and-white postcard with vectorized film noir style & swarm a wall with em. Get past the noise filter.
Readable- I'm looking at you black metal. Yes, it's brutal. Yes, it's the most ultra-violent goretastic evisceration scene on a poster ever (eye catching? yes), but if you can't read the relevant info 15+ feet away, no one will bother finding out about you. Your flyer will be put in the mental file as "cool artwork" not "hey I gotta see this show". You wanna make your show easy to attend.
Where Are You Promoting?- Where will your flyer be going? Handouts? Car windshields? Bathrooms? Brick walls? Lockers? Consider this when choosing your shape, design, and colors.
-Posting on gray walls in downtown? Don't make a gray flyer!
-On cars? Think about the weather. If rain is coming, don't use paper flyers! (Guilty). Hot weather? Don't use laminate cards, they fuse to the windshield! People will associate scraping it off their windshield and being pissed off with your band. Not good.
-Taped to walls? Make sure you have enough space on the borders so the tape won't cover up the info! (Guilty)
-On school lockers? Great idea, but you might have a run in with the administration after one campaign. Save this method for an importnat gig, coat every locker in the school with a poster, then when "the man" comes down on you say, "My bad, I'll never do it again."
Then market the fact that your music was banned from school. Hell yes.
Know the market- There's more to "where" than just place. Think demographics & people.
We, a heavy metal band, played a battle of the bands at a rich, private, Methodist college. Not many metal heads, possibly hostile crowd and judges.
Get it?
Placement Creativity- Use a little thought when playing flyers (remember the noise filter?). Go as unconventional as you feel you can comfortably get away with. If there's a wall with a face painted on it, stick flyers on it in the shape of a happy face! (Did it)
Other places I've stuck em:
Lunchroom freezer / fridge
Inside paper towel dispensers
Magazines at a book store
Bathroom in the shape of a pentagram (Metal!)
INFO- Yes, I do need to emphasize this. If your flyer doesn't have all the relevent info, it's useless. It must be easy to go to your show and easy to become a fan.
You need:
Bands
When
Where
Price
At least one website to hear music
How to get tickets
Other (Drink specials? 1/2 off if you dress in a toga? Groupies in free?)
Always remember:
The purpose of a flyer is to bring someone to your show.
Good flyers make me wanna hug whoever designed it and bake them fresh chocolate chip cookies. Bad flyers piss me off. You want some chocolate chip cookies?
DO THESE FOR COOKIES
Eye Catching- Everyone's got a built in noise filter. Without it, we'd go insane trying to pay attention to everything at once (Jonas Brothers). So it's mostly a good thing.
But you're fighting it too. Be different. Be vibrant. Be worth my attention.
If all the punk-rock bands have 8x10 color collage style posters, do a 4x6 black-and-white postcard with vectorized film noir style & swarm a wall with em. Get past the noise filter.
Readable- I'm looking at you black metal. Yes, it's brutal. Yes, it's the most ultra-violent goretastic evisceration scene on a poster ever (eye catching? yes), but if you can't read the relevant info 15+ feet away, no one will bother finding out about you. Your flyer will be put in the mental file as "cool artwork" not "hey I gotta see this show". You wanna make your show easy to attend.
-Posting on gray walls in downtown? Don't make a gray flyer!
-On cars? Think about the weather. If rain is coming, don't use paper flyers! (Guilty). Hot weather? Don't use laminate cards, they fuse to the windshield! People will associate scraping it off their windshield and being pissed off with your band. Not good.
-On school lockers? Great idea, but you might have a run in with the administration after one campaign. Save this method for an importnat gig, coat every locker in the school with a poster, then when "the man" comes down on you say, "My bad, I'll never do it again."
Then market the fact that your music was banned from school. Hell yes.
Know the market- There's more to "where" than just place. Think demographics & people.
We, a heavy metal band, played a battle of the bands at a rich, private, Methodist college. Not many metal heads, possibly hostile crowd and judges.
BAM
Get it?
Placement Creativity- Use a little thought when playing flyers (remember the noise filter?). Go as unconventional as you feel you can comfortably get away with. If there's a wall with a face painted on it, stick flyers on it in the shape of a happy face! (Did it)
Other places I've stuck em:
Lunchroom freezer / fridge
Inside paper towel dispensers
Magazines at a book store
Bathroom in the shape of a pentagram (Metal!)
INFO- Yes, I do need to emphasize this. If your flyer doesn't have all the relevent info, it's useless. It must be easy to go to your show and easy to become a fan.
You need:
Bands
When
Where
Price
At least one website to hear music
How to get tickets
Other (Drink specials? 1/2 off if you dress in a toga? Groupies in free?)
Always remember:
The purpose of a flyer is to bring someone to your show.
12/31/09
Don't Let Mediocre Ideas Own You
It was a damn good idea.
We had all the artwork ready, logistics were perfect, and . It was going to draw a lot of attention to use, build our brand, and even stir a little controversy (yay!)
But,
It was the controversy that shut the whole fiesta down.
Back up, the idea:
There was a viral ad campaign pushed around Dallas that featured a black and white photo of someone looking a rough around the edges with text that said "I Am Second". The ads were EVERYWHERE, you couldn't drive down 75 or 35 without seeing this on billboards, bumper stickers, fliers etc.
SO:
We were going to put fliers and signs near all the major highways that featured a blood-soaked dinosaur that said "I Am First" and a link to our website.
Kickass, right?
We got nuts about it. Our friends loved it to. I was already fantasizing having two hundred new fans at our next show. Maybe even winning some advertising award for creativity (even though I can't name one, haha). It was gonna blow up.
However, we kinda forgot who we'd be dealing with: a southern evangelical church coalition. I wonder how they'd react to us proclaiming dinosaurs came first.
Hmm... this might be an issue.
The copyright lawyer I talked to said as much. "While technically you wouldn't be infringing, they could still sue as tarnishment... Do you have the cash to beat them in court?"
Harpooned.
Fuck.
No awards for me.
We spent the next practice debating if it was still worth the risk. "What percent chance do you think we have of them suing us?" Eventually the idea had to die. We poured a forty of Mickey's on the curb to mourn the loss.
It's hard coping with an idea that was almost great, especially after loading so much work into it. But such is life. Don't hold onto mediocre ideas too long, throw that trash out.
Never, ever, stop coming up with new ideas.
We had all the artwork ready, logistics were perfect, and . It was going to draw a lot of attention to use, build our brand, and even stir a little controversy (yay!)
But,
It was the controversy that shut the whole fiesta down.
Back up, the idea:
There was a viral ad campaign pushed around Dallas that featured a black and white photo of someone looking a rough around the edges with text that said "I Am Second". The ads were EVERYWHERE, you couldn't drive down 75 or 35 without seeing this on billboards, bumper stickers, fliers etc.
SO:
We were going to put fliers and signs near all the major highways that featured a blood-soaked dinosaur that said "I Am First" and a link to our website.
Kickass, right?
We got nuts about it. Our friends loved it to. I was already fantasizing having two hundred new fans at our next show. Maybe even winning some advertising award for creativity (even though I can't name one, haha). It was gonna blow up.
However, we kinda forgot who we'd be dealing with: a southern evangelical church coalition. I wonder how they'd react to us proclaiming dinosaurs came first.
Hmm... this might be an issue.
The copyright lawyer I talked to said as much. "While technically you wouldn't be infringing, they could still sue as tarnishment... Do you have the cash to beat them in court?"
Harpooned.
Fuck.
No awards for me.
We spent the next practice debating if it was still worth the risk. "What percent chance do you think we have of them suing us?" Eventually the idea had to die. We poured a forty of Mickey's on the curb to mourn the loss.
It's hard coping with an idea that was almost great, especially after loading so much work into it. But such is life. Don't hold onto mediocre ideas too long, throw that trash out.
Never, ever, stop coming up with new ideas.
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