queenofthedepths Posted March 11, 2008 Share Posted March 11, 2008 Having moved here last September and joined an established band a couple of months later, I've played 2 gigs in the Croft and 1 in the Fleece, none of which have been for money - I've now been instructed to find some gigs for the band (coz apparently I'd be good at doing so; not sure why...) Here's our myspace: www.myspace.com/distortedspace - I didn't make it but I could offer to make it look a lot better; is the presentation of a myspazz that important..? We don't have a huge following at the moment; nor do I expect we ever will - 'tis just a bit of fun, but playing for free when the punters are paying £4 is taking the piss and does rather detract from the fun We're possibly acquiring a new guitarist soon but for now we're a fairly mobile three-piece; not too demanding... anyway, ideally I'd like to get paid at least enough to get me to the gig on the bus and buy a couple of drinks to bribe friends to come along - anything extra would be a bonus So basically I'd just like some Bristol-specific (or just generally useful) advice on where and how to get a couple of paid gigs for my band! Once or twice a month for a few pennies is sufficient, really Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queenofthedepths Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 No ideas, anyone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted March 13, 2008 Share Posted March 13, 2008 (edited) [quote name='queenofthedepths' post='156401' date='Mar 12 2008, 11:18 PM']No ideas, anyone? [/quote] Some places will pay (which is nice), majority wont at the stage you're at the moment. You have to start doing gigs regularly to build up a following. Though not too many gigs otherwise people will get bored. The theory is eventually you'll work your way up the bill bring in more punters/friends etc, & then start to (hopefully) get a bit of dosh. Band I'm in, do it because we enjoy it - when it stops being fun we'll all do something else. We get a bit of money for some & nothing for others. None of the paid gigs we get, are ever going to enable me to pack in my dayjob Myspace [i](unfortunately)[/i] does help, along with an uploaded representative demo. Lastly, try hussling for gigs outskirts Bristol & in SW - Radstock,Wells,Bath, Swindon,Burnham etc can be great places to play Some good links [url="http://www.ourband.net/new_asp/venue_select_county.asp"]http://www.ourband.net/new_asp/venue_select_county.asp[/url] [url="http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/entertainment/music/venues/a_to_z_index.shtml"]http://www.bbc.co.uk/somerset/entertainmen...o_z_index.shtml[/url] [url="http://www.bristolbands.com/venues.php"]http://www.bristolbands.com/venues.php[/url] Good luck Edited March 13, 2008 by nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 Bristol has loads of venues that put on music and loads of bands vying for the chance to play them. So .. to do best you have to be very entertaining and draw a crowd. Them's the base requirements. Generically, try the tricks in this ebook [url="http://www.gig-getter.co.uk/"]http://www.gig-getter.co.uk/[/url] £15 well spent. Then you have to go for the starter gigs, do well and then move up. Have a long read through the Bristol Rocks website. [url="http://www.bristolrock.co.uk/"]http://www.bristolrock.co.uk/[/url] There's all sorts of useful information about venues [url="http://www.bristolrock.co.uk/Pubs/MusicVenues.htm"]http://www.bristolrock.co.uk/Pubs/MusicVenues.htm[/url] and bands on there. Find a few you would fit with and volunteer to do support slots. You will have to draw 20+ people to do well but it will lead on and you get to play in front of someone else's crowd who you will instantly convert to being your fans by your absolutely fantastically entertaining show and marketing techniques ... won't you Also go for support gigs at the Fleece and Fiddlers. To get more you will need to bring loadsa people (it's the same old rules) Take 100 and they may give you a headline Monday. Fill that and you may get another .. after 5 or so you may get a Friday .. etc etc etc ... Headline teh fleece and you'll probably get a gig at The Prom - etc etc etc Go to the jam sessions listed on Bristol rocks and network like billy-ho. Offer to play a few numbers a band and see if anyone knows of venues where your music will fit .. [url="http://www.bristolrock.co.uk/Pages/Open_mic.htm"]http://www.bristolrock.co.uk/Pages/Open_mic.htm[/url] Try that and let us know how you get on. OG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 (edited) [quote name='OldGit' post='163137' date='Mar 25 2008, 01:51 PM']Also go for support gigs at the Fleece and Fiddlers. To get more you will need to bring loadsa people (it's the same old rules)[/quote] Contact Bristolbands, they do free showcases at the Fleece for various genres of music. We did that, & managed to get a gig (albeit a Tuesday night one), for next week. Edited March 25, 2008 by nick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted March 25, 2008 Share Posted March 25, 2008 [quote name='nick' post='163196' date='Mar 25 2008, 03:31 PM']Contact Bristolbands, they do free showcases at the Fleece for various genres of music. We did that, & managed to get a gig (albeit a Tuesday night one), for next week. [/quote] Also get Venue mag and see where people are playing .. The Croft used to send me emails out saying "band wanted, such and such date, such and such style" that would be good to get if they still do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Funk Posted March 26, 2008 Share Posted March 26, 2008 This isn't Bristol-specific but London-specific. What I did with my band was I just looked through Time Out and the listings in the major London and National newspapers to see the venues that always get listed. Then I trawled through myspace for promoters who put on shows there regularly. I put up demo songs on our myspace page and a biog, messaged the promoters and blagged a first gig headlining at a decent venue. Then we didn't have enough people through the door to get a repeat booking but we used the fact of our previous gigs at decent venues to get more gigs at decent venues. Our guitarist also started dragging everyone and anyone he's ever met along to the gigs. It's sort of building that way. Friends of friends are coming back now. The honest truth is that most venues don't give a **** about how you sound so long as there are 20-40 of your paying public there to see you. Then they'll book you again. And the promoters care first about what kind of numbers you're going to get and secondly about whether or not you'll fit stylistically with their night. So to summarise: 1. Get some decent sounding demos on your myspace page. Customise it enough to not look like bedroom musicians who've never played a gig before (even if that's what you are). 2. Decide which venues you'd like to play and find out which promoters put on gigs there. 3. Contact the promoters giving them some basic information about your band and things on your myspace page you want to draw their attention to - also tell them you'd expect an audience of 15-25 people (if that's what you'd actually expect; go higher if higher or lower if lower - but no lower than 10!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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