By: Joerilla

We find ourselves in a world that is inundated with ads, and marketing tactics. With new channels and avenues of conveyance, marketing is almost inescapable, and unavoidable. Advertising is especially necessary, today, if you are in a rock band. As a
broke rocker myself, I was stuck with the quandary, “How do we stand out from the herd, and how do we do it cheap?” A lot of the ideas that came to my mind were
honestly embarrassing to even think about trying. After one of my band’s songs had a low streamed release, I decided that it was time to pull the trigger on some of these ideas that were jumping through my mind like fleas in a circus. While I can’t necessarily tackle the full behemoth topic of marketing for you in this article, I can still give you three low-cost ideas that are bound to generate interaction, and growth for your rock band!

1. “I SAW THE SIGN!”
Expense rating: $5
My first major dabble in the marketing pool, outside of the run of the mill social media promos, was a little tactic that we like to call “sign waving.” I know, you felt embarrassed just thinking of yourself out there. What if I were to tell you, it was the most effective tactic outside of social media that I ever used for my band, Primal Moon? You may not necessarily know the name, but I guarantee you… thousands of people in the Chicagoland area, probably had nightmares about my ugly mug, with headphones on, and a foam board in hand. While I’m only going into a brief overview of these tactics for this, I will flood you with more stories of my sign waving exploits down the line. For now, I’ll be brief! Sign waving created the most social media interaction, personal interaction, and radio interaction. Within the first week of sign waving, our monthly Spotify listeners were up from 35 to 550 monthly. Our streams were reaching thousands, once again. We made many fans, both online, and in person. Photographers were now offering us sessions, for free. Podcasts were flooding our DM’s, and even radio stations started to take notice. All I really know, I went to a very busy street corner, with high visibility, and wrote “LISTEN TO PRIMAL MOON” on a white foam poster board. My first intersection was on the corner of New York Street and Eola Road in good old Aurora, Illinois. Home of historical figures, like Wayne and Garth. Within the first day, we went up at least 50 new listeners, and 30 new followers between our IG and our Facebook. It was mind blowing to see after just holding a sign for an hour. So, I kept going with it and never ceased to stumble upon new avenues of opportunity through the method.

2. “Chalk It Up To Promotion”
Expense Rating: $10
My day job is pest control. I go to a lot of residential areas and treat
homes with products. It’s riveting, I know. Sometimes, the mundane redundancy of the daily to do’s, can bring about major inspiration for another strong marketing tactic. That’s what happened to me, when I walked up to a customer’s driveway, that was covered in a marvelous array of multicolored sidewalk chalk! I thought to myself, ‘If I’m looking at this, then other people will look.’ Like a Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come,” kind of moment… to a lesser degree. I remember driving directly to the nearest Walmart after work. I don’t
understand why chalk is the hardest to locate in most stores. It seems like I must go spelunking to find the chalk. Is it in arts and crafts? Outdoors? Toys? Just designate a fricken spot!! Sorry, I had to chase that rabbit trail a little bit. I’ll compose myself for the rest of this article… maybe. Anyway, I paid for a big tub of “THICC” ole sticks of chalk and headed to downtown Plainfield. I decided to pick the town where more people hated the derelict I was in high school. I don’t know why I do these things; I just do. It turned out to be a hit. While it can be annoying to some, it sure was effective when people took pictures of the chalk and tagged our band online. We were getting tagged on social media, from that one hour of chalking the streets, for weeks to follow. $10 and joint pain from all the bending to chalk. That’s all it costs to make your band the talk of the town.

3. “Knock knock!”
Expense Rating: $10-$20
Now, this final method is not for the skittish, or faint of heart. I would even heavily suggest the use of the buddy system in a tactic like this. If the title doesn’t reveal the idea to you, maybe the term “door-2-door” will get those gears of fear and dread churning in that mind of yours. Going door to door is a very daunting task. You must mentally prepare yourself to be pretty much hated by a lot of people in a short span of time. You’ll have doors slammed in your face, get cussed out, and in some areas, guns pulled. Even with all of the potential for danger, there is massive potential for reward. Some of your strongest fans can come from that initial face time with someone at their door. It’s very disarming to some people to see musicians so sold out to their art that they are willing to risk hate and embarrassment in suburbia, for a chance to be seen and heard. I had many great conversations with people in my area, and they even came to the shows for years to follow. There’s a lot of power in meeting someone, where they are!
In closing, these methods aren’t fool proof. They definitely don’t have a list of cons next to the pros. I’ll gladly talk about both sides of the coin with you in future writings. I will say, these were some of the most heavily effective for my band. We were able to make it on mainstream radio, play festivals and venues that we could’ve only dreamed of before, and gained a multitude of true friends through the endeavors. We gained a story worth telling. Now, go create your story!

BY: KEVIN DIAMOND

Opinions in music are pointless. What speaks to you might not speak to others. Being opinionated and old gives me the ability to step back and enjoy music and focus my opinion on things that can possibly help others, for example. Where do I think is the best place to stand for a concert? First we must break down our options. 

Most people will say up front is the best place to view a concert, I disagree. The front is a young man's game, You’ll most likely be next to a fatherless twenty-something whose life has been changed from the lyrics. So full of piss and energy that they just can’t help but yell the lyrics back to the vocalist in an almost crying, hysterical fashion. Any videos you take will be overshadowed by a few of these passionate folks. Try to move yourself towards the center and that’s where you get yourself closer to the war zone. Where you start to reach the pit's edge and you start feeling the sweat of others on your arms (yuck) as you try not to get hit in the face. Maybe you try to make your way closer to the barricade, that can be fun sometimes, treading in an almost sea like crowd. Swaying with the movement as if you are one entity. Don’t lift your arms up, that may leave you stuck in what I call “stoked position”. Where your arms are above your shoulders and you are unable to bring them back down to your sides due to the people next to you. Worst feeling in the world. I’d argue it's worse than knowing that your lower half of your own body's moisture isn’t just from you. Yes, you are close to the action on stage and get to feel part of the show, but you are also most likely in front of the audio “sweet spot”. Where you can possibly hear the stage monitors and cymbals crashing over the actual main PA sound. Take yourself off to the side a bit to still be close, but not be in such a densely populated area. Now this may be the worst place to stand and I’ll explain why. This area is filled with people my age, people approaching their 40s. They still want that up close experience but feel aged out of the middle. So they will still sing every lyric, maybe even explain very loudly to the rest of the party how “they haven’t played this song since the summer of 2012” as the intro comes in for a deep track. The major difference with this area is that not only do you still have the annoyance of off pitch sing alongs. Most of these attendees are the ones that have beers in their hand. There is always that awkward moment when they finish said beer and they do that look around and drop it on the floor. Me being the type of person I am, now I make a mental note that I’ll be dealing with a broken cup(s) by my feet all night. Lastly, When it comes to the “upfront side shift” (it has a name now), You will always be standing directly in front of the PA, your face may hurt from sound waves slapping you all night long. So I feel that the up front concert going experience is overrated. 

lets move to the back….

Now the back can be a tricky game. First you must understand that we are all in the back because we respect personal space. THAT BEING SAID, one must understand that failure to enclose any area will result in a pathway starting. That can ruin a whole concert experience. If you don’t understand, Basically it means that any opening will create traffic and you will end up with people walking in front of you all night until you step forward, making them walk behind you. This tends to happen a lot more at festivals but can still be an issue for a club. Now the advantages of the back I feel far exceed the advantages of the front. First, I'd like to point out that the people around you will most likely be fans, but casual fans. They won't be screaming every lyric, dancing, or explaining to their friends how they got a handjob to this song in the back of a Buick. They will be enjoying the music, their drink and the experience in front of them. Now the advantage of being in the back and center is by far the sound and sight. If you can manage to keep your sight line open (or if you’re 6’6), you have a perfect view of the stage, the production, lights, and the craziness of what's up front in the audience. All those fatherless 20 somethings in the front I mentioned earlier have now become almost a choir of chant. Making their off pitch hysterical screaming less annoying. Almost adding a little bit of seasoning for the actual vocals. Personally, I like to find myself directly in front of “front of house” (that’s the sound board for all you normies). I feel that this is the best place to experience a concert. Not only will you most likely be dead center, perfectly lined up with the stage. Having the same vantage point as the lighting director. Seeing the same show that they are helping create. The lighting angles and production put into the show was written from this point. This also has its audio advantages as well. Hearing the show from the same area as the man mixing the show will sound better than anywhere else in the building. Lastly, when you stand directly in front of the sound board, You will most likely have a nice wall or barricade to lean against. Saving your knees and back. With all this being said, I have had bad experiences with standing in the back. One major thing to look out for is a slanted floor. While on paper it seems great, it gives everyone a good view of the stage. What it actually does is destroy your body. You might not think about it (that is why I am here) but when you stand for 3 hours on a slanted floor, you are naturally leaning backwards. Almost like a backwards Michael Jackson lean for hours at a time. This will hurt your back, your shins and knees. Once you get out of the venue onto a flat ground, that is when you feel it. Anyone that has stood in the back of Reggies in Chicago and left the venue feeling sore, this is why. 

I feel like it should be mentioned. At my old age and with some of the larger concerts I attend, Nothing beats a good seat. Personally I have a routine when I know I have a seat. First off, I get there early to watch all the bands (almost always) but the first band will be Nachos and a good crisp pop. Have you ever eaten nachos and watched a metal band? That is a real party. Maybe you’ll be lucky enough to be in the first row of your section which gives you a nice foot rest for the full night. Unfortunately, the bands I listen to are not selling out stadiums on the regular, So this luxury is a rare one. 

Next time you attend a concert, hopefully you will remember all the tips I’ve left for you to achieve maximum enjoyment.