Abe_Z said:
BonsaiK said:
Abe_Z said:
I am in a hard rock band. We're trying to gig as much as possible and really want to do this professionally. This means so much to me, and I would be willing to do almost anything to "make it"!
What is the best way to grab the attention of those who can help us achieve our goals of playing music as a profession? Who can we tell is the best way to "market" ourselves? Any advice would be much apprieciated!
Er.... what sort of "hard rock" are we talking about here? That makes all the difference...
Hmmm... If you need a solid example, check us out at http://www.purevolume.com/imageof719. I only give the address cause it's hard to explain other than hard rock. Heavier than Sevendust, but lighter than Slipknot. We incorporate a little bit of intricate playing, solos; we're kind of experimental too. Even thought I hate to say it, people may label us as "Christian" Rock, but we don't come close to having that sound. With all due respect, but a lot of "Christian" bands out there suck, and that's why I try and steer clear of using that to "describe" us.
Apologies for harsh truths and possible offence I might cause, but do understand that I'm not trying to be offensive, but give you the best possible information that I can to help you succeed.
"Christian" bands are always stuck in an interesting predicament, one which is not that different to what a lot of "white power"-style artists find themselves in. It works like this: people who are interested in the ideology want to listen to the music primarily
because it matches their ideology, whereas people who disagree with the ideology refuse to even give the music a chance, once again, because they
don't happen to agree with what's being said. In both cases, the actual music takes a back seat.
This is why, in the history of Christian music (in all genres), once an act starts gaining a very solid fanbase, they start toning down their Christian message - the people behind the music generally still hold those beliefs but they no longer want to be perceived as "that Christian artist", because it stops new people outside of that Christian music scene from checking out the music (and on top of financial concerns there's no point preaching to the choir after all). They're trying to break out of the "ghettoisation" effect that nominating yourself as a Christian artist tends to generate. Amy Grant, Stryper and P.O.D. are all artists who have attempted this shift, with varying degrees of success, but almost every big Christian band tries to "cross over" at some point. It's just good marketing sense.
For smaller Christian bands, ghettoisation can be a good thing - sure, it cuts off the non-Christian audience more or less completely, but it makes the Christian audience
super-interested in everything you do, and at the start of your career you're probably mainly going to be playing just to your Christian pals anyway. Let's look at "white power" bands again - now that's a genre that's has zero chance in hell of crossing over into the mainstream because so many people find those kind of ideas completely abhorrent. Bands who choose that path knowingly choose the path of music industry ghettoisation. They know they'll never be accepted by the mainstream - only their specific audience will ever care. The flipside, is that that specific audience cares
a whole lot. Look at Skrewdriver - even by punk standards, they can barely play their instruments and ignoring the lyrical content the songs themselves are simply
not that good, certainly nothing to write home about compared to their contemporaries, yet they had that tiny core audience who latched onto them and loves them because of their extreme stance, hence they're still known today and have fans all over the world (not many though, but enough for a cult following).
In your band's case, ghettoisation could help you because your Christian stance is really the most distinctive thing about your group. The actual sound of your music isn't hard rock, it's more some kind of post-grunge/nu-metal, and I've heard that sound many, many times before, probably more times than I've heard any other type of band in any other genre ever in the last ten years. I'd really be trying to work into your music something that's genuinely "different" or at least a bit more distinctive than what you have currently. Until you do, then people will naturally label you "Chrstian rock" simply because they can't find any other way to distinguish your sound from something so many other bands do other than to say "oh, these are the Christian guys". The music you have is frankly too generic to really stand out and be noticed and therefore only saleable as a "ghettoised" commodity, you'll simply need better songs to really go far with this. Sorry, I'm sure this isn't the type of response you were fishing for.
(Also, "Last Breath" not "Last Breathe". "Breathe" just looks unprofessional. Don't make typos on promo material, especially not your own song titles... unless it's deliberate...)
