Why Being a Band Jerk is Not a Good Thing
January 12th, 2009 by Ivan Pena in Bombardier Manifesto
Attitude is an important component to keep in check as your band starts to have some pull. Acting like a whiny diva is a surefire way to get yourself banned from venues, overlooked by promoters and despised by local media. If you are an unsigned or independent act, you have no place thinking that you are better than anyone else by making other’s lives annoying. Just because you have some catchy tunes and your friends like them doesn’t mean jack squat.
People in the music business have enough ego on their own and will not want to put up with yours, unless you truly are God’s gift to music and are selling lots and lots of records. If you are hassle to deal with or have too many demands, chances are they won’t want to work with you. The rule of thumb is: unless you have something that they need, don’t act like it. If your band brings 400 people to a show, then you have grounds to demand from the venue. If your band brings 10, you don’t. So don’t be a jerk about no sound check, bad on stage sound or crappy pay outs.
But, you don’t have to be a pushover either. Bands that are too nice get stepped on, even when they are good. Things like changing your agreed upon set time to accommodate a band that showed up 2 hours late for load-in is bad practice. Or waiting until after the show to work out how the money will be split among bands or how much you need to reimburse the promoter for promotional expenses. You should treat the people you work with professionally and with respect and hold them accountable. This is the only way to move the scene forward as a viable business component for our community.
The point is to eliminate bad behaviors from the scene. Bands, if the other bands you are playing with don’t promote for the show or don’t show up when they are supposed to, then you don’t have to be nice. Venues, if the bands don’t show up on time or don’t promote for a show, you don’t have to be overly accommodating. Bands, if the venues shaft you on what they promised, you don’t have to play there anymore. Common courtesy and professional decency should always be expected and people should always be held accountable.
Enjoy. Share.
Ivan
About Ivan
Ivan Pena has an Advertising degree from UF, 8+ years in corporate and consumer marketing, 10+ years in graphic design and promotions. Ivan is also the leader of the group Soulfound and runs his own independent record label, Mohawk Bomb. In 2008, Ivan was named one of the Top 30 Under 30 by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. Check Ivan out on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ivanpena
January 12th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
It’s so true! I worked as a promoter of bands and DJs back when I lived in Detroit and New Orleans. The only reason I haven’t done it since I moved to Tampa was that I had quite enough of that attitude from bands that claimed to want my help and then took every chance to crap on me when I gave it to them. They start to get recognized at clubs and at shows and next thing you know, they have a rider and want a tour bus. Ridiculous, I tell ya. I’m thankful that a lot of the bands I follow now are much more professional. They don’t easily forget that if you’re in a band as a your job, you have to treat it like a business and not just a vacation with instruments.