Tampa Calling

I woke up with a bug this morning. Something heavy. Something fuzzy. Something hazy. None of the pop-tinged alternative in my music collection seem to satiate this thirst. Then I stumbled upon these Sludge Rock gems. Sludge Rock (aka Stoner Rock, Psychedelic Heavy Metal) is a down-tuned, thicker-than-molasses branch of heavy metal that focuses on sexual/drug-related topics, thumping drum patterns and guitar tone engulfed in Big Muff fuzz. I went on a quest on iTunes and ended up spening $15 amassing a nice Sludge playlist. Here are 7 recommendations if you are feeling dirty like I was:

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Hey! In case you care about what we liked this year, here’s our Top 10 for 2008. Enjoy!

1. The Roots - Rising Down
2. Metallica - Death Magnetic
3. Soulfound - Is a Rock Band
4. The Mars Volta - The Bedlam in Goliath
5. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs
6. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip
7. The Sounds of Animals Fighting - The Ocean and the Sun
8. Anberlin - New Surrender
9. Thrice - Alchemy Index Vol. 1-4
10. CSS - Donkey

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Once your band gets some songs written and well-rehearsed, it is recommended that you focus on creating a demo. A demo serves as both your product and your business card, so having a the highest quality demo possible makes sense.  Fans form their opinions quickly after they hear the first note of your first song, so why not make it bad ass?

Song List and Pre-production
The first step is to decide what the final product will be. A 3 song EP? A double album? Whatever it is make sure you determine the song list before spending money. This helps keep the project on-budget and gives you a scope. After determining the songs, rehearse and pre-produce the crap out of them. This will save you time in the studio. For my old post on pre-production, click here.

Setting a Budget
You know what you want to record, now you need to get the cash to pay for it. Setting a recording budget can be a chore and may scare you a bit, but it takes money to make money. There are three parts to a solid recording budget:

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Yes. Even though you can host your files on a free site like MySpace, I recommend you spend the $40 per year for a domain and hosting for your own dot com Website. Here’s why:

Do you remember a Website called MP3.com? Before MySpace and before Napster brought the industry to their knees, MP3.com was THE website to upload your songs to and many bands used it as a surrogate for a real Website. One day (and abruptly), MP3.com closed down their free service and all the bands were out of luck, many missing out on thousands of fans that they failed to point to their own Website. They have since resurfaced, but it was too late for thousands of bands and music lovers. You never know if MySpace will power down their servers in favor of something else. Be safe.

Here are the basics you need to know and some reasons why:

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Recording can be very expensive for inexperienced musicians on tight budgets. Unless you have spent dozens of hours in a recording studio, it can be tough to envision how long things can take and how different recording to regular-old practicing in the garage. After spending 8-12 hours in a dimly-lit recording studio, you can easily lose perspective and damage your songs in the process.

One thing bands can do on their own time is work out their songs during “pre-production” before going into the studio. Pre-production entails recording rough demos of the songs you will be recording to make sure all the parts are where they are supposed to be. Doing this will in turn yield shorter recording sessions and will keep more money in your pocket for either more studio time or for promotions.

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After getting your band together, coming up with a name and writing a few songs, the first thing you need to do is make sure everyone is on the same page by defining your goals as a band. There are two main types of goals: Overall Band Goals and Tactical Goals.

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I came across an ad in Rolling Stone about slotMusic.org, a new music “format” that is being hyped by major labels as “a versatile new physical music format for the 21st Century”. In short, the new slotMusic format is a 1 Gig microSD card preloaded with DRM-free mp3s (properly tagged and 320 kBPs) and videos that consumers can load into their phones, mp3 players and computers without limitations, passwords or access to the Internet.

On their Website, www.slotmusic.org, you can read more about the limited numbers of artists they have available (Keane, MIA, Akon, Rise Against, Hendrix, thenewno2, Weezer among current artists available) and if yo ur Mobile device is microSD compatible (my cell is not). Currently, the only way to purchase slotMusic is online or at Best Buy and Walmart.

SlotMusic comes across to me as a beta program by a technology company to see if its sticks and an attempt for major labels to re-control the music distribution channel that the Internet took away. Will it make an impact? Probably not. Musicphiles and bloggers everywhere have been panning this idea since late September.

See the list below:

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I have been reading this book about online PR for bands called “Music Success in Nine Weeks” and it rules. At 143 pages, its a quick, workbook-style read that anyone can benefit from. In this how-to guide to self-promotion, cyber PR guru Ariel Hyatt gives bands a step-by-step guide to supercharging your PR efforts, building your fan base and earning more money (getting paid to play music? Hogwash.)

Buy “Music Success in Nine Weeks” from here.

One thing bands must understand that it is not enough anymore to be talented or have good songs. You need to take steps to build your own brand and make your band appealing to labels… (more…)

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Artists are always looking for “what people think” about their music. This really translates to “tell me something positive so I don’t freak out”. If this is the intended purpose, why ask in the first place? I had a band send in a demo and ask me to tell them what I thought of it. After listening to it 2 or 3 times, I crafted a long email pointing out what I thought were the strengths and points to work on, plus asked for some clarification on certain things, as I was interested but not sold. I never heard back from them.

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The Bombardier Manifesto is a blog for bands, clubs and related industries about music, marketing and technology. Learn how to use these tools to develop a healthy and profitable music scene.

Hello World! Welcome to the first entry of the Bombardier Manifesto. Having spent the last 10 years trying to build my music cred and professional arsenal, I realized that my attempts have not failed, but have been victims of bad timing, lack of knowledge and downright stupidity. I had to figure things out the hard way and that takes a toll after a while. I don’t want you to make the same mistakes.

That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to be able to share with you some of the very useful tools available to bands and businesses everywhere who want to increase the visibility of and awareness for their wares… (more…)

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