Having an objective and effective band biography can be a challenge for many bands. Often, the bands write these bios themselves (they are usually better at playing their instruments than at using basic grammar), and so the bios tend to be full of overly flowery explanations of the band’s origin, their mission, their sound, their myriad influences. Sometimes, these monoliths are multiple pages long and include detailed background information about each band member.

Your bio doesn’t need to be so detailed. Save that for books about your legacy and magazine feature articles. Keep it short and punchy. Like a brand statement or company overview. While I’m not claiming to have the answer to the perfect and entrancing band bio formula, I can impart some tidbits of advice that will make your bio much more powerful and relevant.

Why do you need a bio?
Well, they are good to have if you are trying to get the press to talk about your band or if you are sending out EPKs/press kits to book gigs. A well-written, complete and short bio will get you some attention.

In my opinion, a good band bio must contain the following elements:

• A strong, yet succinct statement about the band’s sound
• Some mention or similarity to other popular bands in your genre or bands that your fans like in addition to you (recommended if you like…, for fans of…, etc.)
• A quick introduction of the band members and what they contribute to the band.
• 2-3 mentions of significant events that will give your band more credibility in the industry. Have you won any awards? Have you been part of a festival/event for a charity? Have you been featured in a indie film or a TV commercial?
• References: Mentions of verifiable touring history, sales figures or sales volume are a plus if you are trying to get gigs. Quotes from previous press reviews or fan reviews will help with press.

6 Writing Tips
1) Don’t over hype your band. They know the bio’s from you, so don’t pretend like someone else wrote it. Stick to the facts and let them form their own opinion based on your music.

2) Don’t over describe your sound or each of the players. Be impartial and write for quick impact.

3) Stick to details about this band. Unless your member’s old band is Metallica, The White Stripes or Rage Against the Machine, no one gives a crap.

4) Spell check and read out loud. You don’t have to be a literary genius or an ad whiz. It just has to sound coherent. *I neglect this one myself often.

5) Keep it fresh and update the bio every few months to include your new accomplishments or any changes in sound/members.

6) Keep it brief, 400-500 words max.

Now, get to work. It may take you 2-3 revisions to get it right. If you feel like you are stuck, walk away from it and come back later. Always re-read the morning after before making the final decisions.

Web 2.0 Band Bio: Rockumentaries and Video Blogs
Many bands are savvy enough and create mini-Rockumentaries or video blogs that cover the band’s sound and personality. Bands can center these around special events, rehearsals or everyday life. A mini-reality TV shows about your band. I recommend doing this. You can say more in a 5 minute video that in any bio. Spend the time and learn how to record and edit videos, sync up audio and use social media to promote it. Here’s a sample of one I did for Soulfound.

Hope this helps someone out there.

Enjoy. Share.
Ivan

Ivan Pena writes “Bombardier Manifesto” for Creative Loafing — blog posts about the music industry, being in a band and marketing. Ivan also runs Mohawk Bomb Records. He is also the bass player for Rise of Saturn and former frontman/bassist for Soulfound.

It was ridiculously hot. It took me 15 minutes to realize that my white wife beater would become my face towel for the day. It was loud. It was colorful. It was my first time at Vinoy Park. And finally, at the age of 24, it was my first time experiencing Warped Tour.

It’s been three years since I attended a music festival and as I walked through the ticket line into a field filled with tents, stages, beer stands and even a slip n’ slide, I instantly recalled why I love outdoor fests; passing through the gates meant entering a world of the unpredictable and the unexpected. I didn’t know what kind of crazies I’d come across (there were bound to be some amidst the 10,000 attendees), what kind of new music I’d hear, or how pleased I’d be with the bands I was there to support.

The second thing I love about music festivals is people-watching. Scenesters were everywhere. I saw blue hair, purple hair, mohawks, rainbow socks, mesh shirts, ripped shirts, patched pants, asses hanging out of daisy dukes, bikini tops, all kinds of neon clothing, hundreds of tattoos as well as band shirts ranging from Minor Threat to Run-DMC to Hank Williams Jr. It was refreshing and entertaining.

I’m not going to lie, I was only interested in seven bands playing at Warped — Bad Religion, Less Than Jake, Streetlight Manifesto, Bouncing Souls, NOFX, Flogging Molly and Shooter Jennings (a surprising addition ) — but I was disappointed to find that the latter three acts fell off the line-up. However, Flogging Molly still had a merch tent set up, which Greg Graffin — lead singer of Bad Religion — made sure to knock at the end of Bad Religion’s set. Quite hilarious.

After arriving, my friend Zach and I checked out a couple of bands we’d never heard. I was able to tolerate the first, Chiodos, for about five minutes. Though the band seemed to have a solid fan base, the music just wasn’t for me; I’m not into the hardcore, scream-your-head-off fare with moments of melodic singing sprinkled in between.

When I asked a young girl the name of the next band I saw, she replied, “I set my friends on fire.” I stared at her with what must have been horror and contemplated whether or not she was on acid. “I’m sorry, what?” I asked. She replied, “The name of the band is I Set My Friends On Fire.” I laughed, thanked her and walked a safe distance to check out the two-man band from Miami. I only caught about five minutes of the show, and the music wasn’t memorable. Although, the one thing I did like about ISMFOF — and something I noticed at a few other stages — was the band’s intense energy and easy engagement with the crowd.

I found out the name of Cash Cash from a red-headed girl with cute freckles and braces, which should have been a warning sign. One of the musicians had a keytar so I had high hopes that the band would be better than the last two I’d seen. The members’ colorful attire and spunky attitudes perfectly correlated with their catchy, bubblegum, uber-pop sound. After listening to two songs, Zach summed it up perfectly: “They are the next stage of evolution for the boy bands.”

It was 3: 45 p.m.; time for Bouncing Souls.

I like Bouncing Souls, but it was my friend Zach who was eager to see them perform. I started out with him in the pit, but the second the push circles and moshing began, I backed away in fear of smashing my good camera and breaking my neck. Bouncing Souls delivered big for their fans, opening with “Kate Is Great” off 1997’s self-titled album. They also played cuts off Hopeless Romantic and How I Spent My Summer Vacation. I was happy to hear “Lean On Sheena” off their late, The Gold Record, because it’s the only Bouncing Soul song I know every word to thanks to its overplay on Sirius Radio. At the end of the set and in the middle of a song, vocalist Greg Attonito had fun with the crowd when he declared he was doing a first at Warped Tour — asking the audience to be as quiet as possible. “Everyone wants us to be loud, so we’re asking you to be quiet,” he said. It worked. The crowd was silent. He added, “Well done everybody, thank you, we appreciate it,” and then the crowd began devotedly clapping in sync and the song started back up for a strong finish. Zach’s description of the show: “Fucking brutal.”

Less Than Jake (LTJ) immediately followed Bouncing Souls. This was my third time seeing LTJ and the band was as good as ever. The musicians came out to the Star Wars theme and then picked up the tune with their own instruments. Trombonist Buddy Schaub never ceases to amaze me with his electrifying energy. He was all over the place, interacting with the crowd and loving the fans’ rowdiness. At one point he ran around, spraying the crowd with a water gun (pictured at left). I wondered how he had any breath left to play the trombone. As the band launched into “The Science of Selling Yourself Short,” I had a surprising revelation: I’ve always loved lead vocalist Chris Demakes, but for the first time I realized I’m more partial to bassist Roger Manganelli’s vocals. The Gainesville band had strong support from family members who’d turned out to see the show. Demakes’ mom (who appeared at the last LTJ show at Jannus) stood stage left and sang every word to every song — it was so endearing. Demakes’ mom wasn’t the only one singing along — of the two St. Pete policemen behind the barricades, one appeared to hate his job while the other sang along to LTJ’s tunes when he thought no one was looking.

LTJ’s setlist included: “Sugar in Your Gas Tank,” “Last One out of Liberty City,” “All My Best Friends Are Metal Heads,” “Help Save the Youth of America from Exploding” “Scott Farcus Takes It on the Chin” “Look What Happened,” “The Ghosts of Me and You” and “Conviction Notice.”

After LTJ we had an hour to kill before Bad Religion and Streetlight Manifesto. We took the opportunity to sit, cool down and take it all in. The Truth.com tent was having a contest to the sounds of Spice Girls and Aqua — it was bizarre and out of place. As I watched dirt that had turned into mud drip down my leg, I finally paid attention to the band that was playing in front of us, SET IT OFF from Clearwater. They were my favorite “new” band of the day, their songs catchy without being obnoxious. The musicians performed amazingly, breaking it down hard on stage.

At 6:55 p.m., we headed over to see Bad Religion.

I was psyched. I think it’s cool to see any band that’s been around for almost 30 years, and apparently so did a lot of other people. Bad Religion pulled one of the biggest, if not the biggest crowd at Warped Tour. After it started raining a couple minutes into the show, Graffin declared that whenever they play, it rains, because someone “up there” doesn’t like Bad Religion.” I got a good chuckle out of that one. The band was phenomenal. Graffin’s voice hadn’t changed; whether he screamed or sang melodiously, it was flawless. As much as the rain sucked, it was worth it to stick out the show. The set included “Infected,” “21st Century (Digital Boy),” “Requiem for Dissent” and “Sorrow.” On a side note, “Sorrow” was the last song I karaoked and let’s just say it was a real buzz kill for the crowd.

It was still raining when Bad Religion finished; a slight chill had replaced the unbearable heat. There was one band left I wanted to see — Streetlight Manifesto. I became a fan of the ska band over the past year and quickly fell in love with their first album, Everything Goes Numb. The band played a short set and there were some technical difficulties with the microphone. During a crowd favorite, “Here’s to Life,” the mic went completely dead, but the fans made sure to fill in the void with the appropriate lyrics. Even though lead singer Tomas Kalnoky’s vocals weren’t as strong live, the band was on point. There is something about Streetlight’s horn section that makes me want to dance … and I did.

My first Warped Tour experience was a blast. However it did somewhat defy my idea of the unexpected and unpredictable (at least when it came to the crowd): I had no exciting random conversations with strangers; I witnessed no fights or streaking; I came across no obliterated drunks; and I smelled weed less than five times. Maybe those are good things.

Good news for every independent musician in the World. MTV (owners of the Rock Band franchise) just announced its own new distribution platform through the immensely popular musician-simulation game Rock Band.

The Rock Band Network is a revolutionary system that will allow bands, studios and record labels to create and sell playable game content from their master recordings using the same professional tools used by Rock Band developers. Rock Band Network, currently in closed beta, should launch to the public in August (with in-game sales later in the year).

MTV has infused Rock Band Network with professional utilities to enable a community of music makers to get their work to the masses and profit by it. Paul DeGooyer, a senior VP with MTV games, tells Billboard that “We’re talking about a set of serious professional tools to allow people on the front line of writing and recording songs to completely control their destiny with respect to interactive products and then giving them direct access to the download store.”

Rolling Stone reports: “The Rock Band Network will launch in August and include instructions for how exactly songwriters can turn their tunes into game songs. Songs must first undergo play-testing at Creators.RockBand.com, a Website available to those who become premium members of Microsoft’s XNA Creators Club Online at a cost of $49.99 for four months or $99.99 for a year. When a track gets the go ahead, it will be sold at the Rock Band Network Store exclusively for Xbox 360 for a period of 30 days starting in the fall. A selection of approved tracks will later be sold for PlayStation 3 and Wii. Harmonix and MTV promise artists whose tunes make the cut will be compensated: rockers will be able to price individual tracks according to multiple pricing tiers, and they’ll get paid royalties accordingly.”

“Our goal with Rock Band has always been to go beyond making music games and create a true music platform,” said Alex Rigopulos, CEO and co-founder of Harmonix.

In three short years, the Reax/ThxMgmt Hot Dog Show has established itself as a must-attend event of the summer, providing a great opportunity to see a diverse group of bands, catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and of course, witness a hot dog-eating contest. This year, the Hot Dog Show took place on Friday, July 3, at Crowbar. I arrived just in time to see the first female victory in the hot dog eating contest (sorry – I didn’t catch her name!), which was followed by an animated performance by Bealsville/Plant City-based Shunda K of Yo Majesty! Bringing the evening to a dance party conclusion was Sunbears! (Jacksonville).

Sunbears!

The last time I saw Sunbears! in November 2008, I was impressed by their ability to deliver a complete visual experience to go along with their sugary pop, even outside at New World Brewery. Sunbears! has enhanced their candyland set to greater dayglo heights with a variety of props, including a giant red balloon, bubbles and confetti, oh my! Recorded last fall, the Sunbears! cover of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” now adds a bit of unintentional poignancy to their act … at least until the shock of Michael Jackson’s death wears off. The audience danced up a storm to the Sunbears!’ happy-go-lucky pop tunes while throwing confetti to the beat. Sunbears! is also fun to listen to on disc and their current EP, Dream Happy Dreams, is a perfect summer dance soundtrack. Really, who couldn’t use a little auditory uplifting given the state of the world? I look forward to hearing and seeing what is next for this talented duo!

Sunbears! is Jonathan Berlin (keys, guitar and vox) and Jared Bowser (drums/vox)

Shunda K!

Shunda K, moniker of Lashunda Flowers, is a talented local hip hop artist who defies expectations by incorporating both spirituality and sexuality into her lightning fast rhymes. She is currently allowing fans to download her music for free so head over and check her out!

For more photos, please visit the following links:

Five years ago, any music industry conference would feature hours of discussion about how to get your compact disc into the hands of DJs on FM radio, or tips on how to press and package a CD that wouldn’t get buried on the desk of an A&R executive at some major label. A lot has happened in five years. On Saturday, June 13 and 14, Hillsborough Community College and The Artist and Writers Group hosted the Second Annual Homemade Music Symposium in Ybor City, and in the combined 18-plus hours of discussion, commercial FM radio was not mentioned one time.

Instead, Saturday’s daytime programming included panels and workshops like “Alternative Media Promotion,” “Marketing, Touring and Band Management” and “How to Get the Most Out of a Studio Session.” Panelists included bloggers (Bryan Childs, Ninebullets.net), social networking specialists (Julia Gorzka, Brand Tampa) and local media (Lee Courtney, WMNF; Curtis Ross, Tampa Tribune; Julie Garisto, St. Pete Times as well as Creative Loafing’s Leilani Polk). Mr. Courtney was the only radio personality in attendance. (Tampa’s 88.5 FM is a community station that still allows their DJs to play CDs – they even sometimes play records.).

The Homemade Music Symposium’s goal is to educate nascent and struggling musicians in the ways and means of the music business and industry trends. It also included out-of-town industry folk and special keynote speakers – this year, it was Tunecore’s Peter Wells and Tony Michaelides, a local author from Manchester, UK, who’s colleagues and contemporaries include Factory Records’ Tony Wilson, David Bowie, U2 and The Stone Roses.

Conference attendees were mostly solo singer-songwriter types, with a sprinkling of MCs, publishers and managers as well as other local bloggers and marketers looking to get involved in the music scene or learn about new media. There was a lot of talk (maybe too much) about Twitter and Facebook, and of course the familiar geographical gripe of how Florida is difficult to tour/break out of, because there are no surrounding states (The closest top 10 market is Atlanta). A good portion of the crowd was visibly older, some dressed in flowery shirts and flip flops, and plenty of eyes glazed over when the topics inevitably circled back to “Tweeting” and social networks.

Sorely missing from the panel of experts, especially on the panel labeled “Area Record Labels and Artist Managers,” were representatives from the handful of local Tampa imprints, namely ADD, New Granada and 24 Hour Service Station (Geri X, Win Win Winter and The Beauvilles). 24 Hour owner Marshall Dickson stated that he would definitely be involved next year, but that this time around he just had “too much on his plate.” The only current label owner in attendance was Ivan Pena, who runs Mohawk Bomb Records (Soulfound, Ascending to Avalon and Rise of Saturn). Pena seemed optimistic about the Tampa Bay music scene, and about the fast-changing online industry, but insisted that artists need to tour incessantly and start treating their band like a business or risk failure.

The “Music Critics” panel, unfortunately the last session of the day, seemed to be the most pessimistic. One girl in the crowd asked for suggestions on how to become a music writer. The entire panel discouraged her. It may be in fashion for music writers to be moody and begrudging, but one would think their passion for music could somehow keep their chins up, not to mention grateful that they still have jobs in the age of Rotten Tomatoes and aggregated, user-generated reviews at Amazon.com.

As with any conference, the nighttime showcases are the payoff – a chance for attendees to party and an opportunity for the out of town industry folks to see what musical talent the surrounding area has to offer.

On Saturday night, Tampa’s New World Brewery featured performances from Rebekah Pulley, Lorna Bracewell, The Skull and Bone Band and 10th Concession. Crowbar hosted a Mohawk Bomb showcase and The Roosevelt had planned a “green” concert featuring some area hip-hop favorites like Dynasty and powered by a generator that ran on vegetable oil. Early Saturday, word had gotten out that the generator had broken during a run-through and that the Roosevelt showcase was cancelled.

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Sunday’s activities were mainly centered around The Bunker in Ybor City, which is home to the Tre Amici coffeeshop, REAX Space, a few art galleries and the neighboring Ybor City Museum.

Some of Sunday’s workshops included “DIY Sound Recording Techniques” at REAX Space as well as “Tips on Promotional Photography” (hint: no brick walls or train tracks) and “The State of The Scene” discussion at Tre Amici.

This talk was moderated by event organizer T. Hampton Dohrman and featured Courtney, Joel Cook (REAX) and yours truly. It began as a polite enough re-cap of the weekend and what could be done differently in years to come and escalated into a microphone free-for-all on how Tampa needs to publicize itself to become the next Austin or Seattle.

Singer-songwriter Emily Roff planted herself in front of the microphone and made a case for a large music festival that would draw thousands of people from all over the world. When some crowd members yelled, “What about [Tropical] Heatwave?” (referencing the annual music fest hosted by WMNF that typically features performers from the blues, folk, Americana and world beat genres), Roff shrugged. She’d never heard of it.

Beauvilles frontman Shawn Kyle made a spirited appearance at the discussion, only half-jokingly announcing his 2012 bid for city council and bemoaning the lack of attention the local media and concert promoters give to area college campuses (USF, UT, Eckerd, SPC, etc.).

What did come from the heated discussion was a summation of points that included the following:

1. The internet has replaced FM radio as a highly-coveted media outlet.

2. Musicians must treat their music as a business.

3. Musicians should treat Tampa and St. Petersburg as two separate markets to avoid saturation. (This point was argued)

4. Even though recording and distribution has become decentralized, quality recordings and the packaging and presentation of materials is still very important (maybe even more so).

5. Bands must tour out of market (once they have established themselves regionally).

6. With the decline in the sale of actual recorded music, musicians must learn to diversify their content/revenue streams to include audio, video, performances, merchandise, ringtones et. al. and utilize networks and messaging to stay in touch with fans and followers. (See the content model here).

7. Music criticism is dead. (This point was not argued).

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Here are some photos from the weekend:
Photos by Kelly Hickman | Photos by Denis Baldwin

by Denis Baldwin

This year’s Homemade Music Symposium played out over the weekend at the Ybor HCC campus, bringing together musicians, singer-songwriters, music industry professionals, entertainers, writers, photographers and most every other aspect of the music industry to discuss the state of music, the nature of creating and marketing musicians and give a taste of things to come.

Overall, the symposium was a great success. Saturday opened with “Poets of Popular Song, The Lyrics and Lyric Writers of the Great American Songbook,” featuring the piano work of Paul Wilborn and the 107-year-old Rosa Rio. After their performance, many of the attendees broke for the lunch while the rest of us sat at our tables and handed out free swag and met with people.

More pics after the jump:

As the day raged on, the crowd continued to morph. After noon, the rock kids all awoke and made an appearance, many to show off their demos and many more to attend seminars including “Marketing, Touring and Band Management” and “Alternative Media Promotion” with BrandTampa’s own Queen of Social Media Julia Gorzka. Classes on getting the most out of studio time, shooting a music video and a “meet the press” session provided even more value to those who came looking for help getting their music careers off the ground.

There was a good showing by all the key players at the vendor tables including Bay Area Beat, WMNF, Creative Loafing and Reax.

Here are some random photos from the event:

Denis Baldwin can be seen crashing events and taking photos all over the bay area on his own site, MyTampaLife.com.

Ed. Note: What follows is a repost of an item by CL Marketing Director Joran Oppelt from his recent trip to SXSW. At the time, I thought it was just a really cool video. Today I think it’s become something more. You can see Joran’s original post here.

Quincy recalls his first encounters with Michael Jackson and their work on the best-selling records Off the Wall and Thriller, as well as the birth of MTV and how they broke through the “no black artists” mandate.

This exclusive CL TV video was shot in March at Jones’ 2009 South by Southwest keynote address. Video after the jump …

The crowd cheers as a tattooed man with shaggy hair and a British accent belts out Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath tunes. An hour later, a blonde singer tears through a set of Motley Crue classics while his bandmates pound their instruments into submission. An hour after that, a grown man in a schoolboy outfit duck-walks across the stage and his cohort growls from under his cap while AC/DC riffs blast through the speakers.

Is this a dream team concert lineup of rock ‘n’ roll legends? Not quite, but the crowd is enthusiastic and it sounds pretty close to the real thing. In fact, the only part that’s completely unrealistic is the price, since admission to see all the bands ($10) cost less than parking at major rock concerts.

On June 30, three tribute acts performed at Jannus Landing at the Monsters of Mock show while fans sang along to the familiar sights and sounds. It’s not the real thing, but according to Martyn Jenkins, frontman for AC/DC tribute act Highway to Hell (and the evening’s headliners), the next best thing is pretty satisfying in its own right.

Read more

Check out CL’s main music site

“Doing a Radiohead.” Big-box exclusivity deals. “360″ contracts. These and other new business models are side effects of the digital media revolution — a paradigm shift caused by the MP3. The days of $15 CDs are all but dead. Long live the $10 digital album and the 99-cent single, both still dwarfed by everyone’s favorite method of acquiring music: illegal downloading. I think in hindsight, considering the events of the past decade, the recording industry would have been happy for a fractional dip in revenue built into the transition from brick-and-mortar stores to iTunes, but factor in music piracy and the numbers aren’t even close.

Bottom line: recorded music is not worth what it used to be, and count Pixies mainman Frank Black among those who understand. In an interview with Britain’s NME about his newest project, Grand Duchy, he makes several very interesting points about the devaluation of music:

I think what has to happen is everyone has to get used to making less money and have to charge less money. Everything’s got to get cut down to more of a $5 world. People will say, “Oh yeah, I’ll pay five bucks to see that or for a T-shirt or a record.”  I think it’s gonna become more of a five-dollar world than a $25 world, $50, or a $150 world.

Perhaps anticipating negative feedback applying the above comments to the Pixies’ upcoming Minotaur boxed set (pictured right — is that male genitalia on the cover?), Black rationalizes:

“I realize to some people I may sound like a hypocrite because the Pixies are getting ready to release a box set. I think the limited edition version retails for [$495].  But that art already exists–the demand for that particular product has been researched by the people putting it out. If people don’t buy it, we’ll all be fools.

I think Black’s key sentiment is here:

“I think everyone should sell whatever product they want to sell for whatever price they want to sell it for, but ultimately the market will dictate what it is and people will have to charge less money for everything. Record companies have been overcharging people for way too long and now this is the trouble that they’re in. They created this situation because they were just a little too greedy.”

The Pixies are touring Europe this summer – their first shows since 2006.  The debut album by Grand Duchy – Black and his wife Violet Clark – is entitled Petit Fours and came out in February.

“Debaser” from T In the Park, 2006

We’re getting cranked up for Best of the Bay — yes, already — and this year more than ever  we want your input early in the process. We just had a brainstorm meeting to choose award categories for the Readers’ Poll, which we’re expanding this year. We’re in the process of fine-tuning our choices, and we don’t want to miss out on any great ideas.

As usual, we’re going to have a bunch of Readers’ Poll categories in Music. Our list includes some perennials — Best Local Band, Best Concert Venue, Best Singer/Songwriter — and some new ones (Best Jam Band). Here’s your chance to suggest a category you’d like to see. (Best Autoharpist, Best Tuvian Throat Singer, whatever. Maybe even something more sensible.)

We’re finalizing the categories next Tuesday, so the deadline to add suggestions in the Comments section below is Mon., June 8 at 5 p.m.

And just to be perfectly clear: We’re not looking  for who you think should win, just the category itself. Thanks!