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Jumping Darkness Parade

JUMPING DARKNESS PARADE: DAATH’S EYAL LEVI ON HOW TO GET YOUR BAND NOTICED

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 5:00pm by

jdp-01

Every show we play, any city in the world, any time of day, any season of the year, ANYWHERE, we get demos. Some of these demos come in really nice press packets with blown up photos and a bio telling us about the stagnation of the local scene and how Cryptic Disembowelment is breathing new life unto said scene. Some of these are just burned CDs with sharpie on them. Some come hot off a laser printer. We get shit tons. And by and large they are all garbage.

No offense to anyone, but that’s just the truth. It seems to me like these bands are missing the point. They all seem to want to get our attention so that we can get the attention of some “industry folk” for them so that they can be discovered and hit it big like us (HAHAHA). They all want that hookup. What they don’t seem to get is that we’re all looking for the hookup and that a baby national has nothing to offer a local band. We’re in the struggle just as much as you are. Don’t count on us to be the hookup.

I mean, I’m always happy to help out a struggling band that has a ton of promise, but seriously…. How much can I really do for your band? I can hand your demo off to a dude at a label who gets three-hundred more demos a week? I can give it to some managers who don’t give a shit? Show it to a booking agent who won’t book you because you’re not signed? It’s not the way.

We have stacks and stacks of demos. It’s all just clutter. The key is to get people talking about your band. Talking about your band enough to where it’s the topic of conversation in multiple places. The topic of conversation enough to make people curious enough to check out your own band on their own accord. There are sooooo many bands out there. So many MySpace pages. So many more options than anyone with half a life can even begin to sort through.

So how do you get noticed? Like I said, you get people talking about you. Case and point: Job For A Cowboy and Suicide Silence. Two bands that blew up before their first albums even came out. I had heard about these bands in conversation long before they were signed. Their style may not be my preferred cup of morphine, but I went out of my way to check those bands out because people had been talking about them enough to get me at least curious enough to check them out. Obviously I wasn’t the only one because these bands had tens of thousands of MySpace friends and thousands of plays a day BEFORE THEY WERE EVEN SIGNED.

This didn’t happen because they bugged every signed musician at every show with their demos. It happened because they used technology we all have available to us to get conversations about themselves started and got people curious. Curious enough to check them out and help propel them to where they’re at now. So stop focusing your energy where it doesn’t matter and get to fucking work.

-EL

Instead of giving them your crappy demo, why don’t you visit Daath on MySpace?

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  • Shinaain

    Hmmm…sort of answers the question I asked for the next The Hard R. Interesting.

    You’re not dead yet?

  • http://zunetracks.net loganarchy

    I see where you’re coming from

  • Tommy Lindbergsen

    Out of every 6874678428957894829849 new metal bands that come out, there is only 1 that is worth your attention.

  • groverXIII

    I like seeing bands using modern technology to get some recognition… I also like seeing bands release their albums free for download, thus gaining more fans than they might just by selling cds at their shows and online.

    For example (WARNING: gratuitous plug alert), Iron Thrones, a band from Minnesota who self-released their first album via their website. They play great, Opeth-influenced progressive death metal, and while I only discovered them this week, I’m pimping them like there’s not tomorrow.

    Check out their album here… it’s free! http://www.ironthrones.com/?page_id=11

    (No, I am not a member of this band… I lack anything beyond rudimentary rhythm and musical talent.)

    • http://www.myspace.com/1033metal Jackson

      it is an amazing cd, and they did a great job doing everything themselves

    • Ziltoid

      Downloading this now. It’s great when a band releases an album for free download. I’ve definitely discovered quite a few great band because of this, such as Vortech, Anacrusis, Cloudkicker, Against Nature, Carcariass, and many others (look them up on M-A for links to their websites and for free downloads).

      • ceth

        Just got done downloading it myself.Giving it a try now.

      • Grymmbear

        God, I’m so glad Anacrusis regrouped!

    • canea

      downloading now. thanks for the tip.

      • groverXIII

        Glad that you guys are checking it out… sorry for the mini-threadjack.

        I’m also going to apologize now, because I’ll probably be posting this link more in the future, although I’ll try to limit myself to relatively appropriate threads. Hope you guys enjoy it! I know that several members of the band post on MetalReview, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they read this site occasionally.

        • http://www.ironthrones.com steve.h

          Nah, we never go on the internet… ever… hah

          P.S. Download was fucked for a second, now isn’t fucked.

          • groverXIII

            Hehe… thanks for proving me right!

            As I mentioned, I only heard about you guys this week. It was through the weekly metal post on Fark, from a guy who is presumably from your neck o’ the woods, and I was impressed enough to do my part and spread the word. It’s one thing to make such good music, but then to give it away for free? That elevates you to another level, in my eyes, which is why I’m trying to spread the word.

            So, yeah… keep up the good work, and I’ll keep posting your site wherever I can.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Jacob-Martin/645099086 Jacob Martin

      I love free shit (yes, I am a Jew), and I love metal…soo….when it’s free metal, I just can’t help myself.

  • Dom

    soooo good to know …….i,ll never bother anyone from now-on with my stuff ….

  • http://myspace.com/hoplite Travis Conquest

    I always thought this was pretty common sense by now. I mean, the key to making it big is to promote and sell your band yourself. Bands get signed for showing that they are a complete package; composition, production, marketing, distribution, etc. The less work (and thus cash) that a label has to put into your arm to get you off to the tracks to start making them rich, the more likely they are to sign you.

    • Eyal Levi

      Its definitely not common sense yet. It should be, but its not.

      • major

        people should smoke more weed, then it would make sense

  • Ziltoid

    Agreed, but there is one difficult part to that wasn’t really addressed here (or it was kept vague intentionally)–HOW do you become the topic of conversation? Obviously there is no definitive method, but there must be some general set of things to do that would get a band in the right direction. Eyal, would you have any suggestions? Also, maybe as an example, could you tell us what Daath did to “become the topic of conversation?”

    • http://dgmetal.org The Daily Grind

      Write good music.

      • Ziltoid

        Are you saying that all of these trendy new deathcore bands write good music? If so, you have hearing problems.

        Then again, Britney Spears is popular and successful because she made great music, right?

        • ceth

          Oh no,not metalcore…the horrors!!!Geez,here we go yet again with that wonderful crutch word CORE. When was it that this genre tagging hobby got so big and caught on like wildfire? It’s just absolutely one of the worst things to ever happen to metal.

          • ceth

            Oops, i meant deathcore…I even messed up my own post trying to sort through all of the CORES.

      • Shinaain

        That’s elementary, but please don’t oversimplify the issue. If that were the sole requirement of making it in the music industry, crap music wouldn’t be the biggest thing since, like, EVER. And at any rate, what constitutes “good music” is plainly subjective and open to individual interpretation. (Surely you know this, but I’m just saying.)

        While MySpace is unquestionably a very valuable tool, as is Ziltoid, I’m also interested to hear suggestions for other ways to get the word out about your band in the digital age. It’s a two-way street: I normally wipe my ass with publications like Revolver and corporate media like modern rock/metal radio, so as a consumer I’m always open to being introduced to new tools for finding the next thing that might move me. Sites like MetalSucks and MetalInjection have served me well in the past — I start here or there and then go to MySpace, YouTube, Pandora radio, Playlist.com, etc, in order to hear more. (There’s too much to choose from out there to buy without tasting first. It’s not financially feasible, so to speak. If I like it, I honor the artist and buy it.) Compilation CD’s from magazines like Terrorizer and the like are useful. I also look at who my favorite artists have on their personal friends lists on MySpace to see who they’re listening to.

        In the digital age, it may seem like the fans don’t need any help because they can take whatever they want, and it’s the artists who need all the help they can get. I’ll cop to being overwhelmed and needing help wading through the noise in order to find artists I can connect with. And once I do, I’ll usually do just about all I can to help keep them going, because they provide a service I frankly don’t want to have to live without.

        (And I’m so geeked that Ziltoid is contributing constructively to this post that I will act aggressively to keep anyone from discouraging him. There, I just admitted to having ulterior motives in such a lengthy answer.)

        • http://dgmetal.org The Daily Grind

          That’s not oversimplification. Music doesn’t sell unless it connects with some audience. Deathcore connects with a ton of people–you may call those people immature or ill-advised, but people don’t listen to deathcore just because its there. You can’t tell me that deathcore isn’t good music and then claim that “good” is a subjective term.

          I wrote on the subject here:
          http://dgmetal.blogspot.com/2009/07/good-music-doesnt-need-myspace-cred.html

          • Eyal Levi

            Right on. Great post

          • Shinaain

            I wasn’t speaking about deathcore at all. I actually have no opinion on the subject. Sorry for the confusion and I will certainly check out the link.

        • http://dgmetal.org The Daily Grind

          Oh, and sorry, I don’t mean to discourage Ziltoid!

          • Shinaain

            Okay, great blog. I think I understand you better now. And I can see how you would be reluctant to repeat yourself to elaborate more when you’d already written at length about it elsewhere.

            A few points of interest:

            (1) “MySpace cred”? There IS such a thing??? Fuck my life, that’s ridiculous…

            (2) “I think if there’s one thing social networking has taught us, it’s that people don’t want to communicate with business and organizations, they want to deal personally with individuals: preferably known. There’s a trust barrier–created by the radical abuse of marketing influence by the major labels in recent years–and that’s damage not easily undone.” — Yep. Very well said.

            (3) “Music discovery nowadays is by personal endorsement.” — Indeed. In my experience (which is probably not supported by any kind of super-scientifically-designed market study), the only people who allow the corporate taste-making machines to determine what they listen to are overwhelmed (there’s that word again) CASUAL music fans who aren’t interested in budgeting their time to research what all is out there and available. Whether or not they make the conscious decision to do so, they allow someone else do the work for them. My time is just as valuable as anyone else’s, but music is part of me even having a life so I go out of my way to find the best that’s out there. To each their own, I suppose. By my estimation, there are three kinds of people in the world: Those who like music (which includes, at base, all of humanity, since enjoyment of music is pretty much universal to the human experience), those who love it (me, for example), and those who live for it (usually the ones who end up making it, because they can’t live without it). As I stated previously, I use nearly all of the Internet services you mentioned (and will most certainly check out the ones you mentioned of which I had not heard before) and I pay particular attention to what my favorite artists are digging on. (Case in point: Thank you, Lamb of God, for Gojira.)

            (4) “The old industry model is dead, and independent artists can’t break through that with alternative branding techniques…But one thing, always certain, is that great music will sell itself. And the easiest way to push your brand (cough, I mean, band) is to get better.” – The pessimist in me doubts you on the last part. But I do so desperately want to believe…

            And here I circle back to MYSPACE CRED??? Seriously? I simply cannot allow this revelation to ruin my day. To anyone who relies solely on MySpace to push their band, I will say this: Just like your mom told you to get off the couch, go outside and play, GET IN THE VAN, MOFO’s!

            (I mentioned this earlier, but you can refer to the question I posed to Dallas Coyle here: http://www.metalsucks.net/2009/07/27/the-hard-r-dallas-coyle-answers-more-of-your-questions/. Of course, he probably won’t touch it now that it’s been covered in the comments of another blog.)

            In closing, Ziltoid’s constructive contributions to this thread deserve positive reinforcement: He gets a Scooby snack and a place at the table with the adults. Eyal’s probably still teetering on the brink of death, so Jewish penicillin for him, and The DG is welcome to the beer in my fridge. (If you want to watch the game on my TV in my favorite chair, you gotta move the dog, though. Good luck with that.)

          • Shinaain

            I just realized that by acknowledging the extent to which I pay attention to what my favorite artists are listening to partially justifies the bands who inundate said artists with their demos. But then when the artists themselves are swamped with more media than they can possibly process, handing over demos becomes an exercise in futility — so then Eyal’s original argument still stands.

    • Eyal Levi

      Well its an endless struggle really. And there’s no definite method. I don’t think there’s a science to it, but I do think that there’s some dead end paths which are what I talked about in the blog. Bugging people that are overworked and overstressed isn’t going to get you very far. About becoming the topic of conversation…. one thing I’ve notice is that the more places your name appears, the more likely it is that people will talk about it. There’s some marketing theory out there that people need to see a product seven times before their brain recognizes it. So think about that for your band. The more places people see it the more they legitimize it and wonder about what you might sound like, etc. In our unsigned days our strategy was to get our name seen everywhere we possibly could. It seemed to have worked out.

      • Brutalizer

        You are quite knowledgeable sir.

      • jason

        That’s a great point, and I think the aforementioned “deathcore” bands are a great example of this repetition and name recognition. Even the vitriol targeted at those bands on sites like these garners them more recognition. It seems that as much as the game has been changed, the old adage of “even bad publicity is good” stands firm.

  • Noel

    ha, ummm. hmmm…..i cant seem to think because…TOOL ON SATUDAY, BITCHES! EAT YO HEART OUT, METALSUCKS! GRANTPARKGRANTPARKGRANTPARK!!!!!! T, O, O, L, TOOLTOOLTOOL!!!

  • Bang YourHead

    I think the best way to get noticed with out a record deal is to have 1000 people show up at you gig every time you play. if you can not get your local fans to check you out how will you ever sell any cd’s?

    • http://myspace.com/whitearmsofathena Josh

      Maybe by leaving said local city, playing shows in mutliple OTHER cities, MULTIPLE times, meeting new people each time, while still keeping the ones who came the first or second time. This excluding finding van.. gas..etc
      But if you’re serious you should think about those before leaving said city in the first place

  • http://myspace.com/hoplite Travis Conquest

    There is no absolute equation that will lead to success. Ultimately, it’s going to take sweat, sacrifice, and tears and all without a guarantee that you will go anywhere.

    Even if you work harder than all the previous guys, and have the chops and the brains and the charm, a series of bad circumstances can turn on you and you’ll never see success. Art is just that, an Art, and not a science– Sometimes the undeserving will see gold records while the most talented artists you know languish in a trailer park somewhere. Good things happen to bad (or untalented) people, etc etc.

    We can theorize and posture all we want, but ultimately it’s going to come down to some magical moment that echoes in the rest of your career. Some people are lucky enough to catch this magic moment, some aren’t. Some catch it and fail to capitalize on it.

    Can I pinpoint this moment for all successful bands? No. But I am not intimately familiar with every band’s history, either.

    I’m just going to keep bleeding, keep sweating, and do it all with a smile because I’m doing what I love, come money or fame or nothing at all. Perhaps that is the single determining factor; the willingness to keep fucking rocking. I certainly hope so.

  • joe-metal

    You guys want a band to talk about?

    http://www.myspace.com/vendettaspoken

    Fuckin awesome

    • Tommy Linbergsen

      This sounds like a cross between Aborted and some core band…….gay.

      • http://myspace.com/hoplite Travis Conquest

        Agreed. Sounds boring and contrived.

    • http://www.facebook.com/people/Steven-J-Henningsgard/1024517365 Steven J. Henningsgard

      How can people possibly still like this derivative pop-core bullshit?

      • ScottishAnarchist

        Computer says no.