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<  My Band  ~  Words of Wisdom from the Woman Who knows

PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 2:59 pm Reply with quote
Posts: 60 Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:29 pm Location: Pest Control Vehickle
For those of you who missed Liz Barrys yarn at the SF06 workshop here are some words of wisdom from the woman herself:


Sending CASSETTE demo's these days is not a good look - most of us no longer have the equipment to play the damn things, nor can we cue up a particular song - they're a hassle!

In fact sending DEMO'S fullstop is not good - personally, I would rather receive the 'FINISHED' version. I don't now play demo's on air as often this rough version is not indicative of the band's sound and for listeners, having to hear a demo version on air is not much good for the band either!!

Afterall, you wouldn't try and sell a half-finished house would you - musicwise it's kinda the same.

One of my main gripes is a presentation thing - people record at home onto a writable CD and do not put a label in the plastic cover bit, nor a sticker on the actual CD - hence I end up with a pile of seemingly blank CD's with no idea of who the artist is or what the song's called. Very difficult to file anywhere and I have to confess some have gone west coz I can't always remember what the song was called or the artist. The accompanying letters and blurbs are always filed separately after airplay, so if I want to play them again I find them hard to match up.


Always include song title and your name TOGETHER!! Also your e-mail or phone number too.

'Blurb' info presentation is important ie: preferably done on a computer (which saves my eyesight trying to read a handwritten scrawl).

Last week I had a 3 page letter with all the artist's bio' written in very light lead pencil! Please give a contact number or e-mail address because some of us in the radio industry like me do actually get in touch with you to tell you when we'll play your song. Pref' e-mail.

And finally, length of song - it's a drag I know, but radio loves 2, 3-4 minutes - certainly no more than 4.30 - think about the song length (this may depend on genre) but even on NatRad, over 4 minutes of just an acoustic guitar and voice can get a bit long specially when there's nothing much else happening in the song!


___________________________________________
Right then, now get out there and do it.

bands.co.nz



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PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:35 pm Reply with quote
Posts: 242 Joined: Sat Jun 25, 2005 10:35 pm Location: Wellington, New ZealandWebsite: http://postmoderncore.com
Just a note on CD sticky labels - THEY'RE BAD !!!!

They mean that skinny drives, like laptop drives and stuff can have a lot of trouble playing them.

They also imbalance the CDr, lessening the life of the CDr by quite a lot.

Buy yourself a CD/DVD marker, and write your details on the CDr. But CDr labels are a pain in the fuckin arse, and if you sent me a demo with a label on, you're making my life that much more difficult.



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PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:43 pm Reply with quote
Posts: 60 Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 12:29 pm Location: Pest Control Vehickle
True. They're a fucker to stick on too, they're never fucken perfect. theres always that one litte fold that you cant get out.grrrr
Im a big fan of my new(ish) printer that prints onto cds. It's my bestest friend.
.....
Which may in fact say a lot more about me than the printer....



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PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:57 pm Reply with quote
That Matt Punkas / Liz Barry / Regan Hawea swampfest workshop was one of the most insightful and useful things I've ever been too as far as how to actually get your music seen and heard...

Really suprised so few bands/record labels attended.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 5:35 pm Reply with quote
Posts: 327 Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:48 am Location: Peniston North
I know a lot of ppl from a certain label were buzy as fuck cutting/folding and assembling compilations in time for swampfest those nights

:roll:


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PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 7:59 pm Reply with quote
Yeah u did a pretty epic effort on that Max, kudos.


PostPosted: Thu Jun 22, 2006 8:35 pm Reply with quote
Posts: 1937 Joined: Mon Feb 28, 2005 9:49 pm Location: SwampWebsite: http://www.slave.co.nz
sweet.
The DOAGW send out pretty much fits the description of what is described to do, and I didn't even go to the workshop? go figure...
good to know we did the right thing though!



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PostPosted: Fri Jun 23, 2006 12:54 am Reply with quote
Wicked, hopefully those radio types give it the airplay it deserves!


PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 8:41 am Reply with quote
Posts: 1037 Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:30 am Location: The Swamp.....unfortunatelyWebsite: http://www.myspace.com/rob_spleen
Thanks for the info, I reckon alot of people could find it very useful, including myself. It is really important to get this basic shit right so you can be heard eh, it sucks to think of all the great music that must get passed over because of faux pas with industry eticate or whatever.:-(
eg like Max and mysef sent a 'demo' disc to Control of Rogue State to get some of our stuff out there, but it wasn't finished in my ear, butr yeah, now thinking about it(2 yearsa later), we should have just did a little more work on it and released an ep or something. Lucky we had such a kick arse cd to back it up with eventually mwahahaha :-P



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PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:42 am Reply with quote
Posts: 327 Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:48 am Location: Peniston North
Its great being able to suck your own cock eh rob :wink:


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:44 am Reply with quote
Posts: 1037 Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:30 am Location: The Swamp.....unfortunatelyWebsite: http://www.myspace.com/rob_spleen
Its a pity i started on me first cos there is just no room left for you , and as you know i have a big mouth :-D



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"There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless—boys and women, and I am neither one."
—Greek saying
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:48 am Reply with quote
Posts: 327 Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2005 8:48 am Location: Peniston North
Quote:
and as you know i have a big mouth
I know its great... I can fit my balls in too!






Anyway....


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PostPosted: Sat Jun 24, 2006 10:52 am Reply with quote
Posts: 1037 Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2005 3:30 am Location: The Swamp.....unfortunatelyWebsite: http://www.myspace.com/rob_spleen
not this time buddy, i got there first!

ok....back to deep and meaningfull talk on getting yourself known mwahahahaha



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