Be Professional

By David Barber

Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.

Being Professional is as important in the music business as in any other. And, yes, just to remind you, it is a business. If you're just in if for the fun of making music, don't bother reading these articles. It's not gonna help. Actually, being professional in the music business is easier than in most. The music biz is littered with flakes, drop-outs, and as long time tour manager/booking agent/radio goofball, Matt Need, likes to put it "D students." ("I'm no good at math or science and my grades suck, but I like music, so I'll get into the music business!") Therefore, all it really takes is showing up on time, playing as well as you can and being polite to the people around you.

Yeah, we know that sometimes you'll have to deal with people higher up the food chain than you who aren't nice, polite or sensible and it's easy to treat them as badly as they treat you. Sometimes that may even be the best approach, but not very often. Usually, when a booking manger screws you over, it's much better to just walk away and silently vow never to play his venue again, if possible, than it is to yell and scream and bad-mouth the guy all over town. Now, if someone is really ripping you off, it might be a good idea to discreetly let your friends in other bands know what happened, but try not to get a reputation as a trash talker. Why? This guy is scum, why should you care what he thinks? Because even if he is scum and you never play for him again, he likely has ties to other booking managers, club owners and industry professionals, and those people do talk. Nothing travels quicker though a tight knit music community than stories of how that guy from that band made an idiot out of himself because he thought he should be paid more than he's worth. Yes, that's the way they are likely to look at it. And from that perspective, why would any other club in town want to hire you?

The same goes for when you're talking to them up front about booking the gig. If you say you can bring in 250 people on a Tuesday night (and he actually believes you) you can be certain that you won't be asked back when only 25 people show up. Clubs hate to lose money and, from their perspective, your job is to bring people in to drink. (More on that in another article)

Along the same lines, if you work in an office or a factory or store, it's not acceptable to get drunk or high at work. The same goes for the music business. Show up for your gig on time, perform your set like a pro and then, after the gig, if you must, you can relax and enjoy the time honored tradions that go along with your rock & roll lifestyle. Nobody wants to pay see a bunch of drunks playing sloppy. Also, bear in mind that most venues would rather piss you off than risk losing their liquor license, so don't put them in that position. It doesn't matter what level of success you are at. It's just common sense. Work first, then party on your own time.

Turn Up The Vocals!

By David Barber
Commotion Music Promotion, Inc.

We've seen this one a million times and so have you. A local band puts out a CD where the bass, drums or guitar overpower the vocals to the point where one can barely hear them, much less understand the lyrics. A glance at the liner notes shows that someone spent a lot of time writing very deep meaningful poetry that nobody will ever hear. Many bands do this live as well. In a few genres that's the way it's "supposed" to sound.

Bah! Humbug!

People love vocals. We're not just talking about musicians here, we're talking about the general public. One thing that mainstream radio has taught us is that one catchy lyric can make a band (at least a one-hit wonder). And vocal harmonies are even better. Here's our theory as to why this is:

Anyone who can speak has tried to sing, even drummers. Most of us aren't that good at it, but we've all tried it and therefore, we all know how hard it is to sing well. But, not everyone has tried to play guitar, bass, drums, keyboards or horns. Even if they have and they appreciate the skills of a jazz sax player, they still like a catchy lyric. It's so obvious that everyone should already know this.

Therefore, when mixing down the tracks on your CD, don't let the guitar player or the drummer make the decisions. Their input is appreciated, but everyone naturally wants their own playing to be heard loud and clear above the rest. It's just human nature. Commonly we've heard stories from the mix-down where, after hours of going around and around and trying different mixes, the vocalist just gets tired and says "Whatever you want, let's just get it done." But, please, don't be bullied. Don't quit. Instead, tell them "My ears are tired, we'll have to finish this later." Then put the tracks away for a week or a month and come back with fresh ears. Or hire a skilled producer with a proven track record and let him make the decisions.

The same goes for live shows. When the sound guy says "Turn it down," believe him and do as you're told. He can't mix your band well if your amp is so loud that he's taken it out of the PA mix. Trust us, you don't know better than him and you probably don't know how it really sounds out in the room. Just because your monitor mix sucks, doesn't mean the house mix does. It doesn't matter if you are a punk or heavy metal act, let the sound guy crank it up. He knows how. The old blues and jazz guys who tour constantly around the country know this. They don't bring their own sound guy on the road, either, they use the house guy and trust him to mix it as good as the system will allow. They keep their amps turned low and sound really good, most of the time, because of that. Learn from the examples set by the elder generation of players. If it works for them, it'll work for you.