I just ate a tuna sandwich and now I’m going to a book store. I’ll be right back.
Ok, sorry I took so long. I also decided to pick up some clothing. I realized this winter that I’m in dire need of long-sleeved shirts, and also I needed some jeans because all of mine have begun to fall apart.
With the new year just around the corner, I’m sure many of you will be permanently or temporarily quitting cigarettes, losing or gaining weight, or at the very least, getting astonishingly drunk for one single night of debauchery.
For us in The Narrative, the new year is exciting for a couple of reasons, but one of those is that we’ll be going full force on the touring front. That means a couple of things — 1) we get to play music a lot more, which we love doing, and 2) we get to travel a bunch, which I personally love doing. On the few tours we’ve done definitely one of my favorite things has been visiting new places and seeing what the environment is like, both musically and otherwise.
Another one of the participating bands (Sweatshirt Weather) is heading out on tour around the same time we plan to, and got in touch with us about some advice playing in New York. Being a small band in a big city, I think particularly in New York, is an interesting thing. I thought it might be nice to tell you a little about it.
When you live in any big city, there is a very large and diverse array of attractive and interesting activities and places around you… however, I don’t believe anywhere has this as much as New York. It’s the perfect place to raise your ADHD children, or to completely forget any purpose you might have had. What does all this mean for a band just getting on their feet?
For one thing, nobody gives a fuck about you. You are just one of hundreds if not thousands of bands who also take themselves seriously (or think they do – more on that later). Why should anyone pay attention to you?
On top of this, nobody goes to shows unless they’re shows for already established bands. Heading out to see random bands is just not something people do here. Whereas we’ve traveled to other states and seen that the kids go to shows for fun, in New York nobody finds paying $7-12 to see a few bands which have a very high potential of sucking to be fun. Growing up here you’re too busy giving yourself alcohol poisoning at your friends parents place, and living here as an adult you have a world nice restaurants, hip bars, masterful plays, cinema, opera — whatever you fucking want, it’s here. The last thing on most peoples minds is to head to a run down shithole and fork over some hard earned cash to listen to a poorly maintained sound system pumping out what is most likely really awful music.
Furthermore, in MOST cases (not all, but by far most) the bars don’t promote. The booker doesn’t promote. The PROMOTER doesn’t promote. And if you don’t pull at least X amount of people to the show? BLACKLISTED. I’m not sure if they actually do this – we’ve always pulled our weight (thanks in large part due to friends and family) – but the threat is there. So not only are we making all the venues money for them, then doing all the work, but if we don’t make enough we’re permanently fired. Fair, yes?
When we first started out, most shows we played were to a few friends and family, sometimes even the friends or family of the other bands. We got lucky. We had a few shows with bands people wanted to see, they saw us and dug it. The online revolution helped bring in fans not only from everywhere else in the world, but thankfully in New York as well. At our CMJ showcase we played to a packed room of around 120 people (estimation), a far cry from our first dozen or two shows playing to other bands or no one. Now when we play in New York, we get paid instead of basically having to pay the venues. That is a HUGE deal for us.
I feel bad for any band starting out in New York, but at the same time there are certain things I’ve noticed which might help you rest while you pave your way through the crowd.
A lot of bands who might be very “serious”, might not have any awareness of reality. No objective viewpoint, no true sense of what hard work is. I’d say at least 90% of the bands in New York are making music for the wrong reasons (ahem, money), do not have the proper work ethic, understand their band is their BUSINESS and they must at times be a BUSINESS MAN/WOMAN, or simply have terrible music but are way sold on it themselves and don’t ask or care about what anyone else thinks.
As a band in New York, and really ANYWHERE, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor to not get too proud until you’ve really got something to be proud of. A salary on your music that affords you a place to live, food, and health insurance would be nice. A grammy nod would be a wonderful place to start. Certain things are indicators of whether or not what you’re doing is getting you somewhere, and playing in shitty New York clubs to your friends is not one of those. Some people don’t get that.
However, if you believe in yourself, then work hard. Do not count on luck — that is a gamble. But hard work always pays off in some way.
If you’re touring through New York, it’s worth it just to see the city. Even if you play to nobody, at least there’s a thousand places to drink yourself away afterwards!
Happy new year, everyone.
-Jesse
