Ever use a booking agent?

[louderthangod]

I'd like to do a small tour 4-5 days or so this summer from the Bay Area up to Portland/Seattle and that sort of area this summer. I've never done this but it's one of those personal goals/obstacles that I'd just really like to get out of the way. I have the time of from work (teacher) so I figure I might as well make it happen. I'm fine with losing a reasonable amount of money on the trip. I'm not sure if cold calling clubs in these areas are going to get me anywhere. I kinda sort know a guy that does booking for smaller yet well known bands in the doom scene but since I figure we're going to be playing these shows for nothing or at best, gas money I don't really know what to expect if I talk to him or anyone else. We don't have a label and have just released some stuff on Bandcamp and will be releasing another hour or two on there before the summer. Any thoughts or advice for those that have gone this route? Oh, we also don't have any other bands to bring up with us but we're willing to play just about any situation from dive bars with punck/metal/doom/psych/indie bands to house parties, art shows or anything like that. I honestly care more about just getting that monkey of doing it off my back than I do about the money or even quality of the shows but playing one or two good shows would be preferable obviously. Thanks.

[jrmy]

I used a booking agency once, and it was a pretty horrible experience. BIG DISCLAIMER: this is in no way meant to imply that all agencies are horrible. This one was super-corporate, or wanted to be, and seemed to just treat the bands as products to place.

But even if you get the most indie-just-in-it-for-the-music agency, they're gonna need to make some money out of the deal, and will be limited by their own connections/experience. For a "just wanna play some shows" deal as an indie band, it might be best to work your connections here and through other bands/artists, especially for a mini-tour. Be really upfront and clear about what days you're coming through where, and it become a lot easier for people there to hook you up with gigs.

[Dr. Sherman Sticks M.D.]

DIY DIY DIY.

[Chankgeez]

Agree with jrmy.

Not that booking agents are bad or anything, they serve a purpose (and they take what, 10% or 15% or something?), but if you have friends in bands in any of the places you wanna play that's probably a better option in this case. That way, if you play with a good local band who have a draw, you'll at least have some people come to the show. They may not be coming specifically to see/hear your band, but that's incidental.

Another option might be is if you do somehow find another Bay Area band who have more name recognition in the areas you wanna play in to bring with you (maybe they've toured there before?), you can have them headline the tour. That way you'd also have somewhat of a built in draw. Adding a strong drawing local act for support would just reinforce things from there and make for a killer bill. A slight disadvantage to that would be that your band would make a little bit less money in the short term, but if you plan on touring there again, things would probably pay off in the long run.

Also, I wouldn't settle for anything less than solid shows. If you go the ramshackle route, you might end up unhappy with the way the shows go.

You might also have a difficult time finding an effective booking agent who's willing to work with you because of your lack of exposure.

Just some thoughts.

[D.o.S.]

Tons of PNW bands on here, dude. Check out the Doom Room if you're doing heavy stuff -- there's that whole Upcoming Gigs section with a bunch of DIY shows. I'm sure you could get on a couple of bills.

[jrmy]

Also, Behndy just finished a little self-booked mini-tour of the WA/OR area - maybe hit him up for his suggestions about venues & connections?

[louderthangod]

I've got no connections up there and anybody I know here is either currently between projects or not doing something in interested or is practical to work with. I'm also fine with the booking agent making money. I will literally pay them to get us gigs in which we make absolutely nothing. I'm not even remotely wealthy but I've got more money than patience to wait another year for a potential maybe. DIY is great and all but it would mean a lot of cold calls to people that have never heard of me for clubs I've never heard of and that's probably most likely how it'll go down but I was just curious if contacting someone like Nate Carson of Nanotear would be worth it. He understands that music scene and area.

[Chankgeez]

... I was just curious if contacting someone like Nate Carson of Nanotear would be worth it. He understands that music scene and area.

I don't think it would hurt to talk with him. Even if he doesn't wanna work with you, he can probably offer some solid advice.

[jrmy]

... I was just curious if contacting someone like Nate Carson of Nanotear would be worth it. He understands that music scene and area.

I don't think it would hurt to talk with him. Even if he doesn't wanna work with you, he can probably offer some solid advice.

Yeah, it never hurts to talk to anyone who knows the scene. People have contacted me about Providence shows plenty of time, and even if I haven't been able to do anything for them, I've tried to give them names of people and venues who could.

[louderthangod]

That's what I'll probably do later today when I have some time then.

If it doesn't work out then I'll start asking around here for club recommendations.

[theavondon]

Even though you don't know anyone, I still recommend DIY ing it. Dodiy.org is a good resource. Plus, how do you think you make contacts in towns? You play shows together, often randomly.

[louderthangod]

Even though you don't know anyone, I still recommend DIY ing it. Dodiy.org is a good resource. Plus, how do you think you make contacts in towns? You play shows together, often randomly.

Thanks for the link. One of the places I was thinking about playing as a through-gig was Eureka since it's a cool, along the way but it's own little world kinda city and immediately a spot popped up that looks promising.

[Chankgeez]

I saw Green Milk From the Planet Orange play a show at The Alibi in Arcata when I was out there visiting.

It was awesome.

I think they had to move the pool table to give 'em enough room to set up and there was tons of 60 cycle hum from the neon beer lights, but it was still lots of fun.

I'd recommend that place. Although during the summer, I'm not sure there'll be that many Humboldt State students around.

[ShaolinLambKiller]

Even though most of the points I was going to cover have already been brought up. I'd just like to weigh in for doing it DIY. booking agents are usually better for large bands that are actively doing it for a living but on the scale I've done and what you are doing it's not worth the effort. I never would deal with a booking agent for any bands I've booked cause I never guaranteed anything due to where I am and the disclaimer is there is a good chance the show will get outright cancelled since there are no venues here or crowd/scene.

If you don't want to cold call, cold emails work much better esp to bands of the area that know more of venues and the crowds you might be trying to reach. A short polite email with a link to your music with your phone number is usually enough to get a few shows booked. That's usually what we did when we booked our tours we also set up shows at home and kept up with those bands when we were booking to see if they can return the favor.

[misterstomach]

i'm sending you a pm with some info and things not meant for the board. in general i would say that it's hard to find booking agents who really want to take a risk on bands that don't have a "proven draw". and the agencies that will do small bands for a straight fee are generally not going to provide a good experience. a good DIY tour is really awesome in general and much better usually for the smaller bands. it's rewarding, builds lasting friendships and community and is way more fun. i've got a bunch of west coast contacts that i could share with you if you're interested. i've had great experiences also with just getting in touch with bands i like in certain towns out of the blue and just saying "hey i like your band and want to play your town. can you help out or point me in the right direction?" even bands that are kind of popular and seem like they would be out of my league. most everyone started out doing the same thing and underground musicians are often really cool about helping each other out. occasionally someone won't respond or whatever, but usually people will at the very least offer a suggestion of who books the good shows if they can't help themselves.

my recent experience has been that you want to have a route and schedule to work off of, have your contacts, and start booking the bigger shows at least four months in advance, if not sooner. start getting the dates for the bigger towns or bigger shows nailed down and then fill in in between. i used to be able to get away with three months lead time years ago, but it seems that's not enough for a lot of busy places now. it's annoying because some places you will find are booked out so far ahead of time that you can't get a show while at the same time the folks doing some house shows are like "dude, it's way too early to think about that, talk to me in two months."

good luck and watch for a pm.