Asking Bands For Support Slots

thelastpartizan

Can anyone tell me is there some sort of "musicians etiquitte" where you don't ask bands for support slots unless you know them personally. In the last few weeks both my own band and another band we know have been asking various bands for support slots and we haven't even got a reply to say yes, no, go **** yourself, etc.... Have any other bands had a problem with this when they started gigging and if so how did you get around it?

roast

This happened to my band when I started gigging maybe 3/4 years ago. I realise now that we didnt get any response probably because we were dog awful. Generally though, if they dont reply to you, then they're probably not looking for any support acts. Dont worry about it if they dont reply.

thelastpartizan

roast wrote: »

This happened to my band when I started gigging maybe 3/4 years ago. I realise now that we didnt get any response probably because we were dog awful. Generally though, if they dont reply to you, then they're probably not looking for any support acts. Dont worry about it if they dont reply.

I'd consider us to be slightly better than dog awful :pac: So what did you do to get started. We don't particularly want to put on our own gigs yet because most of us have either never played live before or haven't played in a couple of years and to be honest we wouldn't have a clue how to organise it.

the_syco

When asking, give them a recording of you, or something? In case they haven't heard your music.

thelastpartizan

the_syco wrote: »

When asking, give them a recording of you, or something? In case they haven't heard your music.

Between ourselves and the other band the only musicians we know are each other, so most of the asking is done through emails, myspace, facebook etc... so they have access to our demos.

Fandango

To be honest its the same for us at the moment. Finding it very hard to get supports and rarely get replies from bands thru myspace etc. I wouldnt worry about not getting replies tho. It doesnt mean anything about your music, probably just that they have a support act and couldnt be bothered\are too busy to reply. Also, of course, it depends on what bands you are asking. If your asking well established bands, chances are that 1. they have a huge amount of requests for supports and simply cant reply to them all or 2. theyre contact address isnt actually them but instead a manager/promoter etc who again probably has too much to do so cant reply to every email.

the_syco

thelastpartizan wrote: »

Between ourselves and the other band the only musicians we know are each other, so most of the asking is done through emails, myspace, facebook etc... so they have access to our demos.

You goto their gig, and you listen to them. After the gig, you hand them a CD of a few songs, and ask if they'd consider you doing support for them. You don't tell them to view your myspace, because why the f**k should they?

You want to promote yourself, you promote yourself. You goto various gigs of bands of the same genre as yourselves, and you talk to the frontman of the band. Look at their myspace band, and you'll see 9 million friends. You'll want to make an impression. Ensure the CD you give them is in a CD case, your bands name and some contact details on the CD.

roast

the_syco wrote: »

You goto their gig, and you listen to them. After the gig, you hand them a CD of a few songs, and ask if they'd consider you doing support for them. You don't tell them to view your myspace, because why the f**k should they?

You want to promote yourself, you promote yourself. You goto various gigs of bands of the same genre as yourselves, and you talk to the frontman of the band. Look at their myspace band, and you'll see 9 million friends. You'll want to make an impression. Ensure the CD you give them is in a CD case, your bands name and some contact details on the CD.

This is definitly the best way to go about it, and what I was going to suggest.
Myspace/Bebo is all well and good for showcasing music, but I find people dont check it very regularly.. because of that, you mightnt hear anything back, and they'd be none the wiser.
Checking out some gigs and meeting them in person is definitly the best idea... get a feel for the scene and join the community. Do this as much as possible and soon you'll be asked to play support instead of requesting it.

Einstein

also remember,

bands are afraid to take support from bands they don't know in case they shít all over them, and make the main act sound tripe...

true story...

PartizanGreg

Einstein wrote: »

also remember,

bands are afraid to take support from bands they don't know in case they shít all over them, and make the main act sound tripe...

true story...

This is certainly true and it doesnt only apply to new and unsigned bands. Just look at the supports U2 have had over the years


Its a pity though that this is the case. If bands are afraid of other bands showing them up it shows how much self belief they have. Theres too much of an "every band for themselves" attitude in Ireland. For a scene to grow it needs support from the bottom up AND the top down

Aran

Make sure you are asking the right bands!! If you play punk don't be asking a middle of the road rock band!!

We asked "Hayseed Dixie" as we play Bluegrass and they got in touch with me to let me know they had it all sorted for their most recent tour and that we would be considered for next year. (decent lads)

As a previous poster mentions, do go in person to the gigs and have good quality promo stuff with you.

Always be polite but not fawning... They have to like you personally before they would want to share the stage with you...

Also like a sales man.. you have to get used to hearing no!! eventually if you have a good sound and attitude you will get a yes...

Best of luck with it...

thelastpartizan

the_syco wrote: »

You goto their gig, and you listen to them. After the gig, you hand them a CD of a few songs, and ask if they'd consider you doing support for them. You don't tell them to view your myspace, because why the f**k should they?

You want to promote yourself, you promote yourself. You goto various gigs of bands of the same genre as yourselves, and you talk to the frontman of the band. Look at their myspace band, and you'll see 9 million friends. You'll want to make an impression. Ensure the CD you give them is in a CD case, your bands name and some contact details on the CD.

You'd have a sore arse from bending over if you did that. What makes you think a band who won't even answer an email are going to give any thought to some stranger with a cd at a gig.

raindog.promo

If you're not up to headline a gig, organise one and ask someone else to headline it with you supporting.

It's a case of asking someone to do something for you vs you doing something for someone else.
They may then feel obliged to return the favour or recommend you to other bands at a later date.

Rancidmaniac13

raindog.promo wrote: »

If you're not up to headline a gig, organise one and ask someone else to headline it with you supporting.

It's a case of asking someone to do something for you vs you doing something for someone else.
They may then feel obliged to return the favour or recommend you to other bands at a later date.

+1

Definitely the bast advice here so far.

I did this once and it turned out that the headlines pulled out at the last second so we ended up headlining. Managed to pull it off quite well, even though we didn't think we we're ready. Obviously this was an exceptional case but because you've organised the show you should have a good crowd interested in your band as well as the headliners.

MrStuffins

I know exactly what you mean here!

It's all about manners. If a band have advertised for support slots and you mail them, it would be polite to reply saying "Sorry, we've already found someone/your sound doesn't fit ours/other excuse or reason"

If they haven't, it would be polite to say "Sorry, but we're not looking for support/we have all of our support acts already" etc.

It's just good manners to answer and not ignore people.

They'd be quick enough to take your ticket money if you turned up to their show!

raindog.promo

Concerning people not replying, I tend to think of it like fishing. You throw in your line and wait for a bite. You don't get pissed off at fish for not biting, no point in it.

I'd also say everyone has been guilty at some stage of not replying for all manner of reasons, noble and selfish. I certainly am (and apologies to anyone I've done this to).

roast

raindog.promo wrote: »

Concerning people not replying, I tend to think of it like fishing. You throw in your line and wait for a bite. You don't get pissed off at fish for not biting, no point in it.

I'd also say everyone has been guilty at some stage of not replying for all manner of reasons, noble and selfish. I certainly am (and apologies to anyone I've done this to).

I lol'd!! This is definitly true.

OP, just keep trying. Maybe one of the fish will bite.

Kenny DNK

my advice would be to get in contact with venue promoters and not the bands themselves.. thats where we got a lot of luck anyway...

Did you try the stables in mullingar?? they are always giving good new bands a support slot... nice venue too...