The Perils of DIY, Part 11
The Democracy
This one is short and sweet. And it’s probably going to lose me some “scene points” (don’t worry, my cache is big enough to rebound).
My spirit of fairness is strong. Take for instance booking a local show. Often, not only will my band and I spend more time/money promoting and organizing than any other on the bill but (inevitably due to the former) we’ll have more wallet reaching individuals coming through the door in the end. Still, as the night dawns, our respect for democracy prevails and everyone receives an even count of bills and coins. It’s not a huge deal. The amount of cash on average isn’t spectacular. And I don’t mind this democratic distribution one bit. Plus, chances are the old adage “what goes around comes around” will even the score when we play off home base.
What bugs me is when a fellow local requires a guarantee. With democratic responsibility and sharing there’s no need for a guarantee. In my view, this action relieves some responsibility. Why work hard promoting an event that you’re already pulling money from? Sure, money isn’t everything at an indie show (often times it’s not anything). But what else does a guarantee imply to your bill mates? If you can’t guarantee you’ll pull enough to cover you’re own expenses from a local show, maybe you’re not big enough to make a guarantee in the first place.
Doing the Detroit band thing for five years, I’ve seen some funny stuff take place with plenty of people who think, for one reason or another, they are entitled to more than other bands on the basis of a few things. More often than not, it’s due to their longevity. If they’ve been around a while, they could feel that “they’ve earned it” more than you. Sometimes, that’s fair. Like, if for one or more of its’ members, it’s their source of income. If they’re new and getting press, they think they are totally awesome and thusly more deserving of guaranteed cash.
I’ve never been in a position to ask for a guarantee (it’s usually offered first – you know “we’ll give $X for playing”). However, I’d never ask for a guarantee for any show taking place in what someone could consider a “dive bar” or conversely a “rock and roll dive bar”. Especially locally. That’s just arrogant and, at best, really fucking lazy.
On one hand though, I don’t see it problematic if you’re asking an out of town band to come in and they 1) ask, at the very least, for gas money or 2) ask for a place to stay/crash.
Now, all I’ve said should be taken with a grain of salt – I’ve only started booking shows with my band. My old band, someone else did all that. I think hands-down, the door-system is fair. Everyone suffers if no one pulls people out, everyone does well if everyone works together to draw a crowd in.
As a general endorsement though, there are two bands that have always been great to get on any show because they do it for the fun of it and have never been stupid worrying about money – Hotness (four of the nicest guys playing locally) and Scarlet Oaks (actually, anything Steve McCauley is in). I know there are plenty more really nice people in bands around town, but these always stand out in my mind because I personally see more eye-to-eye with them on what it means to play in, for better or worse, a local band that ventures out of town once in a while and hold down a day job – even if you surf music blogs while at work.
I completely agree. I just don’t like when locals have those demands.