The Perils of DIY, Part 12
Stories Sell
Man, it’s been a tough road. Back in July 2007 my band put out an album. We made some mistakes but in the end it’s something I don’t feel ashamed to stand firmly behind. It was our first, specifically, my first attempt at aggressively putting myself out there. We mailed hundreds of plastic coasters to college radio and on/off line publications. As expected, many ignored the thing entirely. Others took up the challenge to put words to something that had no fore mentioning (and we thank you all for that). Hell, locals didn’t even touch it. But some kid in the UK gave it an astounding review. I digress. We got reviews, we got college radio play. We even got some great shows from it. However, what we didn’t get were oodles of sugar-coated positive raves. Many critics did what their name implies. Many critics didn’t like it and stamped it as “generic.”
No biggie. It’s not surprising. There’s thousands nay, hundreds of thousands of us. Anyone that has recently been on MySpace can attest that our numbers are astonishing (“our” being, independent bands). Keeping that in mind, the “generic” review is almost expected. Our press package didn’t include a hook, gimmick, characters, or “story.” It was just, “Hey, we’re this band from Detroit, we just put out a record…” You know, the crap writers, editors, and music directors read all day long. Sure, we have a “story” buried somewhere for a publicist to dig up if we stick around long enough for one to get involved. But we certainly haven’t realized it yet, let alone thrust it forward.
You’re probably thinking, “Maybe your record was generic? It probably wasn’t as good as what you thought.” Perhaps, but that’s non-essential to my point. If an unknown band released Wilco’s last album, Sky Blue Sky prior to Tweedy and Co. and sent out some kits for press, what sort of reviews would you expect? It’s impossible to guess but chances are without the entire history of Uncle Tupelo, Jeff Farrar, Jay Bennett, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, etc… at the critics disposal all the current reviews would be completely unlike what they actually are. Whether that be good or bad matters little. What matters is that they would be different. Critics use the formula, music dipped in story. I’d argue more often than not the equation is tweaked to, story dipped in music. Which is exactly the problem with bands like my own. We’re 100% dependent on what critics give their least attention to, our music. Whether generic or not, that is a difficult road to walk.
Know any good publicists?
On the subject… Though not ENTIRELY. BRANDED.
I think what you wrote about is actually the single most difficult part of being an artist, period. I’m in the midst of reading for a second time How To Become A Famous Writer Before You’re Dead by Ariel Gore. This is a topic she hits on quite a bit because it’s absolutely necessary to devise a “superhero” self not only for defense but, even more so, to exaggerate yourself into some sort of character. This can be applied to résumé writing and submission, too. You have to elevate yourself to a certain level without going over the truthfulness edge to get noticed. Aside from recording your actual material, I’d guess this is the biggest monster you’ll ever have to face in terms of work and time.
Yeah, a publicist. I’ll send you my résumé.
Ha ha.
Speaking of DIY…today is the 4th anniversary of the blog action starting on Me Duce Tutus Eris.
Look at where we are now! We’re more together 1460 or so days later. Sort of.
Interesting words about the Wilco record…very true. It’s amazing how things work. I just read all your DIY series…they’re fun to read.
Thanks Jeff. It’s always good to know someone else (besides Cas and I) read the posts that we don’t get too many comments on.
Cas, yeah it’s most definitely a chronic “artist selling their work” problem in general. But artists are at fault for relying on the critics word too. More times than not, the people buying, listening, reading, etc… aren’t at all interested in a critics perspective. Typically the critics words are only used to bolster the “superhero artist” persona you alluded to.
You’re right in saying that you need critics to bolster the super-image, however, I think self-promotion does that, too. This is not to say that you haven’t self-promoted enough. I know you’ve done that. There are avenues, though, that some artists manage to drive down to get them noticed and, sadly, they’re often not devices of smart marketing – they are most often the product of pure luck.
I’ve recently run into something of interest in relation to this, too. A friend of mine, Jasmine, has played a starring role in the “Too Much Coffee Man” opera, which opened again in Portland, OR last weekend. It was more-or-less trashed by The Oregonian (http://blog.oregonlive.com/steveduin/2008/04/too_much_coffee_man_opera_the.html). The reviewer didn’t have too much to say about Jasmine’s singing performance but decided a comment about her cleavage was appropriate (although, in context, her cleavage probably plays some role in her character):
“In the opening act, Too Much Coffee Man — Stacey Murdock in a full-body red PJs with an oversized coffee cup on his head — and Espresso Guy are vying for the affections of soprano Jasmine Presson, who is dishing out the double shots of caffeine and cleavage.”
I found it interesting that a reviewer local to the showing panned the opera for the most part but the production has had pretty phenomenal reviews from the crowds. The critic certainly holds sway.
But then art is subjective, is it not? Shouldn’t we, as artists, be bullet proof to this knowing that full-well there will be people who, out the gate, will want to trash the work we produce?