How to get your first gigs

Stevepage

I'm in a heavy metal cover band covering bands from Zepplin, AC/DC to Pantera, Metallica. We're all set to go and we're looking to get booked for shows.

Now in the past I've emailed venues with mp3 files of recordings and a little info about us. Now this worked in the past but the rest of the band don't seem to excited about the idea of recording a couple of songs on the cheap just to get something out there.

Is there another way of getting shows? Or should I just tell the rest of the band to just pull their thumbs out and get something recorded?

John_P

What sort of shows are you looking for?
Pubs gig?  Just get in the phone or call in - has anyone in the band enough gigging experience to have contacts with landlords etc?
A demo can be handy but it's just part of a package that helps you persuade someone you will bring or keep an audience.  

Stevepage

They all have plenty of gigging experience (more so than me) so I'm not sure what they're thinking. My father in law is friends with a pub owner who regularly puts on shows so that would be something to keep in mind. I just always thought that landlords want some thing to listen to. Maybe I'll just fire an email over and try to persuade them without.

Roland

Selling is more about selling yourself than selling the product. Go and see the pub manager, every pub manager you can find, and try to strike up a relationship. Take a diary. Take a business card with your 'phone number in case they say no, but then get a cancellation. The only time I have used collateral was when I've showed them a YouTube video on my phone.

nick79

What worked for us was to get a few gigs supporting more established bands, we got gigs off the back of that. After that it was fairly easy to get more, get yourself known and that's half the battle won. 

ESBlonde

@Rowland is nearest the mark.
Get in the place and meet the (wo)man (pick a time when they are NOT rushed off thier feet). It might take a couple of visits. Talk face to face, leave a card but better still have your diary in your hand and get a date, I've had a link to a website ready on my phone or a choone to play straight into thier face from the crappy phone. Be confident, it becomes a snowball effect, but ensure rent a crowd turn up at the first event in a new venue so you create the right impression. It's all about bar sales to them and big crowds pull big crowds!

digitalscream

Roland said:

Selling is more about selling yourself than selling the product. Go and see the pub manager, every pub manager you can find, and try to strike up a relationship. Take a diary. Take a business card with your 'phone number in case they say no, but then get a cancellation. The only time I have used collateral was when I've showed them a YouTube video on my phone.

This. For your first gigs, you want a venue owner (or promoter) who's on-side. Having somebody who's going to support you is more important than anything; venue owners tend to talk to each other, and it helps more than anything if you've already got someone in common.

Same goes for other bands.

StageStruck

Support slots, slots at open mic/jam nights (particularly if the venue puts on regular gigs), being persistent with the folks who do booking in venues etc. Networking counts for a lot too, if you know people in your local live music community that can put a word in for you, that can go a long way into securing you gigs. Offer a trial gig on nights that a venue is generally quiet (especially if you can get folk to come and fill a place). Small local festivals are a decent bet too, especially if they are spread over a few days and there are plenty of slots to fill.
Whatever you do though, don't sell yourself short. Try to avoid places that want you to pay to play. Be selective about doing too many freebie gigs/support slots, though it might not do you any harm to do a few to establish yourself early on.

Teacherphil

We videoed ourselves rehearsing with a zoom Q4 recorder. Then went into a pub that regularly hosts bands and asked for the person who books gigs. Showed him the videos. We play our own stuff so he was more interested in the style of music making sure it wasn't too experimental. Got a gig straight away.
My advice for first gigs is don't  be shy, just go in and ask, have a video of you playing, don't quibble too much about cash and be flexible. Many of the people who manage venues have to fill vacancies from bands dropping out. Just go for it.

Placidcasual79

I honestly believe you have to put in the foot work - decide as a band what your willing to play for then get into as many pubs and venues as you can - better to do this when it isn't too busy - start by asking for a date when you can play..... its helpful to have a FB page with video clips, good photos and recordings to direct people to and for people to check out, but not as important as actually going into places and asking for gigs face to face - far more likely to produce a result than an email. Hopefully you can build up some regular gigs. I've found that we often get offers of work at our gigs and it builds from there. If your looking to get into decent club/live music venues you'll need to build an audience and be able to demonstrate that you can pull/hold a crowd.  

merlin

I agree with all the above, but demos are just that, demos. I think that they need to be prepared to make a small investment in order to reap benefits. A short recording session, someone to do a mix and put it on youtube, soundcloud, CD etc is not a huge job nor particularly expensive. Do a demo in a day....

viz

ESBlonde said:

@Roland is nearest the mark.

Corrected

bigjon

When I started my own band, I provided the band for a local charity event so the charity pulled in the crowd for me, then put loads of plugs / photos / videos (taken with just my phone fixed on a stand) on the local facebook community page. Three local landlords contacted me to book the band for gigs off the back of that.