We have been getting some attention from Sonicbids lately and not just from promoters working through them, but from the actual Sonicbids people. (If you recall Sonicbids is how we booked Sunfest and the Florida Music Festival). Anyways last week we were up on there homepage as one of the bands booking gigs and now an brief interview with me (Ostrich) is featured over at http://www.sonicbids.com/success/
Since it will eventually be replaced by an interview with another band I am going to record the whole thing here for posterity:
How often do you update your Sonicbids EPK?
We update the EPK whenever we have something new to add. So when we book a great show I add it in as an upcoming event and afterwards I change it to past tense event. I try to make sure that the EPK is as up to date and accurate as possible.
Describe a recent gig or success you've had through Sonicbids. What happened, and how did you use Sonicbids to get it?
Lately we have had a lot of success through Sonicbids. The biggest one, however, would have to be getting booked for Sunfest 2010 in West Palm Beach. The festival was huge with an estimated 300,000 people in attendance over the five days. It included major national acts such as Weezer, ZZ Top, Flogging Molly, Ben Harper, B-52s, Shinedown, Rise Against, Damien Marley, and many others. Originally, I thought that we had been turned down for the gig. But, later the same day I received the rejection notice I got a phone call from Sunfest telling us we had been selected to play.
What was it about this gig or opportunity that made you think it was appropriate for you?
Sunfest is an eclectic festival in South Florida. We usually do very well down there and sounded like a good time so we thought we would give it a go.
Did the gig/opportunity meet your expectations? Did any other opportunities come from this?
Yes, it was fantastic. We played right after Five for Fighting and before Big D and Kids Table and Flogging Molly. Our crowd was huge and we sold a good deal of merch. Because of that show (which was less than a week ago at the time of this writing) we have received several show offers for South Florida. We are also going to do an internet radio interview, and one of the local radio stations was playing one of our songs during their independent radio show.
What do you like the most about Sonicbids?
I like how the website genuinely seems to be interested in helping independent musicians by developing new features on the site to improve transparency and efficiency of booking Sonicgigs.
What’s the one thing you wish promoters understood about the band’s side of the submission process?
I wish that promoters understood that they will get more appropriate entries if they describe the gig or whatever they are looking for in more detail. Personally, I have spent a lot of time writing and updating our EPK to make it as interesting, but also as accurate as possible. Some of the listings are fairly ambiguous and don't really explain what they are looking for. The more specific and detailed their entry the more closely the responses will match what they are after. It will save them time in looking through submissions and it can save bands time and money.
Do you have any additional advice you’d like to share with other bands?
Take a look at the EPK of some of the more successful bands here on Sonicbids. That's what we did and since we did that our success here has increased dramatically. Also, keep your press kit up to date.
Tell us about some cool things you're currently doing with your music (playing live, your song on a soundtrack, shooting a video, etc.)
We update the EPK whenever we have something new to add. So when we book a great show I add it in as an upcoming event and afterwards I change it to past tense event. I try to make sure that the EPK is as up to date and accurate as possible.
Describe a recent gig or success you've had through Sonicbids. What happened, and how did you use Sonicbids to get it?
Lately we have had a lot of success through Sonicbids. The biggest one, however, would have to be getting booked for Sunfest 2010 in West Palm Beach. The festival was huge with an estimated 300,000 people in attendance over the five days. It included major national acts such as Weezer, ZZ Top, Flogging Molly, Ben Harper, B-52s, Shinedown, Rise Against, Damien Marley, and many others. Originally, I thought that we had been turned down for the gig. But, later the same day I received the rejection notice I got a phone call from Sunfest telling us we had been selected to play.
What was it about this gig or opportunity that made you think it was appropriate for you?
Sunfest is an eclectic festival in South Florida. We usually do very well down there and sounded like a good time so we thought we would give it a go.
Did the gig/opportunity meet your expectations? Did any other opportunities come from this?
Yes, it was fantastic. We played right after Five for Fighting and before Big D and Kids Table and Flogging Molly. Our crowd was huge and we sold a good deal of merch. Because of that show (which was less than a week ago at the time of this writing) we have received several show offers for South Florida. We are also going to do an internet radio interview, and one of the local radio stations was playing one of our songs during their independent radio show.
What do you like the most about Sonicbids?
I like how the website genuinely seems to be interested in helping independent musicians by developing new features on the site to improve transparency and efficiency of booking Sonicgigs.
What’s the one thing you wish promoters understood about the band’s side of the submission process?
I wish that promoters understood that they will get more appropriate entries if they describe the gig or whatever they are looking for in more detail. Personally, I have spent a lot of time writing and updating our EPK to make it as interesting, but also as accurate as possible. Some of the listings are fairly ambiguous and don't really explain what they are looking for. The more specific and detailed their entry the more closely the responses will match what they are after. It will save them time in looking through submissions and it can save bands time and money.
Do you have any additional advice you’d like to share with other bands?
Take a look at the EPK of some of the more successful bands here on Sonicbids. That's what we did and since we did that our success here has increased dramatically. Also, keep your press kit up to date.
Tell us about some cool things you're currently doing with your music (playing live, your song on a soundtrack, shooting a video, etc.)
One of the cool things we do with our music is make cartoons. The cartoons are about fictional characters and our alter egos. When we make a new cartoon we unveil it at our shows right before we take the stage. It really grabs the crowds attention and gets them excited and having a good time before the show. It also helps people remember us. We try to put on show rather than just play music. So we have professionally trained costumed dancers at our show along with other visual surprises to add to the musical experience. So far this has been very well received. We have a few other things in the works as well, but I don't want to give away any surprises.
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