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“Hey come out to our show! Free donuts & dunk tank! #teens #easymoney”
Quite the douchey practice, really, talking yourself up. The lonely staple click putting up posters, the slime of sharing your love life in a microphone. Getting the media to care about your gig is an art, replete with invisible do’s and don’t’s. The best bands spend less time spinning their wheels grinding out PR and more time using wild, unapologetic stage craft to generate the attention they get. Sure, they’ll nudge their buzz along with modest plugs at shows and strategic retweets, but they’ll never appear to try too hard. For what boils down to an old-fashioned seduction, here are 5 tips for effective hard-to-get, and getting ink spilled all over your next gig:
1. Nix the purple prose.
“Poignant. Haunting. Ethereal. [Band Name’s] lyrics devastate with desire. ” Spare me. As a journalist, I’m supposed to describe you, not your toked bassist. It’s not an adjective contest! See Chuck Klosterman make sport of this silly practice, but for your own purposes, keep your EPK, bio, and website simply worded with strong visual branding. A clean web interface goes a long way, much like these guys have put it together from the get-go. You can be playful, but never insult the intelligence of your critic. Avoid anything that resembles pandering. If a respected writer has sung your praises, grab a clip from her words and display it loud and proud.
2. Friend social media (the right way).
Be careful, friends, cultivating your social media presence. Heed the rapidly emerging rules in etiquette that are lost on the real eager beaver tweeters. Tweet new dates, or thank the killer graphic artist you just met, but don’t yield to narcissism. Announcing your favorite sammy is a surefire way to jettison would-be loyal follows. One other note: respect the differences in platforms. Your Facebook page is a potluck you’re hosting, a bulletin board your fans gather ‘round and gush. Twitter is more of a Roaring 20’s cocktail party, folks hurriedly hollering over each other, but each with their own voice. Be humble as you buzz around the room, but stay persistent too.
3. Professionalism, now and forever.
Clear-eyed correspondence is the path to a good and greased PR engine. Honor your contract to a t, then after the show, give firm handshakes, and remember names. This is difficult to emphasize enough. Occasionally artists will enter a bizarre 3rd person world where solipsism rules, and the basic laws of human interaction are lost. What a turn-off. Be accountable, provide crisp details about your release party, and why it matters. Address your writers respectfully, after all, their job is to care about you, which is inherently flattering.
4. Don’t take it personal.
Still waiting for that phone call from Pitchfork, eh? Don’t hold your breath. Too many artists are swinging for the fences out there when the focus should be singles and doubles. Taking action is the best (the only?) antidote to this frustrating waiting game. Seek out the bloggers, the folks pouring out their hearts for the free rags in town. In Portland, we have this plucky site to navigate the local scene, there are plenty others like it. Scour these sites for the people who care. Add a warm human face to that Twitter handle, and build your network brick by passionate brick with each stop on the tour. The right writers will be invested in your development, and often offer valuable constructive criticism. Be patient, the bigger outlets will slowly but surely take notice organically.
5. Content is king.
It happened without rhyme or reason, but suddenly, the mad ravings of Charlie Sheen were everywhere. “#winning” and “tiger blood” became a part of our national lexicon overnight, and while teens toasted Four Lokos to the Sheen, the rest of us were grasping for answers. Well, not everyone. The eager opportunists in Apollo Run jumped on the keys immediately to draft an ephemeral anthem honoring the weird pop culture moment. Thus is a Youtube sensation born, giving the band a big spike in buzz, all on the wings of a carpe diem epiphany. The lesson? Do fascinating, spontaneous stuff, all the time, then share it with a neatly shortened link to all your media pals. Keep making the art, and when you do reach out, make sure you’re not shooting no-link, no-hashtag blanks into the Twittersphere. It will feel awkward at first, but once it gets fun, you’ll see your creative output snowball.
