Sonicbids Blog - Music Career Advice and Gigs

Sonicbids Artist of the Week: Dave Sorrendino

Written by Marya Mclaughlin | May 21, 2012 09:00 AM
Dave Sorrendino was not exposed at an early age to top forty artists of the 90‘s but rather the sounds of Jackie Wilson, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Sam Cook, Al Green, Otis Redding and the Beatles. Dave was so into music that he became a known requester at his local radio stations…music was clearly his passion and would be his life’s work. Subsequently, while playing in the Dallas Forth Worth Metroplex, Dave was approached by a music producer and invited to Los Angeles to record an album, a great opportunity to walk in the footsteps of his idols and be exposed to the musicians he had been influenced by in his youth. In Los Angeles, Dave was privileged to work side by side with highly accomplished, known producer, Graham Ward, who remains to date as his mentor and his current producer. We recently caught up with Dave about his favorite gig, his hopes for listeners and where you can see him play next.

What do you hope listeners will get from your music?

I hope that listeners will see themselves in my music. That they will connect not just in just the message of the lyrics but also in the identity of the characters. I feel like when people can see their own reflections in the same situations that have inspired me to write about, they are never alone and always have someone there who understands what they are going through.



What’s the best gig you ever played?

I’ve been very fortunate to play some really cool venues, with great numbers of people that I would of never of imagined being assembled to hear me do what I do. But I have to say the best gig I ever had was when one of best friends asked me to play the music for her precession in her wedding. It was a very surreal to think that years from now I will be the soundtrack for one the biggest events of her life. I remember I played Bright Eyes’ "This Is The First Day of My Life" as her father walked her down the aisle. It was definitely one of those experiences where time just sort of stood still. Very cool gig.

How has social media affected the way you market/promote your music?

Social media has affected the marketing and promotion of my music in many ways. What started with the MySpace days of getting people to listen my tracks, and friendly competition with other artists of how many more plays we could hope to get has evolved into such an interactive and more personal environment. I try to use every social platform out there to connect with my fans: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Vimeo. I think the only way to keep your fan base growing is being there and having something cool for them to watch, listen to, or read. Choosing a few topics, that you enjoy as well as your fans and becoming sort of like a hub of information for those things, not just a place to push people to buy your newest track or album. In a lot of ways I feel like marketing my music over social media has always been there, and as it evolves so do my ideas to reach out to whoever is listening.

What’s a creative way that you interact with your fans? Live? Online?

A creative way that I interact with my fans is sometimes as simple as asking them, "What do you want to hear me cover?" My label Stereographic Entertainment does this really cool thing where they release a very impromptu DIY type video of the songs by each of their artists at the first of every month. Its a great way for people to hear what’s coming ahead and for the viewer to see past the photo-shopped pictures and editing floor cuts and connect with the artists personality and mannerisms, and in my case, dorkiness.

What’s your next big gig coming up? When/Where?

I feel terrible with this question, because I should have this over abundance of dates and times to that I can project into the blogosphere. Truth is I have been writing my second album and also working on many different projects and with many very talented artists and have yet to set up dates for myself. (Disclaimer about to plug my own sites.) But be sure to check out my Facebook, follow me on Twitter, and on Instagram. And check out my newest video "Seems to Grow" on YouTube.

Check out more on Dave Sorrendino here