I'm currently in the middle of my CMJ Music Marathon. If this was a real marathon I'd be grabbing cups of water from strangers on the street at this point. As a precautionary measure, I will not grab cups of anything from strangers on the Lower East Side and I remind you to do the same.
Bands are everywhere, navigating their vans, buses and trailer hitches through the small serpentine streets so they can play CMJ.
We asked a bunch of them why playing festivals like CMJ is so important.
KANDLE
"As an emerging artist your biggest struggle when trying to launch your career is to be seen and heard by the right people! CMJ gives musicians that opportunity and brings music lovers from around the world together to discover new hidden gems!"
MINIBOONE
"I can say that our first CMJ gig was probably the first time we ever got national press of any kind. CMJ is like a big sample platter, you can catch a little bit of this act there, a little bit of that act there. You get people coming to your show who might not normally take a whole evening just to see you play."
PARKS
"I feel CMJ is an important gig for emerging musicians because it gives us a chance to meet other musicians and industry folk in one place not to mention you get to hopefully play for a new audience."
DARLINGSIDE
"It's an excellent opportunity to connect with industry folks and individuals in other bands with whom you have been chatting about gigs/tours/swimwear, but have yet to meet in person. It's rare to get so many Internet acquaintances concentrated in one place."
MATT SUCICH
"Hopefully it's an opportunity to play for new people & peers coming from different markets, making it a not only a great opportunity to network but to hear something from someone new."
ROYAL TEETH
"I think it's such a great way to connect with so many people in a short amount of time. We performed at CMJ two years ago and it was a big moment for us. We were unsigned and had some buzz and I think it really helped us get to where we are now."
