Dave Anderson

So with one more gig in Sydney before Xmas/NY, I thought we should all get together for one last time to celebrate by biggest year in music. But I also thought, with such a busy xmas period, what would get my devoted few really excited?

I got thinking as to how I could recognise individuals who helped make this such a great year?

Why not an awards ceremony!

Hey I'm not making MTV or OZ Music awards anytime soon, so let's do our own. So over a glass, ok bottle of wine, we came up with the following catagories:

MVG - Most Valuable Gigger

Biggest Bar Spend at a Gig

Largest table purchase/refer a friend catagory

Tambourinist of the year (tradition to get someone on stage to play!)

Hall of Fame Inductees

So please join us on:

Sunday 14th December
Bar Me - El Rocco Jazz Cellar
Cnr Brougham and Williams St
Kings Cross
7pm
**Special Solo performance with loop pedals and a few guests ; )**

If you feel you are hard done by by not making the list, please comment below, or sulk like I do each time I register for an award ceremony and get rejected. Hey at least you didn't waste money on entering!

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Good in the face of a stranger

I'm enjoying Alex Lloyd's new and independently released album. Some have said it's a return to his Black the Sun days. It's older brother I read on his forum.

I particularly liked the space of the production, and the little things that are going on in the background. The opening 'are you ready in the studio' line, and the little intro where he walks into the pub full of people and starts playing over the top of talking pub drinkers. I was quite chuffed actually as my album has the same. Chuffed in that great minds think alike, not he ripped it from me obviously.

Many have said that Alex can be a little difficult. What a songwriter who is moody? Surely not? I guess then in a way this is almost an apology that yep he gets he is not always Guy Smiley. Hey at least it's something to write about...better than writing about a f&*ken umbrella, or whatever tripe that the Veronica's are singing about.

The thing that really threw me was this month's Rolling Stone Magazine that said the first real track 'Special' was a dud. Each to their own of course, but I couldn't disagree more. I actually thought it was one of the better tracks on the album. Slow Train is his single release, which is obviously another stand out given it's the single. I actually don't think there are many standout tracks on the album which is great. it's one of those albums you can leave in your car for weeks and still enjoy. Yes kids, album...in car...start to finish...no skipping. Epic isn't it.

As a side note, what's with songwriters and trains? Jack Johnson, David Ford, etc etc. I caught one every day for 3 years in the UK and still couldn't write anything about them. I probably did try ; )

Oh and then there is the fact that Alex has a black Cole Clark Fat Lady 3. Which as I said to him after a gig one time - 'Great guitar. The guys at Cole Clark told me I was the first and only one to have one of these custom made'. To which Alex replied - 'well you not, I have one.'

Cheers.

So in a way this album has a personal touch. Apology accepted Alex.

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I opened for Mark Wilkinson on Tuesday night, 25 Nov 08, along with Nick Latta band at the Vanguard in Newtown (Sydney). A really solid crowd turned up to the venue, with most people taking advantage of the dinner and show tix.

It's such a great room and yet it's such a shame when people talk. I figured people would talk during my set as I was up first, so I did my best to keep everyone's attention by asking for a sing along. A bit cheeky I know, but I had a review a while back that said you couldn't get the Vanguard crowd to sing along during dinner. He was probably right, but I did my best to get a sing along by saying, mid song:

"Apparently you can't get the Vanguard to sing while they are eating. I did try it at my launch but it was pretty unsuccessful. So I'm recording tonight, and I'd love to send the recording to the reviewer to prove him wrong!"

A nice sprinkling of crowd joined in. I played a short set, of only 30 minutes, after which I sat down to enjoy Nick Latta's band, as well as my steak.

Mark Wilkinson is a great singer/songwriter with a soulful voice not too dissimilar from Tracy Chapman or Jason Maraz. He has great stage presence and I was thoroughly enjoying getting lost in his stories of love, life and loss. Bridget A'Beckett a Melbourne songwriter and tonight backing vocalist/pianist, was the perfect compliment to Mark's music.

But what I just couldn't understand, and all respect to Mark as this happens in venue's all over Australia, is the table beside me still talking away. I heard on tv this morning that our attention spans have dropped to 5 minutes on average from 10 minutes sometime ago because of everyday stresses.

Now I'm not sure what these pretty young blonde things had to stress about except how many calories there was in the food, but they just didn't shut up. Don't f%&ken come to an intimate gig and not even try and listen. Please.

So whilst having to shut out the sounds of the chirping birds and bar fly's, the Vanguard patrons I thought on this night, got a great taste of the talented unsigned singer/songwriter's we have floating around Sydney.

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1. Anything Pearl Jam



Once a upon a time I took a video camera into the Entertainment Centre in Perth to film a Pearl Jam gig because I loved them so much and saw so little of them. This was back before the internet was wide spread. My footage did get in the hands of one of the biggest Pearl Jam fans in Australia, and I did have offers to film more gigs! I only did it for my own reference, and used it to trade for other rare stuff, which I think I still have in boxes at my Mum's house. But I'm sure this footage is all available now anyway online. Takes the fun out of it really.

So...

- Touring band and Single Video Theory were the first official DVD's to come out and I loved them so much I'd drink my bottle of wine with my mates, pull out the guitars and play along and then head out on the town.

- Live at the Garden is just a classic Pearl Jam gig...somewhat better than my filming ; )

- Pick of the bunch is Imaggine in Cornice. Great between song behind the scenes footage with some stunning cinematography...(great word which I think is used in the right context here. It's all I really remember from year 12 english)

2. Dave Matthews Live at Central Park



A good mate of mine, yes Eggy you, used to play Dave Matthews 24/7 and when it wasn't on the tv or CD player he would be playing it on his guitar, and nailed it to! An acoustic based singer/songwriter Dave Matthews has an amazing range of songs from sad ballads, to big acoustic stadium fillers thanks to his solid band. I had picked up stacks of his DVD's from his frequent college gigs and loved them. Then when I was in the UK, Dave was apparently about to tour the UK which he didn't do much, and the Times Newspaper had a full page article which read 'Who is Dave Matthews'. The article started out by saying, that anyway that has sold as many albums as he has, and been one of only 5 artists to play Central Park has to be pretty big in the states. And yet unknown in the UK. Well not to me!

Live at Central Park is absolutely amazing. There is probably 200,000 people there but it looks like a million. The stand out track is Jimi Thing on disc 2 which I always put on for people who don't know Dave.

Sounds like you? Go get it...unbelievable!

3. Damien Rice live at St Lukes



Ok so this isn't an officially released DVD but I just couldn't leave it out, because it captures the irish singer/songwriter at the peak of his 'o' release stardom, and it just doesn't dissapoint. Set in an old church it's the setting by which all acoustic gigs should be judged by. The haunting vocals of Lisa Hannigan, the moody and hair standing ballards of Damien Rice, backed by a small backing band.

I'm sure you could find some footage of this on Youtube. It was shown on the BBC years ago. I of course didn't record it because that would be stealing right. Hopefully this is released soon because it's brilliant.

4. Jeff Tweedy - Sunken Treasure Live (Wilco)



I never understood why people digged Wilco so much. I thought his vocals weren't that great...I mean I was comparing to Eddie Vedder, Adam Duritz (counting crows) and Gomez (nuff said). This DVD however changed everything. It's shot in a documentary style following Jeff around the US as he plays solo acoustic gigs. Of course he is normally in full band mode, and at the time he had just recovered from drug addiction. His between song comments are enough to keep you entertained without the songs! His banter is just hillarious, and his songs grow on you with each listen.

I'm now a completely converted and reformed Wilco fan. By the way his new record Blue Sky Blue is unreal. You might have to order this DVD online as it's unlikely to be in store but's it's great. Watch it a few times though!

5. To the yet to be released

As revenue's from albums decreases and there is more emphasis on TV production, I'd expect to see more DVD's being released. Here is my top, I must have DVD's, that I am absolutely hanging out for:

- Epicure: Ballarat band with stunning moody songs. Very under rated. Their live shows are great, but I'd love to see them stripped back at the Vanguard or Basement with a full DVD production. Then maybe people in Australia might get it!

- Ben Harper: Live on Mars: This was recorded as I saw it on TV ages ago but I don't believe it's been released. Probably owned by the TV company and not the record company, but either way I hope we can see it as I listened to this album almost every night or a year and it's what got me addicted to writing and singing.

- Gomez: Anyone who has seen this band live will understand. 3 singers...well it's more like 3.5 singers because Ben's voice is like a gravel driveway. You need two sets of ear plugs when you hear him sing. Plus they are just so damn entertaining. My face hurts from smiling everytime I go to their gigs.

- Bernard Fanning - Solo gigs. I love Powerfinger but I'm a sucker for acoustic gigs. Their 2nd side acoustic disk from the Vulture St release was fantastic. But I'd love to see the Tea and Sympathy gigs on DVD. I missed the shows...yep idiot, but apparently they were great.

- David Ford: He's a one man band who is just a freak. I saw him play at the Hopetoun and it was f^&ken amazing. Buy his albums, get his posters and get on board.

Here you go

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I went to an awesome set on Friday night down at the Empire in Annandale, and after the gig found myself chatting to other punters. To be honest I was kind of taking back by how friendly everyone was. Not the norm in inner city Sydney, and even the inner west for that matter. I know that sounds a little harsh but it is difficult to feel like your in a community sometimes, especially when most sentences start with 'well I'm'.

So anyway I asked if they ever bought albums off Itunes and the answer, like mine, was sometimes but they prefer to buy from the store. It got me thinking about my album, and how it has only ever so slightly ticked over on itunes. It was very simple to get it onto itunes, and it once there I thought if people wanted it they could get it without me having to do anythihg.

But now I'm thinking I have really missed an opportunity to sell a few more in stores, particularly with strong reviews in main st press.

The hardest thing of course is getting the record into the stores. Most of the main st stores require a physical distributor who of course will take their 30% cut if not more. You also obviously need to promote it to get it to move off the shelf.

I did send Fish records an email ago ages enquiring about stocking my record, which they quiet quickly replied back and said yes, and this is how you to do it. And yet I still didn't send it.

So this week I'm going to gather up my CD's that are sittting neatly packed in boxes and send them out to Fish stores, with my neat little 4/5 Sydney Morning Herald stickers on them.

Why didn't I do this earlier? Probably cos I just assumed everyone would want it on itunes. Silly mistake.

So if your an indie looking to get it into the store...ring Fish.

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Labels: Blog, Commentary

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 Juls says...
No Powderfinger or Grinspoon? I think I've lost touch with the australian music industry...
Tuesday, November 18, 2008 9:37:00 AM  

 

I've been highly organised recently with my itunes music library and god do I feel cleansed. It's like I have gone over to my old bookshelf, pulled all the CD's off the shelf, wiped it down with spray and wipe, and put everything back in alphabetical order with dividers just like the local CD store.

And because I was feeling feeling a little bit better about my library and that I can now see album covers thanks to the new release of itunes, I've also stumbled on these new itunes widgets which display your favourites, recent album purchases, recent song purchases and reviews. I'm proud enough of mine to display it on my website - 'my itunes purchases and favourites'...thankfully I've managed to brainwash my girlfriend into liking the music that I like. Just like my sister before her.

Now I'm wanting a 'songs I've been listening to in my itunes' widget. Once such application which does a pretty good job is I'm iLike. (I'm guessing iLike is probably a more marketable name than iDontmind). The only downside I've found, is that the widget is pretty one dimensional. I can't change the size and it only displays text and not pretty pictures of album covers.

However, whilst I can brainwash my girlfriends purchases I can't brainwash her not to play her back catalogue. In fact I had her parents over recently and whilst we were away they played the Eagles and Stevie Wonder on my itunes. I mean there is nothing wrong with Stevie...but please I'm trying to be all arty singer/songwriter and with widgets on my myspace and website with my legions on fans, I mean there goes my credibility.

What credibility. I always wanted an older mature audience anyway.

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David Ford is an absolutely genius. I can't get enough of his album's 'I sincerely apologise for everything I've done', and 'Songs for the Road'. His gig at the Hopetoun a year or so ago was the best gig I've have ever seen.

Here's why!

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 Chris says...
Genius
Monday, November 17, 2008 8:57:00 PM  

 

I read with great interest in the Sydney Morning Herald last week that Nova and 2Day are going to be pushing new-release music with some late night programs. For years FBI and Triple J have been flying the flag for upincoming music, so it's a welcome relief to hear less Veronica's, Creed, Timbercrap, and Pink with more local or unheard music. It's even better news for unsigned artists right?

Perhaps not. In trying to get my debut album out to radio stations I sent a copy to the majority of stations, with press releases, bio's, and a few little surpises that would ensure my parcel stood out amongst the pack. This direct marketing strategy worked wonders with major newspapers such as the Sydney Morning Herald, the Daily Telegraph, and the West Australian however no such luck with radio. So with this recent article I thought I would check their websites again. You would think they would have a way for us unsigned acts to submit music...but you'd be mistaken.

Nova in Sydney, with it's Launchpad program have a simple 'send us your myspace link' policy and 2Day FM doesn't have any significant content on it's Supafresh site. This leads me to think that perhaps they will stick with the 'inner circle' of music distribution. Those that already receive radio exposure through Triple J and FBI (who'm I'm still yet to get exposure with despite personally dropping off 10 CD's, and sponsoring $7 per month to keep them a float...which I must cancel!), as well as other state based local stations such as RRR. Great news for the indie darlings Josh Pyke and Melanie Horsnell.

I guess the first step in overcoming your problems is admitting you have one. Unfortunately it doesn't look like an initiative that I can get too much benefit from in the short term.

So you could continually turn up to the post office, CD's in hand, wait the customary 3 hours in the cue (what is with the post office lines!), and send off your hard earned work into the radio station black hole or you could just tune into Last FM (ps that's a link to my site) when at work/home, and play your MP3 or CD's in the car so you don't have to hear Pink 24 hours a day.

Now what was FBI's email address again.

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It's been about 6 years I reckon since I lived in the beautiful beach side city of Perth, and whilst growing up there I don't think I had enough of an appreciation for music to warrant an opinion when it comes to picking the best music venue's.

I had a brief conversation with Bourby, who moonlights as my viola player, as well as music motivational advisor and she suggested we get together for an initimate acoustic evening.

I'm a big believer that the venue is an essential ingredient in setting the mood of the gig. Some venue's will just ooze a special performance, such as the the Vanguard in Newtown, or the Basement in central Sydney. These venue's are extremely difficult to get into because of their popularity amongst musicians. So much so that I'm even trying a 'live at the chapel' type gig at a local venue. (I'm still in planning!).

So I'm keen to come back and play something really intimate, with some decent seating and great ambience. I'm a big fan of Mojo's in Freo and have looked into the Norfolk Basement. Little Creatures is out of the question as it's not a bookable venue.

What do you guys think? What's the best venue in Perth? What about the best blank canvas that we could hijack for a night with plenty of wine, cheese, and candles! Or should we stick with trusty Mojo's?

Labels: Blog, Music Strategy, Perth, Venues

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 Jo says...
Might I suggest 'Double Lucky' in Leederville. DeVilles in North Bridge. The Floreat(Band Room). Possibly the venue under His Maj not sure of format and food but worth a try. Or The Subiaco Theatre....might be nice.
Thursday, October 09, 2008 1:41:00 AM  

 James says...
I second the "Double Lucky" idea - could work for your night (although not sure about the acoustics of the venue)...otherwise, I'm fairly certain the Llama bar can be booked for such a gig and allows for food. Other options include unde the Maj and the Norfolk basement.
Thursday, October 09, 2008 12:55:00 PM  

 Helen says...
I completely agree with Double Lucky!! I saw some live music there and it was great! Also you could try the Bakery in Northbride.
Thursday, October 09, 2008 2:25:00 PM  

 Bourby says...
Never been to Double Lucky, but will check it out! Did a CD launch for Freya Hanly at Freo Arts Centre in their courtyard under the stars and thought that was pretty awesome last night! But might be nice to go for a cafe setting with food. Harvest in Nth Freo, Barchetta in Cott or even Wild Fig (North Beach). Downstairs at Lux is OK too. The room in Clancy's in Freo is good too - we'd work well there.
Sunday, October 12, 2008 6:07:00 PM  

 Dave Anderson says...
Rang Double Lucky...seems like a cool place, 120 people, 50 sit down. Like the sound of it. Hopefully we can play there.
Thursday, October 16, 2008 7:48:00 PM  

 

One of my favourite bands Epicure are finally ready to leave Ballarat and hit the road in support of their anticipated 4th LP 'Postcards from a Ghost'. Juan Alban, lead singer and songwriter, has crafted a big black book of some of the most beautiful, yet utterly devestating tracks, in the past on stand out albums 'The Goodbye Girl' and 'Main St'. Seems the follow up thankfully is in the same vein, and I'm chanting at the bit to get my hands on it!

What has always intriuged me with Juan, as a songwriter myself is, where does this inspiration come from; a vivid imagination or his own heartbreaking experiences. Like many who have revealed wounds that are too deep to admit to, Juan prefers not to say what prompted the theme of Epicure's latest album Postcards From A Ghost. Suffice to say, it's personal. 'It's not really something I would like to talk about now…' He trails off. 'I guess ‘heartbreak’ kind of covers it.'

He goes on to say 'I suppose it's about a character who's left feeling like a ghost. As though they were invisible, see-through, or scarred in some way. If you send somebody a postcard, then it sort of tells them where you've been. I guess, this album is that postcard, and I like how the title conveyed that.'

'A lot of the lyrics are written from the perspective of a character who, I guess, had something traumatic happen to them and just doesn’t bounce back from it the way people probably do when they are young. This character is getting older, and a bit more slighted about things. 'I think it's our angriest record, The other albums might be sadder sounding compared with this, but there's definitely a lot of anger in this one. Lyrically, anyway. I think it's the most sinister and darkest thing we've done. But it’s also our best sounding album.'

I have no doubt that this album will be another treasure. A slow burner, that will reveal itself with layer upon layer upon layer. Those that spend time in an Epicure album, will find nice little surprises that manage to reveal themselves to you with further listen. Take the last track from Main St, Hoping It's Not Hopeless, or 12 Months of Winter from The Goodbye Girl.

What songs will reveal themselves to us this time. I'll be ready, wine in hand, ready to drift out to Australia's finest and most underated band this October. Start counting down the days.

Catch them at the following shows:

Fri 10th Oct
Sands Tavern
Plaza Parade Maroochydore, QLD
Ph: (07) 5443 7944
18+ $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com
Oztix!1300 762 545!
www.oztix.com.au,!plus @ all good outlets

Sat 11th Oct
Sounds Of Spring – Brisbane, QLD
Tickets Available From:
www.soundsofspring.com.au
www.moshtix.com.au 1300 GET TIX (438 849)
+ limited tix from www.ticketek.com.au

Sunday 12th Oct
Great Northern Hotel
43 Jonson St, Byron Bay, NSW
Ph: (02) 6685 6454 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com
Abc music, Ballina 6686 2436,
Music Bizarre, Lismore 6622 3262, venue 6685
6454

Thursday 16th Oct
Wollongong Uni, Wollongong, NSW
$10 VIPs members, $12 all others – pre sale
/ $12 VIP members, $15 all others – door sale
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.bigtix.com.au Unishop 0242218050
Redback music 4229 6169

Friday 17th Oct !
Bar On The Hill
University Dr, Newcastle Uni, Callaghan, NSW
$10 VIP members, $12 all others – pre sale
$12 VIP members, $15 all others – door sale
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.bigtix.com.au
venue 4968 3817, The Rock Shop 4929 1856,
Billy Hydes 4965 4222

Sat 18th Oct
The Woodport Inn
207 The Entrance Rd, Erina NSW
Ph: (02) 4365 0335 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.woodportinn.com.au!

Sunday 19th Oct
Flynn’s Beach Surf Club
The Pavilion Port Macquarie NSW
$12 + BF & $18 door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.moshtix.com.au+Little Red Vamp Port
Macquarie

Thursday 23rd Oct
The Annandale Hotel
17 Parramatta, Sydney, NSW
$14 + Bf & $16 on the door
Tickets available from
www.epicuretheband.com,
www.annandalehotel.com and Venue 9550 1078

Friday 24th Oct
Baroque Bar
86 Bathurst Rd, Katoomba, NSW
$15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
The Carrington Hotel 0247821111

Sat 25th Oct
Manly Fisho’s
270 Pittwater Rd, Manly NSW
Ph: (02) 9977 4800 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.moshtix.com.au

Sunday 26th Oct
Brass Monkey
115a Cronulla St, Cronulla NSW
Ph: (02) 9544 3844 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.moshtix.com.au

Thursday 30th Oct
The Pub
173 Hardgreaves St, Bendigo VIC
Ph: (03) 5443 4079 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.moshtix.com.au and at the venue

Friday 31st Oct
The Karova Lounge
Cnr Field & Camp St, Ballarat VIC
Ph: (03) 5332 9122 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.boomtown.oztix.com.au,
New Generation clothing: 5333 2444 and at the
venue

Saturday 1st Nov
The Corner Hotel
57 Swan St, Richmond, VIC
Ph: (03) 9427 9198 $14 + Bf & $16 on the door
Tickets from www.cornerhotel.com
www.epicuretheband.com,
and at the venue (Mon – Sat 11am-8pm)

Sunday 2nd Nov
The Westernport Hotel
161 Marine Pde, San Remo VIC
Ph: (03) 5678 5205 $12 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com, and at
the venue

Mon 3rd Nov (Cup Eve)
Barwon Heads Hotel
1 Bridge Rd, Barwon Heads VIC
Ph: (03) 5254 2201 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com, and at
the venue

Thursday 6th Nov
The Sandbar
45 Langtree Ave, Mildura VIC
Ph: (03) 5021 2181 $10 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com, and at
the venue

Friday 7th Nov
Adelaide Uni Bar
Union Bld, Kintore Ave, Adelaide University SA
Ph: (08) 8303 6126 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com, and at
the venue

Friday 14th Nov
Torquay Hotel
36 Bell St, Torquay VIC
Ph: (03) 5261 2001 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
and @ the venue

Saturday 15th Nov
Ruby’s Lounge
1648 Burwood Highway, Belgrave, VIC
Ph: (03) 9754 7445 $15 on the door
Tickets from www.epicuretheband.com,
www.rubyslounge.com.au and at the venue

Friday 21st November
Republic Bar
299 Elizabeth St, North Hobart, TAS
Ph: (03) 6234 6954 $12 + Bf & $15 on the door
Tickets www.epicuretheband.com,
www.moshtix.com.au and at the venue

Sat 22 November
Batman Fawkner
35-39 Cameron St, Launceston, TAS
Ph: (03) 6331 7222 18+ $12 + Bf & $15 on the
door
Tickets www.epicuretheband.com,
Mojo Music: (03) 6334 5677, and at the venue

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Bourby, my beloved viola player and part time university lecturer, asked me to submit a few things on touring. Here are a just a few of my responses which you might find useful!

What is the key factor behind a successful tour?

Well you have to have talent to start with. And then you have to be good live. That's two different things as well. Not point sounding great in a recording but putting on a crap live show. Set lists, rehearsals, conversation with the audience, there all part and parcel.

So on the planning side.

Plan it like it's a holiday! Touring can be extremely inspiring and a lot of fun, so make sure you plan ahead as much as possible so you can be in control, but also so you can manage costs.

1. Make a business plan or at very least an excel spreadsheet!
You have to plan ahead! By putting together an excel spreadsheet you can see a dashboard of all expenses and expected revenues. You can then tweak based on your goals. i.e do you want to make as much money as you can, or are you more interested in promoting your music to a wider audience with the hope you'll earn more money in subsequent tours once you have established your brand! Don't over exaggerate your revenues! We all get very excited before tours and think we'll make a killings. I'd say probably halve what you think and your pretty close!

2. Venue: How many does it hold, does it have a regular walk in audience, does it have a mailing list you can market to, is it fully spec'd out (great sound equipment).

3. Tickets: Can you sell tix through moshtix or heatseaker so that you can reach a wider audience. It's worth emailing them as well to see if they will put your gig in a prominent spot on the site (they'll do it if you ask nicely ; ) By the way it's very easy to set up, and costs you the artist nothing to sell tickets through an external outlet.

4. USP: what's unique about you and your band? Why should people to come to your gig above all other's? Can you do a sit down dinner show and pre sell tix inviting family friends who wouldn't normally attend gigs? Think about your true audience and then work out how to appeal to them!

Use your USP to send our press releases: Remember everyone wants Press, you have to do something a bit different to get the journalists attention. Don't go over the top though...the key thing to remember is, you have to make their job easier. That means giving them everything they need. Photo's, bio's etc in a nice neat pack. Send these out months in advance as it will take this long for them to print something!

5. Borrowing gear: Use your networks to find out if you can borrow gear so that you don't have to hire it! Everyone knows everyone eventually just ask around, and promise you'll look after it, and return the favour.

6. Support artists: FInd a local artist that has a following so that you can leverage their following to get people in the door. You of course can do the same for them when they tour your city.

What is the biggest "if only I had known before I would have done it differently" thing you can share?
Probably I'd try and play more shows. If you've gone to the expense of flying your band over you need to maximise the number of gigs you play. I did a lot of planning before my tour so there is not a lot I'd do differently. Probably relax more and have more fun!

Things like flights, accommodation and promotion cost money, but is there anything else that is a 'financial drain' they might not predict?
Borrow gear if you can! Hiring gear is expensive and difficult to transport to and from the gigs. The best thing you can do is hire a tarago or a van!

Labels: Blog, Learnings

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I've never been a massive fan of competition in music. I guess I've mostly stayed away from it because I never thought I was good enough. Having recorded my album and with great reviews from major publications I've gained a lot more confidence. It still doesn't mean everything in the music world unfortunately. You still have to promote and promote and promote and maybe one day the penny will drop, into your pocket and not out.

So I entered Music Oz Awards. I asked my mailing list to select their favourite song because I planned on entering one song. At $30 a song I thought that would be enough. I always knew that I never had a stand out favourite, but I assumed because I have lived with these songs for years that I'm biased anyway.

So the votes from my mailing list came back in and as I expected they were split across 5 songs. I guess that's great in that I'm consistent and appealing to a wide audience, but it sucks for my hip pocket because it meant I had to enter multiple songs. Given that the company I work for just announced massive job cuts and as I write this I'm listening to the darkening financial markets, I should probably be saving not spending. Ah stuff it right....I'm not really generation y or x so I might as well do what I like because I can't be pigeonholed.

At the end of the day, the judging panel are highly influential people and I thought, well at least, they can see the quantity of my work. (p.s the good news is that I have written some cracking new songs so I'm confident my second album will be better than this one).

So speaking of being pigeonholed the task was made even harder when I had to select a genre for each song. I narrowed it down to Pop, Acoustic/Songwriter. What the hell would I know. So in the end I submitted every song at least once (I left out Finding It Hard).

Song List:
Pop - Love Is A Fairytale
Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter - Write You Away
Pop - Write You Away
Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter - Simple Pleasures
Pop - Simple Pleasures
Pop - Last Day In London
Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter - Last Day in London
Rock - When Life Turns Grey
Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter - Who Am I To Decide
Rock - Sing Me A Song
Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter - Promise I Made
Acoustic/Singer-Songwriter - Love is Gone

Thanks heaps to everyone that sent me their vote. I'll be asking for you to go in and vote for me as part of the competition.

Gosh I hope I make the finals...that would be amazing. I'd love to go to a music shin dig and get really drunk and say obnoxious things to Lilley Allen. Seriously though the prizes and exposure does look fantastic so fingers crossed.

Labels: Blog, Dave's Music, Learnings

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With so much stupidity going on within the walls of myspace I wonder how the business model is going to survive long term. Sure they are making stacks from advertising however what advertiser would want to advertise to people who are to busy posting "hey I just posted new songs check them out" on everyone's profile?

Are they smart enough to be your target market? Maybe it's a prime marketing for Universities selling communications and leadership courses. Talk and listen, understand and respond. Show interest, be personal.

Oh and before I ramble on, please turn off auto song start, and stop stressing over hits and profile views. People are using tools to bump them up so they mean nothing. Conversations with people mean more than numbers.

Here's a few examples of the constant mind numbing experience that I have with myspace.

What you said: "Hey really like your stuff. I've just posted some new songs, come and check them out".

How you came across: "Hi, I listened to one second of your music, because I was too busy writing the same message on everyone's profile. If I had time I would of course, but if I really listened to everyone's music that I posted on, then it would be a full time job. I'm really here to get you to listen to me."

You said: "hey check out my friends profile they are awesome".

How you came across: "I'm a complete tool. I don't care about you, because I know everything about music. I don't. I'm just too lazy to listen and I thought if I posted this then you might come and listen and fall in love with the first second of my song, before I posted on your profile to say "hey really like your stuff, I've just posted some new songs."

What you said: "John Smith this Friday in Hungary Town Hall".

How you came across: "I have no idea of what city you are in, nor do I have time to find out. I'm just going blast this to everyone and hope that amongst the haystack, there is a needle that goes, wow...sounds good. I wish Myspace would give me more customisation, however I don't really have time to customise because I'm too busy writing...hey I've just posted a new song check it out to bother".

Labels: Blog, Commentary

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I was digging around reading some stuff for my day job on blogging for b2b etc, and stumbled across this pretty cool website Ustream.Tv which essentially takes all the hassle out of broadcasting a live webcast.

According to the website, it takes 2 minutes. Simply plug in your computer and the video camera and hoop la you have a live webcast. Apparently you can broadcast to your website as well...assuming my website holds up with the mass appeal.



So I'm super keen to try this out. I guess for a few reasons.

1) I doubt many other in Sydney have done this, aside from Missy Higgins and Telstra with there multi million dollar marketing budget. This puts me in a bit of niche which the press might pick up on. Could hopefully get some exposure.

2) Would be awesome to broadcast it back to my mates in the UK and Perth. I've got about 5 hours of footage from my tour sitting on my hard drive waiting to be edited and put out but you know I just don't have the time. Too busy living in the future.

So they only thing I have to work out now is does the venue have decent broadband. I'm going to assume no...better give them a buzz.

Has anyone you know tried this? Particularly in Australia with our super (joke) speed internet?

Labels: Blog, Commentary, Digital, Learnings

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Wouldn't it be awesome to reach the summit. To spend days upon days mastering your art, putting your heart on the line, and having people stand and cheer. Maybe I'm just growing a little too jaded or maybe I think in this digital age there is a work around for everything. What am I talking about? Triple J Unearthed of course!

I put my music up on the site quiet late in the piece was keen to see how it would grow. Build it and they would come I thought. Well for anyone who has read the book 'The Tipping Point' you'll know that you need a ground swell for things to tip exponentially. Oh who am I kidding...any high school graduate could tell you that.

Anyway I put my stuff up there and I'd painfully log in to see zero listens. How could people be so harsh I thought. Perhaps they haven't found me? Ok then. What if I streamed all day everyday. Surely I'd reach the summit right? Nope! Not event close. Ok what if I streamed all day every day, on 5 computers running two browsers all day, everyday for a week. What would happen then?

Well aside from my internet eventually being shapped...I reached number 30 in the charts. This suggest to me that the system isn't working off unique id's. It suggest to me that their are bands out there smarter than me working the system. Or there really are heaps of people listening to these unknown bedroom artists all day every day all over Australia.

Goes to show. You might think your a smart ass, but there is always a bigger smart ass out there!

Labels: Blog, Commentary, Learnings, Music Strategy

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I've been struggling recently trying to find good new music. I don't have the patience anymore to stand in JB Hifi scouring through all the crap that manages to gravitate to the front of the racks. Don't get me wrong JB and Fish are two of the best stores around and my regular haunt for purchasing new CD's, I guess my direction when I get there is just lost. I'm one of those people that has to go in with a plan. So I've been wondering what the plan is.

I turned to my Twitter buddies for some advice and lastfm was thrown back at me as the saviour to all my problems. Ok...maybe just this one. I had tried Lastfm a few times but couldn't manage to remember my login, couldn't recover it etc etc. You get that with a name like David Anderson.

Anyway I'm in now, and I have my CD uploaded. Although a heavy metal alter ego of Dave Anderson has his stuff on there as well. We share the same page. Virtually busking in the tunnel. It's up to the audience if I get top bill so please if your around 'love me' or 'add me' or 'play me' or whatever it is you have to do.

But this has got me wondering...how am I going to get paid? I guess it's not as bad as the radio stations who must be wondering, what am I going to do when internet streaming is commonplace in the hand and in the car?

Content has always been king, but the ownership of the content is owned by everyone, and no longer regulated. Royalties mean jack. These kids aren't going to buy music when it can be streamed for free. No wonder record companies are sh--ting bricks.

I guess this is why so much focus is back on the gigs. Better go practice.

Labels: Blog, Commentary, Learnings, Music Strategy

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I'm stumped. I've read the music industry is on it's knee's but the digital revolution will save us. Someone f%&ken tell the consumers then. When was the last time you bought a CD? Oh it's ok to share music because bands have enough money right?

Doesn't matter, you'll get a break. Myspace for instance that's awesome for being found isn't it? I've fallen into the 'quick better check how many hits I've had today'. Sure as hell didn't sell any CD's today, but mint I have 6 listeners.

Did you know you can also fake hits on myspace? Some idiots actually pay quite a lot of money for this. I had a crack with some free program and you know what happened. I had all these people wanting to be my friend.

You can actually tell who has fake hits on their site. Post a comment. Something really clever, and link it back to your normal website which shows your referer's. If their myspace doesn't show up, and they have 100 song listens a day then you can be pretty sure their aren't real people looking at their site. There's not real people on there anyway. Just other bands. Doing the same thing...trying to get their stats up...and around and around and around we go.

So how am I going to be heard when everyone is shouting "look at me, look at me". Give my CD away for free apparently. No one buys music these days anyway right. Apparently I'll make money touring. Really. Doesn't help when the last venue I played at hasn't paid me. We had about 100 people there that night. That's not bad, the venue was nearly full. Tickets were $10 and their were 9 musicians. Yep...I'll be able to retire in no time. I suppose if I played a few times a week and could charge $20 or more then I'd be ok. But where do I play? How do I get gigs when promoters only promote their own? It's a catch 22.

So if everyone gives away their music then the perceived value of what we are doing is devalued. And then their is just more noise. Myspace, youtube, facebook, lastfm, iphones, blogs...noise, noise, noise.

If anyone needs me I'll be lighting a campfire in my backyard, with a bottle of wine and some real friends. Better send a facebook invite.

This blog post was inspired by "Music Think Tank". He writes a hell of a lot better than me so go have a read.



I guess we are damned if we do and damned if we don't right.

Labels: Blog, Commentary, Learnings, Music Banter, Music Strategy

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 James Richmond says...
Many may cringe at the mention of developing a coprorate sponsorship promotional strategy.... however considering employing a promotional strategy whichs builds affilliation and sponsorship with products/services which have a good brand fit.. is surely the way the music industry will move, more and more so in. packaged commercial pop is certainly no stranger...but how about the indies??

Some ideas could be broadly leveraged from the hiphop community... like :


Run-DMC - "My Adidas"

Back in the day, of course, things were different. Run-DMC unintentionally started the trend of corporate sponsorship with "My Adidas," an ode to the rappers' favorite sneakers. Following the success of the song, Russell Simmons invited company executives from Adidas to attend a Run-DMC concert at Madison Square Garden in 1986. Simmons promised his brother, Reverend Run of Run-DMC, that they could get an endorsement deal if they took off their Adidas sneakers and held them up during the performance.

When the Adidas execs saw the crowd's enthusiastic reaction, they began to grasp the power of product placement in music. For the next four years, a sponsorship deal worth $1 million annually guaranteed that Run-DMC would never be seen without their Adidas. While Chuck D and KRS-One believed in the revolutionary political power of hip-hop, Simmons viewed the movement in terms of marketing. "The hip-hop community is the biggest brand-building community in the world," he said.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008 8:14:00 PM