we don't actually have much to show yet. We have a good live set, yes. But we haven't finished the album, or made any merchandise or a website, even. This sort of left me stifled without really knowing what to do next. Should I just wait for us to finish the album before throwing our name out everywhere? Should I do it anyways to hype the album up? Or is there something better I could be doing? I feel conflicted!
A few thoughts:
You might consider getting a more distinct
look that is memorable so that when people see you, be it in print or on stage, they recognize you. It doesn't have to be Kiss, but for example if your guitarist always wears a white button up shirt and your drummer always wears a fez, that's more likely to get you remembered than if you wear different things at every performance.
Get some sexy business cards with contact information and links to places people can find out more about you. Have some t-shirts printed. Finish your album. Once you have that, bring a stack of CDs and t-shirts to sell whenever you play. Don't expect to be able to heavily market yourself at every event. If you play at a wedding, people are not going to want you soliciting guests, but a discrete table next to the stage with CDs and t-shirts might be ok. If you play at a state fair or a local botique, selling your things is more expected.
Remember that "making it big" through a national distributor isn't the only option. There are likely to be far more opportunities at small, local venues. Clubs, fairs, bars, weddings, etc. Contact a booking agent. Check your local craigslist for event gigs.
Take some videos of your performances. Then take down the videos on your youtube channel and put those up. "Here we are playing at Ryan's house" does not make you sound nearly as respectable as "here we are on stage at The Rocky." Even if "The Rocky" is just some local coffee shop you played at for free.
Websites are not as important as they used to be
Maybe, but websites are also very cheap. Their band name dot com is not taken. It's probably worth the ~$40/yr investment. If they're going to go to all the
other effort involved with promoting themselves, I see no reason to not get a website too.