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[Stealtharcadia]

Wasn't sure if this would be better suited for Creative Projects or not, but I figured I was looking for advice more than anything.

I've posted about my band before, we're a four-piece instrumental band and we've played a lot of public venues and even more house parties (house parties have had the biggest turnout by far). Recently, we got a spot on a local television program and it all went really well (except maybe the interview). This resulted in really the first high quality video footage of us playing live. We also recorded a demo last spring. While it's not quite representative of what we sound like now, I don't think it sounds bad. One song off of it actually got used in a benefit album to raise money for tornado victims and you can find it on iTunes and Spotify. Currently, we're almost done tracking a full album, although it may take time because studio work is expensive.

Now all of this has me excited I guess, as I'm writing this and I've been feeling restless for the past couple of days. I really want to promote the band as much as possible. I'm spending a lot of idle time thinking about what else I could do. I want to post about the band as many places as possible, contact record labels, try to find big shows to play, get a lot of followers on our facebook page and YouTube and such.

But I realized 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!

Also, here's some band stuff:

Facebook page: www.facebook.com/bearatroopin

Bandcamp: www.bearatroopers.bandcamp.com

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/BearatroopersBand?feature=watch

Us on TV: http://www.ksbitv.com/story/bearatroopers-pt1-20140123

http://www.ksbitv.com/story/bearatroopers-pt2-20140123

[XXSockXX]

If you have something to send to a label, do it. Don't be disappointed if they turn you down, it's all about making connections and getting noticed.
Play live as often as you can, not only regionally, being known as a great live band is the best promotion you can get.
Bandcamp, Facebook and Youtube seem to be enough for most bands these days, maybe something like BigCartel to sell stuff. Websites are not as important as they used to be, except if you have a strong visual concept you want to present.

[LordBucket]

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.