As you read this, the telephone cables that crisscross our nation are buzzing with clandestine correspondence. Business-savvy men and women broker deals that will irrevocably shift the fortunes of a small cadre of bands, propelling them toward success that may well exceed their wildest expectations.
Many of these agreements begin modestly, over drinks at a nondescript bar in AnyTown, USA. At first the participants might have little idea what kind of impact these negotiations will have on their lives; with experience, however, they become big-time movers and shakers.
Who are these shadowy deal makers that alter the fate of ambitious musicians? A&R reps or record producers, perhaps? Gangsters? Nope. They're musicians like you who've discovered gig trading, the fast track to building a fan base.
PAYOFF FOR A TRADE-OFF
In theory, gig trading (also called gig sharing or gig swapping) is simple. Your band hosts an out-of-town group at a venue in your hometown, and the other band returns the favor. While the process can get a little complicated, the payoff can be tremendous for those who do it right.
When the Ohio-based band Agatha Crawl began gig trading, they were a small-time Cleveland-area project that pulled in 20 fans on their best night. Now, less than two years later, they've signed a multi-album contract with Gotham Records and sold thousands of CDs all over the eastern United States, and they can pack a club with 350 fans without breaking a sweat. According to Craig Post, Agatha Crawl's guitarist and manager, gig trading has been instrumental to the band's growth.
“Being a big draw in your hometown is great, but if you don't spread out, you'll just die there,” says Post. “And when a label comes to you, the first thing they want to know is how many of your albums they can sell immediately. You have to get out to other cities and find the fans. Gig trading is the way.”
COMPATIBILITY ISSUES
Post is so accomplished at the fine art of gig trading that I sought him out to learn how others might replicate his success. He suggests beginning by searching on the Internet for compatible artists.
“I started by just looking for good bands,” he says. “I'd find something [online] and think, ‘Hey, this sounds kick-ass. And these guys aren't signed. They're in the same boat we are, just looking for a bigger fan base.’ So I'd drop an e-mail and say, ‘This is Craig from Agatha Crawl in Cleveland. We really like your stuff, and we'd like to hook up some gigs.’”
Although many Web sites that feature independent music allow you to sort artists by geographical region, Post prefers to look for music first, location later. The more consistent the music, the more likely each band will walk away with some new fans. Failing to adequately match the music can be a costly mistake, especially for a band on a budget.
“If there's one thing I've learned, it's listen to more than one song,” says Post. “In the beginning, we got stuck on a lot of bills that we shouldn't have been on. Maybe I would listen to one song from the band, but it turned out when we got there that they only had one song like that. Suddenly, they're a death-metal band.”
After contacting a potential partner, Post follows up with telephone conversations to get more details. When speaking to prospective bands about their musical style, he has found that standard genre descriptions are dangerously unreliable.
“The whole genre thing sucks,” says Post. “We've actually had people classify us as a metal band and set us up with trades. We get all the way out there and end up on a bill with four bands that are screaming death metal. That's okay — we can kick back and love it — but that's not a good trade. All the [genre] words mean something different to everybody.”
To deal with this confusion, Post has developed a simple but effective solution. “Instead of asking about their music style, ask what other bands their fans like. That immediately tunes you in to the mind-set. Just because they are influenced by Tool doesn't mean they sound like that. The fans will know.”
Post also recommends visiting a prospective band's online message board, because fans will often reference favorite national acts in posts. “If you see a lot of mentions of Slipknot or whatever, then you have a feel for the music of the band you're looking at.”
SIZE MATTERS
Another critical consideration when shopping for potential trading partners is the size of your current fan base. That determines not only which bands you can trade with, but also how far away you should be looking.
“Gig trading with bands that are far away only works if you have a large draw at home and vice versa,” says Post. “Nobody wants to drive four hours to play to 20 people. When I first started, we pulled only 20 people, so I looked for nearby bands that were on the same level. As our crowd grew to 50, we'd step up and expand a little bit. Now we're up over 300 at each show.”
By guaranteeing visiting bands a large crowd in Cleveland, Agatha Crawl has been able to trade as far as Detroit, Chicago, and New York, as well as cities in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
As Post warns, there is the constant danger of being swindled, especially for bands inexperienced with gig trading. Not all bands are what they seem. “You're going to have to take some bumps and bruises,” he says. “There was a show early on that we promoted like crazy, and we figured we could get 100 people in the door. I used it to trade with a band that guaranteed over 150 people, anytime, anywhere. Well, we did the trade, and at their gig we ended up playing to literally 13 people.”
FIND A MATCH
Bands should research potential partners as thoroughly as possible. Investigate their Web sites; evaluate their show schedules; speak with them extensively to get a feel for their character. Ask any friends or family living in the same town as a band you are thinking of working with if they know anything about the group. The occasional diamond in the rough will make it all pay off.
“I have a band that I'm working with right now out in Virginia, and they're supporting the hell out of us,” beams Post. “They're burning our CD and distributing copies to their fans at shows. We're doing the same. You go to their message board, and they're talking about us. You go to our message board, and we're talking about them. They have the same goal in mind as we do. They realize the benefits.”
That like-minded band is Dusk. The two bands first met on a rainy Saturday night at a little dive in Virginia. Joe Farkas, Dusk's manager, tells the tale: “We never knew anything about them. It was all screwed up because too many bands were booked and the coordinator was off in Florida. Then Agatha Crawl showed up all the way from Cleveland, and they weren't even on the printed bill. Even though we didn't know anything about them, we decided that if they drove all the way from Cleveland, we had to give them some time on stage.” That simple gesture forged a relationship that has won both bands countless fans in their respective cities. It's almost become a contest to see who can help the other more.
“Now we've started wearing each other's T-shirts on stage,” says Farkas. “The girls that follow Dusk see the Agatha Crawl T-shirt, and suddenly they're asking all about Agatha Crawl. So I think that's helping them out.”
SPREADING THE WEALTH
This particular good vibe isn't limited to just two bands. Over the past year, Agatha Crawl has built a network of reliable artists across a six-state area. The integrity and altruism of each has created a web of trust, so that now a personal reference from any of them is honored throughout the group.
“Craig [Post] put us in touch with a band from Columbus called Thumpfluid,” says Farkas. “We've never met these guys, but Craig said we'd be compatible. His word is good, so it's pretty much a done deal.”
Thumpfluid, as it turns out, was gig trading before they met Agatha Crawl. Although they have thus far concentrated their efforts inside Ohio, the band consistently draws several hundred fans to each show, several times each month. Using methods similar to those of Agatha Crawl, they are now targeting bands in Michigan and in other neighboring states. According to guitarist Glenn Montis, “the Internet has been indispensable” for locating trading partners.
As Agatha Crawl's network grows to intersect with similar communities in other parts of the country, the geographical reach for everyone involved expands.
“Craig's from Cleveland, so he knows the cities around him and the reputable bands in that area,” explains Farkas. “On the other hand, he can rely on me for information on Virginia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. When you get one person from an area, you can work with them to get into the entire region.” Following Agatha Crawl's example, Dusk has rapidly expanded to Ohio, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York. Texas is in the works.
The network not only helps find new partners for each band but also protects the members from scams. “It only takes one e-mail from somebody in the circle who had a bad experience with a band,” says Post. “They'll say, ‘Hey, was this band jerking me around or did they have a bad night?’ And maybe somebody from Idaho will [have had] a similar bad experience with them … and that's pretty much it for that band. They obviously don't have anything to offer.”
The information exchange isn't limited to opinions on prospective trades. Farkas recommends tapping your partners in other cities for everything from the best local hotels to “whether or not we can get a free meal from the bar.”
CIRCLE OF BANDS
By parlaying their integrity and motivation into obtaining paying gigs and thousands of fans, Agatha Crawl has nearly realized every musician's dream of playing music full time.
“This month we'll be up to 15 gigs, and it looks like we'll stay at least that busy from here on out. One of us doesn't work, I spend almost all my days promoting the band, one of us is leaving his day job, and the other is trying to go part time.”
Can any band do this? Absolutely, according to Post. His closing advice: “Expect some asses. Be ready for them and weed them out. When you do find some good guys, stay in contact with them. There are plenty of them out there. Jump in a circle. Start your own circle. You never know where you're going to make some hookups.”
