I’m going to postpone my chatter about the state of the music business for another time and focus in on our first case study. I like this case study – it’s probably the tenth or so that I have done and they are a great learning experience for all of us. If at any point during the next 3,000 words it seems like I’m having a go at this band, I want to assure you that I absolutely am not. I have nothing but respect for anyone who is doing this and is prepared to detail all of the elements of their band life for dissection and analysis by a smart mouth fuck-o like myself. It’s awesome that the band is allowing me to share all of this with you. For all of you who resisted sending in an overview of your band for a case study, note that there is a nice surprise for the band at the end of this.

SG Case Study #1 – Pegasus Unicorn, Erie PA. April 5th 2007

Email from Matt Shimek of Pegasus Unicorn
Our band name is Pegasus Unicorn, named by our lead guitarist’s then seven year old daughter. We are based in Erie, PA, directly on Lake Erie which means that we are about 100 to 150 miles from Buffalo, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. We have a good rapport with both Pittsburgh and Buffalo with a good fan base. But Cleveland, ehhh… We got screwed around by a couple of promoters there. Then a couple of shows that were booked had to be cancelled due to family matters. We completed our first tour last August which consisted of Baltimore, Philly, Kutztown(PA), Ithaca(The Haunt), NYNY (The Continental), Philly again (The Fire), and then Pittsburgh (The Brillo Box). We made all our bookings, a lot of good friends, and connections. Quite a few of the people we met on the road swapped shows with us. Most of the ones that we bring in ask us to come to their towns to play after only playing with them once (like a bunch from the Buffalo area). We book all our own shows and manage ourselves. Which, brings up the question: is it worth getting a publicist? We have been a band for about two and a half years. All of us are the best of friends. And we all bring a lot to the group. In response to your question about conquering our area, I believe, and other people and local writers believe, that we are one of the best original, up and coming acts in the area. We have about 250-300 fans locally in the area. There are a limited amount of venues with substantial size. Our last album really got a lot of press locally, but we haven't seen that much in the form of national recognition.

Now in answer to your questions.
Vehicle: We don't have a van yet. So for out of town shows, we take two vehicles. I know that isn't very economical, but we need to get out of town and expand. Most of the money we have saved goes toward the mastering and pressing of our albums.

Merchandise: We have two full length albums and, at one time, an EP which was recorded by us at home with screen printed cover. We made about 150 of them and they sold out quickly. Every now and then someone will throw out a comp CD with a song or so from us, but that hasn't happened in a while. We have had about six different shirt designs total. Currently, we have two at the table. We try to find the best deals possible. Often for shows, we will have silk screened posters to sell or hand out which is unheard of around here. Most of the time, the printmakers do it for free out of their fondness for us. I will have to admit, most of them are pretty good. With this, we not only have kick-ass posters that make everyone green with envy; but, also help support local art by promoting the printers and their designs. Occasionally, we will have pins to hand out. We had one video made for us, also by our kindhearted followers. And, a few more offers from a couple different people, but that is still in the works. Hopefully, after the release of our next disc sometime mid-summer, we will begin on that project. One of our newest items are those rubber bracelets that usually say "W.W.J.D.", but ours are "W.W.PU.D.?" "What Would Pegasus Unicorn Do?” My response would probably be: drink some beers, write some killer tracks, and breed out of the fact we are pretty good at it so far.

Job Division:
There are probably a couple job positions in a band that we don't even know about and could be filled, but this is the breakdown.

Jason Lavery/Bass: This kid works the hardest out of any of us. He does the booking, the books, and the PR over the net. He definitely sees the band as a business. At times he gets pissed, but is a good sport. He is actually going to have a daughter at any moment (which brings his child count to three). This is the reason for our current hiatus from playing out for a bit.

Bob Jensen/Programming: Bob is a hard worker, also. He is currently obtaining a Master's in Metalsmithing from a local university which brings him into contact with a bunch of college kids. He wrangles up the local printmakers there to make us the three to seven color silk screened/litho prints for shows. He has brought a lot of attention to us through his contacts/friends at the university. But also because of quite a few write-ups about his art which in turn mention the band’s name. He is also partially responsible for recording and sound along with the honorary/unofficial member Andrew Todd. We record in our makeshift home studio which nets us our resulting sound. The only thing we pay for is mastering and printing.

Josiah Haughwout/Vocal,Mandolin,guitar: Josiah considers himself the Thinker of the band. He is, along with Jason, the ones who sell and socialize with the audience. He is well spoken. Since about the time we got back from tour, he is more of a do-er in the fashioning of our concept (i.e, creating all of the ideas for the last album cover).

John Yochim/Guitar: John is good with moving things from one place to another, with electronics, (being a gearhead), and with being the extra set of hands when needed. He is also the person who does the computer graphics work for albums, shirts, and so on.

And then, there is me Matt Shimek /Acoustic: I am responsible for getting us to where we need to go safely and on time…moving, packing, and watching over equipment and band members. Ja and I do most of the vital, necessary thinking. I am a grounding influence.

We have been known to be non-traditional in some respects making and playing music. One way is our writing styles and our DIY approach to things. The second way would be our live shows. In the past we have staged skits happening before, during, or after our set. One time we hid Josiah (the singer) in a trash can. And while we were asking where he was, one of the venue's staff and a good friend of ours rolled the trash can past the stage as if to take it outside and accidentally (wink wink) knocked it over. Jose rolled out of it with a bunch of spent Pabst Blue Ribbon cans, pretending to act as if he just woke up.

People were fully responsive to our "Instant Immortality Sweepstakes" promotion held at our last CD release. The contest was published in the city's entertainment section of the newspaper before so people were made aware of it. The premise was people would enter the sweepstakes through the purchase of the new disc. In turn, they received a ticket to be placed into a gumball machine. When we reached the middle of our set we paused for a couple of minutes to draw the name which is now the title of one of our new songs ("Mike something Lives") for the next disc. The title was to include the last name too. But we couldn't decipher it or remember it, so it just ended up being "something".

At our Christmas show I had constructed a furry "pink sock" with leather "PU" letters filled with goodies and rarities from the band: an extra silk screened EP cover, a jar of homemade canned peppers, a Pabst pounder, and a bag of peanuts. At the beginning of the set we promised it to the person who shook their tail feather the most, and had a good friend judge. It made a difference during the set. Another idea is to raffle off one of our props, our cherished, but very filthy, Pegasus Unicorn costume, which has been with us since the beginning. The idea would be to sell tickets to win it, of course letting the fan base know about the raffle before-hand. This idea is still in the works. For some reason, band members do not want to part with the diseased hide of a Unicorn it is. We will see.

I can't think anymore right now so let me know what I forgot. Thanks again for helping us. Let us know what we can do to help you in return. Still much respect!
Matt Shimek
Pegasus Unicorn
PS- I will be watching for the release of your book.

Case Study
There were a few things that were immediately obvious glancing through his email– lots of examples of the paper cuts that will add up and kill you. The problem is NEVER as easily identifiable as the guy from Texas Chainsaw Massacre coming at you with smoke coming out of the motor of his revving chainsaw….it’s all of these tiny annoying cuts (and pricks) that you don’t notice until you jump in the ocean and the salt gets in ‘em.

The physical location of the band is good – fairly centrally located in the eastern third of the country and closest to many major markets. It’s great to see they are swapping shows with other bands. That’s the best way to avoid those horrible shows at the wrong venue with the wrong band and two people in the audience. They book themselves and manage themselves – all great for a band starting to build up. I say this all of the time – your band and your music will be important to a few people, kind of important to others, and mildly important to some others – IT WILL NEVER BE MORE IMPORTANT TO ANYONE OTHER THAN YOU! So, taking responsibility for all of this is key. And, this answers their question about a publicist – the band should be taking care of this themselves or have a friend who wants to help do it – at least for now.

Location and frequency of shows
For a band that has existed for two and a half years I would have liked to have seen more shows. I understand that there are children involved etc., but the only reason to go to a city 150 miles away is to build an audience. The only way to build anything sustainable takes three to five visits in a 12 to 18-month period. I liken this process to generating smoke. The first show (hopefully) generates a vibe – like smoke – or because I am in a chilled mood right now, Nag Champa sweet smelling incense. Unless you do something to preserve that smoke, it will dissipate. So, the second show reinforces the first. It reminds the people who liked you why they liked you, allows them to bring their friends, and enables the buzz to spread to a few more people. So, the second show is like a jar to put the smoke in. It’s still going to mysteriously disappear from even an air tight container (how does that happen?), but this will increase the shelf life of your groovy-smoke-vibe. The third trip reinforces all of that and gets the journalist, the guy from the radio station, and the larger promoter to come out and see what the fuss is about. Your intimate knowledge of each different market increases and you finally get all of the tattoo shops/galleries/dj’s whoever/whatever cool like –minded people on your list and on your radar.

Press
The press response to their music and their live shows sounds great but it only has value if it is regurgitated (and added to as you travel around). Put good press like this (small edited quotes) on your poster. This is a reason to do smaller runs of posters - so that you can add to them as the vibe and quality of reviews gets better. If you are sitting with a stack of 2,000 posters then you probably got a great price on them per poster - but you cannot use the new quotes – so their value to you is less. The mention of their hope for national recognition makes me want to remind the band (and everyone) that this is something that will miraculously happen overnight – after four years or more of really hard work. The good news is that it isn’t some amazing singular event – it’s an accumulation of thousands of tiny events. The bad news is that you have to make all of these tiny events happen – YOU, nobody else but you! So, for P.U. (there’s a shirt) with new children popping out with greater frequency than new CDs – you have to stay realistic and set goals that you can shred within your current circumstances – as Sun Tzu would say “never take your country to war unless you are certain of the outcome,” especially when there are kids involved.
Let’s look at some specifics:

Transportation
This is a problem – another bucket full of paper cuts. Two vehicles are exactly the same as two grandparents - twice the gas. And with people forecasting $4/gallon sometime this year, you have to look at this as you start to gig out more. A 1,000 mile round trip to complete a few shows could cost $175 per vehicle (at 20mpg and $3.50/gallon) plus you double the chances of exploding tires, disintegrating transmissions, fried brains – everything! If the band is serious about increasing their audience base within a 250 mile radius it must extrapolate these numbers over 75 shows in one year. You can start to see what I am talking about (and am always talking about). These tiny insignificant things that no one wants to worry about (gas mileage, printing costs) – will eventually fuck you. I wondered if the metal sculpture guy in the band had a larger vehicle? Could the band collectively help him get a vehicle that would work for the band – and him? Just a thought, but something that needs to be addressed.

Merchandise
They have two full-length albums and an EP with a cool screen printed cover. They only made 150 of them (a good idea), but they sold out and they haven’t made more (a bad idea). They have many live recordings ranging in sound quality from crap to OK to great. I suggested putting one or two live discs together (with a screen printed sleeve) that they could manufacture in limited quantities easily and cheaply for their next set of dates. It’s important to have new things each time you return to a market. The most recent CD release party was very well attended and filmed in HD – get that put together too! It’s not just something to sell at the merch booth, it will provide an easy basis for more internet promotion with a link to the best clip.

They have six different shirt designs but right now only have two available. They should keep all of the shirts in stock and keep adding new ones. This changes the question you are asking from “Do you want this shirt?” to “Which one of these shirts would you like?” it is a VERY different question. I also noted that they don’t have any girly shirts – you HAVE to! And with so many band members having children, what about a baby ones-y? What about some work shirts?
Their screen printed posters are cool as all hell but they should keep them all in stock along with the bracelets and buttons.

Whoever is selling merch needs to keep an accurate record of the shirts and the sizes that are selling so that you can look back, learn, and forecast the quantities you might need for a ten-day run of dates based upon the past history. There are ways to make more money and generate more momentum – and there are ways to avoid wasting it – both are equally important.

I know none of this is easy. If it were, each of the 1.4 million bands on myspace would be a household name – but you gotta do it. Alongside the accumulation of paper cuts there is the accumulation that you want to see - things that sell and push you forwards.

Interlude
Ok, just a quick important interlude for any of you looking at this and thinking, “I don’t care about all of this money money money stuff. My life is about art and groovyness, I’m not listening to this anymore, I’m putting on my capitalism canceling headphones and zoning out.” None of this is about money. It’s about momentum and the ability for you to do the very most cool and important thing – make music, communicate with people, and keeping it going. It all needs money. The vehicle (literally and figuratively) needs fuel. An example I use in the book is the studio. You can tell me that your music is the most important thing in the world to you, but unless you have a few hundred dollars in your pocket, you’re not going to be able to remix the track that just doesn’t work on your new album. You’re not going to be able to add bells, backing vocals, or sitar to your favorite song; you’re not going to be able to re-record the out of tune vocals or master that track so it slams on my 3/4” laptop speakers …..So, my response really is: fuck the fuck off and get real….The art vs. business thing was old ten years ago and is just a lame ass smoke screen, OK?

Cool, back to the case study:
I liked the idea of job divisions within the band – that’s a great way to work this. It’s not one person, it’s a team. In addition to the division of labor, one task should be on everyone’s list: meet the audience and every single person you can in a venue, socialize, talk, listen, smile (unless you are from the UK). For some people I know that’s difficult but this business and life in general is all about doing the things that are difficult. So, get better at it and develop your skill set.

Expand, grow, improve…..destroy!

The band has a great spread of skills (mainly focused on the creative). Their “Instant Immortality Sweepstakes.” just made it into my “42 Strategies for a More Successful Show” chapter . It proves that something doesn’t have to cost a fortune to be priceless.

Here are some more suggestions along with a re-cap:
Do more shows without overplaying your local market (a common mistake).
Keep all of your CD’s and shirts in stock.
Add more items to your merch and CD selection
Use ONE vehicle.
One of my students, Vic Wagner, suggested this: Do a cross promotion with Bob Jensen’s Metalsmith Magazine.

On my wish list for the band would be: Take responsibility for all of the silk screening of merchandise yourselves, enabling more designs in fewer numbers and greater range of sizes and options (girly shirts, work shirts, bags, more cool limited edition silk screened EP’s etc.).

In general there is a great mix of energies within the band, with just a couple of easy-to-fix elements. The band said they have a limited budget for shirts, posters etc. because of mastering charges for the next album. I’m going to offer the services of my studio and engineer here to master their album for free. I’m also going to send them a copy of my book – along with editing and mastering an additional live CD for them of which I’ll also manufacture 250 copies for them– on the condition that they put that saved money into the much needed merchandise and keep me (and all of us) informed of the progress and differences these strategies make.

DEAL?

Newsflashes:
I’m heading out on the road soon – e mail me if you want me to come to your town and sit with your band or a few bands and riff some live studies for you. I want to find out how smelly and stained that couch in your rehearsal room is!

Chicago SG – give me a shout out! You just missed a big party at Sonotheque.

I just learned about The Red Bull Music Academy – a totally free two week experience I’m still waiting for the piano to drop on my head – let me know what you think.

Peace, Love, Respect

MarteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeN