To break all of this down - the #1 reason bands fail is this: Poor Planning by not thinking of your band as a business. It's also the reason most regular businesses fail. Bands and musicians assume things will "just happen". Read the biographies of any successful band and you will find they had a plan. Then they had a manager who had a plan. Internal band member problems occur because the founding members chose new people for the wrong reasons. Personality is the #1 factor bands need to nail first - ability can come second. Some of the greatest bands in music history don't have the greatest musicians but the chemistry between members was there. That chemistry may change over time because of the pressures and spoils of fame but they got there because the initial chemistry was there. Luck is overrated. The people with plans MAKE their own luck. Luck is just another word for "opportunity meets preparation".
Kevin Richards Rock the Stage NYC and a plan for recording to save money in the studio and don't record anything until you have enough money to make a quality demo. Also get as many gigs as you can
Will Taylor Not really. A quality demo is an overrated myth. Many bands got signed or at least recognized by labels with very cheaply made demos. Before a band should even think about recording they need to have quality songs. Quality songs overcome any kind of quality in a demo. It's the songs not the sound of the demo. Gigs are fine - but is the band rehearsed? Did they plan out their set list? what will the say between songs? do they engage the audience or just stand there? It's not about quantity but quality when it comes to live gigs.
Kevin Richards Rock the Stage NYC Yes, I forgot to mention quality of the songs i completley agree, but because so many more people have available recording software and recording is getting cheaper, there are more bands recording stuff because it is easier and therefore, there are more bands to "compete" with, therefore you should make sure your band have a quality recording as well as good songs of course to give them an edge . and also maybe not as important with demos, but with albums, a lot more bands seem to be recording crap audio quality albums because of the easy availablilty of software and this is bad as it is often what they get judged on. and i also agree with you on the preperation for gigs ( I suppose my reply was a bit short Lol). I still think getting as many gigs as you can is good not on a business side perhaps, but to me as a musician, i would say more live performances make you a better musician and therefore makes your band better as musicians and performers. but it is important to have good image as well as good stage persona and crowd interaction, otherwise there is not much point in having loads of gigs.
Will Taylor - Agreed, Once you have "the show" rehearsed and ready and you have a "game plan" for gigs, then try to book as many as you can to get "stage legs". Nothing gels a band more than playing live, because its all one take and pressure is on. But you gotta have a freaking plan. If you're trying to sell a download album, then yes quality matters. But more than quality, the songs have to be there. A great song will shine through a crappy recording. Listen to Metallica's earliest demos. Junk quality. But the songs and the band personality were there. That's what's important.
+Kevin Richards Rock the Stage NYC I agree with a lot of what you said. I think song writing is very important. No matter what you have to be able to write good songs. I think too many bands these days are too worried about being "heavy" than actually writing a good hook, or chorus. You can be extremely heavy and still write good songs, bands seem to forget that. A good chorus in a song is everything. Also you have to have someone in the band with a good business mind. Metallica had Lars, Iron Maiden had Steve Harris. Steve Harris had a vision with Iron Maiden right from day one. Every cent they made in the early years was re-invested back into making the show better. In the formative years of a band your live show is really important. You want to have people tell their friends they need to see you live. You need to gain a fallowing. A lot of bands have been signed simply from studio guys witnessing an audience's reaction to a band live, whether the studio reps like the music or not. You have to be a great live band. I think a lot of underground bands fail because they don't pick the right band name. Branding is important. I believe the easier you make your bands name to remember the better. Some bands names are over long, and can be so negative that although they draw attention to you, they also may limit your fan base. The biggest metal bands in history had easy to remember names eg. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Megadeth, Black Sabbath. Keep your name simple, catchy, easy to remember and easy to read. I can't read half of the Black Metal/ Death Metal logos out there(and I love Black Metal and Death Metal). I would avoid names that are too negative. Know your audience, and have a vision.
EGO. Bad singers. Bad drummers. Bad players. Bad image/marketing (including none) Bad timing. Bad songs or lack or originality. Fear of success. Impatience. Bad luck. Bad work ethic. Wrong city/area.
I remember the first time I played with my "band" in front of a reasonable group... 6th or 7th grade, in the school auditorium with a bassist and a "singer." We went up on stage after the teacher said that they were having a special event. The bassist and I had practiced a ton on this 3 riff song, but the "singer" decided that he would improvise the lyrics on stage. We tried to convince him to come to the practices but he never came. When we got on stage we started playing and the singer looked at us like we were crazy, he started mumbling into the mic... It was the most embarassing thing that has ever happened to me. In front of the whole school playing a shitty song with a dumbass who couldn't get over himself. Hahahaha
Ziltoid TheOmniscient No, he wanted to have another guitarist in the band. So he let a guy in without asking me. They both left me because the guitarist convinced the bassist that I was some kind of evil. ...
Owen Wright Not when the second guitarist has a serious problem with the band's founder. The problem wasn't that he was the second guitarist, the problem was that he hated me.
Coverkiller has great points, but the biggest reason as to why allot of bands fail is plain and simply lack of CREATIVITY/ INNOVATION, too many bands sound the same, whenever one band makes it big there are at least 10000 that follow that tries to jump on their bandwagon. Seriously how many BMTH/ PWD clones do you have in your local scene ? I have far to many too count. Also you made an interesting point towards the end of the video, in which I think you could have elaborated "TALENT" the toughest pill to swallow is that many of our local bands, wether they're friends of ours or not...simply just aren't that good, I can name far more shitty bands than I can name good ones, and that's mainly due to local bands.
Exactly. It's not even just the BMTH/PWD clones, but also other bands in more traditional metal genres like thrash, doom, death, black metal etc. that also fall victim to this. Instead of merely trying to emulate the sound of another band/subgenre, there should be more artists trying to form a more unique sound. If you sound like a shitty copy of something else, I have no reason to listen to you, but if you do something unique, then I'll be a lot more likely to remember you because you'll have something to offer me than I can't get anywhere else. When you think about it, that's why pretty much every legendary band is still remembered today--because they tried something different.
Pop pisses me off so much, nowadays anyone can get famous in pop but I have to work my ass off to even get someone to consider hearing my band or my solo work
Wow, this is exactly what needs to be said. I ponder on the music business a lot and I've always wanted to start a band. But there's more to it then just a dream. I can't believe how insightful and real this is, thanks!
I just released my first EP on bandcamp & soundcloud yesterday. It's going to be free to download until next Friday. It is a pain to get noticed, no matter what genre. I live around Grand Rapids, Michigan & only one local metal band gets promoted, that being Wayland, the hiphop scene is slowly picking up steam. Great video like always.
A great example is this: In my area, there have been a lot of bands that have followed the grapevine products like metalcore/deathcore/etc. Twice throughout the past decade have I latched on to bands for being different. One was more thrash oriented, but with modern feel, and the other had a black metal feel with non-growling vocals (and a revolving door of members.) Both had good sound (the second band had a drum kit that reminded me of late-era Death, I could hear the percussion lines of To Forgive is to Suffer or Scavenger of Human Sorrow in literally every song they did, without them covering the tunes or even REFERENCING Death at all, it was the first thought that clicked with me about them) but neither of them were the signed act. Instead, it went to a nu-metal style band with a horrid fanbase and attitude that they were the biggest band on Earth. They never released anything. Nothing. Period. Thats what I mean about being different. Each trend-following band that's gotten "signed" over here has never recorded anything meaningful. No demos that i've seen, only choice songs here and there. I'd love to be able to hand things out for folks, but there's nothing. Its depressing.
Go get laid Dude!!!!!! Lol. Let me ask you something......Besides the Skin Flute have you ever played an Instrument with any talent??? Fuckin Idiot!!!!!!
Kristie, you clearly haven't contributed anything to society, if you're they type of person to insult someone based on their sex life. All you've done is proved that you are an incompetent moron.
+Kristie James Why would you attack someone for sharing their views &/or experiences, & who is trying to promote intellectual discussions on topics that interest him? If you have a different perspective then why don't you articulate your opinion rather than devolve into a schoolyard bully, name calling & belittling those who have different viewpoints? Are you insecure in your abilities to intellectualize your argument & make valid points, & so instead it's easier for you to be condescending to those of a different mindset? Or do you just judge people & pick them out to try & feel better about yourself? I'm asking bcuz I don't know you & what little I do know of him is that he is interested in music, all aspects of it, & he is interested in creating a forum for intellectual discussions about his interests, which is what the comment section is for BTW, to share ideas & opinions, not to play schoolyard bully & pick on people you've never met. We have the technology to talk to ppl 10,000 miles away & learn about others' cultures & mindsets, but ppl like you use it to spread hate instead...amazing! As if the concept of someone thinking differently from you is completely unacceptable. In his videos he's sharing his opinions & you can easily make your own videos & do the same. Opinion is not fact & everyone comes to their own conclusions on matters. At least he's trying to create a forum for discussion! You're just spreading hate! You don't even make an opinion about the subject of local bands or present any points for discussion. He does play instruments, as do I, & as do a majority of others who watch his videos. If you don't like the videos then don't watch them & stick with what you do like, it's that easy! If everyone just ignored what they didn't like or had no interest in there'd be a lot less hate & therefore less drama, meaning more time to rock out rather than worrying about what everyone else is doing & picking on them for not being like you (in the general sense). He's doing what he likes, pursuing his interests. Are you?
+coverkillernation well metal core is popular right now many metal bands are not revivalist. when comes to pop punk. the bands make it because there lack of it on radio. metal core band make there music because they want money.
+coverkillernation Yup!! Our scene in Indianapolis is supersaturated with cover bands and whatever is trendy this week. We are struggling to get our music heard as we play original music that is very not trendy. Loved this video. If your looking for something different to review : check us out here actofconfusion.bandcamp.com/
Reading these comments has shown me that my area isn't unique in its lacking of creativity, which is a shame. I should add (in non-video form, which, hey, you plan these things then think of others later) that creativity doesn't always come from the first band you're in, and its difficult to really be forward thinking without playing around with a lot of different sounds with your bandmates. I think most local acts veer toward the buzzworthy genres because they think that'll drive their initial fanbase, and give them a better chance at getting further on their musical journey. As a fan, to me, it makes the marginally decent doom, death, black, prog or thrash band look all the more appealing, and I want to talk with them more, and give them constructive critique. Maybe their vocals need a little polish (moreso with hitting their marks and having it work with the music, instead of forcing unnatural notes which sour the composition,) maybe the guitarwork is a bit sloppy and just needs some more tailoring (a fix with experience and dedication) or maybe the compositions just need a bit more to em, to remove a generic feel. But right away, for being DIFFERENT than the others, they are noticeable to me. This isn't to say that a metalcore/deathcore band cannot ever impress me, however, it WOULD take a lot more for these groups based on the frequency that are out there. Its easier to shine when you're one of a few stars in the sky, as opposed to when you're surrounded by others like you.
"it WOULD take a lot more for these groups based on the frequency that are out there." But that's the biggest gripe I have with Metalcore/Deathcore, for lack of a better term, Metalcore/Deathcore is such a ...."derivative" of Metal as a field, that I don't really see the sub genre going anywhere beyond where it is now without being considered something entirely different. In other words I feel Metalcore/Deathcore as a sub genre has been totally played out this is partially due to every single low tier band trying to ass ream BTH, PWD, Asking Alex. You say you enjoy Prog/ Black/ Doom ? I do too, the reason being is because those genres have plenty of room to move around whilst still maintaining the basic structure of what they established, Metalcore/ Deathcore placed itself in a box far to quickly, that's not to say I can't enjoy it, when i'm in a stupid ignorant mood I'll listen to it, but like you said it's gonna take something really special to impress me, but considering how stagnant the sub-genre has been for almost a decade I can't see that happening any time soon.
Very interesting, and enlightening, points...I would like to add that some bands get used to playing in front of the same crowds regularly (usually their friends/followers) and yet when they travel outside of the "local scene" to another City or State, they find that they aren't cheered as much or may discover that they need to work on their material a bit more...Sometimes "the road" is a great teacher...
Thank you very much for making this video sir! I am the guitarist in a New York progressive pop-punk band (think Coheed & Cambria) called Gardens of Acadia. Watching this video doesn't discourage me at all and I hope it doesn't discourage the rest of the guys when I show them this video. If anything, it serves as motivation. When you're young, you have these big dreams. When you wise up a little, you have to ask yourself if you want to take on the real challenge, which is what we're doing right now.
Excellent advice for ANYONE of just about ANY GENRE of music when starting out. Work hard. Work smart. Stay Focused. I've been an active musician since the late 1970's and I've been fortunate enough to play around the country and in other countries by doing EXACTLY what you are talking about...plus with a little luck/timing here and there. As far as "Metal Scenes" and such are concerned, I have no clue. I've played just about every genre of music but not metal (I dunno if hard rock in the 70's counts) but do listen to, have dear friends in the metal world and respect the genre. But your post is more encompassing than mere labels and categories. I guess my point here is; What you are saying is an absolute cold fact about the music business, in general. Yes, kids. I love music (it's why I do it) BUT it is a BUSINESS and you, my friend have nailed this subject square on it's head. The record industry has changed and is almost gone. You perfectly pointed out the crappy foisting of contest "talent shows" that have weakened the music world even more. I was telling someone who's name I shant drop here the other night during a break from recording (I do mostly studio work now). The conversation came up. "What was your favorite gig?" When it came to me I thought about it and replied," A living room party I played with my band in high school. THAT was an amazing night." Everyone sort of looked at me, then the floor, then back up at me and the 'famous musician' said, "That's when it's the purest." Thanks for you post.
Love the video, and I agree 100%. You made a lot of points that I already know, but were able to eloquently put it to words better than I could. My most recent band, which is in limbo right now as our drummer left us for another band which is doing amazingly well and going on tours (we don't hate him for it. He was the youngest of all of us and actually has a shot at a career if he keeps his head on on straight, and we are proud to have provided a stepping stone for him to move on to bigger and better things) we knew we weren't going to make it big. We did cut an album and had the opportunity to do a few pretty big shows, but we weren't pushing to hard make things happen. Two out of the four of us are married, and the lead singer has a family that he doesn't want to have to leave at home while he goes on tour so we always had the attitude of, "Lets just have as much fun as possible and whatever happens just roll with it." Now, there are a lot of awesome bands in my local area and the ones I see working hard at it might stand a chance. The rest of us are just having fun, and for some of the bands we are perfectly content just being local "rock stars". I liked what you said about the competitiveness amongst bands, and I do see some of that where I live. But for the most part, even though we are just doing local shows, having fun and not pushing for anything major we are lucky to have a strong sense of brotherhood in our scene. We all know each other, we like each others bands, and go to each others shows (I don't get to as often as I'd like because my 9-5 takes up most of my time) and we are fortunate to have this sense of connection with the other musicians and fans. Anyway, I've rambled long enough!
mann this really opened my eyes, im a intermediate guitar player and ive never been in a band but i really want to do something innovative not just be in a generic indie /alt / metal band , great video!
Generic Metalcore and Deathcore is all my local bands are. I would like to form an Experimental band or sorts. Sadly there's not many people around my area that share my tastes or ideals.
***** Why not go for a doom/thrash-influenced metalcore or hardcore band? That could make for a unique sound that could combat the over-saturation effect CKN talked about in the video.
Jason LovesPWD Absolutely. It's not really the genre that matters, it's whether or not you can make the music interesting. Fuck, you could play crunkcore and if you somehow make it sound good, I'd actually be interested.
Love this video!!! Thank you so much! I play in local bands up here in Canada. You've hit the nail on the board when you mention that everyone's being way too competitive against each other. I used to hang in a crowd where it was cliquey as hell, there was barely any welcoming kind of attitude. Got out of that crowd eventually, and I'm now happier with whom I hang with in the music scene. Yes, you can call them a bunch of hippies if you may, but damn, these folks know how to have a good time and how to support each other.
Well explained! And i have to add that this is the case not only in the US but in a lot of other countries with big cities and small towns. I agree with the fact that you have to treat your band as a product, and failure to do this is the reason that a lot of bands fail big time. I have seen it happen and have been a victim of it as well.
Coverkiller, you should do a review on lost society's second album coming out soon. Those guys are really young but kicking ass and bringing back what was good about bay area thrash.
The hardest part is actually getting 1 of every musician I think. If you a guitarist, a drummer and a bassist you're lucky. And I live in a music rich city that has given such talents as sting and maximo park. I feel bad for people who have trouble actually getting an actual band together the most.
I hate that. that's what I'm like right now in a 2 peace band 1 guitar player 1 vocal we play our own songs because I can play all instruments so we just use a backing track live with just drums bass guitar synth but it's quite weird playing to people live because some people are like wtf there's not even a drummer but yea we go crazy as fuck on stage when we can even get a show but we basically play to people who hate our kind of music because that's the only type of places to play where I live and I only have 1 other friend that likes this music and he is the guitar player you most probably don't even care what I just said idk I felt like telling someone :D
unfortunately I feel like drummers are the hardest to find haha. I'm in a two person music project right now and it is definitely a bit hard to play without a drummer But we've recorded some songs without one. check out my channel if you want. anyways really like watching ur videos thanks!
"...whatever rabbits cost." lol Anyways, great video CKN, I am slowly starting a band with my friends and this really helped confirm my ideas of scenes and band start-ups. I hope this video helps out others as well. I live about an hour away from Chicago and there's nothing here. So, Chicago is still all blues with several underground scenes, but nothing uniform though. Who knows where music will be in a few years. I hope more unique bands get recognized and I have seen that with some newer bands. We'll see.
I'm in the Bay Area, but the more local bands to me are usually core. I'm trying to get my DSBM and Dark Ambient projects off the ground, maybe fusing them, and adding in some clean vocals, something unique
You know, CKR, I've doubted you in the past for some of your opinions, mostly because you don't have that experience being a musician yourself, however I definitely agree with you on this one. I've grown up in an oil field so there has been plenty of money floating around, the amount of gear to skill ratio I have it ridiculous. I mean if I can make 4 grand working in a grocery store for a year while buying gear, food, bills other stupid shit, all to go 5 hours out of town to watch not only local metal shows, but bigger names like destruction, kataklysm, and behemoth next month. I am but a simple bass player, but I am a drummer who started as guitar player for 5 years, I have been playing death metal mixed with thrash metal, as well as a lot of our own sort of styled music, which I feel makes us very unique in our talents, but we need some work yet before we hit our targeted audience, because our writing process takes too long. I feel out music is very catchy and I think even if we were a band like heathen, we would still be extremely proud of what we accomplished, after all we're not out to make money, we are out to show the world what we have to offer, which is what I feel metal should be about these days.
Is this a coincidence? This is exactly what's been heavily on my mind lately, as I'm in the last year of my college (high-school for Americans) and I'm passionate and determined to be a professional musician. My style sits under progressive metal/rock and a fusion of a few others and I'm trying to develop a personal style that other people aren't playing. I'm not currently playing gigs but I will try to start next year. The careers department at my college talked to me about it last Friday and I really realise how much work it takes. Thanks for the video Coverkillernation :) If you have any more advice it would be much appreciated, thanks!
Coverkiller. Im a huge fan of your channel and have watched a shiiiiitload of your videos. Keep doing what your doing brother!! It puts a fucking tear in my eye to see a guy just like the rest of us metal heads, that isn't afraid to tell it like it is, holding the metal flag high as aces and giving the massive metalhead community somewhat of a voice!! (that was probably a horrid run-on sentence but oh well)
This is an honest and direct analysis. We’re experiencing the same in our scene. I agree that the only way to keep yourself going is to do it with passion and for yourself without expecting too much that others will like your music.
It's funny because even generic sounding bands get signed, or booked on tour, probably because of their marketing techniques; I suppose you can sound like whatever and still get opportunities based on audience count and business tactics
it's difficult as a musician. some expect big stuff from beginning bands,i agree on take your own take on a genre. don't reinvent the wheel. but as a musician,you are your own worst kritique. you have to know allot of stuff,at 1st you have to be your own soundguy and know what to do. in the beginning you don't and have to peek from other bands how to do it since there is no "how to basic" for bands. people might expect stuff but it's not easy to comfort these people with the little you have. the little you have should be the fun at 1st,it's not for the money and neither for the fame. it's mostly because you want to play with it beeing just a hobby in mind. and not everybody is equally as good or clean cut for music altought they want to succeed desperately. u.s.a is diffrent maybe,here in holland it's all about fun and playing it fair to survive. a good vibe and good attitude do help and you just can't always go jackpot. sometimes it's playing for booze or nothing or sometimes it's speccing the bank for a cd and such. beware labels tough,they can f... up a entire band with they're inputs and obligations.
From playing in gigging bands for 15+ years now, I honestly believe anyone in a band, or anyone considering joining a band, should watch this video. Lots of great information here. I'd also like to add, one big mistake a lot of bands make is not being prepared for gigs. If you don't have merch like shirts, cds, or anything that people actually walk away from the show with, nobody is going to remember the band--even if they enjoyed them live. It also helps generate money for the band. Another mistake is having cheap looking merch, especially cds. Nobody is going to take a demo on a CD-R with the band's name scribbled on with sharpie seriously. Gotta spend money to make money.
Lots of valid points raised in your video, Coverkiller. My experience as band member/manager/marketer is that It's easier than ever to get your music out there and released internationally, which in turn means all bands face greater global competition. Assuming the talent and originality side of things are at a high enough standard, the biggest battle is getting first contact with the right connections and being heard above the noise without having previously knowing the industry people you want to connect with. For example we've been receiving on the whole very favourable album reviews (granted, not every single one, but we're winning most reviewers over), but the biggest challenge has not been getting a GOOD review - it's been getting ANY review, getting in the review/radio play queue in the first place and just making it out of the huge spam bin. From the reviewer's/radio station's side, I understand the more incoming email/packages/links received, the harder it is to prioritise what to check out - especially when newcomers are up against the big league bands and their support networks. With my marketing hat on I know the best shot is to present your band in a unique way; invest time and money in promotion (something many bands aren't prepared to do) and target the right people repeatedly but in an engaging and relevant manner. We have a few ideas up our sleeves to get more recognition, because we know you can't just rely on putting an album out there and hoping for the best - if you've invested time in your product and you believe in it, you should invest what time and money you can in marketing it too. Whether that will be enough,to make an impact for Kill or Cure and our debut album, only time will tell, but it's going to be interesting finding out.
man your words are words of wisdom :) i am glad i found out this video and i think you really right .. as someone who now play his own project but was in a band you forgot to mention that alot of bands focus way too much sometimes on the logo and lil stuff before they even got songs this one reason is what most of bands in my local scene are coming and go even before you could hear something from them
I am very thankful for the effort of putting this video up. It really is a reality dose. I, myself strive to be as pragmatic as possible and you are spot-on with your feedback on every point. It opened my eyes at some parts which I did not think about when I started playing.
Bro.. watching this video has opened my eyes a lot more. I've been working hard for so many years. I feel as if it fails all the time. I've contemplated giving up this year.. But the show must go on and I need to work even harder.. and smarter.
Thank you for some advice coverkillernation. The Cincinnati and NKY scene is mostly difficult because of the huge influx of bands. I hope with your advice, that Downpour will improve,and be the sort of band that people (just like you and me) can enjoy.
My band is called written in gray, we're traditional heavy metal with nwobhm and thrash sounds. We've had our fair share of bad luck and good, nights we never wanted to end and some nights we were sleeping in the van downtown with equipment all around us. Point is don't let anything discourage you to push forward! And rock on mates \m/
I am doing something solo right now and am taking this totally to heart. I know this is mainly a metal/rock channel but I like to make lo-fi/folky/noise orientated music because that's what I love to do and have been pushing my promotion a lot. I am releasing a few EP's this year and I will give the bandcamp link later. I believe that music is something I want to do and if I stick with it people will like it, expiremental or not. But I know it might take a long time. Thank you this only strengthened my wanting to keep going and pushing myself forward. I hope we here can start a scene for the first time and weather similar or not in style or even same tastes we will help each other to success. Because right now, it's barren out here almost absolutely nothing left.
A progressive heavy metal band I knew split up a about 3 years ago because the band members were not dedicated to actually playing also the venues were not booking them to play. Sad really....
I agree with all of this. And thank you for pointing out that those marginal attendance increases from hours of walking and handing out flyers is in fact still a success. It doesn't always feel that, way and it's nice to hear someone reaffirming that those efforts are not a waste of time. One thing we try to do in our scene (nebraska/us) is to create a support network for touring bands of the same genres(as well as for each other). We know we don't have the population density for these low/mid level touring acts to make a lot of $$$ when they travel the midwest, but we try to make up for that with hospitality and a strong DIY scene that protects bands from pay to play promoters/theft/etc. Bands coming through the area might not make a lot here, but they are given our collective efforts to help them find resources like places to stay/eat or get maintenance on vehicles or equipment that hopefully makes playing our region a valuable tour stop. We get to make a lot of new friends and contacts when we get on the road, and our local music fans get a varied experience that to those who are not waiting to be told what to like by the radio, can hopefully find exciting and worthy of their entertainment $$$. I would almost argue that we need to see our entire scene as a product and not just our individual bands. We are all up against the largest conglomerate entertainment machine that has ever existed. Anyway, great video. I don't know how I stumbled into it but you've got a new subscriber!
Just wanted to say that I loved this video and luckily everything my band has done has followed this video. Just last Saturday our band hosted our own concert considering that we were "too unknown for local venues" I worked hard for my band by finding a place to play by using my old boyscout cabin. I advertised for three weeks like crazy using Facebook and handing out flyers. (Oh yeah also had two other bands with us.) Everyone's parents invited their local band friends and we invited anyone who wanted to come. I was super worried , not about performing but that their would be a small audience of family only. AMAZING ENOUGH OVER 50 PEOPLE SHOWED UP. Most people I had never seen before. Unsure of how the crowd would react to our oddly unique sound we were well prepared.( we practice once a week) the crowd got into our music from the first song all the way to the last. We had the audience sing parts of our songs (all originals) and the feedback was all positive even from the pickiest of music lovers there. We got offered to play at a large outdoor local rockfest and gladly accepted. We are hoping venues now will open their eyes and see our potential. By following all of these steps which we actually did before watching this video, you can and will move up in your local scene. (BTW where I live death metal is 90% of the bands, we however are hardcore/ alternative rock which is a nice change of pace. Check us out at Facebook.com.hearashearts
Speaking as someone whose preferred genres of metal is Groove, Alternative and Nu Metal (Don't ask) it does kinda depresses me that everyone I've met seems to only know about Deathcore or Death Metal or anything that's considered BROOTAL N HARDCORE YO. Even still I gotta say your advice in this video really did hit me like a brick wall whereas while I do have the passion for the music I play the talent aspect of Metal music eludes me or at playing it (I am a the shittiest Bass player I know) but what you said about hard work and keeping at it really hit home for me so I thank you for that man.
We are a local band from Brooklyn, NY. I agree with everything you say. You put it into perspective so well. I needed to hear this especially right now. Thanks man.
Dude. Yes. You have no idea how many times I have come close to uploading the same basic rant. I agree with an overwhelming majority of what you had to say. I wish I had the time to reply everything I want to say but I would have to quit my job and comment this thread all day. Hmmm....I just might have to make you a reply video to this one man......you have no idea how long I have struggled to make a similar video. It could easily alienate me and my band in my local scene. But some kiddos out there really need to see the bigger picture. Pay some dues. Too many chiefs, not enough indians. ROCK ON \m/
Truthfully, here in Iowa, a lot of Deathcore, Heavy metal, and Thrash metal bands are locally big for the local scenes, but when you think of Iowa you don't think of metal. I'm 15 and I 'death growl' and play lead guitar in a Death metal band with some of my friends. We're very Cannibal Corpse and Deicide and even Broken Hope inspired, but even though we're at a young age we try our hardest to get out there and get our music heard, but it's impossible to get out and play shows when you can't even find a drummer, which has been our problem since we started in late 2012 when I was only 13 years old.
But TH-cam is a great thing,I found so many badass slam death metal,progressive metal,rap,technical death metal,brutal death metal,melodic death metal,grindcore,deathcore,jazz,blues,classic,rock (and so on) bands.I bought all of their albums,because I want to support the underground and keep good music alive.
Agreed, sometimes even the bands that just send you a random "spam" message on TH-cam to promote themselves actually turn out to be surprisingly badass.
I'm from Blue Mountain, MS..which it's 40 minutes away from our local music scene here in North Mississippi (Tupelo, MS) (The Birthplace of Elvis Presley)). I've been going to the shows around Tupelo for the past 5 years and I've been seeing it go downhill ever since. Back in 2011, it was based upon Genres like: Alternative Metal, Pop-Punk, and very little Metalcore and Deathcore. The bar/venue would draw at least 300-350 people each time. I went to support one of my friend's band at the time "Substance in Silence", they were opening up for an Alternative Rock band from Tupelo "ForeverandNever", Cilver (Formerly known as MeTalkPretty), Against The Wall (They previously toured with Dream Theater), and Framing Hanley. The show drew at least 400 people. Over the years, the scene started to revamped and get new promoters. Currently, the scene is consisted of Hardcore or Christian Hardcore, Deathcore, "Djent" Hardcore or "Djent" Deathcore, EDM, and Hip-Hop. It's tough trying to get shows around the area anymore. I'm a manager for a band from Blue Mountain "Condemned By Faith" (Metalcore) and the last time we've had a show without having to book our own show was last July. It's just hard to trust your promoters. Since it's 40 minutes away from Blue Mountain, we have to use at least 20-30 bucks on gas and food. The last time we've played with the promoter, he tried to pay us at least 15-20 bucks, after agreeing to pay 40.00. So yeah, the local scene around here might be like everyone's else. Since it's so bad around here, half of the bands that was from Tupelo moved off to Nashville or Memphis. ForeverandNever packed their bags just 2 years ago to Nashville and started playing up there drawing twice the crowd. Also, have an album out, music videos, etc. It's pretty much, how many times you have to kiss ass or suck dick around the Tupelo scene to get up there. Since May of 2013, Condemned By Faith been raising some cash to be able to record an album, by renting out a place and having a few local bands (friends) open up. We had a band open up called "Freed"..they're from Memphis, TN. They're a mixture of everything (Funk/Nu-Metal/Rap/Metal). 4 months later, we did it again with a local band from Tupelo called "Shive". They're Alternative Metal..they actually had their EP recorded by Ben Wells from Black Stone Cherry. March 21st, we'll be doing it again and hopefully we reach our goal. You may think "Recording an album doesn't cost much?" Actually it does, some places cost at least 100-200 dollars per day and let's say that you have 14 tracks for your album and it takes you 2 weeks..that's 1400-2800 dollars, plus you'll have to mix/master, make the album covers and whatnots. So word of advice, if you want to make some $$$ to record an album or buy some equipment, just rent out a place in your hometown or anywhere specific that you'll know people will attend and play a show....and get a small part-time job that pays good. P.S.: All the bands I named have a Facebook page, so if you wanna like and give them a support, you're more as welcome to do so \m/
Hi everyone (and maybe Coverkiller himself). I am Mike from my band Visual Purple. We just started not that long ago and at the moment only have one completed song. We suck but that's what you have to do to get the present at the end (We think we are funny). If anyone likes us enough to subscribe and like us on Facebook please do! This video is the embodiment of something I've been trying to avoid ever since my band started. We are really hoping to bring some form of rock and roll or metal to the world. We don't want it to die out. So if you are in a band we will support you just as much as you (hopefully) support us. Rock on nation ,and thanks to all who subscribe to us.
Yeah man I've been in a band for half a year now and it's tough to get a gig especially because we're young. Hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to upload stuff on youtube for free to hopefully get some recognition. If it doesn't take off oh well I'll keep doing it because I love playing.
My old band started in 7th grade. I know how you feel. My band now is just me because all the musicians in my town are very very lacking of similar musical taste.
Dude, the secret to success is to lower your definition of success! It's that easy! Just say, "Hey, if we get a paying gig, then we totally made it!" lol I know everyone tends to go by what the majority of society would consider successful, but then that's just following others standards rather than making your own. I write songs, I'm unsigned, & hopefully I'll never be famous bcuz that would really suck, so as long as I do what I want the way I want then that's success bcuz I'm doing whats real to me, not what someone else thinks is going to be appealing to others. I have a distrust of money bcuz of what it represents to people, so it helps to not be interested in wealth & attention, distrusting humans in general. Just be sincere. Nowadays, being sincere should be considered successful bcuz there seems to be so little of it anymore, especially in the commercial mainstream musak biz, which is, after all, just business! I personally feel that business shouldn't run art & music. It's expression & business is capitalism, & when you mix the two, things start to get complicated. Can you sell vibes, emotions, expression? Create a package with fashion, looks & attitude & market it to the youth through a band. Is it sincere? Was it sincere at one point, but then got caught up in the whirlwind of "success" & fame? The bands first album gets noticed for being sincere, they become famous, people want to be like them, money starts coming in & the more they make & get famous the more they have to spend, now they have to make another album to keep it all going, but the fame & fortune has affected them & they've changed, so maybe the 2nd album tanks bcuz they pushed it rather than remain sincere to themselves, fans will claim they sold out, but they were pressured by the record label to put out another album, so they did. Now they're in debt, under constant scrutiny from the general public & they're fighting amongst themselves & blaming each other, they break up, & all end up with substance abuse issues & they're worse off then they were before they got signed, all bcuz society's standard for a successful band is to have commercial mainstream appeal, selling no less than a million records. At what point did it become the bands duty to please the general public & do everything for their whims when at first nobody gave a rats ass who they were until they started to get popular? Do fans become fans bcuz they relate to the music, or do they become fans bcuz the band is popular? Do they buy the record bcuz it has mass distribution & is sold everywhere, easily accessible, or do they buy it bcuz it's independent & doesn't have distribution deals? How is it possible to be all about the music yet worry about record sales? Capitalism is what's really ruining music. Turning it into a product like everything else. It's ruining craftsmanship & pride in ones work as well when everything becomes quantity over quality, profit over people, the bottom line. Music is the one thing that can bridge all differences, cultures, languages, etc., & when sincerity is taken away, it might as well be computer generated musak, perfectly polished in it's precise notes & arrangements, flawless & sterile. Just like money. Always be sincere! Uninnocent By Standards
Thanks the wisdom brother, me and my band are working hard right now but we don't really have a scene, so it's gonna be hard, but we are going to make it.
Thanks for the insight and it is inspirational to me atleast that there's a challange, and to hopefully overcome these challanges in the years to come with my band.
I am a truly talented musician and it is the only thing in this life I can do with 100% confidence and I fuckin' nail every song I learn to play. From Attila and I See Stars to Behemoth and Nile, I Fuckin' rock! Problem is I have nobody to jam with and i'm not interested in being in a band I just want some Garage jam buddies who are into that kind of music... ;(
The closest thing we have to a scene here (Coventry, England which is about half an hour from Birmingham where Black Sabbath came from) Is pretty much just a load of people my age (16+) wanting to be the next Bring Me The Horizon, it saddens me that nobody that I know of really wants to reach out for their own thing here like I do, but hopefully we see some improvement either here, or somewhere else in the world in the coming years.
South Florida has a pretty awesome scene. Miami is the best. Lots of awesome death, thrash, punk/hardcore, and grindcore. Plus there's a bunch of promoters that put our local bands on some pretty awesome shows with national/international acts. Within the past year, bands like Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Flotsam and Jetsam, The Casualties, Exhumed, Krisiun, Wintersun, Goatwhore, Havok, Incantation, and Morbid Angel have all recieved support from either one or two local bands, or nothing but local bands. And within the next few months, locals are gonna be opening for bands like Godflesh, Deicide, Anvil, and Whiplash.
Good video and some good points made. To say a band is really going somewhere means what? Go where? Get signed by a major record label? Tour for years and work your ass off and be as broke as the day you started? Well I guess they really went somewhere lol! Yes, marketing, motivation, persistence, dedication, self control, networking, humility, and building a good reputation, are all key points in a bands success. But, every member must commit equally and get along with personality clashes, and differences, etc.. Then there are things that are out of a bands control as well (clickiness, jealousy, greed, family, etc.). IMHO, a successful band is one that like/respect each other and their fans, have fun writing/playing music together and do it because of their love & passion for it.
In order to succeed at anything you must love what you do.To become a success you must radiate that same love outward to all those that listen and sometimes find answers in the words that are created. And find comfort in the inner workings and relationships of those that create and perform them.
I live in Northeast Ohio, we had a couple punk bands playing kids pretty frequently but that appears to be dead. I want to be in a band, as I have song ideas that I feel are original, but I just don't know how to find the right people to form a great band. I'm in a band now, but we hardly ever practice and we only play at our high school talent show.
This video is on point. I'm in a band and our scene is also saturated with generic hardcore/metalcore bands. There are literally only 2 local bands that we get along with musically and personally.
I agree with you when it comes to rock seeing a decline in popularity and sales same goes for the uk market its all house and rap over here along with pop so hard to find local gigs in my area that's not a pop group or pop rock group
sigh, i've always been trying to find the band to work with for the longest time. Maybe not as a career in itself, but I love music as an individual. I always questioned my own skill as a musician, being trained for almost a decade in classical piano and even reaching an ARCT Performers level, having great general knowledge on music theory (whether it be scales, intervals, modes, whatever), to learning guitar passionately with influences such as Randy Rhoads, Dimebag Darrell, and Zakk Wylde. Nobody has ever expressed the urge to even form a band with me, despite me pushing them to. I don't think I'm some kind of godlike prodigy, but I don't believe that I can go through this much training and still be shit at music. I'm currently 17 years old, and I pretty much have lost the drive to even consider forming a band with anyone around my age group, since most of them only care about pop punk/metalcore/pop bands, and I really dislike performing those styles of music.
I think there are many factors when it comes to bands failing one of the greatest factors is publicity, you can't just play and expect people to hear it out of nowhere, you need to go out to the streets and make propaganda, obviously. and when you think about how people aren't in rock/metal music, you have to remember that generations have their own genre, their own sound, and this doesn't mean it will be bad or better, it's just how it is, perhaps people need new genres, this is where genres like metalcore, hardcore, etc come up. it is up to everyone individually, will you accept it or not. let everything take it's own course
this is pretty useful, i have a band but we mostly jam for fun, we have decided to try to make our own songs and have gigs, i have started to make some prog death songs in the vein of gojira and opeth, lets see how that turns out
+HBE Games Yes a high percentage do. As a former music promoter and band manager that is something I always preached to bands. Don't live on that hope of getting signed, it will frustrate you.
The music scene near me is actually doing really well, only problem is finding musicians who are talented enough, let alone being a musician you need at all (not to sound big headed but being a young adult who has been playing guitar many years, most people haven't got the skills that are needed for kind of music I would like to play) but wanting to start a power metal band is extremely hard in England, finding a good drummer or bassist is extremely hard, but finding a singer suitable for power metal is extremely hard as a very versatile and powerful voice is needed, not having much money I can't move to a more populated area or have a car to drive to people, all I have for transport is my motorcycle, limiting me to a 5 mile radius unless I buy an amp to keep round a future band-mates, I believe there needs to be more bassists, singers and drummers. But then again power metal is a predominately polish, Swedish etc genre, so I can't complain too much as I'm in the wrong place.
I agree with basically everything you said. Things in the music industry changed quite a bit recently as well. Look at the gear that musicians are using now. It's becoming easier to carry. There are less parts to replace. More sounds are more accessible than ever(Thanks AxeFX). We're gonna see a major change in what is metal in the next 10 or 20 years in my opinion. And while it is more expensive than ever to get started now, it may become easier to get gigs with newer, fresher material. That's what I believe, anyways. I'm a little sad that I live in an area as big and as saturated as it is with music and history(San Francisco), but only such a small percentage of our people show up to metal shows. And I mean even the big ones. I hope this will change in the future. Anyways, good video. Thanks.
The town I'm originally from in LA. has been oversaturated with doom metal bands for years now. All following the same formula- Feedback intros, droning chords, standing in a xanax induced state, making sure everyone knows how detached they are and don't give a fuck, etc.
We must not be too far off from each other, because where I'm from, the local scene is essentially a slew of deathcore bands all trying to sound the "most brutal" with the occasional metalcore band with electronic aspects lol. Which, I'm not a fan of either of those, nor am I particularly a big fan of heavy music in general, so, I generally just go to shows to support my friends in bands lol or I check back in here and there to see who's playing now. The south's usually pretty late on national music trends, so yeah. Not complaining, though, because at least there's some type of scene other than the stereotypical bar starring a guy playing country covers lmao. But yeah, thankfully the recent renewal of punk appreciation seems to be touching down in these parts, so maybe we'll see some diversity soon. I've always been the punk / indie / emo (authentic emo, not bands like Pierce the Veil) / math rock fan as opposed to the people who are primarily into metal or music that focuses on pure technicality or just trying to reach the most gnarly sound achievable. Nothing wrong with that either, just painting a picture of where I fit in with my tastes when it comes to DIY culture and local scenes. As far as this video goes, though, you bring up a lot of great points. Success is definitely subjective to whomever's trying to hit it, so I think if certain bands pretty much just play to play, it's gonna come easy, and there's a lot of fun to be expected, because creating and performing music with friends - for friends, is the ultimate high, in my opinion. However, I think it's equally realistic to expect a bunch of fucking disappointment if a band's just starting out, and their main goal is to be the biggest band in the country, achieve mainstream success, and make a shit load of money lol. The industry's changed so much, even within the last five-ten years, that if you wanna play the game, and actually ultimately win it, you're gonna need to do everything you mentioned in this video plus much much more lol. To extend on what you were saying a bit, I think another reason a lot of bands fizzle out, is that they set their goals so high, that when they don't see or feel that they're reaching those goals, they get burned out on the actual journey it takes to get there. I feel like most of the really big rock bands out there made it to where they are now by making small realistic goals over time, putting 99% of the money earned into the band itself, writing likable and somewhat familiar music (marketable) with an interesting enough and original twist (the band's "sound"), and just not giving up in the face of bullshit - whether that be arguments or whatever. A great dynamic between the band members is a must, and while each member should be bringing something different to the table, it should be within the same context of what the band's ultimately trying to achieve, sonically. I notice a lot of the bands around here stay where they are in the scene, and never grow outside of the region, because there's really nothing interesting about them, musically. They rehash the same shit every other band's trying to do, or they're putting out jam-session material, and not attempting to write shit that'll actually move people. Just a sad reality lol. I totally agree with the over saturation of bands in the music industry these days too - social media and the internet in general has definitely had a huge part in that, and it's sad that records don't really sell these days anymore. The fact that 360 deals are a thing is definitely a testament to the fact that the industry itself has drastically evolved - positively in some ways, and very negatively in others. Anyways, sorry for the fucking novel lol I appreciate the videos; this one definitely caught my attention.
I'm trying to get a band going. I gathered three people (including me) who want to play music. But we've never stood on a stage so far, we don't even have any finished songs yet. So far my song ideas sound like a mix of Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal and Prog Metal x)
Another reason is because if one component of the band doesn’t have it it brings down the entire group. This component can be vocalist, musician, musical arrangements, lyrics, etc.
This might sound incredibly weird, but I've always wondered what metalcore might sound like if you crossed it with old 1920's-style swingtime music. I would pay good money to see someone do that. Or, hell, maybe one day if I ever get a band together (which I'd like to do, even if we only ever release an EP or two just for fun) we could try that ourselves. It might crash and burn, but hey, it'd be interesting.
My local scene is horrible I live in ottawa Canada and it's so hard to get people to shows and finding shows to play at with our style of music being metal
Very smart and perceptive observations. I will keep these in mind, I'm trying to start a heavy metal band with sound influences of power metal but not the subject matter. No I wanna be able to go out there and spread a message or bring up a topic.
I'm only thirteen years old, and I've always liked metal from the 1970's-1990's. And I would like to write my own music. And I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar. Could I please get some direct advice?
Killer Of souls I started watching nirvana play live and just copy the chord movement Kurt did then I got a Beatles tabs book and I practiced for hours everyday and I got a lot better
Start a new scene you say???? Any metal bands out here in Astoria, NY? My band ain't ready to gig just yet, but our biggest goal, at least mine and the singers, is to renew the scene out here.
Being great/mediocre and thinking of your band as any sort of business as opposed to a form of self expression is one of the most suck facts ever. But even Tool kept their day jobs when they had cool music vids on MTV.
The only band I know of from within 50 miles of where I live is Nile. Honestly, besides that one outlier, the metal scene here is nonexistent. I could probably name over 150 people I know personally, two of those people have remotely similar music tastes to me: one of my friends and my uncle.
Here in south central LA and south gate, we have local shows all the time, the scene if ska at the moment, but the kine ups are mixed, and soare the people. Ska and skacore band usualky play first, then punk, then thrash. Ive gone to them and its pretty bad ass and fun, usually around 40 people go to watch c:
Hey CKN, have you actually been in a band before? Or involved with any? Just wondering cause you seem like you have extensive knowledge on a local scene and all things related. I was in a couple different bands for a number of years. Ages 14-17 and the scene around here (Kentucky) obviously isn't the best for trying to get a rock band started. Especially when the majority only listen to country radio, or top 40 radio.
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To break all of this down - the #1 reason bands fail is this: Poor Planning by not thinking of your band as a business. It's also the reason most regular businesses fail.
Bands and musicians assume things will "just happen". Read the biographies of any successful band and you will find they had a plan. Then they had a manager who had a plan.
Internal band member problems occur because the founding members chose new people for the wrong reasons. Personality is the #1 factor bands need to nail first - ability can come second. Some of the greatest bands in music history don't have the greatest musicians but the chemistry between members was there. That chemistry may change over time because of the pressures and spoils of fame but they got there because the initial chemistry was there.
Luck is overrated. The people with plans MAKE their own luck. Luck is just another word for "opportunity meets preparation".
Kevin Richards Rock the Stage NYC and a plan for recording to save money in the studio and don't record anything until you have enough money to make a quality demo. Also get as many gigs as you can
Will Taylor Not really. A quality demo is an overrated myth. Many bands got signed or at least recognized by labels with very cheaply made demos. Before a band should even think about recording they need to have quality songs. Quality songs overcome any kind of quality in a demo. It's the songs not the sound of the demo.
Gigs are fine - but is the band rehearsed? Did they plan out their set list? what will the say between songs? do they engage the audience or just stand there? It's not about quantity but quality when it comes to live gigs.
Kevin Richards Rock the Stage NYC Yes, I forgot to mention quality of the songs i completley agree, but because so many more people have available recording software and recording is getting cheaper, there are more bands recording stuff because it is easier and therefore, there are more bands to "compete" with, therefore you should make sure your band have a quality recording as well as good songs of course to give them an edge . and also maybe not as important with demos, but with albums, a lot more bands seem to be recording crap audio quality albums because of the easy availablilty of software and this is bad as it is often what they get judged on. and i also agree with you on the preperation for gigs ( I suppose my reply was a bit short Lol). I still think getting as many gigs as you can is good not on a business side perhaps, but to me as a musician, i would say more live performances make you a better musician and therefore makes your band better as musicians and performers. but it is important to have good image as well as good stage persona and crowd interaction, otherwise there is not much point in having loads of gigs.
Will Taylor - Agreed, Once you have "the show" rehearsed and ready and you have a "game plan" for gigs, then try to book as many as you can to get "stage legs". Nothing gels a band more than playing live, because its all one take and pressure is on. But you gotta have a freaking plan.
If you're trying to sell a download album, then yes quality matters. But more than quality, the songs have to be there. A great song will shine through a crappy recording. Listen to Metallica's earliest demos. Junk quality. But the songs and the band personality were there. That's what's important.
+Kevin Richards Rock the Stage NYC I agree with a lot of what you said. I think song writing is very important. No matter what you have to be able to write good songs. I think too many bands these days are too worried about being "heavy" than actually writing a good hook, or chorus. You can be extremely heavy and still write good songs, bands seem to forget that. A good chorus in a song is everything. Also you have to have someone in the band with a good business mind. Metallica had Lars, Iron Maiden had Steve Harris. Steve Harris had a vision with Iron Maiden right from day one. Every cent they made in the early years was re-invested back into making the show better. In the formative years of a band your live show is really important. You want to have people tell their friends they need to see you live. You need to gain a fallowing. A lot of bands have been signed simply from studio guys witnessing an audience's reaction to a band live, whether the studio reps like the music or not. You have to be a great live band. I think a lot of underground bands fail because they don't pick the right band name. Branding is important. I believe the easier you make your bands name to remember the better. Some bands names are over long, and can be so negative that although they draw attention to you, they also may limit your fan base. The biggest metal bands in history had easy to remember names eg. Metallica, Iron Maiden, Slayer, Megadeth, Black Sabbath. Keep your name simple, catchy, easy to remember and easy to read. I can't read half of the Black Metal/ Death Metal logos out there(and I love Black Metal and Death Metal). I would avoid names that are too negative. Know your audience, and have a vision.
EGO.
Bad singers.
Bad drummers.
Bad players.
Bad image/marketing (including none)
Bad timing.
Bad songs or lack or originality.
Fear of success.
Impatience.
Bad luck.
Bad work ethic.
Wrong city/area.
+Darrylizer1 fear of sucess is normal. sucess turns into sellouts. the more sucess you have, the less relateability hence less human.
No money.
I remember the first time I played with my "band" in front of a reasonable group...
6th or 7th grade, in the school auditorium with a bassist and a "singer."
We went up on stage after the teacher said that they were having a special event.
The bassist and I had practiced a ton on this 3 riff song, but the "singer" decided that he would improvise the lyrics on stage. We tried to convince him to come to the practices but he never came. When we got on stage we started playing and the singer looked at us like we were crazy, he started mumbling into the mic... It was the most embarassing thing that has ever happened to me. In front of the whole school playing a shitty song with a dumbass who couldn't get over himself. Hahahaha
I think most bands have gone through something similar, hope that bassist stayed around though.
Ziltoid TheOmniscient No, he wanted to have another guitarist in the band. So he let a guy in without asking me. They both left me because the guitarist convinced the bassist that I was some kind of evil. ...
Bob Jones 2 guitarists is always better than just 1.
Owen Wright Not when the second guitarist has a serious problem with the band's founder. The problem wasn't that he was the second guitarist, the problem was that he hated me.
Owen Wright No, I have arms and legs and everything!
Coverkiller has great points, but the biggest reason as to why allot of bands fail is plain and simply lack of CREATIVITY/ INNOVATION, too many bands sound the same, whenever one band makes it big there are at least 10000 that follow that tries to jump on their bandwagon.
Seriously how many BMTH/ PWD clones do you have in your local scene ? I have far to many too count.
Also you made an interesting point towards the end of the video, in which I think you could have elaborated "TALENT" the toughest pill to swallow is that many of our local bands, wether they're friends of ours or not...simply just aren't that good, I can name far more shitty bands than I can name good ones, and that's mainly due to local bands.
Exactly. It's not even just the BMTH/PWD clones, but also other bands in more traditional metal genres like thrash, doom, death, black metal etc. that also fall victim to this. Instead of merely trying to emulate the sound of another band/subgenre, there should be more artists trying to form a more unique sound. If you sound like a shitty copy of something else, I have no reason to listen to you, but if you do something unique, then I'll be a lot more likely to remember you because you'll have something to offer me than I can't get anywhere else. When you think about it, that's why pretty much every legendary band is still remembered today--because they tried something different.
Pop pisses me off so much, nowadays anyone can get famous in pop but I have to work my ass off to even get someone to consider hearing my band or my solo work
***** I disagree. There is good pop. Its just an overwhelming majority are fakes.
Wow, this is exactly what needs to be said. I ponder on the music business a lot and I've always wanted to start a band. But there's more to it then just a dream. I can't believe how insightful and real this is, thanks!
Pantera are a good example of a band who toiled in relative obscurity for years before being noticed by a major label.
I just released my first EP on bandcamp & soundcloud yesterday. It's going to be free to download until next Friday. It is a pain to get noticed, no matter what genre. I live around Grand Rapids, Michigan & only one local metal band gets promoted, that being Wayland, the hiphop scene is slowly picking up steam. Great video like always.
A great example is this: In my area, there have been a lot of bands that have followed the grapevine products like metalcore/deathcore/etc. Twice throughout the past decade have I latched on to bands for being different. One was more thrash oriented, but with modern feel, and the other had a black metal feel with non-growling vocals (and a revolving door of members.) Both had good sound (the second band had a drum kit that reminded me of late-era Death, I could hear the percussion lines of To Forgive is to Suffer or Scavenger of Human Sorrow in literally every song they did, without them covering the tunes or even REFERENCING Death at all, it was the first thought that clicked with me about them) but neither of them were the signed act. Instead, it went to a nu-metal style band with a horrid fanbase and attitude that they were the biggest band on Earth. They never released anything. Nothing. Period. Thats what I mean about being different. Each trend-following band that's gotten "signed" over here has never recorded anything meaningful. No demos that i've seen, only choice songs here and there. I'd love to be able to hand things out for folks, but there's nothing. Its depressing.
Go get laid Dude!!!!!! Lol. Let me ask you something......Besides the Skin Flute have you ever played an Instrument with any talent??? Fuckin Idiot!!!!!!
Kristie, you clearly haven't contributed anything to society, if you're they type of person to insult someone based on their sex life. All you've done is proved that you are an incompetent moron.
+Kristie James Why would you attack someone for sharing their views &/or experiences, & who is trying to promote intellectual discussions on topics that interest him? If you have a different perspective then why don't you articulate your opinion rather than devolve into a schoolyard bully, name calling & belittling those who have different viewpoints? Are you insecure in your abilities to intellectualize your argument & make valid points, & so instead it's easier for you to be condescending to those of a different mindset? Or do you just judge people & pick them out to try & feel better about yourself? I'm asking bcuz I don't know you & what little I do know of him is that he is interested in music, all aspects of it, & he is interested in creating a forum for intellectual discussions about his interests, which is what the comment section is for BTW, to share ideas & opinions, not to play schoolyard bully & pick on people you've never met. We have the technology to talk to ppl 10,000 miles away & learn about others' cultures & mindsets, but ppl like you use it to spread hate instead...amazing! As if the concept of someone thinking differently from you is completely unacceptable. In his videos he's sharing his opinions & you can easily make your own videos & do the same. Opinion is not fact & everyone comes to their own conclusions on matters. At least he's trying to create a forum for discussion! You're just spreading hate! You don't even make an opinion about the subject of local bands or present any points for discussion. He does play instruments, as do I, & as do a majority of others who watch his videos. If you don't like the videos then don't watch them & stick with what you do like, it's that easy! If everyone just ignored what they didn't like or had no interest in there'd be a lot less hate & therefore less drama, meaning more time to rock out rather than worrying about what everyone else is doing & picking on them for not being like you (in the general sense). He's doing what he likes, pursuing his interests. Are you?
+coverkillernation well metal core is popular right now many metal bands are not revivalist. when comes to pop punk. the bands make it because there lack of it on radio. metal core band make there music because they want money.
+coverkillernation Yup!! Our scene in Indianapolis is supersaturated with cover bands and whatever is trendy this week. We are struggling to get our music heard as we play original music that is very not trendy. Loved this video. If your looking for something different to review : check us out here actofconfusion.bandcamp.com/
Reading these comments has shown me that my area isn't unique in its lacking of creativity, which is a shame. I should add (in non-video form, which, hey, you plan these things then think of others later) that creativity doesn't always come from the first band you're in, and its difficult to really be forward thinking without playing around with a lot of different sounds with your bandmates.
I think most local acts veer toward the buzzworthy genres because they think that'll drive their initial fanbase, and give them a better chance at getting further on their musical journey. As a fan, to me, it makes the marginally decent doom, death, black, prog or thrash band look all the more appealing, and I want to talk with them more, and give them constructive critique. Maybe their vocals need a little polish (moreso with hitting their marks and having it work with the music, instead of forcing unnatural notes which sour the composition,) maybe the guitarwork is a bit sloppy and just needs some more tailoring (a fix with experience and dedication) or maybe the compositions just need a bit more to em, to remove a generic feel. But right away, for being DIFFERENT than the others, they are noticeable to me. This isn't to say that a metalcore/deathcore band cannot ever impress me, however, it WOULD take a lot more for these groups based on the frequency that are out there. Its easier to shine when you're one of a few stars in the sky, as opposed to when you're surrounded by others like you.
"it WOULD take a lot more for these groups based on the frequency that are out there."
But that's the biggest gripe I have with Metalcore/Deathcore, for lack of a better term, Metalcore/Deathcore is such a ...."derivative" of Metal as a field, that I don't really see the sub genre going anywhere beyond where it is now without being considered something entirely different. In other words I feel Metalcore/Deathcore as a sub genre has been totally played out this is partially due to every single low tier band trying to ass ream BTH, PWD, Asking Alex.
You say you enjoy Prog/ Black/ Doom ? I do too, the reason being is because those genres have plenty of room to move around whilst still maintaining the basic structure of what they established, Metalcore/ Deathcore placed itself in a box far to quickly, that's not to say I can't enjoy it, when i'm in a stupid ignorant mood I'll listen to it, but like you said it's gonna take something really special to impress me, but considering how stagnant the sub-genre has been for almost a decade I can't see that happening any time soon.
You must be one of the best speakers on youtube. Thanks for yet another great video, dude! Cheers from Norway.
Very interesting, and enlightening, points...I would like to add that some bands get used to playing in front of the same crowds regularly (usually their friends/followers) and yet when they travel outside of the "local scene" to another City or State, they find that they aren't cheered as much or may discover that they need to work on their material a bit more...Sometimes "the road" is a great teacher...
Thank you very much for making this video sir! I am the guitarist in a New York progressive pop-punk band (think Coheed & Cambria) called Gardens of Acadia. Watching this video doesn't discourage me at all and I hope it doesn't discourage the rest of the guys when I show them this video. If anything, it serves as motivation. When you're young, you have these big dreams. When you wise up a little, you have to ask yourself if you want to take on the real challenge, which is what we're doing right now.
Excellent advice for ANYONE of just about ANY GENRE of music when starting out. Work hard. Work smart. Stay Focused. I've been an active musician since the late 1970's and I've been fortunate enough to play around the country and in other countries by doing EXACTLY what you are talking about...plus with a little luck/timing here and there.
As far as "Metal Scenes" and such are concerned, I have no clue. I've played just about every genre of music but not metal (I dunno if hard rock in the 70's counts) but do listen to, have dear friends in the metal world and respect the genre. But your post is more encompassing than mere labels and categories.
I guess my point here is; What you are saying is an absolute cold fact about the music business, in general. Yes, kids. I love music (it's why I do it) BUT it is a BUSINESS and you, my friend have nailed this subject square on it's head. The record industry has changed and is almost gone. You perfectly pointed out the crappy foisting of contest "talent shows" that have weakened the music world even more.
I was telling someone who's name I shant drop here the other night during a break from recording (I do mostly studio work now). The conversation came up. "What was your favorite gig?" When it came to me I thought about it and replied," A living room party I played with my band in high school. THAT was an amazing night." Everyone sort of looked at me, then the floor, then back up at me and the 'famous musician' said, "That's when it's the purest."
Thanks for you post.
Love the video, and I agree 100%. You made a lot of points that I already know, but were able to eloquently put it to words better than I could. My most recent band, which is in limbo right now as our drummer left us for another band which is doing amazingly well and going on tours (we don't hate him for it. He was the youngest of all of us and actually has a shot at a career if he keeps his head on on straight, and we are proud to have provided a stepping stone for him to move on to bigger and better things) we knew we weren't going to make it big. We did cut an album and had the opportunity to do a few pretty big shows, but we weren't pushing to hard make things happen. Two out of the four of us are married, and the lead singer has a family that he doesn't want to have to leave at home while he goes on tour so we always had the attitude of, "Lets just have as much fun as possible and whatever happens just roll with it." Now, there are a lot of awesome bands in my local area and the ones I see working hard at it might stand a chance. The rest of us are just having fun, and for some of the bands we are perfectly content just being local "rock stars". I liked what you said about the competitiveness amongst bands, and I do see some of that where I live. But for the most part, even though we are just doing local shows, having fun and not pushing for anything major we are lucky to have a strong sense of brotherhood in our scene. We all know each other, we like each others bands, and go to each others shows (I don't get to as often as I'd like because my 9-5 takes up most of my time) and we are fortunate to have this sense of connection with the other musicians and fans. Anyway, I've rambled long enough!
mann this really opened my eyes, im a intermediate guitar player and ive never been in a band but i really want to do something innovative not just be in a generic indie /alt / metal band , great video!
Did you do it?
Generic Metalcore and Deathcore is all my local bands are. I would like to form an Experimental band or sorts. Sadly there's not many people around my area that share my tastes or ideals.
I'd love to see a Doom band in my local scene.
***** Why not go for a doom/thrash-influenced metalcore or hardcore band? That could make for a unique sound that could combat the over-saturation effect CKN talked about in the video.
Jason LovesPWD Absolutely. It's not really the genre that matters, it's whether or not you can make the music interesting. Fuck, you could play crunkcore and if you somehow make it sound good, I'd actually be interested.
Yeah
*****
Doom Thrash sounds interesting, Dream Death has already done it but it's quite rare really.
Love this video!!! Thank you so much! I play in local bands up here in Canada. You've hit the nail on the board when you mention that everyone's being way too competitive against each other. I used to hang in a crowd where it was cliquey as hell, there was barely any welcoming kind of attitude. Got out of that crowd eventually, and I'm now happier with whom I hang with in the music scene. Yes, you can call them a bunch of hippies if you may, but damn, these folks know how to have a good time and how to support each other.
Well explained! And i have to add that this is the case not only in the US but in a lot of other countries with big cities and small towns. I agree with the fact that you have to treat your band as a product, and failure to do this is the reason that a lot of bands fail big time. I have seen it happen and have been a victim of it as well.
Coverkiller, you should do a review on lost society's second album coming out soon. Those guys are really young but kicking ass and bringing back what was good about bay area thrash.
The hardest part is actually getting 1 of every musician I think. If you a guitarist, a drummer and a bassist you're lucky. And I live in a music rich city that has given such talents as sting and maximo park. I feel bad for people who have trouble actually getting an actual band together the most.
definitely agree with that 100%
I hate that. that's what I'm like right now in a 2 peace band 1 guitar player 1 vocal we play our own songs because I can play all instruments so we just use a backing track live with just drums bass guitar synth but it's quite weird playing to people live because some people are like wtf there's not even a drummer but yea we go crazy as fuck on stage when we can even get a show but we basically play to people who hate our kind of music because that's the only type of places to play where I live and I only have 1 other friend that likes this music and he is the guitar player you most probably don't even care what I just said idk I felt like telling someone :D
My main issue is finding people who love music and are as obsessed with success as I am
Only other thing you need is a drummer, I'm a bass guitar player primarily but even I know a band doesn't need one. Best of luck to ya.
unfortunately I feel like drummers are the hardest to find haha. I'm in a two person music project right now and it is definitely a bit hard to play without a drummer But we've recorded some songs without one. check out my channel if you want. anyways really like watching ur videos thanks!
"...whatever rabbits cost." lol
Anyways, great video CKN, I am slowly starting a band with my friends and this really helped confirm my ideas of scenes and band start-ups. I hope this video helps out others as well. I live about an hour away from Chicago and there's nothing here. So, Chicago is still all blues with several underground scenes, but nothing uniform though. Who knows where music will be in a few years. I hope more unique bands get recognized and I have seen that with some newer bands. We'll see.
I'm in the Bay Area, but the more local bands to me are usually core. I'm trying to get my DSBM and Dark Ambient projects off the ground, maybe fusing them, and adding in some clean vocals, something unique
You know, CKR, I've doubted you in the past for some of your opinions, mostly because you don't have that experience being a musician yourself, however I definitely agree with you on this one. I've grown up in an oil field so there has been plenty of money floating around, the amount of gear to skill ratio I have it ridiculous. I mean if I can make 4 grand working in a grocery store for a year while buying gear, food, bills other stupid shit, all to go 5 hours out of town to watch not only local metal shows, but bigger names like destruction, kataklysm, and behemoth next month. I am but a simple bass player, but I am a drummer who started as guitar player for 5 years, I have been playing death metal mixed with thrash metal, as well as a lot of our own sort of styled music, which I feel makes us very unique in our talents, but we need some work yet before we hit our targeted audience, because our writing process takes too long. I feel out music is very catchy and I think even if we were a band like heathen, we would still be extremely proud of what we accomplished, after all we're not out to make money, we are out to show the world what we have to offer, which is what I feel metal should be about these days.
Is this a coincidence? This is exactly what's been heavily on my mind lately, as I'm in the last year of my college (high-school for Americans) and I'm passionate and determined to be a professional musician.
My style sits under progressive metal/rock and a fusion of a few others and I'm trying to develop a personal style that other people aren't playing.
I'm not currently playing gigs but I will try to start next year.
The careers department at my college talked to me about it last Friday and I really realise how much work it takes.
Thanks for the video Coverkillernation :)
If you have any more advice it would be much appreciated, thanks!
Coverkiller. Im a huge fan of your channel and have watched a shiiiiitload of your videos. Keep doing what your doing brother!! It puts a fucking tear in my eye to see a guy just like the rest of us metal heads, that isn't afraid to tell it like it is, holding the metal flag high as aces and giving the massive metalhead community somewhat of a voice!! (that was probably a horrid run-on sentence but oh well)
This is an honest and direct analysis. We’re experiencing the same in our scene. I agree that the only way to keep yourself going is to do it with passion and for yourself without expecting too much that others will like your music.
It's funny because even generic sounding bands get signed, or booked on tour, probably because of their marketing techniques; I suppose you can sound like whatever and still get opportunities based on audience count and business tactics
it's difficult as a musician. some expect big stuff from beginning bands,i agree on take your own take on a genre. don't reinvent the wheel. but as a musician,you are your own worst kritique. you have to know allot of stuff,at 1st you have to be your own soundguy and know what to do. in the beginning you don't and have to peek from other bands how to do it since there is no "how to basic" for bands. people might expect stuff but it's not easy to comfort these people with the little you have. the little you have should be the fun at 1st,it's not for the money and neither for the fame. it's mostly because you want to play with it beeing just a hobby in mind. and not everybody is equally as good or clean cut for music altought they want to succeed desperately. u.s.a is diffrent maybe,here in holland it's all about fun and playing it fair to survive. a good vibe and good attitude do help and you just can't always go jackpot. sometimes it's playing for booze or nothing or sometimes it's speccing the bank for a cd and such. beware labels tough,they can f... up a entire band with they're inputs and obligations.
your videos gives me goosebumps. the amount of views you get is like icing on the cake
From playing in gigging bands for 15+ years now, I honestly believe anyone in a band, or anyone considering joining a band, should watch this video. Lots of great information here.
I'd also like to add, one big mistake a lot of bands make is not being prepared for gigs. If you don't have merch like shirts, cds, or anything that people actually walk away from the show with, nobody is going to remember the band--even if they enjoyed them live. It also helps generate money for the band.
Another mistake is having cheap looking merch, especially cds. Nobody is going to take a demo on a CD-R with the band's name scribbled on with sharpie seriously. Gotta spend money to make money.
Lots of valid points raised in your video, Coverkiller. My experience as band member/manager/marketer is that It's easier than ever to get your music out there and released internationally, which in turn means all bands face greater global competition. Assuming the talent and originality side of things are at a high enough standard, the biggest battle is getting first contact with the right connections and being heard above the noise without having previously knowing the industry people you want to connect with. For example we've been receiving on the whole very favourable album reviews (granted, not every single one, but we're winning most reviewers over), but the biggest challenge has not been getting a GOOD review - it's been getting ANY review, getting in the review/radio play queue in the first place and just making it out of the huge spam bin. From the reviewer's/radio station's side, I understand the more incoming email/packages/links received, the harder it is to prioritise what to check out - especially when newcomers are up against the big league bands and their support networks. With my marketing hat on I know the best shot is to present your band in a unique way; invest time and money in promotion (something many bands aren't prepared to do) and target the right people repeatedly but in an engaging and relevant manner. We have a few ideas up our sleeves to get more recognition, because we know you can't just rely on putting an album out there and hoping for the best - if you've invested time in your product and you believe in it, you should invest what time and money you can in marketing it too. Whether that will be enough,to make an impact for Kill or Cure and our debut album, only time will tell, but it's going to be interesting finding out.
man your words are words of wisdom :) i am glad i found out this video
and i think you really right .. as someone who now play his own project but was in a band
you forgot to mention that alot of bands focus way too much sometimes on the logo and lil stuff before they even got songs this one reason is what most of bands in my local scene are coming and go even before you could hear something from them
I am very thankful for the effort of putting this video up. It really is a reality dose. I, myself strive to be as pragmatic as possible and you are spot-on with your feedback on every point. It opened my eyes at some parts which I did not think about when I started playing.
Bro.. watching this video has opened my eyes a lot more. I've been working hard for so many years. I feel as if it fails all the time. I've contemplated giving up this year.. But the show must go on and I need to work even harder.. and smarter.
Thank you for some advice coverkillernation. The Cincinnati and NKY scene is mostly difficult because of the huge influx of bands. I hope with your advice, that Downpour will improve,and be the sort of band that people (just like you and me) can enjoy.
My band is called written in gray, we're traditional heavy metal with nwobhm and thrash sounds. We've had our fair share of bad luck and good, nights we never wanted to end and some nights we were sleeping in the van downtown with equipment all around us. Point is don't let anything discourage you to push forward! And rock on mates \m/
I am doing something solo right now and am taking this totally to heart. I know this is mainly a metal/rock channel but I like to make lo-fi/folky/noise orientated music because that's what I love to do and have been pushing my promotion a lot. I am releasing a few EP's this year and I will give the bandcamp link later. I believe that music is something I want to do and if I stick with it people will like it, expiremental or not. But I know it might take a long time. Thank you this only strengthened my wanting to keep going and pushing myself forward. I hope we here can start a scene for the first time and weather similar or not in style or even same tastes we will help each other to success. Because right now, it's barren out here almost absolutely nothing left.
A progressive heavy metal band I knew split up a about 3 years ago because the band members were not dedicated to actually playing also the venues were not booking them to play. Sad really....
I agree with all of this. And thank you for pointing out that those marginal attendance increases from hours of walking and handing out flyers is in fact still a success. It doesn't always feel that, way and it's nice to hear someone reaffirming that those efforts are not a waste of time.
One thing we try to do in our scene (nebraska/us) is to create a support network for touring bands of the same genres(as well as for each other). We know we don't have the population density for these low/mid level touring acts to make a lot of $$$ when they travel the midwest, but we try to make up for that with hospitality and a strong DIY scene that protects bands from pay to play promoters/theft/etc. Bands coming through the area might not make a lot here, but they are given our collective efforts to help them find resources like places to stay/eat or get maintenance on vehicles or equipment that hopefully makes playing our region a valuable tour stop. We get to make a lot of new friends and contacts when we get on the road, and our local music fans get a varied experience that to those who are not waiting to be told what to like by the radio, can hopefully find exciting and worthy of their entertainment $$$.
I would almost argue that we need to see our entire scene as a product and not just our individual bands. We are all up against the largest conglomerate entertainment machine that has ever existed.
Anyway, great video. I don't know how I stumbled into it but you've got a new subscriber!
+Rift We can attest to this. They care.
Just wanted to say that I loved this video and luckily everything my band has done has followed this video. Just last Saturday our band hosted our own concert considering that we were "too unknown for local venues" I worked hard for my band by finding a place to play by using my old boyscout cabin. I advertised for three weeks like crazy using Facebook and handing out flyers. (Oh yeah also had two other bands with us.) Everyone's parents invited their local band friends and we invited anyone who wanted to come. I was super worried , not about performing but that their would be a small audience of family only. AMAZING ENOUGH OVER 50 PEOPLE SHOWED UP. Most people I had never seen before. Unsure of how the crowd would react to our oddly unique sound we were well prepared.( we practice once a week) the crowd got into our music from the first song all the way to the last. We had the audience sing parts of our songs (all originals) and the feedback was all positive even from the pickiest of music lovers there. We got offered to play at a large outdoor local rockfest and gladly accepted. We are hoping venues now will open their eyes and see our potential. By following all of these steps which we actually did before watching this video, you can and will move up in your local scene. (BTW where I live death metal is 90% of the bands, we however are hardcore/ alternative rock which is a nice change of pace. Check us out at Facebook.com.hearashearts
I hope your band becomes big!!
Speaking as someone whose preferred genres of metal is Groove, Alternative and Nu Metal (Don't ask) it does kinda depresses me that everyone I've met seems to only know about Deathcore or Death Metal or anything that's considered BROOTAL N HARDCORE YO.
Even still I gotta say your advice in this video really did hit me like a brick wall whereas while I do have the passion for the music I play the talent aspect of Metal music eludes me or at playing it (I am a the shittiest Bass player I know) but what you said about hard work and keeping at it really hit home for me so I thank you for that man.
We are a local band from Brooklyn, NY. I agree with everything you say. You put it into perspective so well. I needed to hear this especially right now. Thanks man.
Dude. Yes. You have no idea how many times I have come close to uploading the same basic rant. I agree with an overwhelming majority of what you had to say. I wish I had the time to reply everything I want to say but I would have to quit my job and comment this thread all day. Hmmm....I just might have to make you a reply video to this one man......you have no idea how long I have struggled to make a similar video. It could easily alienate me and my band in my local scene. But some kiddos out there really need to see the bigger picture. Pay some dues. Too many chiefs, not enough indians. ROCK ON \m/
I decided last year that I wanted to be in a band, I have yet to start one. This video has taught me a lot. Thank you.
CO
as the guitarist for Band Nerds, I want to thank you for your insight and advice...we are taking it to heart.
Truthfully, here in Iowa, a lot of Deathcore, Heavy metal, and Thrash metal bands are locally big for the local scenes, but when you think of Iowa you don't think of metal. I'm 15 and I 'death growl' and play lead guitar in a Death metal band with some of my friends. We're very Cannibal Corpse and Deicide and even Broken Hope inspired, but even though we're at a young age we try our hardest to get out there and get our music heard, but it's impossible to get out and play shows when you can't even find a drummer, which has been our problem since we started in late 2012 when I was only 13 years old.
But TH-cam is a great thing,I found so many badass slam death metal,progressive metal,rap,technical death metal,brutal death metal,melodic death metal,grindcore,deathcore,jazz,blues,classic,rock (and so on) bands.I bought all of their albums,because I want to support the underground and keep good music alive.
Agreed, sometimes even the bands that just send you a random "spam" message on TH-cam to promote themselves actually turn out to be surprisingly badass.
Lol 90% of the spams I got were shitty metalcore bands.Like Heaven Shall Burn and get metalcore spams for the rest of your life.
I'm from Blue Mountain, MS..which it's 40 minutes away from our local music scene here in North Mississippi (Tupelo, MS) (The Birthplace of Elvis Presley)). I've been going to the shows around Tupelo for the past 5 years and I've been seeing it go downhill ever since. Back in 2011, it was based upon Genres like: Alternative Metal, Pop-Punk, and very little Metalcore and Deathcore. The bar/venue would draw at least 300-350 people each time. I went to support one of my friend's band at the time "Substance in Silence", they were opening up for an Alternative Rock band from Tupelo "ForeverandNever", Cilver (Formerly known as MeTalkPretty), Against The Wall (They previously toured with Dream Theater), and Framing Hanley. The show drew at least 400 people.
Over the years, the scene started to revamped and get new promoters. Currently, the scene is consisted of Hardcore or Christian Hardcore, Deathcore, "Djent" Hardcore or "Djent" Deathcore, EDM, and Hip-Hop. It's tough trying to get shows around the area anymore. I'm a manager for a band from Blue Mountain "Condemned By Faith" (Metalcore) and the last time we've had a show without having to book our own show was last July. It's just hard to trust your promoters. Since it's 40 minutes away from Blue Mountain, we have to use at least 20-30 bucks on gas and food. The last time we've played with the promoter, he tried to pay us at least 15-20 bucks, after agreeing to pay 40.00. So yeah, the local scene around here might be like everyone's else. Since it's so bad around here, half of the bands that was from Tupelo moved off to Nashville or Memphis. ForeverandNever packed their bags just 2 years ago to Nashville and started playing up there drawing twice the crowd. Also, have an album out, music videos, etc. It's pretty much, how many times you have to kiss ass or suck dick around the Tupelo scene to get up there.
Since May of 2013, Condemned By Faith been raising some cash to be able to record an album, by renting out a place and having a few local bands (friends) open up. We had a band open up called "Freed"..they're from Memphis, TN. They're a mixture of everything (Funk/Nu-Metal/Rap/Metal). 4 months later, we did it again with a local band from Tupelo called "Shive". They're Alternative Metal..they actually had their EP recorded by Ben Wells from Black Stone Cherry. March 21st, we'll be doing it again and hopefully we reach our goal. You may think "Recording an album doesn't cost much?" Actually it does, some places cost at least 100-200 dollars per day and let's say that you have 14 tracks for your album and it takes you 2 weeks..that's 1400-2800 dollars, plus you'll have to mix/master, make the album covers and whatnots. So word of advice, if you want to make some $$$ to record an album or buy some equipment, just rent out a place in your hometown or anywhere specific that you'll know people will attend and play a show....and get a small part-time job that pays good.
P.S.: All the bands I named have a Facebook page, so if you wanna like and give them a support, you're more as welcome to do so \m/
Hi everyone (and maybe Coverkiller himself). I am Mike from my band Visual Purple. We just started not that long ago and at the moment only have one completed song. We suck but that's what you have to do to get the present at the end (We think we are funny). If anyone likes us enough to subscribe and like us on Facebook please do! This video is the embodiment of something I've been trying to avoid ever since my band started. We are really hoping to bring some form of rock and roll or metal to the world. We don't want it to die out. So if you are in a band we will support you just as much as you (hopefully) support us. Rock on nation ,and thanks to all who subscribe to us.
I dig Everything, simple yet catchy.
I gave it a listen...then another, and another. It's pretty damn catchy.
Yeah man I've been in a band for half a year now and it's tough to get a gig especially because we're young. Hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to upload stuff on youtube for free to hopefully get some recognition. If it doesn't take off oh well I'll keep doing it because I love playing.
Dacca. We really haven't been able to do a whole lot due to our age but we've been working on some sweet stuff we hope to get out soon.
My old band started in 7th grade. I know how you feel. My band now is just me because all the musicians in my town are very very lacking of similar musical taste.
Sanic how’s it going?
You have a fantastic pace and structure in the way you talk and discuss topics. Great video, man.
Dude, the secret to success is to lower your definition of success! It's that easy! Just say, "Hey, if we get a paying gig, then we totally made it!" lol
I know everyone tends to go by what the majority of society would consider successful, but then that's just following others standards rather than making your own. I write songs, I'm unsigned, & hopefully I'll never be famous bcuz that would really suck, so as long as I do what I want the way I want then that's success bcuz I'm doing whats real to me, not what someone else thinks is going to be appealing to others. I have a distrust of money bcuz of what it represents to people, so it helps to not be interested in wealth & attention, distrusting humans in general. Just be sincere. Nowadays, being sincere should be considered successful bcuz there seems to be so little of it anymore, especially in the commercial mainstream musak biz, which is, after all, just business! I personally feel that business shouldn't run art & music. It's expression & business is capitalism, & when you mix the two, things start to get complicated. Can you sell vibes, emotions, expression? Create a package with fashion, looks & attitude & market it to the youth through a band. Is it sincere? Was it sincere at one point, but then got caught up in the whirlwind of "success" & fame? The bands first album gets noticed for being sincere, they become famous, people want to be like them, money starts coming in & the more they make & get famous the more they have to spend, now they have to make another album to keep it all going, but the fame & fortune has affected them & they've changed, so maybe the 2nd album tanks bcuz they pushed it rather than remain sincere to themselves, fans will claim they sold out, but they were pressured by the record label to put out another album, so they did. Now they're in debt, under constant scrutiny from the general public & they're fighting amongst themselves & blaming each other, they break up, & all end up with substance abuse issues & they're worse off then they were before they got signed, all bcuz society's standard for a successful band is to have commercial mainstream appeal, selling no less than a million records. At what point did it become the bands duty to please the general public & do everything for their whims when at first nobody gave a rats ass who they were until they started to get popular? Do fans become fans bcuz they relate to the music, or do they become fans bcuz the band is popular? Do they buy the record bcuz it has mass distribution & is sold everywhere, easily accessible, or do they buy it bcuz it's independent & doesn't have distribution deals? How is it possible to be all about the music yet worry about record sales? Capitalism is what's really ruining music. Turning it into a product like everything else. It's ruining craftsmanship & pride in ones work as well when everything becomes quantity over quality, profit over people, the bottom line. Music is the one thing that can bridge all differences, cultures, languages, etc., & when sincerity is taken away, it might as well be computer generated musak, perfectly polished in it's precise notes & arrangements, flawless & sterile. Just like money.
Always be sincere!
Uninnocent
By
Standards
+Knute Lindstrom absolutely agree with you.
Thanks the wisdom brother, me and my band are working hard right now but we don't really have a scene, so it's gonna be hard, but we are going to make it.
Thanks for the insight and it is inspirational to me atleast that there's a challange, and to hopefully overcome these challanges in the years to come with my band.
Dear Mr. Ckn, Thank you greatly!! I've shared this video with my new band members for obvious reasons.
I live a couple miles away from Woodstock and there are so many organizations there that do so much to help promote young musicians, it's awesome.
This video really put things into perspective for me. Thank you for this.
I am a truly talented musician and it is the only thing in this life I can do with 100% confidence and I fuckin' nail every song I learn to play. From Attila and I See Stars to Behemoth and Nile, I Fuckin' rock!
Problem is I have nobody to jam with and i'm not interested in being in a band I just want some Garage jam buddies who are into that kind of music... ;(
The closest thing we have to a scene here (Coventry, England which is about half an hour from Birmingham where Black Sabbath came from) Is pretty much just a load of people my age (16+) wanting to be the next Bring Me The Horizon, it saddens me that nobody that I know of really wants to reach out for their own thing here like I do, but hopefully we see some improvement either here, or somewhere else in the world in the coming years.
I really enjoy your vids. Maybe you can make it into a weekly segment and review an album from a real upcoming underground local band. Cheers!
South Florida has a pretty awesome scene. Miami is the best. Lots of awesome death, thrash, punk/hardcore, and grindcore. Plus there's a bunch of promoters that put our local bands on some pretty awesome shows with national/international acts. Within the past year, bands like Carcass, Cannibal Corpse, Flotsam and Jetsam, The Casualties, Exhumed, Krisiun, Wintersun, Goatwhore, Havok, Incantation, and Morbid Angel have all recieved support from either one or two local bands, or nothing but local bands. And within the next few months, locals are gonna be opening for bands like Godflesh, Deicide, Anvil, and Whiplash.
10:06 - 10:20 I spat out my drink laughing at that! 💀💀💀
Good video and some good points made. To say a band is really going somewhere means what? Go where? Get signed by a major record label? Tour for years and work your ass off and be as broke as the day you started? Well I guess they really went somewhere lol! Yes, marketing, motivation, persistence, dedication, self control, networking, humility, and building a good reputation, are all key points in a bands success. But, every member must commit equally and get along with personality clashes, and differences, etc.. Then there are things that are out of a bands control as well (clickiness, jealousy, greed, family, etc.). IMHO, a successful band is one that like/respect each other and their fans, have fun writing/playing music together and do it because of their love & passion for it.
In order to succeed at anything you must love what you do.To become a success you must radiate that same love outward to all those that listen and sometimes find answers in the words that are created. And find comfort in the inner workings and relationships of those that create and perform them.
I'm in a metalcore band in the Columbia, SC scene. My band is the only thing in my week I ever really look forward to. I really enjoyed this video.
I live in Northeast Ohio, we had a couple punk bands playing kids pretty frequently but that appears to be dead. I want to be in a band, as I have song ideas that I feel are original, but I just don't know how to find the right people to form a great band. I'm in a band now, but we hardly ever practice and we only play at our high school talent show.
I didnt like you before I watched this video, that was an awesome peptalk! Thank you! I am now subscribed.
This video is on point. I'm in a band and our scene is also saturated with generic hardcore/metalcore bands. There are literally only 2 local bands that we get along with musically and personally.
I agree with you when it comes to rock seeing a decline in popularity and sales same goes for the uk market its all house and rap over here along with pop so hard to find local gigs in my area that's not a pop group or pop rock group
sigh, i've always been trying to find the band to work with for the longest time. Maybe not as a career in itself, but I love music as an individual. I always questioned my own skill as a musician, being trained for almost a decade in classical piano and even reaching an ARCT Performers level, having great general knowledge on music theory (whether it be scales, intervals, modes, whatever), to learning guitar passionately with influences such as Randy Rhoads, Dimebag Darrell, and Zakk Wylde. Nobody has ever expressed the urge to even form a band with me, despite me pushing them to. I don't think I'm some kind of godlike prodigy, but I don't believe that I can go through this much training and still be shit at music. I'm currently 17 years old, and I pretty much have lost the drive to even consider forming a band with anyone around my age group, since most of them only care about pop punk/metalcore/pop bands, and I really dislike performing those styles of music.
I think there are many factors when it comes to bands failing one of the greatest factors is publicity, you can't just play and expect people to hear it out of nowhere, you need to go out to the streets and make propaganda, obviously. and when you think about how people aren't in rock/metal music, you have to remember that generations have their own genre, their own sound, and this doesn't mean it will be bad or better, it's just how it is, perhaps people need new genres, this is where genres like metalcore, hardcore, etc come up. it is up to everyone individually, will you accept it or not. let everything take it's own course
does this guy remind anyone else of dwight schrute from the office?
Great coverage and quite realistically inspirational!
this is pretty useful, i have a band but we mostly jam for fun, we have decided to try to make our own songs and have gigs, i have started to make some prog death songs in the vein of gojira and opeth, lets see how that turns out
Anyone else think that most local bands just fail from not being able to wait long enough to be signed?
Almost always the problem
+HBE Games Yes a high percentage do. As a former music promoter and band manager that is something I always preached to bands. Don't live on that hope of getting signed, it will frustrate you.
The music scene near me is actually doing really well, only problem is finding musicians who are talented enough, let alone being a musician you need at all (not to sound big headed but being a young adult who has been playing guitar many years, most people haven't got the skills that are needed for kind of music I would like to play) but wanting to start a power metal band is extremely hard in England, finding a good drummer or bassist is extremely hard, but finding a singer suitable for power metal is extremely hard as a very versatile and powerful voice is needed, not having much money I can't move to a more populated area or have a car to drive to people, all I have for transport is my motorcycle, limiting me to a 5 mile radius unless I buy an amp to keep round a future band-mates, I believe there needs to be more bassists, singers and drummers. But then again power metal is a predominately polish, Swedish etc genre, so I can't complain too much as I'm in the wrong place.
Now?
I agree with basically everything you said. Things in the music industry changed quite a bit recently as well. Look at the gear that musicians are using now. It's becoming easier to carry. There are less parts to replace. More sounds are more accessible than ever(Thanks AxeFX). We're gonna see a major change in what is metal in the next 10 or 20 years in my opinion. And while it is more expensive than ever to get started now, it may become easier to get gigs with newer, fresher material. That's what I believe, anyways. I'm a little sad that I live in an area as big and as saturated as it is with music and history(San Francisco), but only such a small percentage of our people show up to metal shows. And I mean even the big ones. I hope this will change in the future. Anyways, good video. Thanks.
Las Vegas has potential, but also is generic at the same time.
The town I'm originally from in LA. has been oversaturated with doom metal bands for years now. All following the same formula- Feedback intros, droning chords, standing in a xanax induced state, making sure everyone knows how detached they are and don't give a fuck, etc.
We must not be too far off from each other, because where I'm from, the local scene is essentially a slew of deathcore bands all trying to sound the "most brutal" with the occasional metalcore band with electronic aspects lol. Which, I'm not a fan of either of those, nor am I particularly a big fan of heavy music in general, so, I generally just go to shows to support my friends in bands lol or I check back in here and there to see who's playing now. The south's usually pretty late on national music trends, so yeah. Not complaining, though, because at least there's some type of scene other than the stereotypical bar starring a guy playing country covers lmao. But yeah, thankfully the recent renewal of punk appreciation seems to be touching down in these parts, so maybe we'll see some diversity soon. I've always been the punk / indie / emo (authentic emo, not bands like Pierce the Veil) / math rock fan as opposed to the people who are primarily into metal or music that focuses on pure technicality or just trying to reach the most gnarly sound achievable. Nothing wrong with that either, just painting a picture of where I fit in with my tastes when it comes to DIY culture and local scenes.
As far as this video goes, though, you bring up a lot of great points. Success is definitely subjective to whomever's trying to hit it, so I think if certain bands pretty much just play to play, it's gonna come easy, and there's a lot of fun to be expected, because creating and performing music with friends - for friends, is the ultimate high, in my opinion. However, I think it's equally realistic to expect a bunch of fucking disappointment if a band's just starting out, and their main goal is to be the biggest band in the country, achieve mainstream success, and make a shit load of money lol. The industry's changed so much, even within the last five-ten years, that if you wanna play the game, and actually ultimately win it, you're gonna need to do everything you mentioned in this video plus much much more lol.
To extend on what you were saying a bit, I think another reason a lot of bands fizzle out, is that they set their goals so high, that when they don't see or feel that they're reaching those goals, they get burned out on the actual journey it takes to get there. I feel like most of the really big rock bands out there made it to where they are now by making small realistic goals over time, putting 99% of the money earned into the band itself, writing likable and somewhat familiar music (marketable) with an interesting enough and original twist (the band's "sound"), and just not giving up in the face of bullshit - whether that be arguments or whatever. A great dynamic between the band members is a must, and while each member should be bringing something different to the table, it should be within the same context of what the band's ultimately trying to achieve, sonically.
I notice a lot of the bands around here stay where they are in the scene, and never grow outside of the region, because there's really nothing interesting about them, musically. They rehash the same shit every other band's trying to do, or they're putting out jam-session material, and not attempting to write shit that'll actually move people. Just a sad reality lol. I totally agree with the over saturation of bands in the music industry these days too - social media and the internet in general has definitely had a huge part in that, and it's sad that records don't really sell these days anymore. The fact that 360 deals are a thing is definitely a testament to the fact that the industry itself has drastically evolved - positively in some ways, and very negatively in others.
Anyways, sorry for the fucking novel lol I appreciate the videos; this one definitely caught my attention.
Thank you for this advice, Sir.
Chrisuke.
I'm trying to get a band going. I gathered three people (including me) who want to play music. But we've never stood on a stage so far, we don't even have any finished songs yet. So far my song ideas sound like a mix of Heavy Metal, Thrash Metal and Prog Metal x)
Another reason is because if one component of the band doesn’t have it it brings down the entire group. This component can be vocalist, musician, musical arrangements, lyrics, etc.
This might sound incredibly weird, but I've always wondered what metalcore might sound like if you crossed it with old 1920's-style swingtime music. I would pay good money to see someone do that.
Or, hell, maybe one day if I ever get a band together (which I'd like to do, even if we only ever release an EP or two just for fun) we could try that ourselves. It might crash and burn, but hey, it'd be interesting.
Inspector Kemp I know it's not the same thing but try "Diablo Swing Orchestra". It's basically swing metal.
My local scene is horrible I live in ottawa Canada and it's so hard to get people to shows and finding shows to play at with our style of music being metal
Here in Albany New York, the trend is sceney "hardcore"/ metalcore acts that are the most generic and overdone genre
Watched the whole thing and thanks you for this video. It will help me a lot thanks again.
Coverkiller.... you are the man. I applaude to this video. And yes. I watched the entire video.
Every band starts off local.....
nick valero That is not true. Many international bands are products of major labels and this is especially true for acts in Korea, Japan and the UK.
oh alright thankyou
+orlock20 Exactly look at Babymetal
Supergroups don't.
Very smart and perceptive observations. I will keep these in mind, I'm trying to start a heavy metal band with sound influences of power metal but not the subject matter. No I wanna be able to go out there and spread a message or bring up a topic.
I'm only thirteen years old, and I've always liked metal from the 1970's-1990's. And I would like to write my own music. And I'm trying to learn how to play the guitar. Could I please get some direct advice?
the youtube comment section isnt a great place for adivice
Killer Of souls I started watching nirvana play live and just copy the chord movement Kurt did then I got a Beatles tabs book and I practiced for hours everyday and I got a lot better
I believe you made this video very well, these are all things i most likely would have found out to late Thank you so much
you look like bill from the last of us
lol ! true
Start a new scene you say???? Any metal bands out here in Astoria, NY? My band ain't ready to gig just yet, but our biggest goal, at least mine and the singers, is to renew the scene out here.
Being great/mediocre and thinking of your band as any sort of business as opposed to a form of self expression is one of the most suck facts ever. But even Tool kept their day jobs when they had cool music vids on MTV.
Good advice for a variety of passions and dreams
The only band I know of from within 50 miles of where I live is Nile. Honestly, besides that one outlier, the metal scene here is nonexistent. I could probably name over 150 people I know personally, two of those people have remotely similar music tastes to me: one of my friends and my uncle.
Here in south central LA and south gate, we have local shows all the time, the scene if ska at the moment, but the kine ups are mixed, and soare the people. Ska and skacore band usualky play first, then punk, then thrash. Ive gone to them and its pretty bad ass and fun, usually around 40 people go to watch c:
Here in LA alot of things havnt faded away cx,
Hey CKN, have you actually been in a band before? Or involved with any? Just wondering cause you seem like you have extensive knowledge on a local scene and all things related.
I was in a couple different bands for a number of years. Ages 14-17 and the scene around here (Kentucky) obviously isn't the best for trying to get a rock band started. Especially when the majority only listen to country radio, or top 40 radio.
dude, your Ozzy glasses are bad ass and your explanations are fucking killer hahahahahahhahahahahahahhhahaha