In my last article I talked about how much a bad demo can cost a band, not necessarily in terms of the price of recording, but rather the cost measured in missed opportunities. The next logical step would be to talk about the actual price (dead presidents, benjamins, moolah, green, cabbage, etc.) of a good demo. Well, I’m
not going to do that. It just wouldn’t be my style.
Instead, I’m going to summarize almost every band meeting I’ve ever had when the subject of “recording budget” comes up. It’s usually a short, awkward portion of the meeting where the band members squirm around and shoot glances at each other instead of making eye contact with me. Then one of the band members clears his throat, shrugs his shoulders, shoves his hands in his pockets and meekly says “dude, we’re poor.” It seems that a lot of bands I have meetings with are poor. Or are they?
Somewhere around the forty-thousandth time I found myself across the table from 5 band members bitching about how “poor” they were, and in between sips of their Starbucks triple latte explaining how many bills they had between them- I realized something. (Sometimes it takes me a while to catch on; I only recently learned the meaning of epiphany…) Yes, bands have a lot of bills; they also have the income of usually 5 or more people. But more importantly, they have the poor (pun intended) spending habits of as many people as there are in the band. Oooh….I think I sense a good article idea brewing…can you smell what the cook is rockin’?!!
When I’m in the studio with bands, I’m always paying attention to the people I’m working with. How they like their coffee, what they think is funny, and which shirt brings out the hazel blue highlights in the drummers’ eyes- you know, the little things. This spills over into the hang time outside of the studio as well, and I’ve noticed a couple things about the majority of the bands I work with. They tend to smoke cigarettes, eat fast food constantly, buy endless six-packs of (insert favorite beverage), and generally go through disposable income as if it were just that…disposable.
A big part of my production technique is to talk with bands a lot about what they want to do with their music, about their goals for the recording, etc. Then I keep an ‘ear’ out for things that they may do musically that contradict the goals we discussed during our meetings. Then bring those contradictions to the forefront so the band can make conscious decisions about their music, their goals, or both. Let’s flip the script and take a look at your bands’ spending habits, and how they may be contradicting (and inhibiting) your music goals.
The average band I work with is a four piece. On average, each member smokes about a pack a day and eats at a fast food restaurant at least once a day. Is that a classroom bell ringing? Yep- it’s time for math class. I did some digging and it seems the average cost of a pack of cigarettes is about $5. The average cost of a fast food meal is about $7. So, one could easily figure out that a four piece band traveling on a west-bound train going 55 mph spends about $48/day on fast food and cigarettes. That’s $336 a week, and nearly $1500 a month!! “Holy shit, is this guy actually asking us to give up fast food and cigarettes? We’re a rock band! That’s un-American!” I assure you that I’m as American as apple pie, and I’m a rocker through and through…but wouldn’t it be ironic if your “rock and roll lifestyle” was the very thing holding you back from recording your rock odyssey and gaining another rung on the rock ladder to fame and fortune?
Don’t worry; I’m not getting all Alan Greenspan on your ass. I’m not going to ask you to sell a bunch of stuff, convert your touring van to solar power, or cancel your cable subscription. What I am asking you to do is give up something that almost everyone else you know has been harping you about for a long time, and put the proceeds towards something else that people have been wanting you to do for a long time- RECORD AN ALBUM!! Please don’t read this article and give it a half-hearted attempt. Really do this thing. Sit down with your band and make a pact to do this together, and hold each other accountable for slipping up. If you do, in just a couple months you’ll have enough money saved to put a deposit down on some studio time and get the ball rolling on your recording project. $1,500 a month is a lot of money- you owe it to yourselves to do this thing.
Still not convinced? Well, here’s where you get a glimpse at the tip of an iceberg known as my genius: Every scum-sucking, spineless A&R douche bag I’ve ever talked to is looking for a band with “a story”. When asked “a what?” they respond “You know, something that will set them apart- something interesting about them.” How grand would it be if ‘your story’ was how your band gave up fast food and cigarettes for a few months to save the money needed to record the album that got them signed? Plus, you’ll look better in those leather pants you outgrew about 10 gigs ago.
Chris Mara
Nashville, TN
www.chrismara.com
www.myspace.com/chrismara