"How many of us are artists who manage themselves?" (75% of hands go up.)
"And how many of those would have someone else do it for you if you could?" (0 hands go down.)
Yep! Last night's Guild meeting brought some familiar faces - and a bunch of new ones - into the studio to talk about something most of us don't love: The administration thing. We made a list of what managers do (it's often vague and negotiable, especially in the realm of local music), then delved into our own goals for our music. Some of us are out to play a specific venue, earn a certain income, or write a song that charts - while others simply wanted to feed our gear habit or have a good time as much of the time as we can. And from gig choices to marketing strategies to the need for income streams, the choices we make are determined by the goals we set.
Louis Vasseur is a wonderful thing - a manager who's NOT also a member of the band he manages. Louis shared with us how he packed Chord on Blues for Jenny Frank's last show - and why he decided to give their EP away for free, but sell hats, beanies and numerous T-shirts at every show.
We also heard from the Hyrax about how they're getting smaller booking companies interested and working their way up from there - and from Craig Borchers of Billions about how his band has benefited from connecting with the Hyrax. Mark Werthmann of August talked about re-forming his band after 30 years with some very specific ideas of what they wouldn't do this time. Meanwhile, Ben Sage has a goal that's singularly craft-oriented - he wants to write a Top 40 song before he dies.
You guys are totally passionate, and totally diverse. I love it.
But what am I forgetting? What did you learn that was helpful?
