Although I wasn't working with Jimi Hendrix with press, I did have the awesome opportunity to run around with What Made Milwaukee Famous, Black Joe Lewis and the Heartless Bastards. Here are a few photos to show some of the facets of my weekend. Enjoy!
Here I am at the Milwaukee show - since I work for C3, I got the fancy purple wristband that allowed me access everywhere. What a joy! So, I got to be on the stage for shows that I wanted to check out.
Here are the guys - Michael Kingcaid (vocals, guitar) and John Farmer (bass). Check out the crowd behind them - they had a great turnout for their show.
After the show we took the guys over to the press area to knock out some interviews. The first two are a video interview with METV and the third photo is of the guys doing a live radio interview with 101X.
Also in the press pit was Paste Magazine. This photo is of Joe Lewis (guitar, vocals) and Zach Ernst from Black Joe Lewis doing a video interview for Paste. The questions they were asking were like, "If you were running for office, what would your campaign song be?"
And finally, here is a backstage shot before the Heartless Bastards set. There is a lot of scrambling around to get the stage cleared and set up before the next band goes on.
The way ACL has it set up is that each stage is staggered to play, so the bands go on at an exact time (with only a few delays) and play for only the amount noted in their contract. Most of the time each stage has only 30-45 minutes between each show, so the roadies have to bring their A-games in order to get the gear on and off stage in time for the next band to perform.
All in all, I was very impressed with how ACL is put together and organized. It's quite busy backstage, but in the alcohol-drenched artist lounge you can find a little oasis in which to chill and meet some of the brightest minds in the music industry, be it managing, drumming or singing. I've learned that it's extremely important for bands to do interviews with as many publications or radio stations as possible. Although it can sometimes be like pulling teeth, in the end it gives the fans a glance into the inner-workings of the musician's brain. And in most cases, bands will tell you that the reason they do music is because it's "all about the fans." Then let the fans see into your psyche a bit...it's worth it.
2 comments:
After talking last week, and now reading this, a parallel occurred to me that I wasn't thinking of at the time... Your comments on bands not always understanding the importance of press reminds me of similar thoughts I've had in the past from people working with scientific-oriented organizations - NASA, academic departments, museums, etc. The scientists typically are all in it for the knowledge and advancing society, but they're often pretty unaware of the importance of really communicating that to the outside world.
Does C3, or anyone else, offer any sort of class or formal explanation of why these things are important for bands? Or is more informal and a consistent fight of pulling teeth?
I know! When I worked for the McDonald Observatory, it was interesting chatting with my boss, Rebecca Johnson. She informed me that they were releasing a Web site for the HETDEX project - something HUGE in the observatory world - about dark matter exploration. Rebecca was all pumped up to send out press releases about the Web site going live, but plenty of the scientists working on the project objected. They didn't want to make "a big deal out of it." Hmm. Oh the joys of PR people! :)
As far as I know, C3 does not offer classes for the bands they manage, however, after working during ACL, it could be really helpful for both sides. Artists should willingly participate in these classes, but sometimes egos will get in the way. (I am in no way saying any of C3's artists have big egos!)
So, what C3 does is informally try to get the bands excited for press time. Some like it - Ben Kweller, for example - but some are a bit more shy - Black Joe Lewis. But when they get in front of the camera, or on tape, the artists can really shine and let their fans get a taste of their life. It's pure magic when an interview goes well.
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