Get More Gigs: Your EPK - Electronic Press Kit

Do you want to play more? As we talked about in an earlier post, everybody wants more gigs. Well, here's another idea that might help you to land more jobs.

The idea of a "press kit" has been around a long time, but has been updated with the widespread availability of technology in the modern world.
Just last week I had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion on the music industry that included one of the top booking agents in my area. She talked about the need for musicians/bands to have a good EPK, or electronic press kit. At one point, she said, "Don't call me, don't email me, don't visit my office until you have a great EPK put together."

So, what should your EPK include? Here's the list from the panel discussion.

1. Photos. To paraphrase our panelists, this means you need to spend some money. If your "promo" shot was taken in your back yard by your little sister, it probably won't cut it. Click here for some great promo shot examples.
2. Audio tracks. Again, this should be the absolute best quality you can afford, and should represent your best playing. 
3. Video. We've all seen a million videos on YouTube that were shot with a smart phone. In the professional world, this is the mark of someone who may not be serious about their craft. As with audio, your video needs to be the best quality you can afford, well edited, and represent the best aspects of your skill set.
4. Resume. You could also call this your, "greatest hits," list. Include all your significant performances, venues, partner acts, accomplishments and awards relative to you music career.
5. Website. And, no, I'm not talking about a Facebook page. Back in the day you would have delivered all of this material by hand, in its physical form. Today, you email the link to your site, which will provide everything included in this list. 
6. Easy contact info. E-mail and phone numbers are a given, but you might also include your Twitter handle, Facebook page address or any other ways that somebody can contact you. 

Obviously, this list is geared toward the performing act - bands, solo acts, shows, etc. But I think it is very applicable to the freelance musician trying to land work. Whether it be a potential gig, studio session, or appearance, you want to put your best foot forward when people are looking to hire you.

One more thing for drummers. It may not be a bad idea to include the gear that you have, even pictures if it can be done in a non-obtrusive way. Potential clients need to know that you don't only have the ultra-mega-double-kick-metal-mayhem kit, or that you can only bring a four-piece. Your gear, especially as a drummer, can be the key to your fitting into any musical environment.

And, last (for now), make sure that your imaging is consistent. Even if you're pursuing opportunities across many different genres, settings, etc., all of your photo/video, recordings and online imaging need to accurately and professionally present who you really are to anybody who views them.

For some more EPK tips, click here. 


The bottom line is that you control how people see you. So start taking it seriously, and get more/better gigs.


Happy drumming!

Gear Up: Go green with an iPad

Not too long ago, I was on a gig with a band when the sound board burned out (no flames, but some awesome smoke). After doing some research, they decided to replace the board with a new-tech board completely controlled by an iPad. There are several versions of this board, but this is the one they were looking at.

One of the most attractive features (for me, at least) is that I can control my own monitor mix from my own iPad wirelessly. Also, up until this point, the band was using (actual paper-and-ink) music notebooks, especially for longer shows that required switching up the set list on the fly.

So, announcing the upgrade of the soundboard and the end of the notebooks*, the band sent out an email requesting that all of the sidemen (yup, that's me) get an iPad by a certain date. I went shopping, and ultimately settled on a second hand, "unused," still-in-the-wrapper iPad 2 with 32GB of storage. It was expensive (yikes!), but I felt like it was a good deal.

But....I'm not gonna lie. I was pretty skeptical about the usefulness of the iPad beyond the obvious ones I've already mentioned. That being said, here's my short list of uses for the iPad that have sort of changed my world.

1. Truth be told, I haven't used the iPad with the new mixer yet, but if it's half as cool as the marketing videos, "'Nuff said."
2. I downloaded an app that allows me to store, edit and display the charts (usually spreadsheet format like Excel or Numbers) we use to play songs, so I have literally hundreds of songs at my fingertips at every gig, even without internet access.
3. When I do have internet access, I can pull up a chart for any song that is requested at a gig. In fact, at a recent gig we were able to respectably recreate at least a half dozen songs we'd never rehearsed. That goes a long way with making an audience or client very happy.
4. Continuing the "green" theme, an iPad is much easier to use than a smart phone or laptop to take quick notes, check a calendar, or send a message - with no paper, pen, pencil, chisel or stone slate.
5. Smart phones can do this, but iPads are a little better - taking photos or quick videos, recording sound or voice notes or sending emails, texts, HeyTell messages, etc.
6. Apps are awesome. They're even awesomer (I know it's not a word, but I can't resist using it) on a bigger screen with more capabilities. Most apps for iPhone have more features and usability on iPad.

I'm not saying you can't live without an iPad, but I am saying that they are far more useful than I had anticipated. I've even found myself taking it to meetings instead of my laptop. It's easier to carry, the battery lasts longer, and it's got all the features (for me, at least) needed to carry about my daily tasks.

Phew! It feels good to get that off my chest. 

*Honestly, this was a no-brainer. Every time we added a song to the setlist (over 200 at this point), it required a bunch of printing, collating, updating the notebook - blah, blah, blah. The iPad allows for quick, easy and "green" updating of basically everything we need for a gig.

Friday Feature: Carter Beauford

It's time for this post. It's been time for a long time.

Carter Beauford of the Dave Matthews Band is one of the reasons I play drums.

(Start here, then go listen to some tunes. It may be helpful to start with the band's first major release, 1994's "Under the Table and Dreaming." )

I started playing drums in the sixth grade in the middle school band. By the seventh grade, I had a drum set in the basement and was jamming with a friend (a once-in-a-lifetime guitar talent, it turns out). By the ninth grade, everything I heard on the radio just made me mad. I'd constantly think to myself - or complain aloud to anyone who would listen - "I can do anything any of these guys do! Why am I not famous and making loads of cash as a drummer?" (Reason number one is probably that I was fifteen years old, but I wasn't really thinking of that.) Anyway, long story short is that I wasn't hearing anything that I thought was creative or sophisticated, and I was pretty frustrated with what I thought was the height of modern pop-rock drumming.

The summer after my junior year I had to borrow a car from my boss (cool boss, no?) to run an errand. Her car was a late model Acura with a killer sound system, and the disc that was playing was the aforementioned "Under the Table" album. I had heard of DMB but never actually listened to them, so I didn't even know who I was listening to. When I got back I was actually a little disappointed when I found out (skeptical kid!), but it was too late. I was hooked. I had never heard a drummer do things like Carter did/does with the backbeat, fills, set-ups and pulse*. It was like going from black and white to color.

Fast forward about six years and I owned everything then available from DMB and played in a band that had a fiddle player. And since then I've done more studying and listening and loved every minute of it. Carter B is the man, and his playing has only gotten better and more musical.

After you've had a chance to just get immersed in the music, it's worth checking out Carter's instructional video, "Under the Table and Drumming." There's not a ton of nuts and bolts instruction, but a lot of, "This is what I was doing on this part," and a few great conceptual things.

There are a million videos I could choose from to give you a sample of Carter's playing, but I've always believed that's all about the music - the song as a whole - and that the drummer has to contribute to that. So this track is my all-time favorite DMB tune, and one of Carter's grooviest and most musical performances.

One caveat: this video conforms to the radio edit of this track. Do yourself the favor of tracking down the album version and giving it a thorough listen. It's almost double in length to this version. No offense to Dave, but the best music happens after the singing stops. See if you can count the number of instruments being used during this track.

Alright, enough talk (er...type). Let's get to the tune.

As always, happy drumming!


*It doesn't hurt that Carter plays an unusually large and complex drum kit. You can check out his current configuration of gear here.