by Tom O'Connor

Unsigned bands looking for a deal: - drop everything and read this!

Monday October 21st marked the date of Plum Promotions first Demo Workshop at the Betsey Trotwood pub in London. The night opened with a one-hour demo workshop upstairs followed by The Purple Onion Club - an open-mic live music showcase and headline band appearance in the venue downstairs. Plum Promotions, which is led by the noble Alan North, organised the event in an effort to build relationships with artists in two ways: by offering feedback on their music that is both invaluable and in scarce supply via a panel of industry professionals (A&R, management, producers, journalists,) and by offering a stage where a band interested in testing out new material to a live audience could turn up and do so.

Tonight's panel included:

Things started promptly at 6pm as the 'industry experts' took their seats before a crowd of artists anxiously awaiting the public evaluation of their precious work.
Roughly 15 demos were reviewed covering a full range of genres and fuelling a healthy amount of dialogue between the panel and the artists. The quality of the recordings varied from unquestionable 'demo' quality through to a handful that were labelled "...ready for FM radio..." Some truly magnificent quotes were tossed about throughout the evening, so many in fact that I've decided to list them all (anonymously) at the end of this story.

Any new bands out there would find this event to be a useful source of ideas and advice that would prove to be essential in getting themselves organised and getting their music into the hands of people who could make a difference. But get there early, in fact, get your music in there at least two weeks before the event by contacting the Plum Promotions team and begging that they add your stuff to the list. There's a list of bands to be played, and if you're not on it your stuff won't be played.

Taking a step back and looking the demo workshop in big picture terms, I walked away from it with a positive feeling with regard to the morale of London's underground music movement. This was the third demo workshop I've been to this year, (although the first to be run entirely by Plum Promotions,) and they've all been excellently attended and full of refreshingly new music. An indescribable tension fills the room at the end of each song as the artists identify themselves and await the jury's decision. The tension thickened as one artist challenged several panel members with the words "...you've said you like my stuff, what are YOU going to do to help me? I know what I need to do, tell me what you're gonna do?" -An intensely fantastic moment, which drew the praise from the panel and might get that guy a break. The evening ended with a well-deserved round of applause for the Plum Promotions team and a frenzy of flyer, CD and email swapping, in addition to tons of shameless plugging.

History: The Purple Onion Club was named after a 1960's student pizza parlour in New York, the place where Bob Dylan got his first break, and later evolved into an avenue to success for other unknown acts. Alan's intention is to use this club as a way to get UK bands their first big break. The event will be held every two weeks if possible, and he insists that admittance will always be free. His reasons for hosting the night are not entirely altruistic, as it will help Plum Promotions as much as it helps the bands that participate. Alan elaborated on this point, saying "...the PR Plum Promotions receives is excellent and it allows us to build a strong relationship with the bands..." Alan also added "Plum Promotions wanted to find ways to help bands that did not involve exchanging money. It all boils down to the relationship Plum Promotions is forming with the bands." Events like this are exactly what an unsigned band needs to give their music exposure. My advice to unsigned bands? Be there.

Notable Quotables:
-"Don't bother sending your music to a record label; it will get you nothing as they are inundated with demos from other artists. The recipe for success is to get gigs and be a good draw, build a website and use it to communicate with your fan-base, become friends with promoters, get a support slot, be friendly with the bands you support as well as their managers, be cool - you will be remembered, get an agent if you can, get press, get in front of people, get on the radio and eventually it will happen..."
- "Trying to get signed is not a good plan. Having a laugh and enjoying what you are doing is a good plan, and if that leads to a deal..."
-"Getting the deal is only the beginning; things get much harder after getting the deal as you are pressured to deliver the deal's targets..."
-"A&R people hunt in a pack, they crowd together near the bar...they do not know their asses from their elbows; they do what they're told. If ever you do meet A&R people, have your own ideas of what your goals are and be assertive yet open to their suggestions. Rather than sending a completed song to an A&R person, try sending something incomplete that they can add input into, demonstrating that you are open to their suggestions."
-"People will be struck by the first few seconds of a demo, make your impact quickly, get the hooks up-front..."
-"Get yourself to New York, set up a three-night tour; no one will know you when you arrive, but after your tour everyone will know who you are, and unlike London the A&R people will come to see you..."
- "Whatever you can do to develop awareness of your band, if you can piss people off, they will be drawn to you..."

Monday 18 November 2002

by Matthew Grundy

The term 'workshop' in my mind conjures up images that are less than pleasant. One can't help but associate the word with one of two things: either a bunch of anally retentive nerds grouping together to talk about elves and warlocks, or a disgruntled Craft and Design teacher tearing through a piece of MDF with a rusty buzz saw. Well maybe that's just me. Either way, I'm happy to say that neither scenario applies to the Plum Promotions' second Demo Workshop, which was unquestionably a great success and featured the minimum amount of nerds and not a single 2" by 4" in sight.

After the unbridled success of the first workshop, the pressure was on to meet the standard that had been set. And as 6 o' clock moved closer, the tension mounted as the panellists, one by one, began to make their way upstairs at the Betsey Trotwood; some manifestly unsure themselves of what would be in store for them. Would the audience hate them? Would the demos be any good? Would they have anything to say? Would they get out alive? Well, before they had enough time to change their minds, the numbers began to roll in and it was time to take their seats and prepare for the bloodbath.

Within a few minutes all the candlelit tables were taken and it was standing room only as the crowd began to overflow into the corridor, trying to witness what was shaping up to be a special night for all involved. Sitting on the end of the panellists' table was none other than the hottest producer of the moment, Gordon Raphael, the man responsible for the album that any self-respecting indie-phile must own - The Strokes' Is This It? (Yes, him, the strange looking guy in the album sleeve - go have a look!). Alongside Mr Raphael were Neil Ridley from BMG, the first A&R man I've met that could be described as 'a nice guy'; Carl Marcantonio of Formidable management; and Mike Gourley, owner of Infected PR, both of whom appeared notably apprehensive of what was in store. A decent cross section of experts, I'm sure you'll agree. And all genuinely lovely people, I assure you.

Despite our assurance to the panel that they really would have a good time, they would never be settled until we got things underway, so after a brief introduction from each panellist, compere Sarah from Plum got stuck into the demos. Highlights from the demos include Slide Pheromone, with a cunning blend of garage guitars and strong folky vocals; The German Exchange with a simple but crafty tune in the same vein as The Strokes or The Coral; and Houston 500's 'Queen of The Crack Whores' which generated comments ranging from "offensive" (Neil) to "nice" (Mike), demonstrating quite aptly the nature of subjectivity in music. One man's crack whore is another man's queen, to coin a phrase. From the perspective of someone who has just come along for the fun of it, it all seems quite easy, but glancing at the faces of the crowd, and it's fairly easy to pick out the people who are having their demos played. An expression of anxiety and curiosity adorns their face, and who can blame them when four top-notch industry professionals are about to listen to and comment on their most precious work. But it is worth noting that, as we have seen, whatever anyone says about your music, there's always another guy who'll say something different. It seems, then, that while the panel may have a certain degree of expertise in matters musical, there are no right or wrong ways to make music, and no right or wrong opinions.

That being said, the panellists' comments were unerringly firm but fair, and always helpful and positive (well, mostly). Gordon in particular came out with some of the most enlightening remarks I've ever heard in relation to a piece of music. For example: "it's like the B52's and the Sisters of Mercy if they were in the same band" (Ghost of Lemora); "It's nerdy and introverted, but funny" (The Coronets); and my particular favourite, "...it made a left turn, then another left turn, then another left turn..." (Houston 500).

Apart from the comments made to each band individually, our panellists offered some invaluable advice to all demo-makers in general, and the overall feeling of the crowd afterwards was that whether or not you actually had a demo played on the night, being there just to listen was worth a lot in itself. In summary, what seemed to be the running theme was that for a demo to be successful, it must grab the attention of the listener at once. There must be something about it that demands to be heard, that makes anyone and everyone stop what they're doing and give it their undivided attention. Neil summed it up nicely by saying that in spite of the many factors involved with any band, "the song is the key". An encouraging sentiment I feel, and it just goes to show that, while we may be surrounded by so much posturing and hype in the music business these days, there are still people out there that believe that, at the end of the day, the music must speak for itself.

After the final song had been heard and the last little inspired gem had been handed out by the panel, a rapturous round of applause was given by all present and I observed a genuine look of satisfaction on just about every face that passed me on the way out and then it was down to the bar for drinks all round, to celebrate a job well done. And as for the guys on the panel, the resounding response was " a bloody good laugh", or to quote Gordon, "really cool" (a phrase he used quite a lot as a matter of fact).

As I watched Gordon stumble out the door at the end of the night, fumbling with a pile of hopeful demo CDs as tall as a small giraffe, I detected an air of pride emanating from the Plum staff. It's no surprise, then, that they're holding another workshop in a couple of weeks' time. Yippee! So, well done to those bands that got their demos played, and thank you to the panellists, I personally feel as though I know a bit more than I did before, and I have Gordon, Neil, Carl and Mike to thank for that. Good job guys!