Band Management: Blog 48: Screwing It Down

I am managing “Band A” for a year. (I’m also managing the release of “Pipe” by The Styrofoam Turtles on Holy Crap Records – hey Josh and Tristen I just sent out the single to a second round of radio stations and I’ll send it it to a first round of media next week – I attached the music file directly to the email and we’ll see if that makes a difference.)
This moment marks the end of the run with “Band A’s” 2019 EPs “You’re A Bad Choice Baby” on Kafadan Kontak Records and the self-released “Gimme Gimme Gimme.” “Band A” got on a label, played on a handful of radio stations, reviewed by a couple of music magazines, they’re on a couple of compilations… and two weeks ago they played 4 shows in a week. I nearly killed certain members. It’s always a balancing act with the band – how much of “Band A’s” story am I the protagonist and how much am I working behind the scenes as an assistant? To hold the group of six people together, who have different interests within the scope of the band… To see how far the more chill members are willing to bend – not very far – and to work to placate the more willful members…
To be honest, with the change in season, with Winter approaching, I feel like crawling onto a couch with an acoustic guitar singing some lonesome cowboy songs.
It’s time to head into the studio. Record some super fast garage rock and some slow moody minimalist heartache. At the start of 100 blog posts I was aiming to get the band on a label, to get them playing at a festival, to have 100 people show up for them… Even as I hibernate, my confidence/arrogance is still rising and I wish to see how far “Band A” can go…