mikechapmanhill Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Basically I'm starting a function band and putting on a showcase event for a project at uni and need to write an essay on how it is viable. My real question is how do you find clients as a beginning function band? Has anyone here done a sort of showcase event for a function band or been to one? How did it go? Any potential pitfalls? Any help would be appreciated guys! Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Did showcases years ago, but wasn't committed enough back then. Now, I'm not interested in function work on a regular basis as we focus on parties...same money, upto a point... ie £1k. Most bands might start with pubs and do a wedding or party from it but there is always the difference in money. Many bookers might say you work pubs for this and yet for their event you want to charge them 3 or 4 times that..?? This is why you shouldn't consider yourself a pub band, IMO. Good bands get noticed and gigs leads to other gigs but I'm not sure of quite a few wedding show auditions..?? depends how much time you get. If I wanted to get into a high flying function circuit, then I'd invest money in that, hoping that the first couple of gigs would pay for the investment. Things like showreels are ok... but the best method is word of mouth... and once you get a GOOD in, maybe sure you get another invite from it. You wont do any of this without gigging and developing a track record tho..?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 The band I was part of used clever SEO on our website to keep us top in search results. We took bookings based purely on the website and had enough saved from booking deposits to purchase a PA system before we played our first gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris_b Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Start by extending your homework to look at existing function bands. As JTUK says, these are not pub bands that get lucky with a few weddings. The difference is night and day. A successful function band is not a hobby. It's a level of professionalism seldom seen on the pub circuit, and you are unlikely to prosper over time without impressing an agency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 There are function bands and there are function bands. If you are looking at the serious end of the market, then stop thinking like a band and start thinking like a service provider. You are selling a brand that people want to buy into. There are a million bands out there offering the same old thing. You need to be different, not necessarily in what you perform, but in what you offer. Service is key Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 The other thing is where..?? Getting into London for £1500 is cheap by their ability to pay so you'll only give that price out once and you'll need to carry the gig off. You'll need to impress the booker ... and they'll get feedback from the client, but what both are looking at may well differ hugely. The client wants an event that is a 'success', of course, whereas the booker might be more interested in working for the hotel more than they are working for you... so the smooth running of the evening becomes critical. The P.A, lights and stage need to be very good and unobstrusive and by some token, so do the band. A lot of this is so much about presentaion rather than a spiffing band. It can be more important to look great and have cables tied away than the music as most bookers and clients don't know what is what..but you can't dismiss the fact that they are ultimately paying... I just think it is easier to pull off the music-side than running the whole show by clockwork. Even things like parking permits and arrival times are a headache to be dealt with by someone so you'll not want such a simple fail on your record. IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truckstop Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Getting function gigs in a nutshell: Get an excellent website put together with high quality content - Audio, video, and pictures. It costs money! A lot of people don't use agents to find bands for parties, weddings and functions. The website is the most powerful tool you have to attract potential clients. Get an agent and give him/her something to sell. Don't bother with pubs. DO play private parties. Throw a party and get your band to play. Invite lots and lots of people. You'll be surprised at how influential your friends and acquaintances will be at passing work on to you. I organised my wife's 25th birthday party last year and as a direct consequence we've got two corporate functions this year that will pay very well indeed. Good luck! Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spike Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 When I started a function band with a drummer friend we booked a few pub gigs and invited some local agents to come and see us. We got some good gigs from doing that but most of our work came from our website and word of mouth. What Truckstop says about parties is dead right, we did a few for relatives and friends and the word spread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoham Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 All good advice above, but more than anything get the right people. You all need to practice hard and have a decent length setlist. Not everyone will have the drive to do this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoham Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 To elaborate on my point above, I've been trying to properly get my function band off the ground for a few years now, and jammed with a couple of others too. You need people who have the time to commit to a function band and the willingness to play songs they don't like. Like has already been mentioned - we're providing a service for the enjoyment of other people. Everyone I've played with has 'talked the talk' at some point, but they've mostly been unsuitable in one way or another. For example:- - A male vocalist who did a good Mick Jagger impression, but refused to sing far too many songs - usually because he deemed them to be uncool. - A guitarist who doesn't have the time to learn anything, but never misses ANY televised sport - football, darts, tennis - you name it. Can't rehearse on Sundays, because he can't miss 'Super Sunday', similar story when the Champions League is on. - A pointy guitar owner who made everything in to a metal version. (Scooped mids, pinch harmonics, you get the idea!) - A keyboard player who couldn't get a decent sound - it's the one area where decent gear is a must - the punters can tell! (Which punter can really hear the difference between a Squire Affinity P and a Fender Custom Shop P?) - A female vocalist who doesn't know her own range. We always start in the original key, and despite practicing at home, we sometimes need to move down a tone when we get together. It's not always easy to work out on the fly! - Various people with too many other commitments, from family to working shifts. Don't mean to be negative here - just make sure you spend the time up-front getting the right people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikechapmanhill Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 [quote name='JTUK' timestamp='1422883723' post='2677828'] Did showcases years ago, but wasn't committed enough back then. [/quote] How did those showcases go? Where did you do them? How did you find people to invite? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JTUK Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 [quote name='mikechapmanhill' timestamp='1422974035' post='2679015'] How did those showcases go? Where did you do them? How did you find people to invite? [/quote] We were invited to go on the showcase which was a large hotel room and all the bands set up around the edges and you got a 20 minute slot each. The agents viewed each bands slot and came to talk to any band they were interested in after every band had played. I recall we had our band uniforms on and everything... Now, I think an agent would invite acts and then either film bands or just audition them there and then and then they'd sell the act to a prospective booker. Agents now invite bands to attend their showcases/fayres via FB groups and the like, typically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raymondo Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I used to be in a Function band ...we played parties for the BBC and we played lots of Forces bases ....in the UK and Germany. We got them though an agent that held a showcase at the St Athan (spelling?) airforce base near Newquay....sorry but my memory is terrible and we played so many bases that I get confused as to what they were called and where they were! We drove all the way from Nottingham to do 15 mins. we had a poster and that was it we "sold" ourselves in 15 mins and then packed down and drove all the way back. That was in the late nineties, I think now you need a web site,recordings, videos etc ....non of which my current band has ...I wish we could do a showcase Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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