This Friday and Saturday, Ryan and I (Nikc) are going to haul our asses up to Lancaster, PA to showcase our 3 amazing bands. This is definitely worth a follow-up post because I have no idea what to expect.
NACA is the National Association of College Activities. The idea is that all of the big campus events in the Mid-Atlantic region are booked through this event. We were turned down to showcase our band, so we won’t be playing. However we will have a table/booth sort of thing where we will be able to meet the college reps and tell them about our bands.
To get ready for our booth, a lot of shit that should have been taken care of had to be taken care of rather quickly. I’m talking photos, videos, and postcards; three things that I will have to go into more depth about after the conference. But for now check out some of our collateral that Ryan put together for us:
The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad
In general, DMFS has been around the longest, has the most press, and the most pictures. But we’ve had many personnel changes, and to be honest our look and sound has come along way.
Updating our photos and postcard are things that have been lingering on the backburner, while shows and a new album have taken the forefront of our attention. The new marketing material hints a bit at the look and feel of our upcoming album.
The video features some interview footage taken from a short documentary about the band circa 2006, and some recent concert footage including a recent in-studio performance at WTMD in Towson, MD. It’s great to have friends that will take good video and audio of your shows.
Our hope for DMFS is to obtain some college festival shows, opening for much bigger bands like the Black Eyed Peas, or whatever the hell the kids like these days.
Wild Bonerz
Wild Bonerz was formed by Steve and I about a year ago. In a nutshell we’re a cover band that performs Top 40 hits from the 70s, 80s, and 90s transposed into old-timey bluegrass form.
Prior to about a week ago, we had zero marketing collateral. This is where doing your homework pays off, because instead of relaxing we basically had to manufacture our look and theme on the spot, and then con Ryan into shooting and editing a nice video for us.
Through NACA and in general, we are looking to circumvent club shows and book Wild Bonerz into some two-hour dinner or happy hour gigs. My hopes are high with this one because frankly people love covers, especially if there’s a banjo involved.
We look fucking creepy in our video, and sort of like the ghosts in the haunted mansion at Disney World. I love it.
The Hilltop Hightops
College girls are cute, and lets face it: one day, after they finish grad school, they may decide to have a kid or two.
Ok. That’s not necessarily a good reason why The Hilltop Hightops will gain a whole list of tour stops at colleges. But maybe since colleges and universities also double as community centers, we will be able to nab some holiday family-friendly festivals.
This one was easy because we did our homework and created all of our marketing material when we launched the band(!) earlier this year.
From what I hear, most gigs are booked after the actual conference. I’m guessing we should have a pretty good feel on whether it was a worthwhile venture by Sunday. In either case, I’ll be posting some pictures of us “doing our thang.” In costume, of course.
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If you like this article check this one out:
What The Hell Is This? – An overview of who The Dirty Marmaduke Flute Squad is and why we started this blog.
Starting A Band Without Knowing What You’re Doing – One man’s plan to start a band without a plan.