Lessons

Lesson Info

Building a Plan

Let's, take a couple moments here and talk about getting a plan together. Dave. You know, you want to be a big band. You've got an hour, and you're getting busy. How can I help you now give you something? You walk out of here and go, you know, I think I got a game plan. Well I mean you already did with to get busy that's for sure but no how do I get how do I go from playing a small venue to playing a much why don't I go from playing the boom boom room to playing the fillmore for playing you know, cow palace or something along those lines if you're here's the here's the simple answer okay you earn your way okay that nobody's gonna book into a bigger venue unless you're selling out the one underneath not a professional right? Because club owners right which is where you're at right now higher fans that bring in people they don't really make any money on the door even though they're not paying your many cases charging you to pay right they're selling booze right? So if you can bring in pe...

ople consistently that drink right you look like you got some boozing buddies yeah, you know and they're drinking and you've got three hundred boozing buddies someone we're gonna be on the roof tonight here okay? And you've done your homework now and you're thinking bigger and you're thinking tactically you think okay, so this guy I got three hundred drunk buddies of mine they're coming in here and have four beers a night of ten bucks that's forty box times three that's twelve thousand bucks right now if you don't have your manager by then who should be able to do that calculation, then you go and get it so you start to get paid number one but more importantly you go and figure if you're playing a three hundred see there and the mission is how do I get to the next level if it's may I'm sitting there going okay let's look at the venues and notch up the food chain here but understand folks there is no way you get there unless you're doing the business okay that's the fairytale version of the music oh I think I should be playing bigger are you selling out the other well no but I think I should be playing bigger well you know what I wish I could flap my arms and fly but it's not gonna happen okay so but once you're there simple go to places that all your heroes they're paying that air it six hundred seats and when you knocked out out you go two thousand let me tell you how that works with incubus my friends and they started playing little bullshit clubs for no money when they started hundred seaters toe I saw him in a little place called the alligator lounge I didn't know of his five bucks I got in for free but they had three hundred fifty people their right for riel and I'm looking around the room with singer boy's holding up his record and the anger and you know it was like I think wow these guys are awesome this singer he's almost pretty man it's like I'm watching this yet but there's three hundred fifty people in their right so I'm a grizzly cynical guy so the next day I called up the club on I sell me askyou to with these ball paid customers and yeah they were paid customers to a month later there playing the true but I call it my buddy lance what's the deal with these guys and these guys actually doing now do what these guys are bringing in freakin business right so that's how they want up getting on our radar and getting signed the same thing happen in their lives play little club did our business you only play so many little clubs and then it was like the mission was how do I get a great band in front of more people like the time the cock sticking in my head all the time right okay I got to call up some of my buddies bigger bills the band gets signed epic records and corn's going on tour my buddy's managing the band goes hey man we need some more tourists but I go along you know what that's great I'm gonna get your tourists but I need a little ride for these kids and I don't know I didn't ask if you know him you need the money I need these guys on that tour off they go to europe and they're playing in front of two thousand people a night same story in america's support, support see we'd like to be headline yeah I'd like to do a lot of things right now we're doing this and so when they got through those those supports lots now we could come back and play an eight hundred cedar in chicago the cab metro right and then we blow it out and then we go back on the road again is a support band right again helpful that they had a manager I wasn't their official manager but for all intents and purposes I was their manager on the phone that do we sold out this we've been on the torm with corn them you know well, you know we can't pay on that much I'm the guy epic records with the tourists I'm not asking for you to pay him give us two hundred fifty bucks I want to get these guys in front of some people right and that's how we built it right so but the point that you should take waves if they made the grade at every level and every artist that's out there trying to make a living doing this you need to be honest because you will get feedback on your songs you may not like it. They may not like your product. I could see it here in day to do this whole thing and cops say how many of these things be so so man, we have people writing this letter whenever see you back here again man okay that would be feedback so that's what you need to have so to get to the next level you've got to sell these things out simple, simple and tough okay who's next so the plan there so is I'd love to seven campbell had a great point seven gamble talking about managers who says manager is one of the last people you get not to mention no great manager will have an interest in you until you have something to manage you'll already be touring and have a following a manager's job is not to get you jobs how do you feel about that? I think that sounds like a guy who's in the music business okay who's doing it because in general it technically speak speaking it's the agents job to book the show that's a technical thing right? But I'm here to tell you we had a great agent within commits he's been with us someday want to when we were getting fifty dollars again john harrington I'll do a shout out to john right? The experienced managers know who the players are but they're not getting you there gigs right? But to his point we've mentioned it already today the experience managers will find you if you're doing what you are don't get lost and think this is chicken and the egg that's bullshit okay, the chicken and the egg is if you're doing business and somebody in this county san francisco day is doing business okay you may think their music sucks you may think they they're the worst band in the world but if they're rapping people around the block that's that's not that's riel okay and that's when I talk about the fairytale version of the music versus boys what's riel in our lives lots of things that were confronted with we don't like but they're riel ok the alcohol goes I don't have a problem he crashes his car when you do have a problem okay and if you're an artist and you're not selling out venues maybe it's because your songs are great neighbors because your performances and great doesn't mean you're a bad person but you've got to accept the feedback and it's not always great so plan where we put in there kate I'm gonna let you get back and upping the venues cates good kate you're killing me that's all all right all right let's go to alexa you knew I was coming of the good news I'm running out of voice yourself you've got to do the talking alexis what are we doing next what I really want to ask you for becoming a manager how do I do it with bands that are looking for guy managers and not girls here's what I tell you okay I don't why there aren't more women managers and I actually have a theory but I'm always afraid to say it because sometimes women don't they worry more about how they're going to come off then guys d'oh okay but I've had I've met some great female managers but I'm here to tell you if I'm in a band okay if my name was stephanie rennie but I brought everything to the table and somebody wouldn't have me because my name was stephanie they're an idiot okay because getting a great manager it has nothing to dio with ike it has nothing to do it has to do with can you make something happen now in this world there is no question that you know guys have different relationships with the other guys and so forth and so it takes a little getting used to having some chick like you up you know but I've been lit up by a few yeah and I don't take any offense to it if what they're saying is true sir but if I were in a band and my manager was young care o'neil she's out there watching a miami I'm telling I met with kira you think I'm intense she scared the shit out of me okay whoa jeez she's in attack dog okay we have an intern named jamie bertel I've never met her in person I found out she's a harry styles fan who knew she's an animal she just gets it done right she just knocks it out of the park I don't care in fact I go beat up a few of my little interns that guy's going. You know my son, who thinks he's a tiger coming tell you little jamie, bro, could eat you for lunch, okay, stop. So it's riel, I think, it's less of an issue today, but here's, what? I'll tell you, and you'll hate me for saying, don't let that be your excuse, okay, because nobody cares. You want to be a managing? Well, I'm a woman. I'm I respond to be what's your point. That answer your question I just yelled that jobs land you get what I'm saying though okay managers have to inspire confidence okay and it's fun to hear the comments we all people you know steve gets me fired that's what managers do okay because you are the one that has to spend one hundred knows and I know no man we're this close to the yes that's going to change our lives right even if you don't believe it okay even if you're questioning it right that's what you do it's not rocket scientists it's not building a power point you know that's not what it's about it's about making something happen and part of it's just getting people fired up when neighbours out there writes a song and just cheese I'm not getting anywhere it's going eva stop just keep writing take all that vibe and put it into a song don't worry about all these jerks that air saying no that's those aren't the ones we need we're looking for the yes and if you don't ask you don't get you don't learn you don't get the yes their way if he's alive all right so um kira is in the chat room and says okay, by the way I meant that all care you do scare me a little bit but in a good way in a good way in a good and by the way for all you folks out there if you think you've got something going on talk to cure o'neill she'll scare you too but you know what that's what you need is a manager you need somebody's gonna be your advocate right okay um alexis what's are what we're going to put in there for your plan for alexa what are you going to do when you walk out here day other than rest go meet fans yeah you're gonna go and you're gonna be looking for a great band that's got songs performance in the head and the heart that's his ki is anything and you're going to be the one that inspires confidence that's the deal if you can't do that's ok it's not for everybody most I tell people you gotta be crazy to be a manager but if you're going to do it you better do it with confidence fair comment all right who's next up on the tea okay michelle what's next for your plan you're gonna walk out you're trying to be a manager you've done the internship thing what's next in your plan I gotta go talk to the band that I want to manage after this and you're gonna tell him what that I want to be their manager and I wantto advocate for them yeah and then and then when she got done with that you know you need to start thinking about realistically okay about how you're going to turn their music into money giving a little manager tip right now here, this is arithmetic. Okay, you need to be a harvard guy for this or appropriate. No money for band, no money for manager, okay, it's. One thing to say, I'm a manager. It's, another thing to say, I'm broke, okay, they typically go together, okay, but the point is no money for band, no money for manager, a kid about it, but I'm not kidding about my job is to take their hobby and turn it into the career that I want to make music my life. I want to make a living doing this right? That's that's a tall recipe okay so your next step is a I'm going to help you turn this hobby and it's something you can put on your passport when we go to australia says occupation I asked the guys that jose when you put on that thing you put trumper boy on there what do you what do ok and her toe entertainer nice right that's what you got to think of it but remember that tombstone where they're gonna put on your tombstone that you should be worried about that but that's what it cut manager ok so you come up with plan here's how I think we're going to turn this into money plan may not work chances are it made probably won't but you're not we've already covered that if it didn't now we're talking about how to make it be the one in a million that one in one hundred so that's what you need to dok we good michelle you got a little game planning here little confidence I want you you know I don't want you to send me an email I mean how you doing and then when I see that I don't like to be and you know you tell me that's not your problem I don't know I didn't ask you what you thought about being an old man okay who's next year we've got the lovely and talented ava um okay so I e I'm going tio finish my recordings I do have recording's waiting for me when I get back to melvin just exciting and get more gigs with bums on seats and yeah yeah and you got somebody to help you there I've yeah I've got friends the moment but I think I need to start start circulate around doing some homework on who's doing what and who I'm telling if you do a little homework you can go make some calls going who's the hot little hotshot manager in town there's some guy out there some gal out there that doesn't have a big reputation that's gonna be a big manager okay there's no mansion has started off being a big manager most um started off failing with twenty bands that's may have had one big winner incubus I mean his twelve bands by the way I was the same guy the whole time some of them wasn't meant to be some of them shot themselves in the foot some of them didn't have the have the level of talent that we needed when all was said and done but more often not they're heading their heart left him ok because the time ran out there they couldn't sustain it right I got lucky with my friends and incubus but they work for it and they were in it the whole time and that is what you need to tell some man's your arm in this you need to have a cz much swagger is lady god, guy says, I'm going to be the biggest act in the world and not have one ounce of like baby.