How to demo?

Doing this stuff via the post and email doesn't really work "on this scale" in my experience.

I'd say save up for a big plane ticket from NZ and hit up the major North American/European festivals next summer (or what's left of this summer) and seek out the folks in question, talk to them, hand them promos, do the whole "sell yourself" thing ... works much better in person, on location!

good luck ...

Ever thought about putting out your own vinyl?
People might take that more seriously than MP3's/CD-R's.

hi Michael
Just getting my coffee here , but some quick replies ...

* Not having ANY write up with your demos was a minus,
even if the name of the proj or artist doesn't ring a bell,
if someone doesn't know that you did those 5 CD's 12"s and remixes then it's really thin proposition .

* Use being in Tokyo to your advantage , use that trainspottin' instinct to find exactly the label(s) that are
A. where u wanna be , do what ya wanna do - and have a little $ / yen for an advance , and satisfactory distribution
B. if you find pickings are thin , expand that search again ( know you already did this ... but) and only send the very best stuff to the top 3-5 labels you desire in US , Euro , wherever .

I am currently making deals with various Tokyo indie labels and am getting label offers at the moment,
and I know some cats there have big passion about music .
Sometimes you'll find that passion is focused on Japanese based stuff and their own view of 'what it is'
(bit like everywhere really !) but u are there and would have to roll with their flow .
I have no idea how long you are there for and so maybe cannot say much more then that .
but I mention it because i find many people outside Japan imagine that the J's are waiting and dying for music from outside Japan - and we know that's just not the case , they have their own universe and often don't care one wit about the outside , but it's case by case obv

* As you noted , there is sooo much music being made now and demo's sent that it's got to be hard to attract attention initially .
Was hearing from a friend @ Warp NYC who was talking about how low sales for some 'name' stuff really are just as one example.
So yea, the music has to be sorted alright , top shelf , somewhat 'essential' in one way or another .

Agreed that traveling here and showing your face & music around would / could be good
and that doing your own 12" would be good too , both involve some $ and I don't know your situation
there ...

Now for that coffee ...
Cheers

hmm. perhaps you need to make your music even more mellow, to the point where it becomes a slow moving sludge of sound. the melting icecaps of music. make each piece last hours, days, months. reduce your intake of food, stop buying things, book a flight to the south pole or greenland and send your music from there, envelope plastered with stamps. that would be hard to ignore.

bruno has the best advice by far.

Seriously though, it's about creating an impression of something happening that people can either get behind or miss out on. Sending out demos in a vacuum will not do much, I don't know anyone who's gotten a deal that way. The advice about travelling and meeting people is sound. Do a backpack budget tour, play for free, lose money etc but hit as many cities as you can and make a point of meeting people and passing out packets with demo, bio etc. Making these look cool is good too, a friend of mine just gave me one designed to look like a communique from a secret agent. A corny idea but he had put it together so well I really enjoyed looking through it, even though I know his music and him already. Basically do anything you can to turn yourself from an anonymous CDR to a fascinating human spectacle. If there's nothing interesting there to work with, make stuff up.

Dude, what are you complaining about? 5 album releases and a few 12"s, critical acclaim ... just rest on your laurels and release a greatest hits album, then an unplugged one, and start planning your comeback tour

I've had a reasonable amount of luck with sending out demos. Bruno is correct, it's how you package the product and yourself. I've always made the point of sending a hefty package (not too hefty if air mail) to a few labels that I think might be interested. The package includes actual copies of previous releases (vinyl adds heft), a short bio and an individual cover letter. People like getting free shit and are more likely to pay attention to your missives if you are giving them some free stuff...well, unless they are so jaded they can't deal with it and then you don't want to work with them anyways. Meeting people in the flesh is always helpful too.

Pressing your own vinyl in my experience is kind of a less entertaining way of using your money for kindling unless you have the time, money and inclination to be on the phone a lot. It's extremely hard for a new label to get distribution and also to actually get paid by distributors. I thought I had a decent chance of selling 500 copies by using additional established artists as remixers but 2 years later, I have 280 copies in my garage and half my distributors I used owe me money and don't respond to my emails. How rude!

Gotcha Michael
I wil PM you an addy for my bassist Shin in Tokyo , i could imagine he could not only be into what you are doing (I don't mind hearing something too) but lives there , is connected in some scenes there ,
and just DJ'd the ESG/00100 night in Osaka @ Noon.
I will come over in early Sept. for a few wks as well
So keep rollin'

polystyle desu said:

I mention it because i find many people outside Japan imagine that the J's are waiting and dying for music from outside Japan - and we know that's just not the case , they have their own universe and often don't care one wit about the outside , but it's case by case obv

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do you think it has always been like this, polystyle? because the impression one had was that groups that in the west had zero audience were received with open arms in japan. and the ultra-deluxe special editions of totally obscure things. it seemed there was an audience for virtually anything. of course none of this has to translate to demos but i wonder if it wasn't different before, say, the economy started going down the drain.

Tokyo tides

Def it was not always like this .
In their '80's bubble and decade or 2 before
imports of all sizes and music shapes were legendary ....

The freaks & Otaku , etc. who have absorbed every detail of foreign culture & items are all still there tho !

vache said:

Pressing your own vinyl in my experience is kind of a less entertaining way of using your money for kindling unless you have the time, money and inclination to be on the phone a lot. It's extremely hard for a new label to get distribution and also to actually get paid by distributors. I thought I had a decent chance of selling 500 copies by using additional established artists as remixers but 2 years later, I have 280 copies in my garage and half my distributors I used owe me money and don't respond to my emails. How rude!

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If I was you I'd just give all those 12"s away as promos, and hope that it catches someones ear.

michael said:

Hi,

Sorry, this is completely self-serving, so if any mods think it's inappropriate, feel free to nuke it.

I write mellow electronic stuff. A Kiwi reviewer described my last album as equal parts US R&B, Jamaican dub, and German Chain Reaction minimalism. I've released 5 CDs through New Zealand labels (3 solo, 2 with friends) and a few 12"s, lots of remixes for other artists etc. I've had some stuff distributed in the UK and US, but maybe 6 years ago now.

Anyway, I've tried demo-ing things around the globe via the glories of the post before, but haven't really had any luck. Usually most labels don't even reply, although when I played support for the label boss of one US label I contacted he did confirm he got the demo and listened to it. That's all he said tho.

I'm a bit of a trainspotter, so I keep track of labels and things pretty well, but I just don't know what's a good way to get attention or whether it's even realistic to expect someone on the other side of the world to sign something I'm doing..? There's such a glut of stuff being released... Not trying to be self-defeating... but managing it pretty well, anyway.

Any thoughts? polystyle? anyone?

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I wouldn't say it was completely self serving but if you're going to pimp shit, then pimp it righteously !!!

Which album was that and if it did have those many influences then maybe it wasn't truly relective of you and your environment given you're from welli yeah ?

My question is what exactly do you want from your music ?... the fame ? the money ? the adulation ? the drugs, chix and parties ?

Here's what I would do. Create a new musical entity and get an agent to act as an editor would for a writer submitting pieces to various magazines. You write the bulk and let him do the tweaking, suggestions of things that might need expounding upon and let him control your output to the magazines. That frees you up to only concentrate on writing and removes you from the drop in self esteem or whatever when you get rejected. He then pases that feedback on in a manner that isn't so abrasive.

If you apply that to music then here's what I have done. Taken an artist and formed a muscial entity with them but with me essentially only acting as the editor. I execute executive editorial control, pimp his beats to the max but from the perspective of me being part of the group itself.

To me it seems the traditional band manager/agent/label boss hasn't really survived the digital transition too well or is still finding their way in the age of blogging, myspace, music forums and digital download sites so I felt something else was needed.

Has it worked...well to be honest, it is all part of some hellishly scientific experiment still in progress and people will always fear what they don't understand if you manipulate those fears to create misunderstanding and disinformation.

Is it dishonest to represent the bulk of an artists work as your own ?...It depends what your defintion of a music producer is. Maybe ask p diddy or Dr dre but to my mind the musical entity is a team with various complementary skills brought to the table and i can honestly say that within our group and without my influence those tunes would probably never see the light of day nor would they even sound like that.

So have you ever tried licensing to commercials/film/tv or written jingles cos really unless you're looking to become the next oakenfold or scott storch then there really isn't much avenue for mellow electronica in the current swamped market. Best to make funky house or sugar sweet r'n'b or have you had a go at dubstep yet ?

For what it's worth I prefer your datsun stereo to jet jaguar.

Ultimately it still comes down to the quality of your music and the belief your agent has in it.

chur chur bro

you got my space ? I'm trying to just do a kiwi groups friend links. check the sig.

shine on and polynize the world.

so thats a no then ?

bummer, cos it's practically a key to demoing your stuff now. Theres heaps of breakthrough artists claiming myspace as a launching pad for their music from arctic monkeys to cassie.

michael said:

Sorry, I deleted my post. For others reading I just wrote "myspace is the devil".

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hear hear.