Ever since I was in my first band in the 6th Grade, I have wanted to play Warped Tour. I decided right then and there that music was my career. But I thought about the music industry a lot differently than I do now. My commitment was never in question, but my attitude and my expectations were. We just had to play that one show for some big league music executive and we had it made. Like for some reason they hung out at youth centers in the suburbs. I didn't get it. I had so much faith in magic.
Then I became an independent music junkie. Trying to pick the brain of every successful independent artist I met. They all had something in common; they all worked hard at their craft and promoting themselves. So it was right about that time that the MySpace phenomenon hit. Finally an easy way to reach hundreds if not thousands of music lovers. Then I realized there is a big difference between networking and spamming. Adding random kids who probably will never have any interest in your band and copy and paste messages spread like the plague. We also would get offers for this or that and things like "I love you band, I work for ...." Really? And you sit around all day on myspace looking for the next big thing?
Would I do that?
No.
I started to think about how I heard about my favorite band and what made them awesome. It was almost always word of mouth. So how do bands get talked about? They tour, they play awesome shows, they do something new. So my senior year of High School, when everyone else was picking out what school to go to for some job they hadn't figured out. I decided to stick with what I knew. We spent nearly a year before we had a complete line up, but it was something, something great.
After a few months of playing shows, I started to realize there is a big problem with the local scene: Over Booking, which leads to bad shows. Who wants to go to a show with 5 people. I don't. How come some bands had huge shows, when band that were just as good, if not better had fewer kids there. The bands with huge shows played less. That was the key. You over book your band and you will start to cut your fan base in half for every show.
Then one day I was showed a website that confirmed all my beliefs about being in an independent band. EarnItYourself.com The EIY philosophy was exactly what I needed to keep going, to work harder. I didn't care that I had lost my job, my apartment, my car, because I got it. There will always be set backs, but as long as you work hard and promote, promote, promote, you can do what you want to do. Nearly 9 years after my I set my goal, I have gotten one set closer. 2 Tone Runts will play on the Kevin Says Stage at Warped Tour this year on August 2nd in Minneapolis, MN.
Never give up.
