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BAND FOR THE DAY... PLAYING WITH MUSIC STOPS HERE! YEAR REVIEW 2009 NEWS & articles on everything that is happening on www.bandfortheday.com
ateurs m A e Th
WITH FEATURED INTERVIEWS FROM...
The Amateurs, Chestnut Blonde, Age of Element, Organised Chaos Fleshwound and Just Defy 1
http://www.bandfortheday.com
H
ello and welcome to the second yearly review magazine from Band For The Day.
The year has really flown past and there have been many highs and the occasional low but we are all really looking forward to 2010 and helping our bands reach new audiences as well as creating opportunities to make income from songs, merchandise as well as our BFTD audio ads which is detailed in this review. If this is the first time that you have come across BFTD then we would like to welcome you to the site and hope that you check out exactly what it’s all about. This review details what went on throughout the site as well as introducing some of the bands on the site to the thousands of people who read this Ezine through interviews.
BFTD Annual Review 2009
Band For The Day Ltd. 20 Drum Brae South Edinburgh Scotland
Edited by: Ged Brockie Many thanks to all the bands/ musicians who contributed time and effort to make this publication a reality.
We hope that 2010 is one of real growth for both our bands and the website in general. If you would like to make any suggestions or comments, please get in contact with us...we would love to hear from you. Best wishes from the BFTD team. Band For The Day - playing with music stops here... No part of this publication may be copied or stored in any retrieval system, electronic or otherwise, without the prior consent of the publisher. The publisher cannot take any responsibility for any mistakes, omissions or breaches of copyright since publication. Nor will we take any responsibility for any outside content submitted or linked to the magazine via external website. Š Band For The Day Ltd. 2009 http://www.bandfortheday.com
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FEATURES The Guys Behind BFTD........................4 The Changing Face of BFTD................10 Monthly Reports...............................15 Audio Ads........................................22 Search Engine Optimisation................27 Merchandise Madness........................32 Social Network.................................33 BAND INTERVIEWS The Amateurs...................................5 Chestnut Blonde..............................11 Age of Element................................16 Fleshwound.....................................23 Organised Chaos..............................28 Just Defy..................... ...................34
NEED MERCHANDISING FOR YOUR BAND? BFTD can provide you with T-shirts, caps, bags, guitar straps in fact, just about anything that a band would wish to sell, branded with your band logo; all through our BFTD approved merchandise company. For more information email: tsmmerchandising@googlemail.com
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The Guys Behind BFTD...
Figured in a poll listing the worlds top three hundred acoustic guitarist; although not confined to just acoustic guitar, Ged works extensively throughout Europe and the US. With seven recorded albums to his credit (including three with the Scottish Guitar Quartet) he also is a composer of note, regularly writing for media, film and soundtrack. His new album will be released in the summer as well as a book on writing for film as a co-writer with Hollywood double Emmy award winning composer Hummie Mann. Ged Brockie (Director) www.gedbrockie.com
Lee has played guitar for six years and at university was involved with the FreshAir Student Radio station in both presenting a show as well as dealing with PR. A recent graduate from the University of Edinburgh with a BEng in Computer Science and Electronics, Lee continues to expand his web development skills with BFTD. Lee McLaughlin (Programmer)
Iain is a qualified chartered accountant who practises as Bolland & Burke in Edinburgh. As a music lover Iain sees BFTD as an exciting opportunity for unsigned bands to showcase their talent to a broad audience of like-minded individuals. He was keen to support the project and is delighted to have been part of its success. Iain looks forward to continuing to watch the project evolve and become the first point of call for unsigned bands.
Ian Bolland (Director)
An award winning graduate from the Leeds College of Music. His virtuoso guitar playing belies his years and he combines a musical maturity with a ferocious technique that is the envy of many a guitarist.
Mike Nisbet (Director)
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THE AMATEURS HALL OF FAME WINNERS 2008/09
This band are anything but “amateurs”, racking up huge amounts of votes and gaining two out of the first three places in the Band For The Day “Hall of Fame”...surely big things to come! ...Band For The Day
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BFTD 1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have you been working together? We are a four piece Indie/pop/rock band and we have been together for just under two years. Matthew Colley/vocal/guitar/piano, Andrew Fletcher/bass/bv, Jimmy Holliday/drums, Alex Wasley/lead guitar/BV Myself (Fletcher) and Colley were musicians on our local Birmingham music scene and we played abit here and there doing acoustic nights etc. We then were asked to perform in a band with Robert Plant to do some shows for a tsunami relief campaign as keyboard player and bass player with vocals which of course we said yes. After many shows to alot of people we got the taste for something better and decided to form The Amateurs.
BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different? All of us have totally different playing styles and influences which is kind of a melting pot for our sound. All the greats have influenced us from The Beatles, Bowie, Dylan to current artists like Razorlight, Jack Penate and Radiohead. I think we get a unique vibe from our individual styles as there is jazz, funk, acoustic and rock all rolled into one package.
BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have been? This and last year we supported Athlete, Guillemots, Reverend and the Makers, Kid British, Cage the Elephant, played at Leeds Festival, Guilfest and to Thousands at Artsfest in Birmingham. So all of them were great and i can't really separate any of them as they were as good as each other. To be fair this year we won a Billboard award for our song HOMESICK which they voted one of the top 500 songs of last year so that was a pretty good achievement. BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry right now? Its hard to say. Everyone seems to have a strong opinion on the state of it and what they think is the answer to the changes that are taking place. I think the net is great for unsigned musicians as its easier to get your music out there but on the same token because of that it has been swamped and there is alot to listen to. I guess its good if you have the financial backing of a major label and radio 1 behind you but otherwise its hard to sell your music without money to advertise it.
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BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eighteen months? We have some deals on the horizon which may see us take a step towards our goal. I think we will be releasing Singles and trying to get some radio 1 airplay really. Then when we have a buzz going we can do an album. The timing has to be right, we don't want to waste any our songs and we want to tour and play as much as possible this year to back up what we have already achieved.
The Amateurs - live and kicking.
BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with complete songs or do you work together to create your music? We tend to get a riff or a part going then take it in and work on it together as a unit. We have tried most ways and this has had by far the best results and made our songs quite unique. We have heated sessions sculpting songs as we are four strong minded individuals with opinions and we have to battle it out but it always ends up far better than any other way.
BFTD 7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been your best? To be fair i think the worst experience is breaking a string or stick, we prac7
tice hard and play to a high level so mistakes are little things. We always joke about the James Brown thing when he fined his band $5 for every mistake. So if we do something little its like....i dropped a fiver in the middle eight.
Great live shot slightly spoiled by the t*&$ in the green top! BFTD 8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers? Loads of funny stuff goes on when on playing around the country, the things you get to see and be part of is well good. I love the chants you get from the crowd some of them can be real funny. I think the one that stands out for me is seeing a man in a wheel chair getting crowd surfed, always seems to happen every festival i go to, fair play to them i say. Oh and the dancers, i love the crazy dancers.
BFTD 9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much abroad? When we first started we played every week but now we do it in tours so we do a couple of months of alot of dates then a rest then do it again. Its much better that way i think. We did a tour of prague which we won in a competition. It was great to be flown out and stay in a plush hotel and be wined and dined and get to play so cool places and meet cool people. Half the stuff that went on over there can't be told, you know the rule....what goes on tour. 8
BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band? Playing music. Its what we live for, the fame, money and attention for the ladies is an amazing side of it but its the music that has to be good in the first place. We always try our hardest and have high standards so we ensure that our music is unique and also worthy for the music loving public to hear. We want them to enjoy our sets and have a good time. That makes us feel its worth doing.
BFTD 11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be? We would like to have a album that people enjoy listening to and maybe the industry and media like also. Its hard to get all those things but its the dream really. A top ten single wouldn't hurt either.
BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership? Musicians out there keep doing what you do, its great meeting people of all ages and races playing songs that mean something to them. Also get out and watch music LIVE and support your local gig venues, i've seen far too many close this year and its a shame. Peace.
No, the guys are not doing a DFS ad! 9
NEW FEATURE THE CHANGING FACE OF Band For The Day upload all your tracks integrated into system
OVERVIEW Band For The Day is now into it’s third year of running. What started out as a settled plan quickly changed when we realised that constant upgrades and development was required to keep up with the rate of change that is going on in the music industry. UPLOAD ALL YOUR TRACKS! We will soon be offering all of our bands the facility to upload all of their music tracks by album to their BFTD band page. This means that BFTD will not only be a place for gaining exposure and winning competitions (as well as selling merchandise), but a place where you can sell all your music whilst keeping the main ethos of having a band featured on merit on any one day. AUTO UPLOADER With the new ability to add all your tracks up by album, we will introduce an “auto uploader” facility. This means that BFTD will run pretty much on an automated way for you. The system will see which non BFTD winning tracks that you have uploaded have been listened to the most and if you win BFTD, the system will choose your next BFTD track!
...Band For The Day 10
CHESTNUT BLONDE We have long admired the fantastic music of this sister act from England but the name always had us confused. Anyway...answers on a postcard please if you work it out (ahem) ...Band For The Day
Niomi & Jen who are Chestnut Blonde
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BFTD 1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have you been working together? NAOMI: It's just me and Gen. We're sister's who have always been interested in music and performing and have been writing since we were in our teens. GEN: Yeh but we were kind of 'discovered' back in 2001. We were buying some music equipment from a friend who was already gigging and he wanted to hear us sing, so we did, he liked it and asked us to do some gigs with him. Just a friendly punch in the face BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different? GEN: There's so many bands that were an influence on us when we were growing up, like ABBA, A-ha and more recently bands like Evanescence, Coldplay and Keane. NAOMI: That's right but what really makes our music unique to us is writing what we really feel and what we've learnt through our life expiriences and expressing it through our music, vocal and lyrics. BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have been? CHESTNUT BLONDE: Writing and producing our first album. BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry right now? NAOMI: I don't think there's enough originality out there! GEN: Definitely. Too many manufactured bands who all sound the same!!! BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eighteen months? CHESTNUT BLONDE: We'd like to complete our second album which we're working on at the moment.
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BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with complete songs or do you work together to create your music? GEN: It's a combination of both really. Naomi usually writes the lyrics and gets the basic melody of verse and chorus together. NAOMI: Yeh and then Gen comes along and completely cocks it up!!! Just jesting! Gen helps with the remixing, adds ideas for bridges, instrumentals and other bits and pieces.
Sofa so good BFTD 7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been your best? NAOMI: It's got to be forgetting the lyrics. GEN: I gather that's the worst experience, Naomi, so I would say the best one is seeing the audiance enjoying our musical creations and that they haven't noticed when we've forgotten the lyrics! BFTD 8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers? CHESTNUT BLONDE: Well we like to change words to popular songs and sing our silly lyrics to backing tracks. Then we decided to make a video to our silly song and posted it on you tube. It got banned in every single country around the world except Germany!!! How wierd is that!? BFTD 9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much abroad? CHESTNUT BLONDE: We've never toured abroard. In the main we do private functions, averaging about one every couple of months. We'd like to do more but we have other commitments.
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BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band? CHESTNUT BLONDE: We've always been passionate about music and it's great to be able to do something you love. BFTD 11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be? CHESTNUT BLONDE: Simon Cowells phone number!!! Oh and a recording contract of course. BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership? CHESTNUT BLONDE: Dance like there's no one watching. Sing like there's no one listening. That's what we do and it works for us... Oh and thank you BFTD - YOU ROCK!!!
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NEW FEATURE MONTHLY REPORTS We will soon be sending you a monthly report card so you know exactly how much of a difference BFTD is making.
OVERVIEW One thing that has always been a challenge is how to keep people up to date with what is happening on the site without being a pest with loads of emails flying around which tend to ignore. KEEPING YOU IN THE LOOP We will soon be offering all of our bands a monthly report card via email. This email will detail the following: 1. How many listens you have received for each track. 2. How many views you have received. 3. Your current number of BFTD wins and if you have got into the Hall of Fame (or if you are in it, whether you have moved up, down or out of it). 4. How many sales you have made from mp3, merchandise or audio ads. 5. How much money you have in your account and if money was withdrawn from it that month. 6. How many new fans you have gathered in the month. 7. How many links you have to BFTD. 8. News relating to the site in general. AUTO UPLOADER We feel that this will greatly enhance the communication we have with our bands and also let them consider all of the opportunities that BFTD has to offer in terms of exposure and in earning income from their music and merchandising. We hope you give us an A+ for this one.
...Band For The Day
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AGE OF ELEMENT With probably the longest interview we have ever seen, the guys show they are really in their element when talking in depth about hopes, aspirations and all things music. ...Band For The Day
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BFTD 1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have you been working together? We’ve been going for over a year now, although progress at first was a little slow. It started with Chris and Greg, on guitars. Not too long afterwards Daniel became the vocalist and very recently we got a permanent bassist, Andrew. Right now Jamie is standing in as temporary drummer, but we’ve a new candidate now for a potential permanent drummer. We’ll just see how that goes, really. The band started when Chris and Greg, our guitarists, decided they wanted to get their music out there. It was a really spontaneous thing, but we’re glad we went for it. Recently we’ve taken some really big steps as a band, we’re half way through recording our debut EP and it’s sounding really cool so far. Hopefully that’ll turn into an album pretty soon, seeing we’ve got new songs popping up all the time. Dan...smouldering BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different? Daniel: For the kind of music we’re doing, I, vocally, take influence from Cove Reber of Saosin, but I’m also a massive Maiden fan, and I try my best to emulate the intensity and power of Bruce Dickinson. I’m not really in the same league as them vocally, but that just makes me admire them more, it gives me something to aspire to. Then in terms of song-writing influences there’s also a big Maiden influence there, I like having songs that have a dark vibe, and something that makes them unique. Though the occasional powerpop song doesn’t go amiss! Andrew: Most of my influences are from really obscure bands, but when it comes to playing bass, and the tone I try to get out my bass, I’d say I take something from the likes of Ed Breckenridge of Thrice, and Steven Hodson of Oceansize, quite a deep, intense, yet crisp and crunchy tone overall. In terms of song-writing I typically take a lot of influence from the likes of Hum, Hopesfall and Oceansize, kind of long, grand epic pieces, that can get you really absorbed in all the little details and textures of the song. Chris: One of my main influences is almost certainly Story of the Year. I 17
really like how they can play really quite powerful guitar whilst keeping the music melodic, although if need be they’re more than capable of producing quite a thrashy song, so I guess I also appreciate their diversity. Senses Fail are also a big influence, can’t resist a catchy number, and they have them by the bucketload. Greg: Alter Bridge have been my favourite band for as long as I can remember, Mark Tremonti is such an under-rated guitarist! More recently I’ve been taking influence from bands like The Shinedown and Creed. I like to try and sneak in the occasional classic rock guitar lick. BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have been? Band: Well, we’ve just finished recording our first music video, so that should be up on our myspace soon, it’s looking really cool so far. We’re also hoping to release that song as a single on iTunes, but we’ll see. Obviously this interview is quite the achievement, so thank you to Band for the Day! Also, on a more general note, it’s been a nice achievement to be consistently get gigs over the past couple of months, it’s always very humbling when people come to listen to your music, and even more humbling when they enjoy it! We also got a pretty good review in the Magdalene, which is Dundee University’s official magazine. Also, another triumph is we’ve had both Mark Tremonti of Alter Bridge and Eric Bass of The Shinedown, endorsing our music, as can The guys in full flow be seen on our MySpace page (www.myspace.com/weareageofelement), and on YouTube. BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry right now? Andrew: I think it’s kind of hard to make generalisations about the music industry now, saying that some stuff is shallow manufactured crap is a little irrelevant if people can relate to it in some way. Though I think sometimes, if you’ve got a specific music taste, you really have to search hard to find bands you like, and I’ve certainly experienced that in the past, but with enough searching you can find some really amazing bands out there. 18
Daniel: The great thing about music is that it’s entirely subjective. You can slag off a particular song all you want but if it is being listened to, then obviously it is doing something right! I think that what we are seeing nowadays in the music industry is greater and greater versatility in music because we have the technology to experiment with sounds and textures that previously we never could have. Music is definitely on the up in my opinion! rippin up fretwire BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eighteen months? Band: World domination? Meh. But in all honesty, we really want to go for it in the next 18 months, our EP will be coming out, not too long after that our album should be out, so for that we’ll be relentlessly gigging to promote these and sending them off to record labels to see what they think of us. Obviously it’s early days yet, and we want to take things one step at a time, but we’re going to keep going, we’re in this for the long haul, regardless of the outcome. If we got signed by a record label, great, but if not we’ll keep doing this, because we’re really enjoying this so much. BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with complete songs or do you work together to create your music? Band: Typically we’ll go off and write songs separately, or in pairs. It always starts with just one person bringing either a riff or entire song to the rest of the band and seeing what everyone else thinks. The chief song-writer is almost certainly Chris, but lately the rest of us have been contributing a lot more to the writing process. This is probably because we’ve really come together as a band, and matured as musicians. Also we now know more about the music we like and want to make, so we’re more concise about structuring and producing our songs. Writing songs separately has the advantage of both not being restricted by anyone else’s differing music taste, nor does it put a limit on the time you have to jam a song out.
BFTD 7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been your best?
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Daniel: Oh dear, well on our VERY first gig, at the Balcony Bar in Dundee, I had a sore throat. To clarify I could barely speak, let alone sing. Any note I tried to hit just withered into a faint whisper. It had been that way for a week beforehand, we’d all hoped for improvement but if anything it got worse. Andrew: Yeah, I’ve never heard you lose your voice, at least not to that extent. Daniel: Yeh, I’ve only ever been that bad twice, ever. Though we took it as a good stroke of luck that the Balcony, as a venue is typically not the best for hearing vocals, which is just as well, because there weren’t really any vocals to hear anyway. We still got commended for the performance, but it was kind of a blow to my confidence. Andrew: Other than that I think we’ve had very few major problems on stage. When it comes to the best experience? Um... I guess it might be our most recent gig, there were quite a few other bands there, but the crowd gave the impression that they were there to see us, they were so enthusiastic and supportive, and it really made the whole evening very memorable. I think the band and the crowd is what really makes a gig, it’s definitely a two-way kind of thing. BFTD 8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers? Daniel: For me it has to be the way in which I joined the band. My brother introduced me to Age of Element, who at that time had a vocalist known as “Downey”, when my brother asked me what I thought of them I said that I liked the music, but the vocals were very poor, I joked that even I could sing better than he could, and the next thing I knew Chris is phoning me up, asking me to audition for the band. Andrew: I think it’s also funny how I joined, with about a week’s practice of bass guitar I came along to a jamming session at Chris’s house, and picked up the bass-lines quickly enough, so that was me in I guess, with a week’s worth of experience. Greg: Ohh man, one time we did this open mic night at Dundee Union, the guitar I had was incredibly out of tune, and for whatever reason at the time I didn’t really notice it, despite the fact Daniel and Chris were both trying to catch my attention. Didn’t go well, haha. BFTD 9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much abroad? Band: Well, we’ve just started gigging properly in the past couple of months, but now we’ll have a full line-up, we’re hoping we’ll get a gig every week or two, and make it a regular thing. As for touring abroad, it would be an awesome thing to do, but I think we’d really need to build up more of a fan20
base first, and tour with another band, but it would certainly be a really cool thing to do. BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band? Andrew: I personally think the best thing is actually getting all the ideas in your head made, and what’s even better, played live, though none of my songs have been yet it looks like that’s coming really soon, we have a gig on Christmas Eve, and it’s looking like my most recent song is going to get played there, which I think could be a definite highlight of the whole experience for me. But really, as long as you’re in the right band, which I feel we all are, it’s all enjoyable. Daniel: For me it’s the thrill of getting your music out there, getting people listening, with their spare time, out of their own free will to listen to music we’ve made. There was recently a girl who left a message on MySpace about how “incredibly awesome” she thought we were. If we’ve managed to have that effect on even one person, to me, that’s a brilliant thing. I also find music is the best release for any and all negative feelings. Andrew: Agreed. Chris: I just love gigging, recording, writing, the whole process really. I really like seeing how everyone’s ideas come together because everyone has a really different taste, and you get a bit of everyone in each song, it just makes our overall sound more unique. Greg: For me it’s the challenge of keeping your music the way you initially wanted it to be, whilst at the same time, getting the hooks just right, in the hope that you might get the hooks just right to get people into the song, without compromising your sound. Chris: And solos are always a good part of it too. Greg: Haha, yeah. BFTD 11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be? Band: Our own studio, so we could record anything and everything, all the time. Really, we’d be in there every single day! But on a more general basis I think we just want to connect with people in some way, it’d be great to really make a positive impact on anybody, like so many bands have to us. BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership? Band: This is going to sound ridiculously clichéd, but we want to thank anyone and everyone who has taken the time to listen to our music. In the words Iron Maiden guitarist Janick Gers; “if you like our music, god bless you, and if you don’t, y’know what? God bless you too.” 21
NEW FEATURE AUDIO ADS With the immenent launch of our audio ads we now give you three ways to earn income on Band For The Day
OVERVIEW We want you to drive as much traffic to the site as possible, but the question is how? Well, with audio ads, we think we have the answer! PEOPLE VISIT YOUR BFTD BAND PAGE - YOU EARN INCOME Yes, it really is that simple. We will soon be placing ads which will be played before a song plays...they will be quite short, however, you will share in the revenue that we generate so there is even more reason to get links to your BFTD band page; the more visits you get the more money you generate. HOW DOES IT WORK? Through our own business to business network, or indeed through 3rd party businesses who deal in audio ads, we place ads across the site. We report back to our bands as ads are played and you share the profit with us. We think this is both a fair and a sensible way for you and us to work together. More people hear your music and are exposed to you as a band or artist. We get our name out there more...it’s quite simple really.
BAND FOR THE DAY Winners will make a lot more money as they will be featured on the front page and get a lot more coverage, making it an even better reason to be a winner on the site. Watch out for our internal news and press releases as it happens. Now you can make income in 3 ways... mp3 sales
merchandise
audio ads ...Band For The Day
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With some of the most stunning images of a band playing live, we give you...well, I think you get it. ...Band For The Day
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BFTD 1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have you been working together? FLESHWOUND*** Les Zimmer/Guitars & Vocals ,Scott Pettit/Bass,Terry Ferrow/ Percussions 12 years as a Cover band about 2 years as an original band
Les Zimmer leading the line
BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different? FLESHWOUND*** 80's music is a big influence as far as hooks and catchy riffs, but we try and give our sound a new feel to it with lots of experimenting.
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BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have been? FLESHWOUND*** We have opened for some big name bands like Foghat, Molly Hatchet, Bobaflex and Dixie Allstars BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry right now? FLESHWOUND*** We dont believe its a good state right now its very hard for original bands to get anywhere or heard for that matter
The energy blasts from the pics...listen to Fleshwound
BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eighteen months? FLESHWOUND*** We will be comming out with our 3rd CD so that will be Kick A%# BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with complete songs or do you work together to create your music? FLESHWOUND*** Yeh I (Les Zimmer)come up with the idea (melody..chorus) then we all help with the arrangement...and everything we I write about is life experiences BFTD 7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been your best? FLESHWOUND*** Never had a real bad one except for the 1 time we played to the sound guy and bartender...Most of all times were great ya know its that energy that the croud gives you and you in return just wail
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BFTD 8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers? FLESHWOUND*** Yeh one time we were playin this small town bar some lady yells I been here 4 god dam hours and havent heard any Bob Seager yet and as quick as she said it I said by the way your slurring I dont doubt you've been here that long but we dont play Bobby ha ha I think thats bout it for the ones I can Tell BFTD 9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much abroad? FLESHWOUND*** 40 to 52 gigs a year and we havent toured in a couple years but we may in 2010 BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band? FLESHWOUND*** people diggin what we're doing really is the best certainly is’nt the money ha ha
Read question 12...good advice
BFTD 11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be? FLESHWOUND***maybe a radio hit or a new tour van BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership? FLESHWOUND*** Yeh keep rockin and too much perfume means they're covering something up...Thanks so much BFTD FLESHWOUND
BANNER ADVERTISING ON Band For The Day THE BFTD WEBSITE RECEIVES THOUSANDS OF HITS PER MONTH AND USERS STAY FOR LONGER...ON AVERAGE MORE THAN FOUR MINUTES EACH! GET YOUR BUSINESS MOVING - EMAIL ged@bandfortheday.com for our advertising rate card. 26
NEW FEATURE SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION BEHIND THE SCENES ON BAND FOR THE DAY A QUIET REVOLUTION HAS TAKEN PLACE. OVERVIEW BFTD has finally managed to get on top of the search engine query engines through a lot of hard work from our long suffering but brilliant head programmer Lee. If you look at the browser line when visiting BFTD you will see that each band has it’s name in the browser, no longer just a number. SO WHAT?! What this means to you is that BFTD will pop up each time someone puts your band name in a search...or at least we will be in the top five searches for that keyword. More exposure is now within our grasp. Keyword searches have been getting bigger an bigger every day. The BFTD site is also being exposed to more and more people every day which means the BFTD winner on any one day will receive more attention in addition to the daily search finds. CAN YOU HELP? Yes you can. Many of you as our bands have not linked to BFTD from Myspace, Facebook, Bebo. If each of you did this then you would be further enhancing the reach and exposure of the site. WE HAVE A 3rd PARTY COMPANY WORKING FOR US NOW MONTH IN MONTH OUT AND THE ONLY THING THEY ARE DOING IS....GETTING US TRAFFIC. WITHIN THE NEXT 3 MONTHS BFTD WILL BE GETTING A HUGE AMOUNT OF INTEREST FROM AROUND THE GLOBE SO BE PART OF IT! REMEMBER, WHEN BFTD GOES MASSIVE, WE ARE TAKING YOU OUR BANDS WITH US!!!
...Band For The Day 27
ORGANISED CHAOS
With a name that is...well a bit of a paradox to say the least, these four guys are making a name for themselves with the emphasis on organised... ...Band For The Day 28
BFTD 1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have you been working together? Our band line-up, Edward Tuffin-Rhythm Guitar And Vocals. Jack Taylor-Lead Guitar And Vocals, Harry Gries-Bass Guitar And Backing Vocals and Dan Pugh-Drums. We’ve been together as a band for coming up to 3 years now ! Which is pretty long for a group of teenagers, but its been great every step of the way. We basically started as friends who wanted to make music and just jam out their favourite tunes! And it just basically went from there. BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different? Our musical influences tend to vary a lot, cause each band member listens to different music. Between us it ranges from like alpha beat to extreme death metal! Which is quite a difference to be honest. But for our sound, we take influences from modern rock/ indie! Which is always a great combination. With every song we right we try to make it different from the next, so everything doesn’t get to similar, And I think we have probably achieved that! But most of the songs have good hooks and are very catchy! Jack Taylor; lead guitar and vocals BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have been? Probably winning the Urdd eisteddfod two years in a row! That was pretty cool; considering none of us speak welsh either. Maybe also playing our first proper festival (Workhouse Festival). BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry right now? Well it depends what part of the music industry you look at, if you look at the mainstream side of it. It’s mainly dominated by talent competitions, which 29
isn’t the way to go in my opinion. You don’t get to enjoy the highs and lows of being in a band, the experience of gigging all of that stuff. They’re just looking for a quick way to the top, which is purely rubbish I think. I think people are starting to see through that, you see loads of facebook groups, saying “Hijack the x factor no1” and all that. So I think it wont be too long before it all goes titsup for them. Personally im looking forward to seeing Simon cowell fall flat on his face! But on the bright side, if you look at the indie/rock/emo scene, there’s some great bands emerging from all over the world its really great to see, that loads of people are getting into music and enjoying it.
Dan the drummer
BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eighteen months? Probably just get bigger in our local areas to be honest, sell a few cds on the way and just play as many gigs as we possibly can! BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with complete songs or do you work together to create your music? It honestly really varies from song to song; it can either range from straight up guitar riffs. Or we start with lyrics and go from there. Most songs we write, are guitar based to start with, but we all chip in with different ideas, what songs good what doesn’t etc. You need to do that in bands to get the best out of the song. You can’t have one person doing everything in a band; it has to be done as a team. And I think we do that quite well to be honest.
Ed Tuffin
BFTD 7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been your best? I don’t think we’ve had a worst experience, none that comes to mind 30
anyway. The only thing I can think of is when we were trying to set up, and different leads and pedals stopped working, that was bad, cause we were in a rush to set up anyway. When stuff stops working it puts even more pressure on you. Our best experience has been when were at the urdd, we always manage to pull something special off down there. It’s always really tight, and almost always sounds awesome. BFTD 8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers? Well I suppose its related to the 3rd song we ever wrote. Its called Jackie Chimp. It all started, when I (Jack), moved into my brothers old room, when he moved out. We were just there one band practice, and we came across a whole batch of these magazines. There were all sorts, in there; it ranged from cars, to music to… Well you can guess that one. Inside one of these magazines, was a Two bass Harry! picture of a fine young model, if I remember rightly, on the other side was a picture of a chimp in a kung fu suit, with the title “Jackie chimp” so being us, we decided to write a song about it! How creative we are ;) BFTD 9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much abroad? We probably play around 15 in a year im guessing, but we’ve never toured. Were way too young to tour. Maybe when were older, we might consider it, but its so much organisation, and at the moment, were just not ready to enter something like that. BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band? The After Parties! Haha! Nah, its great playing music with your friends, that what I enjoy the most to be honest. BFTD 11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be? A bloody record deal! Maybe a world tour swell ;) BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership? Check out our facebook, just type in Organised Chaos!
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NEW FEATURE MERCHANDISE MADNESS YOUR MERCHANDISE STORE AWAITS & IT’S ABOUT TO GET BIGGER AND BETTER THAN EVER BEFORE! OVERVIEW In December 2008 BFTD launched a merchandise facility for all bands. The products that are available include: T-shirts, small canvas bags, jigsaws, hats and mousemats. This initially gave bands points which went towards their BFTD challenge; we then expanded this to give bands income from each sale. DID YOU REALISE YOU CAN CREATE A SHOP ON BFTD, BRAND THE ITEMS THEN SELL IT FOR INCOME, COSTING YOU NOTHING AT ALL TO DO IT? WE EVEN SHIP YOUR MERCHANDISE ALL OVER THE WORLD!
THE UPGRADE We are about to roll out a new and expanded range of items which will include quality bags, black t-shirts and much more. Remember, all of these items can be personalised with your logos, marketed and sold for profit at no cost to you. We then send out to your customers around the world. HOW DO YOU MAKE A SHOP? Simply log in to your backstage BFTD account, then go to create merchandise and create with your band logos. It really is as simple as that. Then all you need to do is link to your BFTD band page from as many sources as you can from Facebook, Myspace, Bebo etc.
...Band For The Day 32
NEW FEATURE SOCIAL NETWORK THE BFTD SOCIAL NETWORK IS UP AND RUNNING...IS IT NOT TIME YOU GAVE IT A 2ND LOOK? OVERVIEW Last year we promised that we would wrap a social network around the bands and musicians on the site to help our bands create a fan base which they could then use to inform and help develop a selling platform with them. DID YOU REALISE YOU CAN GATHER FANS AND MESSAGE THEM ON BFTD...YOU CAN ALSO UPLOAD PICS AND A HOST OF OTHER ACTIVITIES WITH THEM?
GETTING SOCIABLE The social network is there, ready and waiting for you our bands to make it happen. This is not to say that people have not signed up, and we have to accept that we need to make more of it. Fundamentally, BFTD is the Facebook for unsigned music...as more and more people become aware of the site over the next year this will become very appartent...so it would be good if you got in there early. HOW DO ENGAGE WITH THE FANS THAT FOLLOW US Again, simply log in to your backstage BFTD account, then you will find all the tools that you need to really start making your fans work for you. BFTD will see a massive new amount of traffic this year...you should get your share of it!
...Band For The Day
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JUST DEFY Defying all the odds, the guys left their interview and photos to the very very last minute, but we’re glad they made it... ...Band For The Day
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BFTD 1. What is your line up, how did the group begin and how long have you been working together? It all started in November 2008. Biz-E was starting to get sick of the whole solo rap stuff and was missing sharing the stage with a full band. After recently performing as a guest vocalist, with our good friends Dead Message, at a local Battle of the bands, which Buck was also competing with his old band Inferi. So Ben then approached Buck and asked him if he wanted to join a band... It all really came from that then Buck got in touch with a fellow work colleague Adam Jones who joined as Lead guitarist and good friend Ben Snowden who joined on bass. Weeks past recordings happened and Ben Snowden decided he was currently too The colour purple... commited with his other band Kill To Gain. So Jonesy then drafted in good friend Bryn Price on second guitar and electronics to thicken up the sound. Bryn then got in touch with old friend Joe Dinsdale who joined as our current bassist. Few more weeks past and Bryn decided to quit the band. Ben, Joe, Adam and Buck were then JustDEFY and gigged, recorded as much as possible over 2009 until recently Adam Jones also quit the band due to his other band being more his style of music. We are currently auditioning for a Lead guitarist so if you can help us please get in touch! BFTD 2. What are the biggest influences in your music and how do you ensure that there is enough of ‘you’ in your sound to be different? Our influences are never ending, both musically and inspirational there is a brief list on our myspace... BFTD 3. What would you say your biggest achievements to date have been? Winning Band for the day, Playing at Bradford Mela Festival, Getting into the play offs for Bingley Music Live. 35
BFTD 4. What are your thoughts on the state of the music industry right now? Interesting! everything needs to change and freshen up every now and then people should stop complaining and run with the times!!
Just Defy doing what they love best...playing live BFTD 5. What do you see as achievable goals within the next eighteen months? Finally record our 6 track E.P with good friend Simon Mawson and hopefully get some local tours sorted out also finish the couple of music videos we've kind of started BFTD 6. How does the writing process work? Do individuals come with complete songs or do you work together to create your music? We usually work together from one of Ben's initial ideas we all sort out the parts for our own instruments. BFTD 7. What is the bands worst experience on stage and what has been your best?
The bright lights at last
We absolutley love playing live its what were all about! but we have had our fair share of electronical let downs and empty crowds :(. Playing at the PM Bar for the Bingley Music Live Final was really good fun! as was coming second in this years Battle Of The Bands. 36
Also playing at Mike Heaton's The Hop in Wakefield that was a good gig too. We always have fun supporting our friends Jilted Generation too. BFTD 8. Do you have any funny or weird story to share with the readers? HAHA a few times Jonesy has ended up a little worse for wear before gigs and is funny now but at the time pretty frustrating. We have played a couple of really good house parties this year which have had their fair share of funny moments. BFTD 9. How many gigs do you play in a year and do you tour much abroad? We have only just had our 1st Birthday!! and I think we have played just over 60 gigs in 2009 which is really good considering we only came up with the idea to start a band late last year. BFTD 10. What is the best thing about being in a band? Seeing people singing back at you at gigs and knowing we have made some quality mates for life during the process! BFTD 11. If you could have anything (as a group) what would it be? An amazing studio that we can access 24/7 BFTD 12. Any final comments for the BFTD readership? Vote for us every day!! and thanks to everyone who listens to our tunes.
WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE FROM A BAND WEBSITE? A way to sell your music? Your own shop with your own branded merchandise? A way to gather and talk with fans in one place? An easy way to display your gigs to thousands? Stream your videos? Upload an unlimited amount of pics? Work for huge and focused exposure? Gain prizes for hard work? Just some of the many features we have waiting for you! http://www.bandfortheday.com 37
GET THE MESSAGE OUT THERE If you have enjoyed this magazine then copy it and send it to a friend. Better still, whether you are a band or a fan of unsigned music then join us at
http://www.bandfortheday.com Find new music, get band merchandise, work as a talent scout for bands, message and let your friends on the site see pictures from the gig and we’ve not even begun to tell you all the features so see you SOON!
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Band For The Day Ltd. Registered in Scotland Registered Number SC315195 39Edinburgh, EH12 8SN Scotland Registered office at 20 Drumbrae South, http://www.bandfortheday.com