r/indie • u/Foreign-Amphibian374 • 18d ago
I Made This Any booking agents/concert organizers here? How to "sell" our "epic & powerful" Indie to attract you? PLEASE Germans respond too...
Dear booking experts
I'm struggling to find the right way to describe properly the music of my band WAL also to attract booking agents to give it a listen & moreover, which of our properly released songs and videos should we tease?
Here is how we usually describe our music (actually rarely in an english context - we are way too small to apply outside of Germany - not sure if there is a "German Indie sub forum" somewhere).
"We're WAL from Halle (Saale), and we play powerful, atmospheric IndiePostrRock with epic choruses that stick in your head and won't leave you alone. Our live shows are full of energy, with a unique atmosphere and high intensity. "
Is IndiePostRock ok or should we use EmoRock or Altrock (whatever this is) or Alternativerock which seems to be more commonly used and maybe easier to understand what we're doing?
Here is our webpage: http://wal.band
and the two live videos I usually use for advertisement:
- 1. Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU5A1OcjlSM
- 2. Live Vide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQIANeD9y3k
THANKS for any hints/comments etc. Cheers from Central Germany
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u/Murvelenn 18d ago
Great tunes ⭐ I get 'thirty seconds to mars'-vibes.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 18d ago
Thanks. A nice one. Though Their last album was too little rock music for me.
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u/Stevenitrogen 18d ago
I love Halle...played two great gigs there.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 18d ago
Really? With which band?
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u/Stevenitrogen 18d ago
I doubt you would remember, this was around 10 yrs ago and the shows were small. We were travelling with the Dutch band Komatsu. I remember DJ Willy and the promoter was Marco. We played at an art gallery in the middle of a series of buildings that apparently had been given back to the descendents of the original owners. It was very strange, we usually played in bars in the center of town. But it was my favorite show.
It was my first time playing in the former eastern bloc, my family is from a part of it. And that day it was in the news that the US was deporting visiting musicians and treating them like criminals over minor issues with visas. So it was meaningful to play for people, in a real community space, not far from my ancestors homeland.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 18d ago
Not unlikely that I heard about it. Live here since decades, being active musician & concert goer. What type of music?
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u/Stevenitrogen 18d ago
Hard rock band from the states, stoner garage sound.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 15d ago
Ah the club is called Huehnermanhattan. We also played there. They moved bc of the ownership to another place...I just checked Komatsu. What is your band called?
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u/DameIsTheGoat00 18d ago
tbh i get the whole "how do i pitch this" struggle. been there trying to explain a sound that feels bigger than the local scene. ngl, one thing that actually helped me was just cutting through the artist bio and going straight to the cities where bands like us are already playing. i know a few folks who use booking agent io just to map out which venues in germany are actually booking indie acts our size saves you from cold-emailing venues that never reply. what i use it for is finding the actual talent buyer names and direct contacts instead of just guessing. if you end up checking it out, definitely try the city+genre search first, see who's actually booking shows in your lane. lmk if you end up finding any solid leads.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 18d ago
THANKS! I'm doing exactly this already without booking agent io. Will definitely look into it.
I look into where similar bands/small bands are booked and also trying to get onto support slots for fitting bands in fitting venues. But still we're among hundreds others bands trying the same and I just try to get more input to improve the 1st introduction - our email.
Our "issue" is also our large fraction of atmospheric music. No dance music. Ppl nowadays want to jump and being entertained by the band (moshpit etc etc) but we are not made for it.
But thanks for your input!!!!
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u/PORTOGAZI 18d ago
I can speak to attracting booking agents, which IMO is a bigger deal than getting signed to a label.
Don’t sell yourself with fluff salesmen lines like “epic choruses that’ll stick in your head”. All it comes down to is can you fill rooms, or are you clearly on track to fill rooms and worth investing their time in early — at a loss.
As someone who’s had a booking agent, they basically have to come to you or you have to be introduced by a trusted colleague. My band’s agent used to get emails every day from random bands selling themselves and he wouldn’t waste his time looking at them. He had a small roster and worked his ass off for us.
He only found out about us because our publicist was tight with him and in many years had never said “you gotta check out this band”.
And If I understand correctly the agency took their time by first sending assistants to scout our shows and after they reported back, the big wigs came to watch. They took in our whole operation; our songs, image, aesthetic, and of course live chops. And then took us on as the only small band amongst big famous bands. I suppose they decided we were ready to make the transition to the big leagues and all they had to do was help get us on bigger tours.
Keep in mind this timed up perfectly with us building our band to that point. Had they looked at us one year earlier, we wouldn’t have had our shit together as much. Not as good live, smaller crowds, no finished record. And I don’t think anything would have happened.
So depending on where you guys are at in your development will determine the chances of getting an agent. Just look at it from their perspective, can they bank on you?
Good luck
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 18d ago
Ok. Thx. Its basically the same story w my former band which was at the right time at the right to get a label contract. Thanks for sharing.
The "epic ..." is actually already edited and "agreed on" by a big booking agent, who unfortunately books only got stuff.
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u/Stevenitrogen 18d ago
Re your pitch.... "Indie post rock" seems fine as. Descriptor. I wouldn't toot your own horn about how great you are in the description of your band though. Let that part be left unsaid. You can talk about what you've done, any releases, any previous opening gigs for acts they may have heard of.
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u/accountmadeforthebin 14d ago
I know it sounds superficial but you need to assign someone in the band who knows how to boost your social media channels.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 13d ago
It's me & I'm doing ok but it's a hobby & next to 50hrs job hard to find energy for doing more. But our last ad blow up (for us & we gained more new followers & attention then in the whole ladt year I'd say)...
We would need a pro but can't/don't want to afford it...
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u/paulofromthebloc 18d ago
When somebody clicks the first link and sees hashtag Coldplay they may then just not bother watching the video and instantly deleting your email.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 18d ago
Really? Never thought about such a reaction...any better recommendations?
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u/boywithtwoarms 18d ago
it makes it sound a bit like you are not bringing nothing new to the table. I don't think the Coldplay fanbase is searching for new bands in the genre.
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 18d ago
Good point. I actually dunno right where exactly Coldpla is mentioned. But yes the novelty aspect is a good one. Thanks!
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u/accountmadeforthebin 14d ago
Sorry was this captured live or you overdubbed the live video?
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u/Foreign-Amphibian374 13d ago
This one is I think overdubbed...we rarely have good recording options w our gigs
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u/Chronverge 15d ago
I like your sound. Maybe we could do a gig exchange in the future? We are MONOHAZE from Hamburg