The studio time for the “Paid” EP was $6000…

The studio time for the “Paid” EP was $6000. A copy of the receipt is included in the CD packaging. Additional costs included manufacturing, mastering, art, advertising, radio, press, etc…

The EP was recorded at Robert Lang Studios, which was a departure from their frequent recording spot, Studio Litho. Also Tim Gabor did not do the cover art – something he usually did. Of the 6 Tracks, only three were new, and two were Supersuckers classics revisited. In keeping with the bands spirit, it was released on 06/06/06. Fan club members were even treated to an advance copy in the mail.

Eddie Spaghetti described the method of the EP release below, when asked in a German on-line interview below found at dewahrschauer.net  -

“Paid” is the first of two or three EP’s which will be part of an upcoming full-length album. what was so interesting for you to choose this way of releasing like they did in the Fifties A – I just think that with the way people get their music now, it’s a chance for us to re-think the way we deliver it. And the fact of the matter is that it’s a singles-driven world out there today and instead of being down about that, we’ve decided to embrace it to an extent. If were entirely up to me, we’d just put out singles from now on, but alas, we’re a band and we do things together, so the EP was a bit of a compromise to that regard. That said, It’s an awesome record!

I was recently asked about the idea of releasing this EP… And I’m sure the above sums it up well. Regardless, I thought the EP was a good call and maybe even a bit ahead of it’s time. I liked the idea of the band releasing songs when they had them finished and not sitting on them. And these were quality tunes. Furthermore, we really believed radio would embrace it because of its “crossover” appeal. Capturing new fans with songs like “Breaking Honey’s Heart” and “Paid” seemed inevitable. And of course I felt great when the TV show, “Deadliest Catch”, chose to use “Paid”. But overall, my expectations fell short. It wasn’t a huge seller and radio didn’t pay much attention. In fact, some of the hardcore fans felt it was just too soft and some wondered why the band decided to mix both “rock” and “country” songs on the same release. It was well received by the press and fans, however it didn’t catapult the band out of the bars and into the theaters as hoped. Proving once again, the bands legendary live shows, were going to have to be the catalyst for the leap into larger venues.

Looking back, “Paid” marked a huge turning point for the band. The days of the successful Big Show and banner year of 2005 were over. While we all looked forward to 2006, believing all our past efforts would make things better, the glory days seemed to be fading. Even with the addition of Scott Churilla, and a long anticipated full length album ( later to be titled, Get It Together) planned in the near future, there was change in the air.

We had a few web Guru’s during my days, but something about “Hal the Web Guy” stands out…

One of my early Rockonomics posts was about my first impressions of the Supersuckers website and how I felt it needed a makeover.   I had also mentioned that people involved with the operations were fans.  I felt this was tantamount to the bands success. We had a few web Guru’s during my days, but something about “Hal the Web Guy” stands out.

With Hal’s help we were able to transform the band’s site from it’s humble beginnings into one that was easy to use and chockfull of useful and updated content (including press photo’s, music, video’s, and fan club information).  We added a personal touch from the band members, and a real community evolved on the message board.  Fans were even encouraged to submit photo’s to be included on the site, and share their own stories.

When I started the Rockonomics site, I turned to a few people for their opinion and obviously Hal was on the list.  I wanted to write about past experiences but most importantly, I wanted fans and other bands to find it entertaining and insightful.  A subscription service seemed a bit over the top,  so I decided to do donations along with giveaways.  I had no idea it would be this fun and successful, leading me to consulting work and even a speaking engagement in Washington DC.  Thanks everyone for your support!  And so it continues…

Below is my Q & A with my pal, Hal.

Q: With social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and website templates such as wordpress, I would suspect that the demand for custom sites has decreased.  What changes have you noticed in the past few years?

A: Yeah absolutely. And there are even more solutions out there now. But I think it’s great. It allows anyone who needs a web-presence to be able to easily “roll their own” without having to spend an arm and a leg or learn the nitty-gritty of html coding. And have their web-presence look really good. I can’t tell you how many smaller jobs I’ve talked my way out of just because I know the budget will be small and I can pass on some info for the client to do it themselves. But when it comes to my bigger clients, they still need a lot of custom content, hands-on support and a large team of web guys.

Q: You’ve done countless sites for a lot of Fortune 500 companies so how did you become the “Web Guy” for the Supersuckers?

A: I have a good friend who worked at MusicToday (the SSKs online merchandise company), and you must have put the word out that the band was looking for a new guy. She, knowing I was a huge fan, contacted me and said, “hey, get in touch with them.” So I remember calling you and I think you were in the van on tour (as always). You asked me who my favorite bands were. So I just rattled a few off and I think you said, “OK, you’re hired!”  [laughs]  Well not exactly, but you seemed generally interested. And we started working together pretty soon thereafter.

Anyhow, I’ve always said that the jobs that were most fun and creative, were the low-paying gigs. So as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had to mix in a few fun gigs while also “Working for the Man!”

While I knew the SSKS gig wouldn’t make me a rich man, I just was so stoked to work with this band I had been listening to and seen live for many years. And you sporadically sweetened the deal when a package would mysteriously arrive with some really cool swag. Guys like Doug, Bartley, Brian and myself always appreciated that you seemed to really care about us minions.

As for the moniker, “Hal the Web Guy,” I just thought that doing the geek work wasn’t so cool, so I just stole a bit of your persona to make my title seem a bit more hip.  [laughs]

Q: What was your favorite Supersuckers web promotion?

A: I only came in on the tail end of the Paid EP, so I guess Get it Together. I thought it was an interesting idea to put all the gold-top members names in the CD jacket. While the album wasn’t really what the public seemed to want, it’s certainly a well produced piece and has a few gems. Also the 20th anniversary show, CD and DVD was great. Really the whole Fan Club (P.I.T.) was brilliant while it lasted.

Q: Was there ever a web promotion we talked about doing but couldn’t pull it off?

A: The main focus was how to keep people coming back to the site — keeping it fresh. The initial re-design was to keep it clean, simple and easy to navigate. When the web-store was run by MusicToday (MT), we had that “Merch Item of the Day” feature. It was a cool idea and a way to keep the home page fresh. Back when we first did it, there were so many different items in the store like shirts, caps, flasks, lighters, girl’s knickers, skateboards,  iPods, etc. –a huge variety. Not many bands at the SSKs level had such an inventory.

What I really wanted to do was link this feature directly to the MT database, have a “merch window” for every item in the store and serve them up in a more logical fashion. Even have a back-end interface so you could promote specific goods that you wanted to clear out or put on “special.” Also, if an item went out of stock, it would just not show anymore. This is something we do on all of my bigger sites. But I couldn’t get MT to figure out a way to make it work. And there wasn’t a decent budget that I could hire out to an engineer to build it. So we did it manually, and so many times you’d call me up (from the van most likely) and say “hey man, that T-Shirt showing on the site today has been out of stock for 2 weeks.” [laughs]  So I’d have to quickly swap it out. After a couple years, the stock was really dwindling, and we barely had any items to sell. We’d be rotating maybe 5-6 items for weeks. Eventually I just took the feature down.

Also, I remember when Eddie decided to answer the fans questions via a video blog, which I thought was a great way to interact with the fans from the band’s message-board. But he only did it once, which was a bit disappointing. If fans knew that every week or so they could log onto the site and maybe have their question answered via video, that it would have been a big hit.

Q: What did you take away from your experience with the bands site?

A: I really had a great time with it. It was great to connect with the fans. Early on with the fan club photo page, I’d be getting photos from people everyday to post.  Eddie was a great sport going out there after the shows and throwing the horns with one arm around all these people, posing for their cameras. They’d email them to me and were so jacked to see these up on the page. While I mostly interacted with you, it was nice to get to know the band as well.

It’s been over a year since I stepped down from my post. I was and still am a huge fan of the music. I’m really glad you and I have stayed in touch. One of these days I’ll get my ass out to the “holy land” and meet the rest of the Neal clan.

Q: What are listening to these days?

A: I’ve not picked up a ton of new music, but some of recent ones I did get and liked were recent CDs from Danko Jones,  Motorhead, the Backyard Babies, Nicke Royale’s new band Imperial State Electric, the new Michael Monroe (Hanoi Rocks/Demolition 23), and Alberta Cross. The newer Drive-by Truckers is decent, but not as good as when Jason Isbell was in the band. As you said, he’s the “secret weapon.”

Otherwise I tend to pick up a lot of older stuff I’ve either lost or never had.

Q: What are reading these days?

A: I read a bunch, albeit somewhat slow. Right now I’m in the middle of War by Sebastian Junger. It’s a real account of an embedded reporter in a remote US military post in Afghanistan. Really intense.

My brother-in-law gave me Bob Mould’s autobiography which I look forward to reading. I’ve been a huge fan of Bob and his bands for many years. I also enjoyed Keith Richard’s book Life. I know we discussed it many times.

Stig Larsson’s Millennium trilogy was great (Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Girl Who Played with Fire, and Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.). Each book got better the one before. Probably my favorite piece of fiction was Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. It’s all of 950 pages so it takes a while, but one page in and you’ll have a hard time putting it down. While it’s fiction, it’s based off the author’s real life events. Lots of action. Pick it up!

Brian Baltazar… And if it was 2002, I’d do it all over again…

How one guy can make a huge difference for your band.  And a common mistake some bands make;  I’ll call it “Not getting your fans involved….enough”

I’ve introduced Brian Baltazar before and he’s contributed to this site in the past.  I wanted to re-visit his contribution because the proof is in the pudding (and in the Denver market)…

After learning more about the band, certain things were obvious to me. For one, they really needed to connect the dots from the fans to the band.  We desperately needed help spreading the word and getting supporters involved with the cause.  One thing is certain about a Supersuckers aficionado; they’re not a passive group.

I found myself mailing posters, flyers, CD’s, stickers, or anything else to fans to promote a show, album, etc.  Sending signed 8 x 10’s to promoters and radio stations was just one way to say thanks, and hopefully get added to the wall space.  As time went on, we created the “Team Man” section of the site so fans had the tools to create their own flyers and email them along with song snippets and video clips to help build the excitement and promote the band.  Anyone remember the ecards the band used to have?

More on that later…  here’s Brian:

So I’ve been asked a few times lately, “what exactly did you do to help promote the Supersuckers?”  

I was a huge Supersuckers fan.  I looked at the band as both a product and a service.  They were the product, and the service was making loud relentless rock and old school ramblin-gamblin country, but the shows in Colorado, especially Denver (where I live) weren’t selling out.  Why?  I figured that it had to do with marketing and promotion.  Where are flyers/promo posters hanging?  Would people on the message board want to help spread the word?  I wanted this band to sell out shows and become huge.  From where I was standing, it was a crime these guys weren’t selling out Mile High Stadium.  

In 2002 I joined their fan club and promptly took advantage of the guest list privilege for an exclusive party in Aspen that year.   At the show I spoke to Chris and told him I had some ideas for strategies and tactics (more on the strategy and tactics in a moment).  What was his response – “Those are great ideas, Brian!!!  Can you take this email list and get people to sign up and help me sell some merchandise?  Anyone around here deliver Pizza?”  He pimped me out within the first few minutes of meeting him, like only he could.  I knew the band needed help and I was passionate about it.   Most importantly, I was glad that I had finally connected with someone in the camp who appreciated the help.

He promptly sent me posters and handbills for the next Denver show.  A month before the show I asked him for promoter contacts to get more posters and handbills.  Before I hit the streets, I had a game plan – put posters everywhere, find out where the Supersuckers CD’s and LP’s were in the record stores, take posters and flyers to pizza joints, restaurants, tattoo shops, skate shops, books stores, bars, etc.  But most importantly, be professional, courteous, and develop business relationships at each place so we could continue to promote there…  I’d offer guest list spots too.

It all started to have an affect.  In Denver the pre-sale ticket sales spiked 50% from their November 2001 Denver Bluebird show compared to their next 2002 show at the same venue. This translated to more merch sales, more fans, more people on the email list, etc.  Chris also wanted my help with selling merch at the shows and those sales increased too.  Most of the time, it was Chris and I selling the merch together around Colorado.  I always felt good about what I was selling and felt the prices were fair too.

As time went on, we’d talk more about how to expand the  market on a limited budget, reaching more people and gaining new fans.   It was a challenge but we always made it work.

This was accomplished in a few ways; Primarily reaching out to people on the message board and building a team… On the Supersuckers website, Hal the Web-Guy, put a Street Team sign-up on the site and Chris would send me the info for people in the Denver area. We would: Work with the venues to create contests for pre-sale ticket buyers, create eBay auctions and promote the contests and auctions in Eddie’s blast emails on the message board – outside the box ideas which were really encouraged.  Auctioning off tickets to sit on the stage during a show is something most bands just don’t think about doing. 

In Denver, pre-sale ticket sales grew quickly and would nearly sell out the Bluebird (cap. 550) and the walk-up sales would help sell out the venue on the day of the show. Then the Supersuckers went on to play the Gothic (cap. 1000) and we nearly sold out a few shows there too.  It was a lot of fun being so involved and making such a huge difference for one of my favorite bands.   I made some new friends, made a difference, and got a front row seat to the inner workings of the rock business.  I thought it really spoke volumes about Chris Neal getting so many people involved.  And if it was 2002, I’d do it all over again…

 

In summary, it’s interesting to me how lucky the Supersuckers were to have such dedicated fans.  And the story above proves what a difference one guy can make, and hopefully provides some useful insight.  Guys like Doug, Andrew, Monty, Hal, Kaz, Cory, Paul, Andy, Frank, and others made such a huge difference for myself and especially the band.  Knowing that I could reach out to fans to help spread the word on a show or release was something I never took for granted…

It’s the best we’ve ever made…

I had flown into Philadelphia to meet with the band and do some touring.  Eddie had some of the songs from the new Paid EP.  The idea was to release more songs or singles and not to do a full blown album during this time.  This would obviously buy the band even more time before they would release what would become their opus and grand finale with Rontrose ; Get It Together.

I was anxious to hear the Paid EP.  I knew this was going to be something different.  It was going to be a departure from anything they had done before.  Everyone was a bit older and the shows around this time were some of the best.  Most importantly, the band seemed real excited to be working with this engineer they had known for years;  Billy Bowers.  Billy, Rontrose, Eddie, and Dancing Eagle were all in a band called Thai Pink in the 80’s in Tucson…

Billy went on to become an engineer working with Brendan O’Brien and Brendan is world famous in the music business.  It was everyone’s hope that with these songs being such a departure in sound and style from their past work, would finally launch them into the mainstream.  Tracks like “Paid” or even “Breaking Honey’s Heart” would capture everyone’s attention at radio and press, and sales would be huge… and all our dreams would come true.

Eddie and I sat in that big white van with a couple of cold ones parked outside the Starlight Bar, hopefully for the last time, listening to the first track from the EP.  I remember being blown away by how different it sounded.   I was amazed at the playing.  It was a great moment for the band and a chance taken…  Ron’s guitar playing was perfect, Eddie’s vocal’s sounded great and Mike Musburger’s drumming just knocked my socks off.  Go back and listen to the guitar parts in “Breaking Honey’s Heart”…  it’s brilliant.

Once again we gathered the team to plan radio, press, retail, pre-orders, fan club members, street team members and our internet guru’s; Hal the Web Guy and Doug over at DPX.  The 40,000 email address’ we’d compiled since I collected the first one in 2001 would be an essential ingredient. Hopefully this time we’d make just enough of an impact to set ourselves up for success…   More on that later!  Chris Neal of Midway

May 19^th 2006 Eddie Spaghetti writes…

People get ready, there’s some rock a’ comin’!

And you can pre-order it NOW my friends, right freakin’ now! So click here and make yourself happy, scratch that rock-n-roll itch, satiate your hunger for quality and quench that thirst for brand new Supersuckers music. It’s the best we’ve ever made.

Or maybe you’re one of those highly intelligent People of Impeccable Taste who already know the joys of our fan club. Is that you? Well, if it is, don’t bother clicking up there because your copy of our brand new, six song EP will be arriving in your mailbox right around the 6th of June. I know, too cool! Want in the club? Well, er, uh, I don’t know… might be too late… Oh screw it. Just get in if you want to.

I really hope you guys like the new stuff, we’re pretty proud of our little selves right now and we’re really excited to hit the road next month in support of the new EP. We’re also extremely happy to announce that the man behind the drums for this tour and, for that matter, all future Supersuckers tours will be none other than the incredible Mr. Scott Churilla! That’s the facts, Jack. Scottzilla has left his former employer, The Reverend Horton Heat for the greener pastures of Supersuckersville and we couldn’t be more honored to have him on board. Don’t miss us as we destroy every stage we hit from now on! The dates are in this email somewhere – notice the Social Distortion dates? Nice!

Well, I gotta go finish this song I’m making up for my solo show tonight here in Seattle at the Sunset Tavern. Do you happen to live up this way? Well, come on down! I’ll be playing in between some good rock bands – The Ones (featuring the fine talents of Mr. Metal Marty Chandler!) and Huge Spacebird (I think). It’ll be a guaranteed good time here in my neighborhood too-nite!

I really have to get a grip on these exclamation points. They are outta hand in this message! OUTTA HAND I TELL YOU!!! OH NO, NOW I’M USING ALL CAPITALS TOO. LIKE YOU NEED ME E-YELLING AT YOU!!! AARRRGGHHH!!!!

EDDIE SPAGHETTI!!!

Jordan Shapiro Supersuckers Part 2…

Here’s another clip…

Selling Dan “Thunder” Bolton’s Jean’s, Belt, & Shirt on eBay and other uses…

We used it as a tool to promote and market the band, shows, new releases, merchandise, contests, etc…   I would often build an auction around a show where I knew we needed more advertising or word of mouth.  Nothing got people talking like a Supersuckers eBay Auction.  Often local papers would mention our clever contests giving us even more exposure.

eBay gave us a lot of bang for the buck too.  And most importantly our auctions were great and fans were happy to click that bid button.  A show auction might include a pair of tickets, a leather jacket courtesy of Hot Leathers, hotel room, and goodie bag which included posters and CD’s.  We’d often donate some of the profits to the WM3 too.

We’d use it to promote new releases 

Here’s two examples below both written by Eddie…

Hey there and happy new year to you all! I’m celebrating the start of 2004 by releasing my first solo record, The Sauce, on the 13th of this month. To help kick things off, I’m holding an ebay auction to offer you some cool keepsakes from the making of this record. Included in this package up for auction is the first mock-up of the art work and accompanying proof sheet, a napkin featuring drawings by artist Tim Gabor of ideas for the disc and poster signed by Tim and an envelope with the real, “saucy” fingerprints Tim used to draw from. It’s stuff I really shouldn’t part with, but maybe one of you will take better care of it than I would. All of this and a signed copy of The Sauce as well! Remember, you can order this record on our site today and it will be in stores on the 13th, but you can get yours now by winning this auction!

Good luck,

Eddie Spaghetti

Here’s another piece of history up for grabs from the making of The Sauce. It’s the original test pressing of the LP! There were only four of these made and I’m offering one up to you. David Fisher and I used this test pressing to approve the mastering for the vinyl and we both agree that it sounds WAY better than the C.D.! The CD is out on the 13th of this month but the LP isn’t due to hit the stores until next month, so, if you still have a record player, here’s your chance to get your (hopefully) sticky mitts on one now!

Good luck,

Eddie Spaghetti

eBay was a great way to test new merchandise.  We would auction off Zippo lighters on eBay way before we sold them in the official Supersuckers store.  An auction would show me page views, amount of bids, and would often get us a new customer.   A lot of items including Cowboy Hats and Pillow Cases were tested on eBay way before we sold them as “store items”.  I remember a fan offering $500 to Eddie for his hat, which Eddie didn’t wanna part with for some reason.  So I had a few signed and sold them at the merchandise booth on tour.  Of course I didn’t sell them for anything close to $500 but it helped.  In fact there’s a signed Stetson on eBay now that a pal of mine is selling.  

It’s no secret my last year with the band was anything but a financial success, so eBay became more of a last resort than a marketing tool or focus group for products.  It was where I sold all my memorabilia to help pay down some bills.  Rontrose was glad to help get the word out about the auctions and even Dan Bolton mailed me some items he had collected too.  So what was the craziest item I think we sold?  Dan “Thunder” Bolton’s jeans with the legendary “Thunder Cuffs”, belt, and shirt.  Someone in Canada purchased the entire outfit –   That story also made the paper.

http://www.nnsl.com/frames/newspapers/2008-04/apr30_08cth.html

I’ve tried to carry on some of that same spirit here

http://rockonomix.wordpress.com/ by doing these crazy contests, auctions, parties, etc…  I hope to have a new shirt designed here shortly too and there’s a rumor about doing a golf outing.  Stay tuned and don’t forget to check out my latest contest which ends July 15^th.

Thanks everyone.  It’s great to see that I’m approaching 400 likes on Facebook!  Help me get that number to 40,000 –

tell a friend about the site and have them tell a friend.  Link is below…  Chris Neal of Midway UT

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rockonomix-Tales-from-the-PIT/143655802312101

If the Supersuckers were Apple Pie then Jordan Shapiro was the à la mode…

If the Supersuckers were Apple Pie then Jordan Shapiro was the à la mode…

The dynamic he added was pure and simple magic.  I’ve written about it many times, and that period around 2005 was my personal favorite.

Here’s a little clip and I’ve got more coming.  Enjoy…

I am amazed at all of the stuff that the Supersuckers did…

Chris,

I’m really enjoying the stories!

I have a question for you. I am amazed at all of the stuff that the Supersuckers did besides kicking ass at their shows. Anything from in store appearances, singing the national anthem at a ball game to pouring beer at “The Great American Beer Fest” and doing a lot of it traveling in an Econoline van. Were there times when you had too much stuff scheduled , transportation or legal problems and didn’t make it or almost didn’t make it to an appearance?

Thanks,

Grababrewski (Tom)

I always tried to keep the schedule full and I would look for things to do to keep everyone busy.  Being on the road was the one time they were together.  We needed to take advantage of this time and accomplish as much as we could.  I would reach out to TV, Radio, Press, Record Stores, Tattoo Shops, Skate Shops, etc…  I would schedule bowling events, baseball games, in-stores, or whatever it took to get people excited and get the band exposure.

There’s an excitement about a full schedule and staying busy.  And the band did a great job going along with these crazy ideas too.  I can’t think of another band to this day that’ll sit down with a fan and teach them guitar licks but Rontrose was happy to do it.  We never had any problems with too much going on but we did have problems with that van.  It seemed as though it was always either in the shop or on the side of the road.  It wasn’t uncommon for Dan “Thunder” Bolton AKA Dan “Van” Bolton to invite the folks at the Ford Dealership to the show whenever it was in the shop.  I think it was El Paso where we had about 12 tickets set aside for the local dealer – Ford Dealer that is.

We posted our schedule on the bands site so fans could easily get involved and media folks could see how busy we were.  Also, promoters could see that we were doing our part to get the word out.  Promoters have a responsibility to get people to the show but I always felt we shared in that, we wanted shows to be successful for everyone.  We wanted fans to help spread the word, follow us on tour, join us at a game and meet us at the finish line.

BTW Singing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” at the Yankees vs Twins game was a huge highlight for me.  We were able to invite some fans (courtesy of the Twins) to that game in August of 2006.  It was a great memory.  What a lot of people don’t know is, after that game, the band hit the studio in Minneapolis and recorded a song that was never released.  It was the last time I really got to witness the magic of the Supersuckers and their creative force.  Although I didn’t know it then, it was also the beginning of the end of my time with the band – more on that later…

Here’s the email that Eddie sent to the fans on August 1st 2006…

 “…take me out to the crowd! You ever wonder how they decide on who gets to sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” at the seventh inning stretch at Major League Baseball games? Well, me too! I still can’t figure it out even after being asked to do exactly that at an upcoming Minnesota Twins game this August 13th. That’s right, the good people in the Twins operation have deemed it appropriate that we, The Supersuckers, will get to partake in this time honored tradition when they take on the Darth Vader of baseball, the New York Yankees, in a day game this Wednesday, August 13th. The first pitch will be at 12:10 pm Central Time and we’ll be doing a little show before then somewhere in the stadium at 10:45. If you’d like to come to this glorious event we will be hooking a few people up with tickets but it’s first come first served so get your email requests intochris@supersuckers.com right away for your chance to see The Greatest invade the American Pastime in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008. We will be rooting firmly for the Twins to kick the living crap outta those Damn Yankees so come on out and join us. It’ll be lots of fun for sure!Stay tuned for an update regarding our new release, “Get It Together”, coming real soon to a computer near you!

Keep in touch…
-Eddie Spaghetti ”

Tell me something about Scott Churilla that people might not know?  Dave

Fun Question….  Scott can tell you who plays what on just about every record from the 70’s.  He’s a musical encyclopedia.  He’s also got great taste in “songs”.  We’d room a lot and listen to Gordon Lightfoot and Bruce Springsteen.  He gave me a better appreciation and understanding of drummers, such as Bruce Gary and Jim Gordon.  

Did you know that Ernest “Boom” Carter played drums on “Born to Run”???  I never thought about it until Scott mentioned it.  If there was a 70’s Rock N Roll Quiz Show he’d do well…

Thanks for the Questions everyone…  Until Next TIme.  Chris Neal of Midway, UT 

christophercarterneal@gmail.com

 

Long time listener, first time caller. Diggin’ the blog. My questions:

Hey Chris -

Long time listener, first time caller. Diggin’ the blog. My questions:

* What was the biggest musical crime you saw? Meaning, which band either failed to live up to their potential and disbanded or never got signed and gave up?

* Being around all this music all the time, how did you keep yourself from turning into a jaded, fun-hating hipster?

* What are some of the biggest mistakes bands (or the Supersuckers, in your opinion), made?

Thanks!

Kyle

Kyle – I’m a little jaded and I’ll never be that hip…    I witnessed some great writers and performers who never got a fair shake but one could argue that’s pretty common in the arts.  In fact, that’s just the way life is sometimes.  You might sell the best burger in the world but chances are McDonald’s sells more.  Nobody can tell me that McDonald’s makes the best burger…

The biggest crime is the value that has been placed on music and the arts in general.  A specific example would be expecting songs for free.  I think the value of a song and the craft of writing has diminished over the past 10 years.  Songs don’t carry much value these days.  Between downloading songs and getting paid peanuts when a song is used in film or TV what incentive does someone have to pursue this craft?

I also believe the music business lacks camaraderie.  It’s sink or swim and that’s a bit disenchanting.   A band should not have to pay to play.  It’s not uncommon for bands to pay to be on tours or receive a meager sum by a huge National Act for a support slot.  Oh I guess bands could always say “no” but that band is essentially gambling on the hopes that because they play in front of more people they’ll get more exposure, sell more records, and get paid a lot more next time around.   I want to make it clear that getting paid peanuts for a support slot or paying to get on a tour isn’t always the case, but the fact that it happens is wrong.   Most of the tours we did and bands we toured with took good care of us; Pearl Jam, The Underground Garage Tour, Reverend Horton Heat but we did turn down tours because the finances made no sense.  In fact some offers were a slap in the face.  And we probably did a few tours that we shouldn’t have done because that “gamble” didn’t pay off.

What the music business doesn’t seem to understand is that musicians are people with personalities.  They’re not making burgers but instead they are the burger.  Today we get what we pay for which is crap on the radio.

I think the music business really did a terrible job with consumer awareness and suing people for “stealing” music.  My campaign would’ve been to have had respected artists and writers doing public service announcements making their case.  Why getting paid to create is important much like being able to afford food is important.   But when labels release the same album 3 different times on CD adding a few bonus tracks each time it’s hard to feel sympathetic.  It’s such a slap in my face to pay $16.98 for a CD when I’ve already purchased it twice before (the non-re-mastered version and the re-mastered version) but this time it’s the Platinum Re-Mastered Edition w/ 2 bonus tracks.  Seriously…  What do labels expect from the public they continue to alienate…

In the case of the Supersuckers, we were able to make that connection with the fans.  The fans knew they were a mom and pop business providing a product that supported them, paid their bills, provided food, etc…  It wasn’t a faceless company.  I’ve never met Mr. Warner of Time Warner but the fans could all meet Rontrose of the Supersuckers and when fans purchased a CD, it was a means of supporting their favorite band.  Something that one could identify with and be proud to own.

We all made mistakes, but overall we got most of it right, and laid a great blueprint for bands to follow.  I’d have to say the biggest mistake the Supersuckers made was to not push themselves.  It’s tough going from the excitement and the challenges of the “Big Show” to the predictability of the  “Same Show”.  It’s unfortunate that a lot of fans never got to hear what I heard, which was the reason I invested so much in the band.  As I’ve said, this band was bar none flat out incredible and hearing them play Sweet Emotion, Hey Ya, Mississippi Queen, Sail On, Then I’m Gone, She’s My Bitch, My Sharona, For Those About to Rock, etc…  It was a magic that doesn’t often happen in an industry that wallows in crap.  The lesson here is don’t serve the same old burger everyday…

Have a Good Week…  Chris

And Remember Anyone who donates any amount has a chance to win an iPad 2 (that’s a 64 Gig White Ipad)…  Drawing is July 15th…What will I give away next?  

…very few venues to choose from?

When starting out, what is the cheapest and most efficient way to spread the word about your band when you live in a rural area and have very few venues to choose from?

A. Wheaton

Buddy Guy said something like, “Don’t ever be the best in town, just try and be the best until the best come around”.   

It’s a tough racket these days and I honestly don’t see it getting easier but the market lends itself well to being creative.   If you love what you do then playing live anywhere shouldn’t be a problem.  Play as much as possible and collect those email address.  The key is playing and exposing your craft to the masses.  Making sure you connect and knowing your customer.  Having house parties, garage parties, doing shows everywhere from the “few” venues to schools, grocery stores, coffee shops, record stores, etc…     Work a deal out with a record store or retailer to record you show, get CD’s made, and split the profits after costs…  I know record stores are few and far between these days.  Consider a contest where you play at a fans house…

CD’s prices have gone from $16.98 to .99 cents and in some cases free.  CD’s are still remains an easy way for your music to get heard, so be creative.  Sell ad space on your CD packaging.  Sell ad space on the CD between tracks…  This CD is sponsored by “ ACME Corp.”

See if there’s a local radio station that you can get involved with especially an independent or college station.  Do as many interviews as you can with all the local papers and online sites.   Take questions from fans too and post them on your site.

Merchandise also helps spread the word on the band from stickers to t-shirts.  Be creative.  Offer up new designs and have fans submit their own ideas.  And think of some out of the ordinary merchandise items too…  Lighters, Baseball’s, Skateboards, Flasks, Guitar Picks, etc…  You can probably find some sponsors who would want their logo on some of your merchandise items and offset your costs.  If some of this sounds like “selling out” well, what better sign to have outside the venue; “sold out”…

It’s really important to have a great website that’s updated, easy to navigate and has links to your Facebook, Twitter or YouTube page.  Current news, content, songs, video’s, bio, updated photo’s in 300 DPI, and contests will keep fans coming back.   Collecting those email addresses and emailing your fans directly every couple weeks will have a huge impact.  Don’t just rely on Facebook.  Take advantage of everything.  If it’s useful and informative fans will appreciate hearing from you.

Encourage your fans to turn people onto your band and don’t turn down the help…  Everyone wants to be part of something new and promising…

Hope this helps some…Chris