It has been a struggle to get our local philly rock bands any recognition, I am a promoter and a musician so I have the double frustration here.

Why do you think it is so hard to get people out the the rock clubs to support our local music? And what do you think would be a good way to get people to start paying attention.

I would love to hear your feedback!

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Hello Robyn and welcome to PhillyBlog!

That is a tough question to answer? Part of the answer I think just boils down to awareness and access. Free concerts are a great way to generate both, but they also cost money to produce, something that struggling bands cannot always afford.

College campuses are a great place for these and they generally are easier to work with. Plus students generally are the most open-minded when it comes to listening to a new and/or undiscovered band.

What local bands do you work with Robyn?

Most of the bands I work with, would be classified as underground, although they have some great independant lables backing them at this point. we work with:

Williams Eve www.williamseve.com
Westgate www.westgatepa.com
Metroplex www.metroplex3.com
Kitty Kat Dirt Nap www.kittykatdirtnap.com (My band :wink: )
Graze www.grazeweb.com
The Tiddies www.thetiddies.com
I Dreamed of Pompeii www.idreamedofpompeii.com
Calm in Sight www.calminsight.com
Teenage Girls www.teenagestyle.com

and more!
We do well at a lot of the clubs in the city, but there is really no all ages venues to work with and it is rather frustrating for our bands. Our bands range from indie rock all the way to Hardcore and Punk. I am hoping that the patrons of philadelphia will soon open thier minds to all kinds of music.

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Have you considered working with Sean Agnew of R5 production and the First Unitarian Church?
Unfortunately, the city is not very receptive to all ages venues. If you aren't selling alcohol, how do you make money? I remember back in high school going to Upstairs at Nick's which has been replaced by chi chi old city crap.

hey steve & robyn!

for all-ages shows, we desperately need more venues. R5 puts on great shows but if you're not a part of that, there aren't a lot of alternatives. and even more unfortunate is the fact that the current city administration has their minds made up that they do not want to be accomodating to all-ages venues.

in the 21+ scene, short-sighted booking has killed philly (and a lot of other cities and venues). instead of booking with the mindset of putting on good shows in order to bring people back to the venue, the mindset is let's have the bands bring the people, no matter how incompatible the styles and vibe is with the other acts. screw them if they don't come back; there's a hundred other bands out there willing to bring their friends here. it's a case of taking short-term profit over long-term prosperity. and given the turnover rate of club ownership and booking agents, it might not be a totally unjustified approach.

i think a big step for the city would be to get more cool people like 3HC and plain parade to book shows; people that not only love music and promoting but people who have a finger on the pulse of what's cool. but the venues have to make a commitment and be willing to take a short term loss while they (re)build their reputation.

i had tons more to write but man, i gotta get back to work. more soon.

james

I think the folks over at Origivation magazine have done a good job mobilizing some segments of the local music scene. The Original Music Association of Philadelphia is also attacking the problem, though as more of a wide-ranging non-profit organization rather than focusing as a zine.

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Mark Gardner, bass player, The Phoenix Trap: www.phoenixtrap.com

Robyn, I also play in a band in Philly and feel your pain. Our band plays very noisy punk/hardcore stuff too, which makes it even more difficult. We have been trying to line up some all ages shows for the two years we have existed and in that time have gotten only one all ages show. R5 sounds great, though they have ignored my e-mails like so many 21 and over places. I've heard of a place in Mt. Holly, NJ called " The Daily Grind". I don't know if they book all types of music or not, but I do know that they have booked some punk all ages stuff, which is a good sign. Other than that, I have thought about trying to get a bunch of bands together for a good cause to play for different charities. It would make people feel as though they are coming out for something more important and it's good publicity for any venue. The one all ages gig we had was last weekend at FDR skatepark in south Philly. Everything was great, no hassle from the cops and everyone had a good time. My friend Nash ( from Scumdrunk ) put on the show. I know that he and the guys from The Low Budgets are always working to put shows together. My band is called Umin, what band do you play in? What kind of music is it? I live in West Chester, not a whole lot going on out here, but there is Rex's for the 21 and over crowd. Give me some more info, maybe I can help out somehow. Peace...Jimpt

Where can we go to see all of your bands or pick up a cd?

www.phoenixtrap.com

We're on a break this month while our drummer gets married, but will be playing out again starting in September.

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Mark Gardner, bass player, The Phoenix Trap: www.phoenixtrap.com

I have tried to get some of our bands into the R5 shows, but it is very hard to do that. Sean Agnew is a very busy person and has many major label booking agents calling him for shows, so it tends to be hard for him to help out the more unknown bands.
We have recently been working with this great all ages venue called Club HP, it is located in Northeast Philadelphia. The owners are wonderful people who have the best intentions for this club. It is a very professional atmosphere and a great place to play. There are only a few drawbacks to this venue. The first is, you have to sell tickets, which can be a hard task. although I totally undertand the reasons that tickets are nesessary, the thought of selling tickets can push people away. The other thing is its location. it is right in between the burbs and the city, and not as easy to get people out to.
to answer a question on a previous post, I am in the band Kitty Kat Dirt Nap. we are a little easier to book because we are not very loud, we are an indie-pop band, with synths and mellow guitars. My concerns are for the rest of the bands I work with, because they truly are my main priority. They are all itching to play all ages shows, and I feel like I am failing them by not being able to book them.
Origivation is absolutely doing a wonderful thing, and I commend them for it. Wonkavision magazine is also doing a great job, they are more of a national zine but they are based out of philadelphia and just added a local section to the zine!
Its all these people that are making this city a great place to be a musician, everyone cares so much, but we are all left asking the same question.. what else can we do! our city is such a wonderful place, but I think the city needs truly needs an all ages venue that focuses on all the talent here, in sted of all the national acts!
This evening, something amazing happend. There is a local band called 80 Proof Soul. They are very talented people and they play great music. They played at club 218 tonight, as you know the warped tour was today and I had the pleasure of spending some time with the singer (Chris) of Less Than Jake. I happen to know that Less Than Jake is one of 80 Proof Soul's favorite bands, so I brought him to the show. Needless to say, 80 proof was very excited to be playing for one of thier influences. as we looked around the club, there were only about 20 people in there. I turned to Chris and asked him, "Do you remember the last time you played for 20 people?" and he said, "Those days far outweigh the big stadium days" It puts things in perspective. If we help out the bands that draw 20 or so people, tomorrow they could be headlining thier own national tour. So how come it is so hard to get people to book these roses waiting to bloom.
sorry such a long post. I have had a lot on my mind.
If anyone is interested in three hot chicks promotions, our website is www.threehotchicks.com

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