August 7, 2009 How Do You Obtain Your Fans?
Disclaimer - All this shit is 100% true. haha.
This past weekend ended up being a pretty interesting experience for my band and I. We gained some new fans in some pretty interesting ways….
Us banditos were supposed to shoot a music video last weekend but that unfortunately fell through (and our drummer lost his job in the process!).
SO - To lift our spirits, we decided to jam out & write some new material. After about an hour into our practice session, we get a knock at the door. First thought - Shit, the cops.
We did not hear the knock, but our buddy hanging out in the next room over did hear it and answered the door. Next thing we know, some gigantic drunk man with long hair barrels in yelling “YES!! I FINALLY FOUND THE MUSIC!!!”
He then proceeded to dance wildly for about 10 minutes as we were playing a few of our songs back-to-back.
Image Credit: ShinyShiny.TV
After the jam session, we began talking to the drunk man and apparently he had heard us playing from far down the street while he was riding his bike. He said he thought it sounded awesome & made it his mission to find where the music was coming from…and by some weird twist of fate he ended up in our living room.
So naturally, we gave the guy a beer and a free CD with our autographs & website URL scribbled all over it.
Now the next night, we were practicing again and guess what — ANOTHER knock at the door. This time, it really was the cops. DAMN!
A neighbor called in a noise complaint (it was midnight on a Sunday, so I guess I understand) so the cops came to break up our fun.
But when they made their way to the band room, they smiled and waved at us and made hand signals and motions for us to keep playing. We we’re extremely confused…but just kept going! At the end of the song, the cops shook our hands and said “wow, you guys sound really freakin’ good….I kind of wish I wasn’t on duty right now because otherwise I’d want you guys to keep going!”
Of course, we handed them both free autographed CD’s and told them to play it for their co-workers back at the station. Oh, and they didn’t write us up for anything. :)
I can’t speak for the rest of the bandmates….but I was totally flattered by the whole weekend. To me, in a perfect world, this is how all bands/artists should obtain their fans. Just play your damn music for god’s sake. Play it loudly & proudly. Play it anywhere and everywhere. Play it for free. Give it away to people that ride their bike a mile down the road to find you. Give it to cops!
If you have confidence in what you are doing and can project that to total strangers, then they will understand and appreciate what you are creating….and will come along for the ride.
If you guys have any interesting stories about obtaining fans I’m sure the whole MusicThinkTank crew would love to hear them! Share!
_chris
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If you would like to learn a bit more about Chris, please visit his e-portfolio or his band’s website:
E-Portfolio
A.S.B.P.K. Music
Reader Comments (4)
LMFAO. Did the rib surgery hurt? How soon could you bend all the way down after they were removed?
article was meant to spark conversation. sorry if it came across as arrogant??
_chris
Hey Chris,
Keep plugging away. You did not sound arrogant to me. You have to know Justin. He's just cracking your Doritos. You have to have thick skin when you blog often.
-Bruce
I appreciate hearing this - my fans have been definitely won one by one. I recently had a facebook friend recommend me to another guy he had never met, but that guy instantly got excited about my music and bought one of my CDs. I found out he lived nearby, so I brought over both of my CDs signed, my guitar, and played him a few of my songs.
He is introducing his friends to my songs and asked for a list of gigs where I'm playing.