I just received and answer to my email concerning a gig at Dante’s Highlight in Helsinki. It just said “thank you for your interest, we won’t offer you a gig”. So there you have it. They didn’t say “not at this time”.. just plain “no”. I, however am happy they answered, because now I won’t have to wonder whether they read the mail or not. I will never ever ever bother them again.
Usually emails just go unanswered. I’m not sad about not being able to play at Dante’s Highlight. We’ve played ther before and the sound isn’t that good. The email did however bring me back to the painfull reality of unsigned bands. The bookers of the venues simply don’t care about your band. I guess because at every given moment a hundred bands will be happy to play at the venue for free. I wonder how small record labels persuade bookers to let their bands play. It must be tough.
Once you get the gig, on the other hand, you have to bring your own fans. Today people don’t randomly go out on a week night to listen to an unknown band. I think the problem is often that it costs 5-7 euros to get in. There needs to be a place where one can go see some bands for free and drink cheap beer. The bar owner could pay the bands depending on how many people show up. Sort oh like Hela Torstai in Henry’s Pub in Helsinki, but there could certainly be more, in my opinion. I might just start one of these clubs. The first band would play at 20.00 and the third band at 21.30.