Self Promotion and Cringe

Cringe

Here is a lovely example of a cringe worthy individual that I found on Urban Dictionary:

A fedora-wearing misanthrope who also happens to enjoy My Little Pony and always complains about being "forever alone". Sometimes, he carries fake swords and attaches fake furry tails to his pants and walks around in public pretending he is not human. He spends his days browsing 9Gag and talks about memes on his facebook page. He says "lol" out-loud. He is unemployed and lives in his mother's basement. He prides himself in his sense of humor, where his favorite "joke" involves screaming "D'OH!" in a Homer Simpson voice. He often incorporates the french word "Le" prior to nouns in order to make them funnier. For example, I went to le shopping mall and bought myself le fedora. He uses this word because he doesn't know how to be funny so he resorts to stale Reddit jokes.

Nothing feels more ‘cringe’ than promoting your shitty little band onstage. There’s nothing like begging a crowd of drunk strangers, who came to see the other band on the bill, to follow you on Instagram, let alone Facebook. That’s a surefire way to feel like you’re the Fedora Guy. The only ‘cool’ way to promote your band is to mention you just opened for Judas Priest and were recently banned from the second scuzziest motel in Vancouver after you set the carpet on fire trying to light your bong with a match, which you dropped because a groupie was trying to pass you a bible covered with rivers of cocaine.

Well friends, bad news. If you are ever going to open for Judas Priest, you are going to have to be a little cringe.

Sharing your music with an audience is a vulnerable, beautiful act. It’s natural not to want to defile that space with capitalistic self-promotion.

Here’s the hard truth: YOU MUST.

Promote Yourself

If this is just a hobby, and you don’t care about expanding your band’s audience, then fine, don’t promote your band. But if you want your audience to grow, and if you want to unlock more creative opportunities for you and your band down the line, then you must promote your band.

Think back to primary school when the teacher asked the class a question. Did you ever have a great answer, yet were too unsure or afraid of being uncool to raise your hand? Did you silently fume while your classroom nemesis took the risk, raised their hand, and got all the plaudits? Well, the same lesson applies to promoting your band. If you do not raise your hand, you will not get a chance to speak.

Promoting your band is just like raising your hand over and over again. Raise it enough times, and sing enough good tunes, and pretty soon people will be listening. If you do not want to promote your band on stage, very fair, there are many artists who are uncomfortable with that. But then get an MC. Or get another member of the band to do it. What about the drummer? They always want a chance to shine. Feeling discomfort with the idea of promotion is not an excuse not to do it. Don’t get defeated, get creative!

Keys things to mention to audience during show:

• Let people know where to find you online (Instagram, Bandcamp, etc.).
• Mention your mailing list if you have one — great way for folks to stay in the loop.
• Talk about any music that’s out or coming soon, and how they can listen or pre-save.
• Shout out any merch for sale (t-shirts, tapes, stickers, etc.) and where to grab it.
• Tell them what you are saving up for (tour, recording, instruments) and why their support at the merch table matters.
• Tell them about upcoming shows or tour dates.

And last but not least - Gratitude. Don’t forget to thank people. The sound person, the venue, the other bands, visual artists (show poster, merch), the promoter, the waiting staff, the bartender, your parents, your long lost cousin who gave you your first cigarette, and of course the audience. A show does not happen in a vacuum. Acknowledge that. It’s important to pay back some of the attention you receive. Don’t act too cool or entitled. People will pick up on that and you’ll get fewer opportunities down the line. Music, above all, exists to create community. Act as a member of a community.