Hurricane Bells is a brand new band which released its debut album ‘Tonight is the Ghosts’ in November 2009.  Hurricane Bells is based out of Brooklyn and is done almost entirely by Steve Schiltz who worked with the band Longwave, but left to work on his own music and the album ‘Tonight is the Ghosts’ is the result of eighteen months with a computer and an Mbox.  One song has already made it into a box office hit-New Moon-and Hurricane Bells is thus set up to be able to produce more music, should Steve Shitltz decide to do it.

What’s interesting about his distinctive style of music is that though it may come off as depressing and emotional at first, when you listen carefully, you find that there is a lot of optimism and hope in the lyrics and the melody drags you through the highs and the lows of the song’s story.  Just like the beautiful hurricane bells that warned of a storm with melodious notes, the same name band tells of the bad times with an air of hope and the good times with a note of warning.  And of course the use of a computer to simulate the instrumentation means that Schiltz can experiment with all manner of sounds and melodies which means that he gets a very unique sound for each of the songs in the album.

There is no real genre for this music; it sways more towards rock sometimes and other times towards alternative rock or even pop.  In fact, it’s best not to label Hurricane Bells, or you end up missing a lot of the subtlety and enjoyment in the music.  Instead, let Hurricane Bells and ‘Tonight is the Ghosts’ take you into the dark, into the light, and into the grey; in short, all of the aspects of life.

You can listen to one of their songs here:

There are a lot of ways to promote your band, but some are more effective than others.  What are ten ways to promote your band that are effective, cheap, and reasonably simple to do?

1.  Social Networking.  The cheapest way to promote your band is through social networking; you can reach millions of people and you have unlimited options.  The simplest things to do are to set up a Facebook/Myspace/Twitter account and start gathering up fans and followers and friends.  Make sure to have information about your band, when you’re playing, what you’re playing and who you are.  The more information you have, the better!

2.  Get your own website.  While this takes a bit more work, especially if you want to design a site from scratch, getting your own website is well worth the work.  You get your own URL, your own design, you can put whatever you want on it and then you can have your URL on everything else you do with the band so that you have free advertising.  You can even sell your music online and tickets too!  Just be sure that the site is easy to read and navigate and that you have either the band name as your URL or something equally catchy.

3.  Hit up the local newspapers.  Most papers have a community arts program that advertises concerts around the city.  Advertise your next one there.  It’s cheap and reaches lots of people.

4.  Get a local fanbase.  Play all around your community and build your fanbase from the ground up.  That way, you have the home team on your side which builds up confidence and popularity when you hit the big scene.

5.  Be Original! Write and play original music, not just someone else’s music or some hack version of it.  Certainly it takes work and creativity, but you’ll be long remembered for your music, not for any lawsuits that would follow you if you copy someone else.  You may even revolutionize your genre or pick up a cult following.

6.  Throw a charity concert! Not only will this give you the ‘feel good’ warm fuzzies, but it will also make you look very good to a prospective audience and lend you an air of credibility and goodness that no amount of marketing can give you.

7.  Answer questions on forums about your genre of music.  Then direct them back to your site in your signature.  You’ll also get in good with the online music community and be able to learn some new things as well.

8.  Hire a ghostwriter to write articles about your band or write them yourself.  You can talk about your genre and submit them to places like Wiki Commons and Ezine.  Make sure to include a URL back to your website in the Author’s signature!  This also cements you as an expert and gets you more visibility.

9.  Hand out stuff with your band name and URL on it; tee-shirts, CDs, hats, anything that could hold the URL and be appropriate.  But don’t overdo it or you look desperate.  The best place to give away stuff like this is of course at concerts and you can sell them online.

10.  DON’T FORGET TO KEEP UP PRACTICING THOUGH!  All the publicity in the world won’t help you if you stink!  Word of mouth is a great way to gain popularity, so make sure to always play well and do something new to give people something to talk about and a reason to refer you to new audiences.

So there you have it!  Ten ways to promote your band and gain more popularity and thus more success!  Now go out there and do it!

Nowadays everything and everyone has a website.  Why should your band jump on the bandwagon?  What are the benefits to having a band website?

1.  Publicity.  If you don’t have a website, you can reach far fewer people than if you do.  Nowadays a lot of people check things out before trying it by checking out the website.  If you don’t have one, you miss out on a lot of people who might become fans and pay money to see your concerts and buy your CDs and other things for your band.

2.  To sell your band stuff.  You can sell a lot more through a website than you can from the back of your van!  You can upload pictures, show prices, and have a professional looking online store which is far more trustworthy than buying out the back of a truck nowadays.

3. You decide what’s on your website; you’re not limited by what a social network site allows.  You can have images, music, text, an online store, whatever you want that would be related to your band.  This gives you far greater creative license and makes you far more original than social site pages.  You also have a lot more space for stuff on a website.

4.  Professionalism.  Having your own website, as opposed to a fan page, makes you look more like a serious band and a serious group.  It shows you are willing to put the work into making your name count and the work to make your band good.

5.  Your fans will expect you to have one.  It’s true; you will be governed by your fans.  They will want you to have your own website where they can talk about you, buy your things, view upcoming shows and tours, and get hints about new music coming.  A website of your own allows you to deliver all this and more.

6.  Save money. You don’t have to pay nearly as much for things like shipping, printing, writing, post, and other things than an office setting for your band would have to pay.  A lot of things can be downloaded (including music) and other things are automated and e-mailed such as receipts.  This cuts down on your office work and you have less of an impact on the environment and your wallet to boot.

7.  A website allows you to blog.  A blog allows you to connect with your fans, readers, other musicians and with the search engine which will push your website higher up the search engine and thus make it more popular.

8.  A website gives you an edge over much of your competition that’s still stuck on having a profile page on some social network.  This makes you look bigger, richer, and more important the rest of the bands around you, even if you aren’t… yet.

9.  A website is far more likely to attract big name labels to sign on with.  These labels sometimes check out the websites of independent bands to see if they’re worth the time and money to work with.  By having a professional and active website, you show these big time labels that you’re willing to put the commitment and effort into working on your band and thus you’re best to work with a label.

10.  You can network more easily with other bands with a website, not just through a blog, but also through affiliate sites (which will get you some money too) and by having a forum.  These networks are very important as you can learn more the music genre, get ideas and inspiration, and generally feel as though you’re a part of the community.

Getting a website for your band takes some work, but it’s highly useful for a number of reasons.  If you’re serious about getting your band off the ground, then you should get a website.

The Jalopy Theater and school of music is located in Brooklyn, New York and specializes in a lower key, group based learning experience for students of music and the theater.  The Jalopy Theater and School of Music is a great place to learn a more varied group of instruments such as the mandolin, the ukulele and the guitar.  The Jalopy Theater has live shows every night that it is open and unlike many theaters that are more stuffy, the Jalopy specializes in bringing all kinds of music to the stage, from the blues, to old-time country folk music, to cabaret!  This means that every time you go to a show, you’ll see something new, something exciting, something nostalgic, and all that glitters. 

            The Jalopy Theater and School of Music also strives to be more affordable in both the shows and in the classes.  Many of the shows have no cover charges or only a few dollars.  This means that it’s easy to decide on a whim to go and take in a show rather than feeling as though you have to save up for it.  The School of Music is also a lot cheaper than many other schools because it teaches in a group setting which means everyone divides up the cost and because it teaches in a more niche school of music; that is, the more country and blues style.  In fact, lessons at the Jalopy only cost $225 for eight weeks no matter what class you want to take and instrument rentals are only $25.00/month, regardless of the instrument.  Or if you want something more specialized, there are always workshops on various facets of playing an instrument that are highly affordable and very instructional.  

            There are a lot of schools of music and theaters in the New York area, but after looking through a lot of them, they may start to blur together.  The Jalopy Theater and School of Music stands out in the crowd though as a unique musical and theater experience.  Students get a more laid back atmosphere to learn in and can enjoy a different kind of music than the kinds that are usually pushed upon them.  Those who enjoy watching theater get something refreshing and new from the usual theater experience, while still getting a slice of something historical and rooted. 

            The Jalopy Theater and School of Music is a great place to get a slice of country music, blues, and do a general warp back in time when things were more relaxed and more affordable too.  If you’re interested in listening to something other than the same old classical music, then check out the Jalopy Theater and School of Music in Brooklyn, New York.   

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If you are a musician and looking for band space to practice,
contact Empire Rehearsal Studios for more information.

            Brooklyn Music Lessons is a community based website that promises to link teachers with students online to do lessons in the Brooklyn area.  It does this by showcasing the teachers that have signed onto the site to prospective students who can either browse the teachers to find one that suits or be matched up to a teacher based on what instrument the student wants to play, level of skill, where the student lives, and so on.  A student then buys a music credit from the site and uses that credit for a lesson from the teacher.  The price of a credit depends on the length of the lesson and where it will be taking place; housecalls are more expensive than the studio because the teacher will have to drive to you.  

            Brooklyn Music Lessons is primarily a site that focuses on bringing students and teachers together in an online space first so that the site can bring together as many people as possible to be matched up.  It provides a great space for students to search through a myriad of teachers and it’s a great way for teachers to pick up some customers or even some long term clients.  It’s also a one stop resource for students; instead of going through a phone book or advertisements, a student can just get matched up with the appropriate teacher and go from there.  This makes things much easier. 

            Brooklyn Music Lessons is also a place for people to read about different musical experiences in the extensive BML blog which covers a wide range of subjects to do with music, from the health benefits to poetry to tips and tricks.  This is a nice resource for people who don’t want a teacher per se, but instead want to read up on all different things to do with music.  

            BML is not a vast site or a very complicated one.  You won’t be sing any flash games, chat, or postings going on.  Instead, it does precisely what it set out to do; it takes a list of interested teachers from all corners of the music world and makes them available to any student out there willing to pay for some lessons.  It does this job very well, but don’t expect it to do anything beyond hook you up.  After you pay for your lessons, it’s your job to get to them and do them; no one will be checking up on you!  But BML does not claim to be anything other than a convenient way for a student of any musical genre to find a teacher.  At this, it excels. 

            If you’re looking for a teacher, or you’re a teacher looking for a student, check out www.brooklynmusiclessons.com and see what it can do for you.

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If you are a musician and looking for band space to practice,
contact Empire Rehearsal Studios for more information.