New Band - Starways Congress!! - and some advice??

[Ender]

Hey, all, my name is Ender, mega U2 fan, and musician. I have a band called Starways Congress that's currently in recording a CD for the spring, and then to do a little tiny tour up here in the middle of nowhere, (WAYYYYYYYYYY up in the boonies of northern NY to be specific). I unfortunately don't have any clips up yet from what we're working on, but I will surely get those up when our website opens up on the new year.

Also, as an aside, we plan on doing something up here that no other bands really do, which is put on a show. We don't want to play covers, and we want to turn anyplace we play, including a bar perhaps, into a concert hall. We have ideas for a projection screen or two, something cheap, as well as getting our hands on a really really good PA for a relatively safe price. (I have an account with musician's friend). We also want to, instead of using traditional lighting systems for bands, utilize DJ-related lights and effects for our visuals. Does anyone have any suggestions on what they'd do, what they'd like to see, or any ideas that could help us in the right direction to put this together?

Thanks,
Ender

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

since this is more of a general music thread, i'm moving it to bang and clatter. however, if you want to share samples/songs of your band, feel free to post a thread here in the mp3s forum!

 

[Angela Harlem]

I dont have any suggestions for lighting and stage things as I'm not at all technical, but some random thoughts to help 'whore' yourselves out would be to really work on the advertising and using your gigs to help this as there really is no better way than through your music lol. Maybe work on some kind of icon/graphic/artwork which you can incorporate everywhere. Cliched as it is, hang a huge banner across the stage, mirror this on some pamphlets to distribute at all venues as well as on the website once its done. The website can be a great asset, as you can give a lot away there, samples, contact info, show info etc. This is stuff you have probably already done but constantly burning your name into people's brains will help them remember you. Maybe either sell cheaply/give away some demo mp3's at each gig too. Everyone loves a freebie. Limit it to 3 or so of your best songs, but it will help in getting people thinking you are a very organised and dedicated young band who are serious about making it big.
One thing I've found in small venues with new or unknown bands is that the lighting and effects should never be bigger and bolder than the music. You dont want to distract, you want to enhance. The projection screens sound like a great idea as long as they aren't so interesting people watch them rather than you.
Keep us updated on how it all goes and good luck!

 

[Ender]

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. You make some valid points that we're definitely going to think over.

In the meantime, if this is alright, I've done a few solo albums, and my band plays relatively decent amount of the songs from them. Our versions rock a whole lot harder, but maybe you'll get an idea of what it is we're trying to do anyway...

enderhq.com - my official website
mp3.com/ender - my website with my albums

So if you're interested in what kind of stuff we do that's the closest i can offer at the moment. but we are recording and we should have a website up by new year's. Just let me know what you think.

Thanks again,
Ender

 

[Ender]

Update

In case anyone was wondering, I have an update for y'all.

My band now has a "secret site" called "The Congressional Hearings of Starways Congress" located at [ enderhq.netfirms.com/starcon/hearings.html ]. This is where we're uploading songs as they start to take shape. I think only a couple are finished works (such as "Past Tense Catastrophe" and "Needless to Say") while others are still in the process of coming together (like "Echo Papa" and "Consequences"). But it's sorta cool because you can listen as things start to take shape. Like a live Working Tapes.

We've recently registered starwayscongress.com as well, and we expect to have a fully functioning website up New Year's Day.

A little website called "U2 Source" [ u2source.com ] owned y HUB runner u2warlp is also featuring our music on his site, with a few downloads and a link back to our "secret site".

So if you get the chance to check it all out, please do, and let us know what you think. If you like it, please spread the word. We're working really hard to bring some good music to the world.

Take Care,
Ender

 

[Angela Harlem]

Hey Ender! I was actually wondering how you guys were doing a while back. I'm bumping this so I dont forget to check out your site later today I'm quite curious to hear it

 

[Ender]

Hey!!! Glad to hear it!!!

well starwayscongress.com is up so you can feel free to check it out. the REAL site will be coming new year's day.

Send us some feedback and keep spreading the word.

I'm excited that you're so anxious to hear it.

Take Care,
Ender