How to get more gigs

Your 5 essentials to getting more gigs 

Over the past 15 years I have had thousands of meetings and tutorials with musicians as students, acquaintances and friends. There is never a week goes past without musicians emailing or messaging me asking me for advice on getting more work and gigs. Unless you are Vinnie Colaiuta or Nathan East you're probably thinking the same.

How do I get more gigs and improve the quality of gigs that I do get?

So here are my 5 best bits of advice for you.

1.     Driving – Do you drive? Do you have a car? If not, then you are seriously cutting yourself off from gigs. Musicians tell me every day that they don’t need to drive as they live in Brighton, London or Manchester. An awesome plan apart from one minor detail…. that’s bullshit! If you are reading this, wanting more gigs and you don't have a car then you do the maths.

2.     Promotion – At DK Music Management we receive CVs every day from all over the country and the world. We read every single one and very few musicians get it anywhere near right.

a.     Do you have a photo of yourself? Do you have a photo that will inspire confidence about you and your playing?

b.     Do you have audio clips which demonstrate your standard? Preferably not your old, original band’s album.

c.      Do you have any footage of yourself playing/performing?

                                                             d.      A website which shows you off as a musician?

 If you don’t have all of these, you are missing out. A website can give a great 1^st impression of you to anyone looking for a player. Even better, you can get it all done for next to no money! 

3.     Gigging - How many times per week are you gigging? I don't mean pretend gigging, rehearsing an original band, playing Guitar Hero or karaoke. I mean actually gigging? For argument sake, let’s say you are averaging 2 gigs a week which are some covers gigs, original band gigs and open mic nights etc. That is great but you are missing out on 5 days a week of gaining experience, meeting people, and all the other important things that come with gigging. Why are you missing out on those gigs? What about pub gigs? open mic nights, playing for local singer songwriters, churches and playing for local schools etc etc.

4.    How employable are you? Do you sing lead or BV’s? How far out of town do you live? How is your time keeping? Do you learn songs exactly to the recording? Can you set up PAs and help with sound? How available are you through the week? etc etc. 

5.    Your look? Yes, I know it’s not politically correct but tough! If you want to be in a boy band, beards are out. If you want to be in a rock band then you can't wear croc shoes! Sounds obvious but too many musicians look like students and we don’t want that look in our bands. Whether you're into Motley Crue or Bob Marley, you have to look the part. Bob Marley, as far as I can remember, never wore a Superman T-shirt!

Over the next few weeks and months we will go through a lot of this stuff in more detail; from buying the right gear, pricing your time, how to network successfully, to the art of depping. I hope this has given you a few ideas. Remember, it’s about incremental steps closer and not jumping out of music college onto a world tour.

If you are a musician looking for work and up and coming auditions check out www.DKmanagement.co.uk. You will find jobs posted and more helpful information.

Over the past 15 years I have had thousands of meetings and tutorials with musicians as students, acquaintances and friends. There is never a week goes past without musicians emailing or messaging me asking me for advice on getting more work and gigs. Unless you are Vinnie Colaiuta or Nathan East you're probably thinking the same.

How do I get more gigs and improve the quality of gigs that I do get?

So here are my 5 best bits of advice for you.

1.     Driving – Do you drive? Do you have a car? If not, then you are seriously cutting yourself off from gigs. Musicians tell me every day that they don’t need to drive as they live in Brighton, London or Manchester. An awesome plan apart from one minor detail…. that’s bullshit! If you are reading this, wanting more gigs and you don't have a car then you do the maths.

2.     Promotion – At DK Music Management we receive CVs every day from all over the country and the world. We read every single one and very few musicians get it anywhere near right.

a.     Do you have a photo of yourself? Do you have a photo that will inspire confidence about you and your playing?

b.     Do you have audio clips which demonstrate your standard? Preferably not your old, original band’s album.

c.      Do you have any footage of yourself playing/performing?

d.      A website which shows you off as a musician?

If you don’t have all of these, you are missing out. A website can give a great 1^st impression of you to anyone looking for a player. Even better, you can get it all done for next to no money! 

3.     Gigging - How many times per week are you gigging? I don't mean pretend gigging, rehearsing an original band, playing Guitar Hero or karaoke. I mean actually gigging? For argument sake, let’s say you are averaging 2 gigs a week which are some covers gigs, original band gigs and open mic nights etc. That is great but you are missing out on 5 days a week of gaining experience, meeting people, and all the other important things that come with gigging. Why are you missing out on those gigs? What about pub gigs? open mic nights, playing for local singer songwriters, churches and playing for local schools etc etc.

4.    How employable are you? Do you sing lead or BV’s? How far out of town do you live? How is your time keeping? Do you learn songs exactly to the recording? Can you set up PAs and help with sound? How available are you through the week? etc etc. 

5.    Your look? Yes, I know it’s not politically correct but tough! If you want to be in a boy band, beards are out. If you want to be in a rock band then you can't wear croc shoes! Sounds obvious but too many musicians look like students and we don’t want that look in our bands. Whether you're into Motley Crue or Bob Marley, you have to look the part. Bob Marley, as far as I can remember, never wore a Superman T-shirt!

Over the next few weeks and months we will go through a lot of this stuff in more detail; from buying the right gear, pricing your time, how to network successfully, to the art of depping. I hope this has given you a few ideas. Remember, it’s about incremental steps closer and not jumping out of music college onto a world tour.

If you are a musician looking for work and up and coming auditions check out www.DKmanagement.co.uk. You will find jobs posted and more helpful information.