It seems like unknown performers contacting promoters out of the blue and asking if they can be put on a show around a certain date is more of a DIY punk tradition that's frowned on in chipmusic. I almost never even get a reply when I try this, especially from anyone on the east coast. Chiptune show promoters seem to universally have more of a "don't call us, we'll call you" show-curation approach to booking. But it leaves me wondering how other people go about, say, trying to book a two week tour or whatever when you're not already well-known? Or are people actually not really doing that and that's why not many chip musicians tour? I mean, I suppose part of it is that there aren't as many people putting together chipmusic shows as opposed to other kinds of shows in the first place.
You've just got to network and make it known that you're willing to play for free.
Yea and if you have no major background in the community, you wont always get a personal response from a cold call email. Its nothing personal, there are limited resources and one x number of shows in a year.
Ways you can 'crack the scene"
- Put on local shows.
- When people come to your town, come to them as a fan, and make a connection
- Participate on compilations with other artist to get your name out there
- Once a relationship is formed with people, put out feelers about playing a show.
Touring in the chip scene only is rough since they tend to be monthlies, and it will be hard to put together a tour on a bunch of random dates. Broaden your contacts, and be prepared to fill in on nights that may not be the best fit. People who put on shows remember if you are good, and easy to work with and will remember that when it comes time to work with you again.
What you have described is what I have always done and it works for me... but then again, Boise is a small city where everyone knows each other. It's much easier to get connections that way... 
If you're in Portland, check out Dataport. A friend of mine told me they're looking for artists, you can contact Matt Hunter. It sounds like it's a monthly show.
If I remember correctly, the guys at chiptunes=win have been experimenting with booking tours, and had a successful NE run with like three artists on it. I think it's all starting to come together. But let me tell you, not making much money from a tour is something that transcends genre. I toured three times with my last band and every single time you come back home with more fans but less money.
I've had some chip show offers recently and it's always come from personal connections with other artists. Stuff like I was on a compilation with this guy, reached out and mentioned I dug the track, get to talking, become friends, somewhere down the line they mention an opportunity to play a show together, etc.
Can assume it'd be hard work to make stuff like that into a consecutive tour, though.
* Make then best music you can
* Talk to people as much as you can (which sucks if you're a bit of an introvert like me, but you gotta push through it to meet people)
* Be nice / grateful
* Don't give up
* If you love a track, tell the artist
Apologies if those sound like hallmark cards.
I'm not a chiptune performer(yet^^), but have a similar ''restrictive touring environnement '' with my current Band
>small city, little place to steel among already settled bands (which do defend their part of the cake, obviously)
>obscur style (gipsy-balkan music) that nobody cares about
>no name yet on the scene (starts to change a bit)
we've actually applied the very good advices given by herr prof
I think the best one is:
- When people come to your town, come to them as a fan, and make a connection
because you can take advantage of their logistic / communication means if doing a first part, or some punctual featuring on 1 or 2 tracks
I would add, play, play and play... no matter where, when... small venues, any public event (even scary ones, as the ''potatoe fest'' in the next haunted village), have a 3mn demo between 2 dances of the local dance school show, be part of the new wall markt opening, neighbourhood yearly barbecue, anything really!
you'll surely be amased about how people will be demanding and interested in an atypical type of musical entertainment (even more if free...)
Once you've got one or 2 lines in the local paper (public events are often covered), 1 or 2 posters of local shows with your name on and a few pictures / clips of you playing, it's much easier to get ''regular'' (payed) gigs
then, the more people you will meet, the more offers you'll get and at a certain point, proposals will arrive by themselves... but it does take time and perseverance
Last edited by Sesska (Mar 27, 2014 9:33 am)
>obscur style (gipsy-balkan music) that nobody cares about
This sounds amazing (I dabble in gypsy jazz). You guys have anything recorded?
This is all good advice. And haha, I know Matt Hunter, I'm actually playing DataPort tomorrow!
I guess I should've been more specific that I run into this problem mostly when trying to get shows on the east coast. I've been really lucky and a lot of people have helped me out in Oregon, Washington and California so far, but I've never even gotten a "sorry dude, can't help you right now" from anyone out east; just total silence.
Yea and if you have no major background in the community, you wont always get a personal response from a cold call email. Its nothing personal, there are limited resources and one x number of shows in a year.
Ways you can 'crack the scene"
- Put on local shows.
- When people come to your town, come to them as a fan, and make a connection
- Participate on compilations with other artist to get your name out there
- Once a relationship is formed with people, put out feelers about playing a show.Touring in the chip scene only is rough since they tend to be monthlies, and it will be hard to put together a tour on a bunch of random dates. Broaden your contacts, and be prepared to fill in on nights that may not be the best fit. People who put on shows remember if you are good, and easy to work with and will remember that when it comes time to work with you again.
Yeah this pretty much. I've been touring a couple times a year, but I've been making contacts since 2005 (not necessarily in the chip scene either). And even after making contacts since 2005, I didn't do my first tour until 2011, and that first one wasn't very pretty.
The last few tours I've done have been successful, but very few of the dates were exclusively in "the chip scene". Most of the time I'm playing outside the comfort zone to people who may or may not be receptive towards what you do, the challenge is to win them over. For example, I've played around 10-15 nerd hip hop gigs this year.
In the past year our chip band has played with rappers, synthpunk bands, DJs, etc, and all of it has been great. Getting outside your comfort zone and playing with non-chip acts is the most key part. From what I caught of those Danimal shows, the nerdcore crowd loved him - get it out there!
- When people come to your town, come to them as a fan, and make a connection
Be genuinely interested in other people.
Ways you can 'crack the scene"
- Put on local shows.
- When people come to your town, come to them as a fan, and make a connection
- Once a relationship is formed with people, put out feelers about playing a show.
this is exactly what i did. you don't necessarily need to be a show promoter in order to be a successful touring act but this general rule works : help other people out and other people will help you out.
But it leaves me wondering how other people go about, say, trying to book a two week tour or whatever when you're not already well-known?
you need to look at it from the show promoter's perspective. why would anyone book you if no one's ever heard of you and no one in the town you're contacting will come to your show? putting on shows is a big financial risk sometimes and let's say someone booked me in st. louis, then i can guarantee that no one would come to the show because i was on the bill. then the promoter has booked an unsuccessful show and either loses money personally or loses money for the venue / bar he's working for.
but if i contacted people in a town where i had a bunch of friends, let's say philadelphia or nyc, then the promoter's could assume that some people might come to the show just because i was playing it (not a lot of people but a few!). then i could potentially be an element of a successful show (along with the other bands / vjs / whatever ).
anyways, yeah, think about it from the promoter's perspective. come up with reasons why booking you would be good for them.