Got any tips for boosting the chip scene in your area? (Page 1 of 4)

In Aus we:

~started a blog
~put on shows
~got an IRC channel
~flew Aus colours massively online, so people knew

Seems to have worked.

do a free how-to-chiptune workshop. it works very well if you want to built a scene. also, if you have the resources put on a festival/meetup weekend where you invite all known nz chiptuners (and maybe some friends from australia/indonesia/malaysia) to come.

Lazerbeat has got it down pretty good.  All I personally can emphasize on is just don't get discouraged- it could take a while for people to notice.

I would also re iterate not getting discouraged as subson mentioned. If you play a gig and only 10 people show up, analyse the fuck out of it, do your best to find out why it failed. Its a learning opportunity.

Questions to ask after a gig didn't attract many people.

Was my line up good?
Did we organize the event for the same night as a footballmatch/before an exam/big movie release?
Did we promote it well enough?
Are there flyers and posters all over town?
Was it too expensive?
Was it in a poor venue?
Was the venue in a poor location?
Was the venue so expensive we couldn't afford promotion?

Im sure other people could add lots to this.

Good questions Lazerbeat.

Being in an area where chip/8-bit music isn't really ... for lack of a better word.. "understood" it can be very discouraging when you try really hard to put on a great show and only get 15-25 people showing up. But  it's a start! I would say just try to keep positive. Ask yourself the questions lazerbeat mentioned and
really be honest with yourself.

Having a group of people helping will always be better than trying it solo. Sometimes I feel like i'm doing things by myself around here... but try to talk to your fellow friends/fans of the genre and see if they'd be willing to help out. Even if it's to take a stack of fliers and hand them out at school, or put them up around in their travels.

It might also make sense to try to get some local independent magazines/papers involved... Even if you're emailing one of the entertainment writers every time there's a show happening telling them about it.. Even if they never show up... they're going to eventually start to see there is something happening on a fairly regular basis and they might eventually wonder wtf it's all about and show up.

Line-up can be pretty important. You obviously want the people who are performing to be putting on a good show with music that the crowd (no matter what size) is into it. Dont be afraid to be picky about it. If you dont have many people in your crew... thats ok. you might have a few repeating acts but if there aren't many people showing up to begin with then there aren't many people noticing it's just the same guys/gals playing every month.

I really like the idea of getting out there and playing shows that have nothing to do with the genre. electronic music shows are good and even some rock shows or what ever can be a good thing to perform at. If you have a regular monthly show set up or have a website with info on the genre and what you're trying to do with regards to notifying people about the local scene, then bring hand bills to give to people that ask you questions about what you just did..

It all sounds complicated, but if you've got some help of some friends then it wont feel so overwhelming.

most important thing... Keep positive and move in a forward direction. Learn from mistakes, and use the knowledge to better your next attempt.
Because even if you only attract 1 more new person to a show each show.. That's potentially one more fan of the genre who will show up to the next show automatically and hopefully tell his friends about it. One step at a time and have patience!

I definitely recommend perhaps a workshop sometime where you can off the hardware to interested people at cost and help them get into it!
Never hurts!

Go to other shows handing out hand bills advertising your next show, a lot of people might not want them, but all it takes is one more curious mind and your turnout will grow that much more at the next show.

*edit*
One other thing... Over here where i'm located, we dont have much of a scene.. but the core group of us... we like to get together
and just geek out on the music.. listen to new stuff we find on the net. and show each other our newest material and get each others opinions
on it.
We do this a lot more than we have shows. That doesn't sound super exciting but it really helps us all bond and allows us to expand our musical creativity. It's always nice to have a fellow friend into the style to give you his/her honest opinion on things. All in all it's just a lot of fun to hang out with
fellow musicians and geek out on stuff.. Sometimes thats all it really takes to make a local "scene".

Last edited by low-gain (Aug 14, 2010 3:36 pm)

this. seriously, every time i see people talking about putting a regular chip night together, i'll say they need to do this first. otherwise, people who are going out to shows will get absolutely no exposure to the scene prior to the show, and there's nothing to draw them in. show attendees are a lot more discriminating than people would like to think, and probably wouldn't straight up attend a chip show just because the concept sounds cool. play out of your genre and comfort zone to begin with, make yourself and the scene known and THEN put together a night. tell your other friends who are playing chip to do the same! support each other's shows! if all of you are getting into the public eye, then it'll just make the local chip scene that much more accessible!

Active Knowledge and I have both had great success occasionally playing with experimental indie bands.  Play a show with a handful of them, they will bring in a bunch of people, and many of them will be interested in experimental ways of doing music (chiptunz!).  It's a good way to get word the scene out to a bunch of people.

Then set up some chip only shows and bring some of them in.

EDIT/EXAMPLE:  I played a single show, with some experimental indie band whom I'm friends with, on Martha's Vineyard in the beginning of the summer.  There was a huge turnout as it was their release party and also the venue's last show.  Then I was back on Martha's Vineyard the other day and like 3 or 4 people flipped out at how great the show was, and apparently a lot more people were "mind blown".

Last edited by OwenMcGarry (Aug 14, 2010 5:29 pm)