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Southwestern journalism
BEST NEWSPAPER
(day, April 17,2000
THE BATTALION
Page 3
ehind the music
ocal bands face many obstacles on the way to becoming famous
BY JUSTIN GARRETT
The Battalion
DRUMMER
1 sl The Battalion
1
I
RTS COLUMN
LEAt>
t/OCAL
small group of workers gather in a hazy, dimly lit
room. They have been preparing for months and
now the time has come to unveil the final prod-
t ws story act. With all equipment in place the leader walks towards the
Kimberly (icnlilt ' row d rh at has convened to judge them.
“Aggies RrieHafttilA bead of sweat rolls from his brow as hot lights illumi-
students die... yate him and his companions. The crowd directs their at-
[ . n :)R option to the stage and grows quiet with anticipation. The
icative STORY fedcr signals the group to begin.
SallieTurner An four short beats the room is thickened with sound as
Bonfire I raged) ■ mS; 5 ass anc j guitar converge into one
force. The crowd moves to the music, and the
Bd knows they have succeeded.
I |Mj#S^|w||9HThe band devotes all of their energy into
sharing what has taken
months to create and per-
st e ditorial They are admired for
they produce and
plform, but few take the
to consider the hard work
n ruenes and jp beato imB, and sacrifice it took to make
it to that hot, crowded stage.
:er their performance, the
d members load their
)nley Kubricks2001M1 heavy equipment, collect
( 'V and lecture by Dr. leu what little pay is owed to
vood fo the Film Studies! them, if any, and return to
are information pleaseco their homes. Soon
, it jasonp@tamu.edu. they will be back to
writing and prac-
Monday tic|ng,all the while
trying to land
Zeta: There will be af another gig. ^
ig at 7 p.m. in Klebeigll I College Station
is full of such bands.
Tuesday Although it has not yet
Lutherans Treehouse reached the level of other Texas cities in its ability to provide
ible study,fun and fel -'
30 p.m. at Out Sam!.:;
irch located near!
a live music scene, it is
still a rich breeding
ground for talented
musicians.
John Wick, booking
agent for Fitzwilly’s and a
member of a local blues band said
that although there is talent in Col
lege Station, the city does not foster
the live music scene.
“There’s not a scene here at all.
Northgate is cool, but there’s only
like three clubs that have
bands on a reg
ular basis,”
Wick said.
Even get-
ting an op
portunity to
play at one of
these bars can
be a daunting
task. Club owners’
primary concern is
money. If a band is
to perform in
their establish
ment, it is impor
tant they have the ability to
attract a large crowd.
“You have to have an ‘in’ somewhere. Until you make a
name for yourself as being reputable and bringing in people
to drink beer, which is really all they care about, it really is
tough,” said Gregory Salata, of the local band Ocean X.
Like all forms of entertainment, making it in the College
Station music scene requires contacts and friends on the inside.
“If you can hook up with somebody as an opening act
then that’s how you eventually get into the headlining spot,”
Salata said. “Somebody from another band sees you or hears
about you, and they say ‘Why don’t you guys come open for
RUBEN DELU 1
us?’ and it sort of snowballs from there.”
“As far as getting a booking, basically what it takes is
some type of demo and how they present themselves to me
or the club,” Wick said.
Salata emphasized the utility of
having a CD recording.
“If you don’t have a CD to hand a
club owner then usually what you’re
being represented by is either your reputation
or a cassette you made while you were playing
cover tunes in the garage, and the cassette never
sounds as good as you do live,” Salata said, “and
that’s all they have to go on to determine if
you’re a competent band or not.”
However, bands often make the
mistake of recording before
they have perfected their
ability to perform together.
“That’s something that
you would like to do
early on, but most
bands when
they’re
starting
.out
aren’t
tight
enough. It’s sort of
Phe Battalion a double-edged sword. You
need a demo to get the shows, but until
you’ve played together like we have for a
year now, you’re really not all on the same
page, and it’s not as tight as it could be,”
Salata said.
Once a band conquers the obsta
cle of finding a place to play, they
must face the drawback of a lack of
financial compensation.
For a one-night performance in Col
lege Station, a band may get anywhere from $200 to $300
G <J/TAR, ST
which must be divided among all members of the group and
sometimes another band.
“It’s tough, man. People don’t want to pay two dollars to
watch you. Everywhere else we play they pay $5 to walk in
the door no matter who’s playing,” Wick said.
Only a small number of bars pay bands out of their
pockets.
Most simply offer the band whatever is made at the door.
This puts the burden on the band to draw a large crowd.
“Some places will charge three dollars at the door, and if
you can get 100 people to come in that night then that’s
$300,” Salata said
Even if a band does have the ability to draw a crowd they
might lose potential prof
it, due to the
building’s design.
“There are
places that will
charge a couple bucks to get
in, but people can hear it out
side. We had 50 or 60 people in
side and thirty outside on the
street drinking beer and listening
through the glass,” Salata said.
Because of this pay situa
tion, most musicians must
maintain other jobs in order
to supplement their incomes.
This in itself is an obsta
cle as all practices and other
events must be scheduled
around everyone’s jobs.
But for the love of the music
and the thrill of performing live,
musicians will continue to
face the obstacles that riddle
their path like mines.
For somewhere amidst the drunk
en crowds awaits a small group of people who live for the
music, and for them the band will play on.
Toastmasters:!®#
aking and resumed
g in Rudder at p!
blue screen forW 1
>re information pleasf
tura at 695-2833.
sity Undergraduate!!
isium: There will beitf
i of the fellows’complet
in Rudder 5th floora!?
led by a reception at!
1 floor Rudder.
Inframurals Rec Fifness Aquafics Golf Course TAMU Outdoors Sport Clubs
DABLE WAY TO BUI
LITY PRE-0
• Appliances
imes • CDs
:art at s 89.95
tart at $ 49.95
T9.95 each
each
:h more
4-736
Mohiuddin, Editor in
Vlireles, Managing Editor
i I light, Community Editor
utson. Campus Editor
it acre, Aggielife Editor
Serrano, Aggielife Editor
Castillo, Opinion Editor
kens, Opinion Editor
pf, Night News Editor
illing, Sports Editor
nnyhofF, Radio Producer
Payton, Web Master
lynecek, Graphics Editor
►china, Graphics Editor
ers, Photo Editor
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iber, Science and Technology^
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Congratulations to the team 'Division V for winning the Target 5-on-
5 Regional Basketball Tournament in Austin. Good Luck at the
National Tournament in Los Angeles.
Team Members:
Kneeling (L-R)—Brian Agbulos, Tim Williams, Ricky Jackson, Alton
Clivens, and Derek Evers
Standing (L-R)—Calvin Davis, Wesley Butler, Bright OgBogu, Mike
Thornton and Matt Ward
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