If there’s one thing I learned from the many blogs I’ve read and videos I’ve watched about bands, it’s that you have to go out there and promote yourself. People aren’t going to find you on their own and venues aren’t going to drop opportunities in your lap. You need to put yourself out there and take action.
Hi, I’m Nostalgia and I have a rookie anime cover band. By rookie band, I mean both that we are a new band, and we are all rookies at our instruments. None of us have been in a band nor performed on stage with one before. I have a musical background as I took it through school, but I never played a rock instrument either.
It’s been a dream of mine since middle school to play with a band on stage. During the pandemic, I was serious about learning guitar and creating a band so I could finally cross that off my bucket list. Last weekend, the dream finally came to life.
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Here’s how I went about self-promotion and networking to make it happen.
Building A Brand Online
Since the beginning, I’ve been documenting both my guitar learning journey on my personal Instagram (@key2nostalgia), along with the band’s journey on their Instagram (Previously ChromaticDreamers, now @gimmemochiband).
I knew from conception I wanted to do anime and Japanese music and found members who wanted the same. While my member’s certainly asked about other songs and languages, I told them we had to stick to a niche if we wanted a market.
It would also depend on how quickly we could learn songs. If we could learn 10 songs in 4 months, then sure, we could dabble here or there. But if we, being rookies, would need more time to nail 1 song, it’s better we have a small set that was cohesive, and they understood.
Branding us as rookies was also on purpose. Anime is quite encouraging when it comes to chasing your dreams. There’s even a few animes about rookie musicians getting on stage within a school year like K-ON!, Bang Dream, and Given, so I wanted us to be like a real life version of that.
After rehearsing for a couple months and the band deciding they were in it for the long haul, I created this website. My member’s weren’t ones to take photos of themselves, nor had any HQ ones to send me, so I booked a photoshoot for us soon after.
Then around late October 2021, I started blogging here seriously. I did try a couple blog ideas in 2020 so I already knew about WordPress and how SEO worked. I knew if people were to run into us online, it was because they came across a useful article on our site and decided to see what we’re about.
This time around, I saw tips that said you should post 30 articles asap to help with Google SEO so I spent blogging instead of practicing the next few months. Didn’t take long to hit 50, then 75, etc (as of Sept 2022, I have over 175 articles…I knew I found my niche sharing guitar and band tips and writing about Jmusic).
But all in all, we had everything we needed to get promoting. A website, quality photos, and a social media presence.
Reaching Out To Organizers/Hosts
Now, Toronto has a lot of anime conventions between May and August, and I knew they take a lot of time to plan and manage, so the sooner I could reach out, the better.
I started sending emails out in January. Got a couple replies from the biggest one but they didn’t really have a space or spot for a live band. The one we hoped for the most never got back as they weren’t going live this year.
To my surprise, Pretty Heroes replied. I just asked if they had a space or corner we can play in for a few minutes, we’ll take anything! The host responded ‘I’ve shared your website with my team and we would be happy to have you perform in opening and/or closing ceremonies.’ That simple!
Only thing, it had to be an acoustic set due to the space, and we had no issues with that. Our main goal as a band was to play at an anime convention, so we were just happy to have the opportunity.
As for our first real rock gig, I could say ‘I just asked my friend, the host, if we could play’ but it’s actually a much longer story. We didn’t even know of each other’s existence 6 years prior.
In my first band attempt in 2015 (we only had one rehearsal), one member was a very talented guitarist who was already kinda active in the Jmusic scene. A year or two after, he invited me to some of his gigs, and at one of those, he introduced me to the host, which was Dolly. I occasionally kept in touch with Dolly, though she is a busy woman!
Now, I always liked Jpop/vocaloid dances, and I uploaded a few years before, so when I saw she was hosting an Idol Revolution event, I asked if I could dance at it, and she allowed me to be on her team.
It was great getting to know her and the other Toronto Harajuku Style girls then, along with a couple other guest dancers. I was punctual to every rehearsal, took the time to teach and organize some dances, just doing all I could to help out.
Dolly did announce her retirement from THS and the team later that year. I was clear that it was burning her out and I supported her decision. During the pandemic, I’d say hi, we worked out a misunderstanding as well and actually became pretty good friends, talking on the phone and hanging out once when society opened up for a bit.
This year, she started working at See-Scape, which gave her more freedom to host events for free. In May, she hosted her own birthday party and invited me. I really haven’t gone out much that year (still personally living like we’re still in lockdown), so I was all for it. Got to see new people, check out the place, and I was even on stage for a bit as she had a little karaoke portion.
Just before our Pretty Heroes gig in August, she informed me that she was bringing Idol Revolution back. And at that point all it took was me asking, could my band perform too? And she said sure! No better place for a rookie band to debut since I already knew people and I knew the community she usually brings along is really sweet and supportive.
Continuing To Make New Connections
After the gig, I did chat with quite a few people. My bandmates all brought family and friends, so it was great meeting them. We got lots of compliments. Our personal guests were more like “I wasn’t expecting much but you guys actually sounded really good!”….we’ll take it haha
One of my guest was a guy who responded to one of my ad ‘looking for a drummer’ earlier this year. We talked quite a bit the same night and hung out the next day I think O_o (I’m usually not that spontaneous, but life is short). We passed by the music store and that’s when I bought my new pink Ibanez guitar which I LOVE. He brought quite a few friends, so during a break, I sat on the patio with them and we had our introductions.
We started off with the story of how we met. He tried to say he ‘helped me’ get my new guitar, and I was like, ‘no, that’s not how it went down’. I was actually quite broke, so I told him to make sure I didn’t buy anything…but then I saw that guitar, and I was like, ‘I’m taking this home’. He tried to stop me, but I wasn’t letting it go haha.
I then went around the table, asking them to tell me what they’re into. They were a quiet bunch but I got them talking 😛 One said he ‘was’ a rapper, sang English and Hindi(?) and I encouraged him to get back at it. One girl kinda did bass, and I said we’re always looking for more girls haha.
One was kinda shy when I asked about her interests, and I kept urging her, like I know you got something. She finally mentioned crochet. I was amazed and asked if she did Amigurumi, and she’s like yeah!! [I tried crochet last year to learn that, didn’t stick to it (like many things I’ve tried haha), so I was familiar] and I could tell she was quite excited to talk about it. She even brought up that maybe she could make merch for us ;____; Mochi amigurumi would be so cute!!
After the show, I would look for some of the THS.go girls as I haven’t seen most of them since the time we danced together. They also recently performed at Japan Fest last month, which was ironic as my bassist’s dance group also performed there, so I told them about each other and they bumped into each other. Anyways, I’d also introduce myself to whoever they were talking to at the time.
By chance, one was the organizer of KawaiiBass (an anime DJ organizer that I wrote about previously on my blog) and also another host who runs OniGirls. The host actually really loved our set and said she’d love for us to perform at one of their events sometime. Small world, eh?
Conclusion
I may come off as very extraverted, and yes, it’s easy for me to talk to people, but I’m also a home bug. Staying home through the pandemic was no problem for me. But now that I got a band and I promised to get them on stage, I was willing to do the work, make those connections, and branch out from there.
Even if you have active socials, you still need to send those messages and emails, still make those calls and ask for opportunities. You won’t always get a ‘yes’, but if you never ask, the answer is always ‘no’. If you get a ‘maybe’ or ‘next time’, follow up or keep in touch for next time. Or ask if they know someone else who can help you out.
As lots of pros have mentioned online, the worst thing you can do if you really want to build a music career or get your work out there is to sit on your bum doing nothing. It doesn’t matter how talented you think you are, people aren’t going to find you and come to you, especially if you don’t have a following yet.
And the only way you’ll even build a following is to put yourself out there. You need to get active on social media, post videos, respond to comments, go message people who are into the same thing and make more musician friends, check out local events and stick around to meet new people.
I honestly watched so many channels and Reddit forums and such because I was willing to take tips from more advanced players and avoid making other’s mistakes. I’m too new to be cocky or have an ego when this is all new to me so I’m all for learning what I can. There’s just so much free information and tips out there, might as well take it!
I especially like Spectre Sound Studios. He’s a little aggressive but it’s because he’s already come across many disappointing musicians and bands that he just has a lot to say ^^” Some people won’t listen otherwise *sigh*
You really do need to self-promote and put in the work. It may not be easy, and may not be fun for some of yall, but if you want results, you’ll need to put in the effort.
Hope this helps!