What's the first thing that springs to mind when you think of Kiss? Elvis Presley? Madonna? Boston Symphony Orchestra?
What your brain probably saw first, before it located an associated audio file on your neural CD shelf, was face makeup, a white sequined suit and sideburns, a pointy-cupped bustier, and black and white tuxedos. For my all-time favorite band in the world, Vermont's own bagpipe rock band Prydein, it's kilts with hiking boots and polo shirts -- and if that doesn't scream 'Vermont bagpipe rock band' then I don't know what would.
Point being, as I tell my public speaking and communication ethics students on day one of their classes, a huge portion of human communication is visual. That's the irony of our rapidly developing communication technology lines like email, texting and Twitter--it eliminates the visual component of the communication, vastly increasing the potential for misunderstanding and conflict. Only the advent of emoticons let you know that when I call you such a jerk :) that I'm just teasing you and won't really flatten your tires while you're at work so you miss your date with that other girl.
Most up and coming garage bands and gigging party-rock bands have a guitar player or two, a bass player, drummer, maybe a separate vocalist, and they all wear blue jeans and various t-shirts, often with dumb or cutesy logos on them. While this channels The Doors visual mojo, remember that the Doors weren't doing the same cover sets as everyone else, they were doing mind-shatteringly new original material and had Jim Morrison's voice and poetic vision. If you've got that level of creativity, originality and drive, so that your audience--including industry spotters--can't possibly confuse you with anyone else six months later when they are trying to remember which band in the night's showcase did that really pretty rendition of Georgia On My Mind, then by all means stick with the jeans and nondescript t-shirts.
If you want an instant mental association with you and your music, however, think about what you look like and choose something unique and consistent to create an outstanding, memorable visual image. My current band, O'hAnleigh, plays in a niche genre of Irish-American music, with an emphasis on historical music of the Civil War and Immigration eras. We lean towards costuming with a variety of props that scream Irish and Folk -- lots of green, capes, caps, suspenders. For our first CD cover we shot on a windswept hill overlooking nearby Lake Champlain--and people always ask us where in Ireland the picture was taken. On our second CD cover we wore 19th century attire and shot on a set of railroad tracks. We usually wear quite similar clothes to perform.
It can feel silly to costume up to play a gig, but it is critically important. Our CD covers and the clothes we wear to gigs instantly convey to our audiences who we are and where we are from and what we stand for. A bunch of folks in jeans and tshirts against the ubiquitous brick wall favored by so many young rock bands conveys nothing to the observer about what they can expect to hear when they listen to the tracks. It does not convey visually what you stand for, where the heart of your music comes from.
You don't have to adopt a band uniform of powder blue tuxedos with ruffly shirts--though dang, that really would be memorable if you're ballsy enough to pull it off! But anything that creates an integrated image and conveys some of your substance through that image will set you far apart from the usual cover-band pack. When the eyes and brain are attracted by your unique visual image, your music will receive more attention and be remembered longer than if the eyes and brain glossed over you, already relegating you to the same old-same old pile before you even started playing. It can be simple--try blue button down dress shirts just for grins and jollies--and need not be expensive. But if you're ignoring your visual image, you're ignoring the vast majority of your potential to communicate.
Rock out, and look good.
What your brain probably saw first, before it located an associated audio file on your neural CD shelf, was face makeup, a white sequined suit and sideburns, a pointy-cupped bustier, and black and white tuxedos. For my all-time favorite band in the world, Vermont's own bagpipe rock band Prydein, it's kilts with hiking boots and polo shirts -- and if that doesn't scream 'Vermont bagpipe rock band' then I don't know what would.
Point being, as I tell my public speaking and communication ethics students on day one of their classes, a huge portion of human communication is visual. That's the irony of our rapidly developing communication technology lines like email, texting and Twitter--it eliminates the visual component of the communication, vastly increasing the potential for misunderstanding and conflict. Only the advent of emoticons let you know that when I call you such a jerk :) that I'm just teasing you and won't really flatten your tires while you're at work so you miss your date with that other girl.
If you want an instant mental association with you and your music, however, think about what you look like and choose something unique and consistent to create an outstanding, memorable visual image. My current band, O'hAnleigh, plays in a niche genre of Irish-American music, with an emphasis on historical music of the Civil War and Immigration eras. We lean towards costuming with a variety of props that scream Irish and Folk -- lots of green, capes, caps, suspenders. For our first CD cover we shot on a windswept hill overlooking nearby Lake Champlain--and people always ask us where in Ireland the picture was taken. On our second CD cover we wore 19th century attire and shot on a set of railroad tracks. We usually wear quite similar clothes to perform.
It can feel silly to costume up to play a gig, but it is critically important. Our CD covers and the clothes we wear to gigs instantly convey to our audiences who we are and where we are from and what we stand for. A bunch of folks in jeans and tshirts against the ubiquitous brick wall favored by so many young rock bands conveys nothing to the observer about what they can expect to hear when they listen to the tracks. It does not convey visually what you stand for, where the heart of your music comes from.
You don't have to adopt a band uniform of powder blue tuxedos with ruffly shirts--though dang, that really would be memorable if you're ballsy enough to pull it off! But anything that creates an integrated image and conveys some of your substance through that image will set you far apart from the usual cover-band pack. When the eyes and brain are attracted by your unique visual image, your music will receive more attention and be remembered longer than if the eyes and brain glossed over you, already relegating you to the same old-same old pile before you even started playing. It can be simple--try blue button down dress shirts just for grins and jollies--and need not be expensive. But if you're ignoring your visual image, you're ignoring the vast majority of your potential to communicate.
Rock out, and look good.
Cindy Ellen Hill's new BandBiz blog is EXCELLENT and and sage advice from a seasoned and talented musician and attorney- quite a combo!! Read what she has to say on a consistent basis and it will pay you dividends!!
ReplyDeleteJerre Haskew
The Cumberland Trio & Fiery Gizzard Records/Music, LLC