Punk Bands ‘Don’t Need Managers Or Labels’
"You don't have to rely on agents" says label owner
Punk and hardcore bands don't need the staple team of industry professionals to get their music heard thanks to a strong DIY ethic, according to Resist Records owner Graham Nixon.
Nixon, who will speak at the upcoming Feedback conference after recently inking a deal with Universal's Caroline arm, told theMusic.com.au that bands don't need to rely on a circle of professionals, and that other genres would do well to take the same approach.
“You don't have to rely on agents, managers or labels to get your music out there,” he said, “sure all these factors help getting your band exposed, however [they] are not essential for a band to succeed. Like anything you want to deal with people you can trust and you're familiar with, their is more a sense of community then competition amongst all involved [in punk and hardcore].
“One of the key elements of the punk and hardcore scenes is the do-it-yourself attitude. Any music genre can adopt it however it's the punk and hardcore scenes which seem to embrace it the most.”
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Nixon – who has guided the careers of bands like Parkway Drive – said that as part of 'getting noticed' was building a network of contacts.
“If a band big or small is looking for a support band, they tend to put on friends bands before considering other options,” he admitted. “Same with agents looking for bands, they will go to someone they know for advice, rather then scrolling through bands pages on Facebook or the latest music site. The better your network is the more chance you have of being exposed to more people, playing more shows and growing your fan base. In saying that, at the end of the day you still need to be a band with good songs!”
The same 'if you play good songs they will come' and 'don't pander to the industry' sentiments were also expressed by triple j's Dom Alessio, who will host the Feedback conference.
“Everyone's path in their musical career is different and I'm not sure how much young bands should be bothering themselves with notions of 'working with the industry',” he told theMusic.
“At the grassroots level, being polite to everyone constitutes a good job of working with the industry I reckon. I feel like I keep harping on about it, but it really comes down to writing great songs, which is also the hardest thing to do. It's easy to get distracted with ideas of 'working with the industry' and blaming a lack of success on external factors, but it all boils down to having songs that people want to hear. No one's made a career on music nobody wants to listen to.”
Presented by theMusic.com.au, Feedback will take place Monday 10 June from 9.30am – 5pm at the Museum Of Contemporary Arts, Sydney. Tickets are just $20 plus booking fee.
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