DNA-DUO: The HVTS @ Hotel Cafe

We hear about sibling teams in mainstream culture dominating many walks of life – in sports, in the film industry, and in music. However, they seem to elude us most of the time, so when we find a golden duo, they become very hard to ignore. I stumbled across this brother-sister duo, The HVTS and was hooked immediately. Take a look at them performing their original instrumental jazz track called “Jazz” at The Hotel Cafe.

It may take a special ear to groove along to their sound, but it shouldn’t take much to get wrapped up in their original beats. The chemistry between the two of them is obvious – the sibling connection is evident in the chords and melody lines. You can feel the chemistry vibrating through each note as they rock along to their smooth rhythms.

GunZ is a self-taught guitarist with an obvious natural affinity for the instrument. He practically becomes the instrument while he’s playing, and is always riding along, keeping tempo with his constant yet iconic chords. NVNDI always brings along her melodic lines that can be sulky yet sweet in their moodiness. She also pulls out her flute some of the time to jam along, woodwind-style. Though an unlikely match-up, it works. Her brother calls and she responds, and the two have natural chemistry that is simply hard to ignore. Watch this clip of them performing their original song “Dynamite” for the Tiny Desk Competition 2017.

The two are continuing to explore their music agenda – bouncing between funk, rock, jazz, and a combination of genres. None of their songs fully gravitate in a single primary direction – even in their jazziest songs they have a funky, rock-type guitar line that comes in and causes a unique fusion that’s hard to describe. The two are working on an EP, New Day, which they plan to release in the near future. They frequent many popular Los Angeles venues and are looking to share their talent all over. Check their page to see when they’re performing next so you can get a glimpse of this powerful dynamic DNA duo rocking out live! Check out their promo video for a few more clips of them performing!

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Wendy Parr: I am a coach – it’s who I am.

It’s not every day when we meet a person who really can say that they’ve traversed every aspect of the music world. Nor is it every day that we meet a person who can say that in addition to their multiple accomplishments all over the music-production spectrum, they have devoted a lot of their life to helping other people. However, I had the privilege of chatting with one such person, by the name of Wendy Parr.

Wendy Parr founded an organization called The Artist’s Circle in order to bring community, networking and multiple modes of support to artists who are otherwise lonely or unsupported in the music world. The Circle hosts many events in which members have the opportunity to connect and learn about each other, make friends, and make connections that give them a leg up in the industry. I wanted to get to know the mind behind the magic:

I was wondering if you could give me a general summary of what it is that you do as a coach and a mentor in the Artist’s Circle? 

I’ve been coaching for 27 years, and eventually I just saw – well, for me as a person, I think we’re all here to grow and evolve as human beings, and working with all of the artists, I find everybody going through the same thing alone, and not knowing that there’s other people going through similar things. I tend to be a resource for a lot of people, and I just kind of put it all together that I don’t need to be the only resource and that people can be there for one another, and there is power in community and connection. So, I really started the circle and it took a while to evolve into the format that it is now, that normally works and people are responding to well. Essentially it’s mindfulness work, it’s true networking and it’s a combination of working on the inner work – sometimes we have meditation classes and play improv games. We also do business work, like I have marketing people as special guests, we’ve had an event at rolling stone magazine…So I’m bringing the people that I work with and that I know and the resources that I have, to give people an opportunity to connect with people that they otherwise wouldn’t have been given the chance to connect with. Also, they are really connecting with one another, so there is a strong community where our artists can really be there for one another. Historically, successful artists have had friendships and connections with other artists; it’s how you grow. You encouragement from one another and feedback. People are so often doing their thing and saying, “well where’s my team?” because they don’t have a team yet. And if they have a team, their team is only there to move their career forward. They’re not other artists who can just connect with them and understand them on an artistic level. So this is a three step place for vulnerability and connections and friendship and collaboration as well.

I know you’re a professional coach, but how did you start out in the music world?

I started performing and working when I was eight years old. I was acting, I was doing TV, I did a lot of musicals. By 15 I was performing about 3-4 nights a week in clubs, singing in a jazz trio, things like that. So I started as a performer, and I started studying with my vocal coach. I went to NYU for a minute, but when I came back to LA, my famous vocal coach invited me to be a coach. I said, “I don’t know how to teach!” And he said, “Sure you do. You know how we helped your voice and how you’ve worked your voice to help other people. Help other people while you’re working on your music career.” And at this point, I had already started in college, where my friends – who are all now working as comedians and stuff – they would ask me, “Hey can you show me this thing I want to sing a little bit…” and would say, “Can you help us do harmonies…” So I was already casually doing it for fun, and then I officially started teaching at 20 years old in a studio. But I discovered how much I love it, and that’s really what I am; I’m a coach. It’s not even what I am but rather who I am. If you showed me how a car works, I’d be showing someone else tomorrow.

Was there a specific moment when you realized that that was who you were? Or did it take a bit of time to realize that coaching was where you were meant to be? 

It took a little while, because I was still performing and working on my career as an artist, and I did both for a long time, and then I just realized. I love making music – I have a record, I have an EP out, I have a record that i’m still working on – but I just realized that my energy wasn’t going towards “when can I take myself on tour” but more “how can I build my coaching.” You know, when it’s a beautiful day outside you can take the day off, but when someone walks into my door, I say, “Oh my gosh I have so much to show you!” I just realized how enthusiastic I was and how much I loved doing it. And I’m a songwriter, so I write music, I write for others. I sing, I still sing, but I’m not trying to pursue being an artist. But it did take me a while to sort of let go of this dream that I’d had all of my life. I had thought that was just what I was supposed to do. but, it was sort of like a jacket I outgrew. Yeah. So I do all kinds of things with music. I still sing, I sing songs I write, do demos, but I just don’t dream of being a singer anymore.

Let’s diverge for a second. What is the best concert you’ve ever attended? 

Prince, Leonard Cohen, Stevie Wonder – those are probably some of the best shows I’ve ever seen. And of course the shows I coach. Seeing the artists I coach is different. Those shows I was talking about were mostly from when I was young and they were very influential. Prince was probably one of the best performers I’ve seen in my life. But, you know when Regina played Radio City Music Hall last year and the year before, I was in tears watching her. I’ve been coaching her for 14 years, and she made me cry with her performance. I certainly don’t take credit for her talent, but I could definitely hear it. It was the first time in my life, you know I’m an adult by this point, I’m 47. But it was the first time that I’ve acknowledged, “Oh, I’ve had an influence there!” And I could hear it; I could hear how I’ve helped her grow. It made me very proud to acknowledge.

So I got the sense that you started the Artist’s Circle because you felt that there was a lack of support within the music industry as far as emotional guidance and networking help. What is the biggest effect that you intend to have with the Artist’s Circle? 

I would like to make artists feel more fulfilled as artists, and there’s a few things I think the Artist’s Circle can help do. It can help artists in not giving up and not falling through the cracks before they start their career. We can help artists who are already in the midst of their career and give them a community so that they don’t spiral out. Being on tour is very lonely. Success can be very lonely. I’m really interested in helping people have genuine connections with people that they can really trust and talk to so that the loneliness isn’t as much there. It can also help with tools – tools to help them with the ups and downs in life and in their careers. We teach them tools to feel happier and to be more fulfilled and balanced as a creative artist. Generally speaking, the Circle is where people learn their craft, like “here’s how you do your part.” I was never schooled on that. School doesn’t really prepare you for life. It only teaches you skills, but that’s what this is about. We teach people how to deal with their fears, about why they make the choices they make and how they can make better choices, how to have more community and less competition. I want to help people have a better human foundation. In terms of networking, there have always been music seminar weekends where people would go in hopes to meet people and have luck. It was like the lottery. People would go hoping that something would happen, and they’re all B.S. Nobody actually knows you unless your music is off the charts, and at that point, if your music is off the charts, chances are everybody already does know you, and that’s not how it’s going to happen. So, this is an actual networking experience because we have intimate conversations, so you really get to know someone right away. We give people a space to really get to know one another, connect with one another, and it’s even a space of vulnerability. Real connections happen this way. One guy today told me from the one event we had in Israel – we had one event when I was there – he said, “I’m still getting so much out of that experience. That guy that I met at the circle, we’re still talking, I’m going to London and I’m going to go make music there, so many of the tools that we talked about gave me courage to do things that I’ve wanted to do but haven’t yet.” And that’s just one guy. These people say that the circle gave them courage and support to be able to do the things that they want to do.

Click here to learn more about Wendy Parr and the Artist’s Circle. ALSO, for Gigmor members, there are some special prices available. For gigmorcreative members, you get a $25 ticket ($10 off the explorer ticket) for your first event. Any Acgigmormember will get 25% off of all memberships.

book shows

Book shows and get paid to perform

How To Book Shows

Playing a lot of gigs can help you build a fan base  but how do you book shows as an independent artist?  Continue reading and you’ll learn how to book shows and get paid to build up your portfolio.

Starting with the basics.

First, we’ll cover how vendors and concert promoters go about booking shows. Following that, we’ll have an exact plan of how to book a gig just like a concert production company.

The business of booking shows and playing concerts is based around one thing, money.  You need to understand this to make it ahead of 96.5% of all artists.  Once you realize that they want to sell as many tickets, cover charge and bar sales as possible you can understand why you don’t play the big venues.  To understand what each part of the business is looking for, I’ve broken down each roll in the transaction.

Venues –

The venues pay for top talent.  These are the venues that get big name acts that have a following and will easily sell tickets to a show.  Many musicians do not fall into this category.  The second way venues get shows is that they rent out the space to a band.  The band will then sell tickets to cover the cost of the rental.  Sometimes venues have a bar guarantee.  This is where the bar is guaranteed a certain amount of revenue from drink sales.  Venues want two things, money is the first and most important.  Second is a terrific experience for the customers, because happy customers always spend more at the bar.  As you can see the second has a direct effect on the first.

Concert Production Company –

Many musicians cannot afford the rental fee for a venue’s space.  So what do they do?  This is where a concert production team comes into the mix.  A concert production team will put the money up front to rent the music venue.  Then, they get a bunch of bands to play a concert.  The bands are then required to promote the show to their audience.  The promoter rents the space, books five bands, and collects the money for the tickets sales.  Once the promoter makes their rental fee back, they take a percentage of the ticket sales.  The musicians only get paid if they sell all the tickets they promised to sell.  This can work well for musicians, as long as they sell the amount of tickets or more than they promised to sell.

Now onto the exact blueprint you can use to book shows.

The Gigmor Promoter Techniquehow to book shows

You can be the concert promoter.  Call up all the bands in your area and find out if they want to play a show with you.  Get five or so bands to start, then call around to the venues, find the ones that consistently have music similar to your bands and look at the reviews of the venues online.  You will want to find quality places to have a show.  Now, call the best venue and say you are a concert promoter and want to rent their space.  Find out the cost.  It could be anywhere from a bar guarantee, to a 5,000 dollar fee.  Depending on how much you have, book shows that make the most sense.  I know it may seem crazy to spend money to play a show, but really if you do your research and find the right venue you can make some good money.

Then, enlist the bands that you gathered to make sure that they will sell a specified amount of tickets.  Have them post fliers and send people to your website to purchase the tickets.  Look at that!  You are your own concert promoter!  Great.

Tips: Use your email list to promote your show.  Also, make sure that people friend you on facebook or twitter at your shows.  Ask them to when you are on stage.

The second technique:

If you have been networking with other bands, you will be able to leverage your relationships.  Find a band that you have formed a relationship with and ask if they need an opening act.  Say, you can bring your own fans to help increase ticket sales.  You will want to show that you can help them grow as a band and maybe you can show them how to promote their band online too.  This way you will been seen as a new up and coming act and will gain fans that are fans of the other band.

Gigging Like You’ve Never Gigged Before

book shows

The last piece of the puzzle is about throwing the ultimate party.  Many musical acts play music and hope that the audience likes their music. But, there is more to it than that. The goal is to throw an event. What do I mean by this? You want to have people enjoy themselves. In creating a show, the key word is “Show” so the audience feels connected to you and your music is important. Being a great musician is about throwing one awesome party. Here are some tips to throwing a terrific concert.

Connect with the audience. 

Speak to them in a direct conversation. Engaging with your audience is about talking about local talking points.  So ask around, talk about the restaurant that everyone knows or the local [fill in the blank] everybody knows.  Do some research about the area.

There are some tools you can use such as http://tweetwall.com/.  It is a live twitter feed that you can project while you are in concert.  This will create a live conversation during your show.  Put a guest book over by the bar so people can give you their email.  This will help with your email marketing.

Be a great showman

This is an art and can take some practice.  It can take time but don’t worry about making mistakes.  The key is to make mistakes early and often.  As you learn what works continue to do those things.

Some tricks that you can use to become a better showman

  1. Bring People Up on Stage. This might make you nervous the first time you do it but trust me the person coming up onstage is more nervous.
  2. Create a part of the song that the crowd can sing. I know this may seem cheesy, but the goal is to get participation, and create a memorable evening.
  3. Sing about things that your audience finds relevant. Or bring somebody on stage ask their name, and then include that persons’ name in the song.
  4. Pretend you are, throwing a New Year’s party and have balloons drop down from the ceiling. This stuff may sound gimmicky but the real goal is about creating an experience.
  5. Does your audience read teen vampire novels? Hire a friend or actor to dress up in a vampire costume and dance around on stage.

The point is you want to get engaged with your audience.  Show them you care, and do what is relevant to your audience.  I went to a jazz club once where the singer song writer got into a conversation with a person in the front row.  It seemed like two old friends having a chat and you, “the audience” felt connected to them.  It was a great show and I had a wonderful time, plus there were only fifty people in the bar anyways.  The size of the show doesn’t matter.

Just get out there and go book shows.  Big or small it doesn’t matter.  No matter where you think you are in your gigging skill set you can only get better with practice. Also, congratulations! You just finished this article.  Leave your comments below and tell me how you are putting the techniques to work.  Take action.  You are equipped with knowledge on how to book shows and succeed in today’s music industry.  Get out there and put these techniques to work.  The only way this will work for you is if you do the work.  Don’t be scared. Roll up your sleeves and put in the work.  It will pay huge dividends down the road.  Good Luck!

Congratulations, you can run the ultimate music promotion.  Don’t just stop with reading this article.  Sign up for gigmor.com to get awesome newsletters and connect with other musicians.