DIT.DIY

With footage shot in Seattle while on tour, I made video clip of sorts. it's scetchy but I like how it turned out. I (Dolly) wrote and recorded the track in my home studio when I returned to Melbourne so the clip and song are entirely DIY by yours truly. It was hot out and i was hanging out the my laundry (as I'm sure all independent musicians do; or their mums?) and saw that the spider had started to gather outside my window; as they always do this time of year. Felt like a good opening line and the rest just went from there. The ending of this track was a happy accident - I love that 

I'll keep this as brief and informative as possible - October 2014 saw me embark on my first international tour with new project Doctrin. I set this up with fellow touring musician and Los Angeles local Lucy LaForge from Lucy & La Mer. We met at the ASCAP conference April 2014 and after I flew home to Melbourne in May, we kept in touch. Lucy suggested I come back over for a West Coast tour - it was stretch thinking about going back so soon and finding the money to do so, but with minimal hesitation I agreed. 

We immediately began booking shows which of course took some research finding the right/realistic venues and other bands, mapping out a route, hiring a van and sussing as much free accommodation as possible. It was challenging being in Melbourne but we communicated over e-mail and got everything organised as best we could.

Isla Vista // Santa Barbra 

Using any contacts we had, the internet and even books to help us wrap our head around running and promoting our own tour - we successfully booked shows between San Diego and Seattle. I used the website Indie on the move  to find venues and contact details along with reading DIY Touring The World. Both these were incredibly useful tools and there is nothing like learning from people that know what the hell they're doing, and trust me these guys have got it sussed! 

 Boardwalk // Santa Cruz 

Obviously promotion is an incredibly big deal to any creative venture if you want people to know about what you do or come to your shows. With no real network of my own in the USA I relied a lot on Lucy having her friends come along and spread the word. Using facebook, word of mouth, online flyers, instagram and a slew of hashtags was imperative. If you have the money for a publicist that's great but for us - we were on our own - social media was key. On the ground, tagging the shit out of our tour van with chalk pens was a great idea - it's a travelling billboard and so easy to do. We had random road trippers using our hashtags and communicating with us online, it even got us out of a speeding fine! That's right - when we got pulled over, the officer had taken so much of an interest in the fact we were from Australia (which was written all over the van) that he let us off!!!

At each show having a e-mail sign up sheet is a must, we did this and gratefully people handed over their precious e-mail address. This isn't a new ground breaking practice, having an e-mail list but, it does surprise me how many bands don't bother or just forget. Plugging your band name through the set to a room of inebriated listeners will only get you so far.  

The Coffee Garden // Sacramento 

Finding as many friends to lend their beds and couches saved us some money along the way but Motel 6 is your best friend when it's 2am and you've been driving through the night - They're cheap, super easy to come across and the truckers are way nicer than I expected! 

Eating is easy if you're not fussy, if you are, then get over it! I certainly struggled with not having my usual amount of bathroom time to do my hair and make-up but I had to figure it out. Everyone will struggle differently but all in all it's a road trip, lots of car time so make sure you've got enough music and good cell coverage so you can google map everything you need. 

Mt Shasta // Calif.

We played shows in: San Diego, Los Angeles, Santa Barbra, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Berkeley, Sacramento, Salem and Seattle. Some of the venues had an engineer yet other times we were left to our own devices to deal with the PA so, it does help to have some knowledge when it comes to setting up and packing down the sound system. It definitely makes you dream of the day you have a legit operation in swing with roadie/sound person at hand, and, appreciate the venues that have their shit together. 

Sadly I (Dolly) crashed the tour van. This is the reality of NEEDING insurance. If you don't do this when hiring a van to drive long distance, tired and spaced out on the 'wrong' side of the road - you're asking for trouble. Luckily no one was hurt, just my pride. We lost a few hours screwing around picking up another car and we were on a schedule to get back into LA. It wasn't ideal but a good reminder and lesson that, no matter how well planned and orchestrated you are, there is always the chaos theory at hand to fuck you up. 

Portland // Oregon 

Seeing different towns, watching the landscape change, eating burgers/burritos, talking to locals and just meeting incredible people is what this tour was all about. We even played a rehab centre in Salem to struggling addicts, it was so humbling and they were the most grateful crowd across the board. Having the chance to visit places like portland and vibe out was inspiring, somehow it felt like home. Making it up to Seattle, our final show and playing the same stage as Jimi Hendrix, Nirvana and so many more was just the start of something - the taste of touring is addictive. I wish it started big - I won't lie - I dream of the day I'm packing a huge room or even a stadium - lights everywhere, full crew and production but the reality is we start here. Ground level. 

Of course I have my own county to tour plus pipe dreams for the world but touring the West Coast USA was a great introduction. No label, no management or PR, no booking agent - it doesn't mean it can't be done. I want all those things but for now here we are doing this thing as best we can. I'm not saying anyone has said it's impossible, we're not the first bands to do this and no one tried to deter us, but let it be known to those that are fearful - it's do able. Be smart and realistic with plans and expectations, persist with booking shows and just do it. 

Blue Moon Tavern // Seattle 

Find me, Dolly Denko and Doctrin here: 

https://www.facebook.com/Doctrinmusic

http://instagram.com/dollydenko

https://twitter.com/dollydenko

Find Lucy & La Mer here:

https://www.facebook.com/LucyAndLaMer

http://instagram.com/lucyandlamer?modal=true

https://twitter.com/LucyAndLaMer

Traditionally DIY bands that are in the self managed zone are punk/rock/alt/grunge maybe a little hip hop, electronic or folk. The general consensus or assumption from a consumer stand point, is that a pop/rock commercial sounding band is signed or managed. Obviously in the changing music industry of today, the DIY ethic is employed by a wide range of genres and bands trying to break themselves because they have to. 

Mainstream/commercial sounding genres struggle to represent the fundamentals of the DIY tradition sonically, or at least they aren’t as convincing at it especially if it’s contrived. Does the DIY aesthetic lend its hand in shaping the audience perception of an artist? Would it make a polished pop artist look not so polished or confuse the average listener?

“Oh you’re not signed to a label yet? Well you haven’t made it then”. Even if people don’t or wouldn't say that to an artist out loud, they’re sure as hell thinking it! It’s by no fault of their own, it’s been the social stigma many of us have been raised with. Maybe it’s not something that can be applied as a generalisation but I can definitely say I’ve experienced it first hand. I’ve had people completely shocked that they can buy my music online, they thought that I was signed just because I had music on iTunes! I then had to explain how the process works and that it’s as simple as paying aggregator.

My songs are relatively standard when it comes to structure; not by any kind of contrived choices, it’s just purely how I have always written. From learning the fundamentals of popular song writing at a young age, it was a trait I developed when writing my own music. With that being the case, I have mostly radio length songs and Doctrin is definitely none of the aforementioned traditional DIY genres.

Somewhere in-between Post Grunge and Pop Rock I find it’s difficult for this kind of music and more commercial sounding genres to properly execute a traditional DIY campaign or gain radio play. That’s not to say it won’t work or that one shouldn’t take the DIY path, it’s just a small consideration to make when figuring out where money is best spent on promotion and building presence.

Having an independent radio station pick up these genres for rotation is highly unlikely just as is having the commercial radio station pick them because they're not signed and or have a manager/PR that’s developed relationships with the program directors….so….where does that leave me and so many others?

I’m slowly navigating that field as I have been for some time. There are days where I feel my focus/time/money needs to be on grassroots DIY territory and then there are days I think seeking a label for representation is the road. BUT, all I hear is 'labels are dead’ - ‘why would anyone want a record deal’ - ‘no one is signing’.

Sure. I agree, in this music industry climate any artist or band must be responsible for putting in the groundwork. Social media, recording, producing, content, touring and merchandise/branding can be and is developed by so many passionate bands band artists of all genres. Some stay there on the DIY path, some sign after having that route find success. 

What is the platform for band/genre/artist that has previously been developed behind the scenes? If a radio station won’t pick up an independent DIY artist because they don’t sound ‘Indie’ enough and a major station won’t pick it up because that artist isn’t signed or ‘about to break’, then what is the platform for the more commercial sounding bands? As I mentioned it’s definitely important for all bands (DIY or not) to cut their teeth and build a following but radio is still a huge part of the discovery process for new artists. So many indie artists are discovered by the incredible groundwork and support of Independent radio and commercial/label artists are not short on air-time so; what is the platform for the genres that fall between the cracks? Is it all black and white? Pick a side? Or is there a grey area somewhere? 

Not all stations are the same, there are of course smaller stations and community radio even blogs that cover a lot of genres including commercial sounding bands. We have Spotify and iTunes, Soundcloud and Bandcamp but a lot of the traffic is relied on people searching rather than making new discoveries.

No one goes to a grunge/rock club to see a pop artist, not many rock venues are going to give away a slot to a commercial sounding artist that doesn’t suit their demographic. So for an artist that, 'sounds like they should be on commercial radio instead of the indie station but wouldn’t have a hope in hell of getting played before 2am on a Sunday morning’, what is the route? What is the most complimentary/natural platform to build up? Can a commercial sounding artist pull off a DIY campaign without having to change their sound?

So next week I’m heading into the studio. 

Today I received an e-mail. It was from Pozible telling me my crowd funding campaign didn't reach its goal; in fact, it only just made it half way....I'm a little bummed out but it's really nice to see the support we did have and that people are willing to help out where they can. 

This is literally how I feel from all the love

Just THAT happy to be alive 

We were definitely relentless with posting online and reminding people of our crowd funding; text, phone calls and as much face to face as possible, though I must say not as much as I'd like. The importance of grass roots in-the-flesh became very evident toward the end of the campaign. 

I have a feeling that Facebook has lost its weight for small artists, I'm sure its been the case for a while but now but I came to this conclusion after seeing people IRL...that's right, in the flesh and face to face! I had ran into a few friends over the course of the campaign and they asked how my music was going; I gave them a quick run down on my upcoming tour  (more on that later) and mentioned the Pozible campaign. Every person said "Oh yeah I have seen that on facebook, what's it about" or "I saw you posting stuff but I didn't read it, what is it?"

They didn't read it.....

Perhaps this post will end up much the same, which for the record is fine, it's just something to consider when trying to reach an audience. There's always the common throw-around statement that there's 'so much noise to break through' but is there really? When face to face with these friends I had the opportunity to explain more about the project and as a result I'd find a new Pozible payment a few hours or a day later....coincidence?

I've not yet sat down to really analyse where we might have gone wrong, maybe it was simply just that we're so green as band or our budget was too high...a little research will reveal more.

All in all, a good nights sleep and I'll be ready to wake up and learn what we can do next time to have a successful campaign. We will still be able to complete our project even if it takes a little longer and hey, if people giving me or not giving me their coffee money to make music is my only problem in life then I have absolutely NOTHING to complain about! Positive vibes all round! 

If anyone is interested in seeing our campaign here is the Pozible page: http://www.pozible.com/project/184582

I'm totally open to constructive feedback to learn from and feel free to shoot any questions at me! 

You can check out Doctrin here www.facebook.com/Doctrinmusic

Just kidding! Although, I was totally singing that song today, I have no idea why...I have started this page to document what I'm doing with my musical project Doctrin and anything I'm involved in musically. I've been at this for a little while now, the whole make and manage your own music thing; it has its ups and downs. There is a lot to learn, do and experience. Sometimes it's daunting or fills up your headspace; other times it's elating and glorious. I'm going to share it all. 

The first rule to me now, is that it needs to be fun. There was a time when it wasn't fun for me. I am sure many of you have had a similar experience, that's when you have to stop and ask yourself "What the hell am I doing"? Fun doesn't mean easy, it just means that you're putting in the hard yards without feeling like it's a massive life drainer. Going through a testing time is fine, being absolutely bummed out is not cool! 

For now everything is cruising along and I have a bunch of activities I want to share. From planning to executing, I'll be posting about all the steps I am taking to build up Doctrin and including all the details whether good or bad. Hopefully it helps people or at least offers some insight/interesting reading material. If not then it's a cool place for me to reflect and offload some of that information stuck up in my head!

Happy Days DD