Step behind the curtain with us, where the raw energy of live music meets the meticulous craft of showmanship. Venue owner Paul Barber from Ziggy's Hudson in our latest episode, granting an all-access pass to the secrets behind nailing that elusive gig. The dance between passion and professionalism is a delicate one, and our guest reveal the steps every band should take to not just play music, but to thrive in the bustling music industry.
Feel the heartbeat of the music community as we spotlight the infectious camaraderie that turns every performer into a rock star, regardless of where they stand in their journey. From tales of stage presence to the essential role of a band's image, our conversation is a treasure trove of anecdotes and advice, including a unique jam drop system that promises every musician their moment under the spotlight. The evolution of bands like Audio Circus serves as a testament to the power of originality and connection with the audience, sculpting an unforgettable live act that keeps fans coming back for more.
As we wrap up, we underscore the significance of professionalism, audience loyalty, and the golden rule of respect in the music world. The episode is a narrative mosaic of tips, strategies, and heartwarming stories that embody the spirit of the industry, all anchored by our commitment to the shared effort that makes a show resonate. Whether you're a musician looking to leave your mark or an aficionado craving behind-the-scenes insights, join us for this electrifying exploration of what it takes to make it in the world of live music.
Step behind the curtain with us, where the raw energy of live music meets the meticulous craft of showmanship. Venue owner Paul Barber from Ziggy's Hudson in our latest episode, granting an all-access pass to the secrets behind nailing that elusive gig. The dance between passion and professionalism is a delicate one, and our guest reveal the steps every band should take to not just play music, but to thrive in the bustling music industry.
Feel the heartbeat of the music community as we spotlight the infectious camaraderie that turns every performer into a rock star, regardless of where they stand in their journey. From tales of stage presence to the essential role of a band's image, our conversation is a treasure trove of anecdotes and advice, including a unique jam drop system that promises every musician their moment under the spotlight. The evolution of bands like Audio Circus serves as a testament to the power of originality and connection with the audience, sculpting an unforgettable live act that keeps fans coming back for more.
As we wrap up, we underscore the significance of professionalism, audience loyalty, and the golden rule of respect in the music world. The episode is a narrative mosaic of tips, strategies, and heartwarming stories that embody the spirit of the industry, all anchored by our commitment to the shared effort that makes a show resonate. Whether you're a musician looking to leave your mark or an aficionado craving behind-the-scenes insights, join us for this electrifying exploration of what it takes to make it in the world of live music.
Thank you.
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:So we're currently on our table of followers. What's up, guys? My name is Timmy13, and with me is John Sonic.
Speaker 1:As always, good to see you guys. This is the Stage.
Speaker 2:Unhinged. We were just talking, so now you guys should all know what the Stage Unhinged is by now, right? I think so. I hope so, Except for everybody back there. So a quick synopsis of what the Stage Unhinged is. We are a podcast, for it's twofold One we're here to help musicians grow in any way that we possibly can, and number two is we're here to give the general public this sucks.
Speaker 1:We're here to give the general public an idea of what it's like to be in a band, what it takes to put on a production, what it takes to book shows to get gigs. Where do you want to play? What do you need in order to do that? And that leads into today's episode. Three is all about booking. How do you get the gig? And we will dive deep into that. We've got two guests with us tonight. We have with us Paul Barber, who is actually the owner of Ziggy's Hudson.
Speaker 1:Right on and books all of the live music here and elsewhere, and so we'll get his perspective from somebody who books music. What are you looking for If you're in a band and you want to go talk, you want to get booked at a bar. What do you need to know, what they want to know from you, what they need to see from you? So that's a very important perspective. And then we've got Brian Tooney, a longtime musician, songwriter, and we'll get his perspective on what it's been like throughout the years to book gigs your own, you know. How do you get those gigs? How do you approach those people who book the clubs?
Speaker 2:And it is probably, I would say, one of the most tedious parts of being in a band.
Speaker 1:It is. You know you want to just jam and rock and live the lifestyle, but uh, you can't.
Speaker 2:You got to do the business, business in order to get there so before we dive into all that, uh, let's talk a little bit about, uh, the ziggy's all-stars absolutely.
Speaker 1:but even before we get there, let's talk about our sponsors.
Speaker 2:Absolutely so we are before we get there.
Speaker 1:I'm just kidding. We're going to go all the way back to the day I was born. Uh, it was seven, 44.
Speaker 2:That Friday.
Speaker 1:March 8th 1974.
Speaker 2:No, that doesn't correlate with the picture you posted today on Facebook. That was 1956. No, that doesn't correlate with the picture you posted today on.
Speaker 1:Facebook. That was 1956. Oh, that's right. Yeah, yeah, I've been doing this for a long time. No, so we are here at Ziggy's Live Music in Hudson, Wisconsin, just over the river. From Minnesota, I like to say this is Minnesota light. It's kind of an extension, it really is.
Speaker 2:Of Minnesota.
Speaker 1:It doesn't even feel like being in wisconsin.
Speaker 2:It's one of the greatest places to come to for live music you.
Speaker 1:You can come over here and not feel like you know you need to have bratwurst it's a viking bar how many? It is, that's right we'll'll be here on some Monday nights in the fall. I think it's going to be a free, a free uh it depends on how the draft goes here in a couple of weeks to the.
Speaker 1:Monday night football game. Um, yeah, so Ziggy's live music and Hudson is where we put on this show and we've got big ideas to grow this show. We want to get, uh, live musicians to come in and perform. They can play while we are on commercial breaks, they can play during our recordings and get their music out to the public, because that's what we're about.
Speaker 2:Original artists musicians, original artists absolutely yeah and um what else our second, second sponsor.
Speaker 1:Yeah, hop and Barrel, hop and Barrel. Next door is a brewery and, if you're not familiar, they make a full line.
Speaker 2:We have an array. We'll have Alexa up a little bit later to talk about this. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:We'll have plenty of guests, but if you're watching this on your computer or your phone, you really want to come down here and be part of it, because we've got prizes, we've got gift cards so you can get dinner here, have some drinks, and not just that.
Speaker 2:What you're seeing on the computer or TV, however you watch it, you're getting an edited version Right. We're going to keep some of the cool stuff for live only. I mean Absolutely.
Speaker 1:We're going to keep some of the cool stuff for live only Absolutely when we've got guest musicians in here. They'll be playing to our house audience. So you definitely want to be a part of that and come in and Ziggy's get the unhinged burger.
Speaker 2:Yeah, how about that? That was developed and then renamed for us, because if you've ever seen a picture of it which is on our facebook, it is unhinged. And pair that with a great hop and barrel and there you go right, it's.
Speaker 1:It's a perfect uh pairing, and I've had the unhinged burger. It really is fantastic so good.
Speaker 2:So before we get any further, I will. I want to start off with with a little bit of a sad note, I guess. Um, you'll notice, uh, pod or episode two, uh, that we had with beth, which was an excellent, excellent episode and she was a great guest there's no video content. Yeah, it's only audio, and that is due to technology failure. Um, it wasn't anything that we did. Technology sometimes sucks, so my external hard drive failed.
Speaker 2:I spent a few days trying to get it back up. John spent a few days trying to get it back up. So, unfortunately, as of right now, we have lost the contents that are on that video. I have talked to a couple of people from the jams, also some jam 18. Yeah, jam 18 and 19 were on that. So if you've gotten videos and I haven't been able to reach out to you, make sure you reach out to me and I'll make sure that we get it taken care of. However, we have made some changes to make sure that that does not happen again. This time, instead of one external hard drive, I now have six external hard drives.
Speaker 2:And it's for each project. So if I lose one thing, which I'd still be sad about, I'm not going to lose something else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, a little bit.
Speaker 2:I truly apologize for that. A lot of tears were shed. One of the first people I messaged was John, Like what do I do? And we're still working and hoping that we can get it back For now don't buy SanDisk G drives. At all. It's not a good idea.
Speaker 1:My opinion may change. We'll see Doubtful Depends on SanDisk, and how they respond Yet to be determined. We'll keep you up to date on that story and how they respond.
Speaker 2:Yet to be determined. We'll keep you up to date on that story as it's developing.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm confident we will get the video feed from that episode. It may just take time, so be patient with us. And now we can continue on. Now we can talk. Jam. Now we can talk jam, ziggy's jam.
Speaker 2:We had just had jam 20 and I just want to take a minute to talk about last many heroes yeah they were fun they were they were a lot of fun. I and I'm not saying that none of the bands that come up that showcase are fun, but though some that really stand out to me with how they put their socks together or their stage presence, and they were definitely one of the ones that stood out. They were a lot of fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean, one of the big things is their professionalism, and we'll get into this in a future episode about how to perform, how to be on stage.
Speaker 2:But you notice between songs they weren't standing around looking at each other looking at their feet, deciding what they're playing next, asking each other what they're playing next and I edited a lot of that video and, yeah, it is song to song to song song. There's yeah, there's almost no lag time a really perfect flow, which is um.
Speaker 1:That's what you want to achieve in your show.
Speaker 2:Absolutely Again. Oh, let's talk about another thing that I saw for me was the first time.
Speaker 1:You had a stage full of singers for. Sweet Emotion, we sure did.
Speaker 3:Jake was on the stage for that one.
Speaker 2:And actually what's funny is I was editing the audio. You must have had a mic right in front of you, because your voice is cutting through over everybody else's. But I mean with all of those voices doing that backup and the harmony it sounded really good, Absolutely and Renegade.
Speaker 1:We had a four-part harmony. Yeah, that was awesome.
Speaker 2:So those are some of my takeaways yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:It was great. We had some new songs at the gym and, uh, it just keeps growing. You know we've had over 130 songs played so far. We've had about 145 different musicians come up on stage and are we at one?
Speaker 2:I was was actually wondering that just the other day. Where are we at? Where are you at as far as how many?
Speaker 1:musicians are up. It's about 145.
Speaker 2:So let's get to 150. Get your friends up there.
Speaker 1:We'll be there by next week. Really, yeah, we might be at 160.
Speaker 2:I almost feel like that should be a party in itself. So when we get to 200, we have to do something special. All right, I mean 200. So tell your friends get your mom out, let's go yeah, definitely if you haven't been out yet.
Speaker 1:It's a really, it's a great atmosphere. Whether you're a musician, a singer or just a fan of live music, I really think it's such a great show. It's so much that I, I love being part of it, and I'm just, uh, continually blown away by how well it goes week in and week out absolutely sometimes.
Speaker 2:I mean, I'm always there recording. Sometimes I wish I could just watch, because the performances are so good. That's like I can't be. I can't always just be in the moment. I have to pay attention to everything that's going on on stage with every member, and it's it's hard to to, you know, and it's cool to go back and watch it though, but like, oh my god, that was. I remember that and that was just. That was so awesome right, right, uh, yeah.
Speaker 1:So let's look ahead to the future. That's right this week, this week, two days from now, wednesday, april 24th, will be our very first jam here at ziggy's live music in hudson that's gonna be a lot yeah, we're looking forward to being upstairs, introducing some of these people to their second stage they've ever performed on and, uh, just really giving a feel of, um, we're taking it on the road now.
Speaker 2:I like taking it on the road. I like that. I like that. That's cool. So we got that coming up. What time is that?
Speaker 1:That is this Wednesday, 7 to 10. So come out. You'll see about a dozen different singers. It's really truly a great. I mean. I think they're heartwarming performances every time because it's so much fun. Everybody truly cares about everyone else in it.
Speaker 2:There's so much camaraderie and support I can't say that enough that the, the camaraderie, the support, the, the, anybody that goes up on stage. It doesn't matter your level of experience. You are gonna feel like an absolute rock star by the time you get off stage because of the people that are there to support it and support you.
Speaker 1:You will yeah, you're gonna feel amazing, absolutely, and we're here now to help you grow that. One week from Wednesday, we'll be back in Stillwater on May 1st, and that one is that's going to be a special night as well. We've got a guest guitarist, logan Stoliker. He will be moving in May to Nashville to pursue a music career and if you haven't seen him, logan is a phenomenal guitar player and he's bringing some of his friends he's played with and this is going to be truly a great show we are going to take a ride on down to backcountry.
Speaker 1:That much I know yeah, yeah, um, speaking of our featured makes passy happy when I say that our featured guest guitarist series that we're running we did talk about it last time Wednesday night here at Ziggy's Live in Hudson we've got Jeff Rutland from Pop Rocks, so that's going to be fantastic.
Speaker 2:Nice and then Logan.
Speaker 1:On the first, Logan on the first. We are rolling and rocking.
Speaker 2:Cool, I wanted to ask you you did the the new thing with the jam drop. Yeah, how'd that work out?
Speaker 1:um, well, it worked out. People signed up, too many people signed up. Um, isn't that a pretty usual thing though it.
Speaker 1:It is, yeah, but you know it's different In the past. I would announce when it's going to be dropped and it would be full in 10 minutes. So people were complaining that you know I couldn't make it in that 10 minutes. Well, I don't know. We'll try different things. So we have been trying different things this week. I left it open for an entire day and took all the submissions and said I'll get back to you on whether it's in or not and we're prioritizing, uh, new members. So if you've been trying and you haven't been able to get in, that was your opportunity to um sign up and we'd move you to the front of the line and say, hey, yeah, let's give you a shot. Absolutely, become part of this. Let's keep growing and you know the regulars and everyone else have been awesome about it and they've been promoting it as well and trying to get new people to come in.
Speaker 2:I'm just saying, ryan, that was actually really heartfelt in trying to get people out and get them on stage. That was really cool, so thank you for that, absolutely.
Speaker 1:The other thing I want to.
Speaker 2:What was that? Absolutely, I mean, that's where you started, right? All right, get somebody else out there. The other thing I want to reiterate is that when you're coming to this jam, there's no rehearsal. There's no rehearsal. I mean whether it's the house band or whether it's a stage full of random musicians, it's that's. You're gonna get, what you're gonna get. There's no rehearsal yeah, it's 99 of the time. Yeah, maybe I'm being generous, but 99 of the time it comes out amazing be generous, but 99% of the time it comes out amazing.
Speaker 1:And I'll tell you, man, that anxiety drives the energy in the room and it really is palpable. And I I tell you the house band you know all hand-selected, they're talented musicians and they're great people. But every time I get up on stage and we all talk to each other like we've never played this song before. Let's see what happens.
Speaker 2:Sometimes you get a punk rock song out of it, ain't that?
Speaker 1:right, ryan, but that nervous energy really fuels some great performances.
Speaker 2:It does, it does and it also again goes back to the audience supporting and helping to bring it alive Absolutely Feed off that energy All right, let's move into off that energy All right, let's move into talking about booking Booking. So we've already talked about starting your band. Yeah, we had Beth on and we talked about marketing, which. That episode is available audio only. There's some great insights in there. So now that you've started your band, you've marketed your band, it's time to get out and play.
Speaker 1:And I will mention that starting your band only needs to happen once. Marketing your band needs to happen forever, constantly. As long as you are in that band, you should be marketing it as often as you can. Any opportunity you get a chance to promote who you are and what you're doing is a chance to make your audience bigger, and that's what we want. You play in front of an, and that's what we want. When you play in front of an audience that's big and paying attention and focused, it's so easy to be up on stage and to be a rock star. I've always said I would rather play in front of 100,000 people than five.
Speaker 2:Wouldn't we all though?
Speaker 1:Well, yeah, but I would get stage fright. Playing to five people a thousand people is energy that you can't help but become part of, that energy that makes sense. When that energy is not there. You you see in people's eyes and you see them as individuals, and then you start to fear. What are they thinking about? When it's a massive audience, you know they're just all having fun, right, and so that makes it so much easier. So, yeah, always be marketing your band and and, and.
Speaker 2:That includes all content, not just professional video like, like Beth was saying, cell phone video. I mean that's what they have, that's what they used and it works. Give somebody an idea of what they're going to come see. Give people a want and or a need to come see you. You know, any live footage is always good. So I mean I recommend that, but anything you can do to get your band or brand yeah out there. Uh, as beth said, hard and aggressive right, that's how she likes it.
Speaker 1:Her words, not mine absolutely.
Speaker 2:That's gonna haunt her forever it's out there. Once you put it out there, the bookings so here's what we're gonna do're going to take a quick break, show a video of our sponsors and when we come back, we're going to have Paul Barber up first to talk about what he looks for.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we're going to have some very valuable information from both sides tonight and again we are at his bar, ziggy's Hudson, and it is one of the best places to play and he has some of the best bands here. So, yeah, definitely, absolutely valuable information. So we'll be right back and we'll have Paul Barber. The Stage on Hit podcast is brought to you by Ziggy's Hudson Live Music Bar and Restaurant, as well as the Hoppin' Bar, both located in Hudson, wisconsin. Make sure you stop into Ziggy's Hudson Live Music Bar and Restaurant. Virtually every night of the week they have something going on Karaoke, piano bar, most importantly, live music. They also host us the Stage Unhinged Podcast live every other Monday.
Speaker 2:Make sure you stop in check out the podcast live things you only see live, not on the edited version. As well as trying the Unhinged Burger to only see live, not on the edited version. As well as trying the Unhinged Burger. While you're at it, go ahead and try one of the many offerings from Hoppin' Barrel. Their brews are brewed to perfection by owner Justin and they taste amazing and pair well with just about anything. Make sure you get your Hoppin' Barrel beer while you're enjoying the Stage Unhinged podcast. Welcome back to Stage Unhinged. I am your host, timmy13, with my partner in crime over here, john Sonic, sitting in between us. We have the one and only Paul Barber. Let's give it up for Paul.
Speaker 4:Alright, a round for everybody that clapped.
Speaker 1:That is two beers.
Speaker 2:You really want to come down to ziggy's to be part of this live audience see the being here live is the only way to do right. Uh, so we got paul here and I mean this is awesome, paul, thank you for having us here first of all.
Speaker 4:Thank you guys. I you know big supporter of live music, uh, local live music and uh.
Speaker 2:That's one of our themes here is support local music and uh it's posted everywhere and that's awesome, um, but he's the owner, he books the bands well, actually there's, there's more than just me, but I'd like to say I'm the operations manager. It's safer either Either way. Either way, I know you're a busy guy, so let's talk booking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, let's you know. I have a few things to say. First of all, when he says they support live music, they really do is one of the greatest venues around to come and play and to feel like you're not just there to sell drinks I mean you are, but uh, you, you really feel like you're part of this place, like, uh, it's, you're part of a family here and you come play here and uh, I have for years and I've loved it every time. Um, now I talked to paul about booking. I tried to get paul to book my band for years and years because he owned this bar, ziggy which band like okay, he owns still water ziggies.
Speaker 1:I'd send him emails and emails and I'd send him promotional materials.
Speaker 4:Which I never got.
Speaker 2:He claims he never got them.
Speaker 4:If I would have.
Speaker 2:I must have missed that.
Speaker 4:If I would have saw the video, I would have.
Speaker 1:So one day my band is playing at Treasure Island Casino and this guy comes up to me between sets. He's like love you guys Gotta get you booked into my club. My name's Paul Barber. I own Ziggy's. I'm like you, son of a bitch.
Speaker 4:It's a true story. I drag my more wife everywhere.
Speaker 1:But you know it's a business, so keep at it.
Speaker 4:And I was lucky, because what a bootleg, what a tremendous band and this guy right here. I don't know if there's a better front man than the Twin Cities. Hey, wow.
Speaker 2:Well, with that said, then let me ask this what was it when they were performing? What was it that you said? I gotta have these guys at ziggy's what. What did you see? What made you go up to him?
Speaker 4:well, we were on the other side of the casino and I could hear a band playing. I go, god, that sounds. That sounds almost like the real thing you know, they were. Everything was spot on. What caught my attention and, to be really frank with you, what catches my attention more than anything was the vocals. Uh, I heard john's vocals. I go, jane, we gotta gotta go over there. She's like okay, okay, so I drag her I took her to nashville.
Speaker 4:We went to 27 shows in seven days. Wow, I think she'd ever talk to me again, but it's uh I probably would yeah, but I heard the and I go over there and I stood there in the back with Jane and I could not believe this guy. He owned the stage and he had a tight, tight band behind him, spot on. Every single person was a professional, but the vocals and the stage presence were like I just had to have them when I heard that, because it was you dude.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that you guys have seen John perform, so you know what he's talking about and you emphasize that so much at the jam too.
Speaker 1:About stage presence and owning the stage all of that will come too, and in further future episodes we'll talk all about that.
Speaker 2:But it's big and the reason why I bring it up now is because you never know who's watching, right, you never know who's in the audience. There's no way John could have known that Paul was hanging out at Treasure Island and be like oh. I'm going to make sure you know. All of a sudden he's coming up to you.
Speaker 1:I don't know if that was the same night or not, but we were playing Treasure Island again and my brother comes up to me after I'm done with the set and I'm doing stuff. He's like you got to come over here. Tommy Kramer wants to meet you. He's a great guy.
Speaker 2:Tommyy kramer, the vikings quarterback from when I was a kid. Yeah, you never know who's gonna be at a show he'll be here.
Speaker 4:He'll be here again. Uh, we're the biggest vikings. I don't people. We're the biggest vikings barn, probably in the midwest certainly, wisconsin certainly was the vikings. The vikings sent me a uh a package and an email saying we've noticed what you're doing. We want to support you more but because of NFL laws we can't, because legally you're in Wisconsin and the Packers are on the right, so I go. Well, they ain't going to meet Packer shit in here.
Speaker 2:Well, just get them to sponsor the stage on the Angels. We're out of Minnesota, so that's got to count, right? Yeah, there we go.
Speaker 4:Get some beer and, Tommy, you'll be here.
Speaker 1:Can't wait for those Monday night football games where we line up with the podcast.
Speaker 2:Oh that'll be good.
Speaker 4:Well, again we'll see how the draft goes.
Speaker 1:Then we'll determine how good it's going to be. I just can't wait for it to be over.
Speaker 4:So, with that said again.
Speaker 2:The idea is that you don't know who's ever going to be the show. But, paul, when you're bringing in bands, what do you look for? What do?
Speaker 4:you demand when I book a band here. You know the reason why I did this. I still have Barber Artist Management BAM it's called and I was booking about 30 bands and managing about five of them. I would actually put bands together, handpick the, do their set lists, try to work with them, and one thing I always told these kids was uh, you know how people perceive you is what you become. So when you're up on stage, don't dress like you just got out of Lifetime Fitness.
Speaker 1:So no cargo shorts. Leave the cargo shorts at home.
Speaker 4:Well, that's John. If you've ever seen John live, he dresses like a star and he is a star, you know.
Speaker 2:What about drummers though?
Speaker 4:I love drummers.
Speaker 2:Can they wear cargo shorts?
Speaker 4:Yeah, but they need to, because when you hit like a crazy man like Brant over there, you know you get really high, you overheat. We call him Tom Cruise. He does look like Tom Cruise, doesn't he Do you know? I've known him since he came up to my knee that's how old I am. His mom and I used to work together. Him and Ben would come in and they could barely reach the desk where his mom was and the nicest family in the world, his wonderful parents. What happened to you, Brant? That's another band, Audio Circus, which is in that class with Bootleg. They're professional. They put on a fantastic show. People love them. I love a band that people are as excited at 1245 as they were at 930. And that's what you get with these guys. And if you've got a bar out there and you're not booking Audio Circus, maybe you shouldn't be booking bands, because of that, there you go.
Speaker 2:What a great plug for Audio Circus.
Speaker 1:Plus, they're really nice, they love to be in the audience.
Speaker 4:As soon as I post this video.
Speaker 2:they're going to take that clip and throw it all over all of their social media. It's all about marketing. That's right and that's some of the best marketing you can get right there You're listening.
Speaker 4:When I was doing this, I truly loved music. I was a.
Speaker 4:I drove my parents, nuts, my brother was with the Beach Boys, my sister was the Beatles, and here I come along and I'm the Stones and my parents are like you know, oh God you know. And so I remember things in life through a song and I'm just very music. Music is pretty much everything to me, you know. And so when I retired from real estate I was bored and I was pretty good in marketing, you know, and I knew music, so I had some. There used to be a band called Saving Stars in this area that had a huge draw, really good kids, nice musicians. And he kept telling me about this young kid named Marcus Lear and I said you got to see this kid and I go, well, why? And he goes, well, you love music. And I go, yeah, and he goes, there's more to this. And he goes, he needs your help. And I go what do you mean? He needs my help, he needs somebody to promote him and we know you can do it. So I went and listened to him and he did three originals. Just blew me away. He's like a little prince, you know, plays the sax, plays the keyboard, plays everything, mixes it himself, you know, just tremendous. So I listened to him and he comes up to me.
Speaker 4:I'm sitting, barry comes up to me after he plays and he goes. Well, what did you think, mr barber, I go, god, I'm getting old, I go. First of all, my name is paul and number one. I think you are fantastic and he goes. Would would you be interested in booking me and I, you know, representing me? I go. Well, I'd love to, but I'm going to tell you I haven't done this because I think you can do it and I go. I think I can. So I asked him how many shows are you playing a month? And he goes well, I think I played two in the last month and I go, really, and I go. How long do you play for? And he goes well, three to four hours and I go. What do they pay in you? And he goes well, $100. And I looked at him?
Speaker 2:who cares about what bands get paid?
Speaker 4:I hate it when people take advantage of musicians. Musicians work so hard. All the people see are the four hours when they're on stage and everybody's like, oh, you know they don't see the other 20 hours a week they put into honing their craft. You know it's a lot of work and so I said, okay, I'll take care of you. And uh, I uh got on the phone the next day and uh, I booked him 22 shows his first month and the cheapest one was two 50. So he made more money in a month that he had made in his whole career and we have been best friends ever. He's like my son. I love the guy. He's got a great band called Waves Collide. They're fantastic.
Speaker 2:Ah, I actually. I know their bass player.
Speaker 4:Yeah, do you.
Speaker 2:David.
Speaker 4:They're here this Thursday night at the Duel, yeah, okay, so, but anyway. So that's why I got into it and, as I started, started working more with venues and seeing how some of these owners treated the musicians, it made me angry. You know, they come in there and they play their butt off, they want to charge them. They won't even give them a hamburger or a drink and I'm like, for God's sakes, when they're working here, they're part of you, they're your staff, we're all family, you know.
Speaker 2:Clubs who do bookings take note.
Speaker 4:Well, I'm not. You know, I don't want to give the house away. You know, I've got one band. I won't mention any.
Speaker 2:I'm not suggesting giving the house away, but I mean you said the words take care of your band.
Speaker 4:They're all family here. And there's one band I won't mention the name, but they were a good band but I booked them once and what a shit show. They were great but they went over there. I'll give a band a $100 drink comp for the band and I'll give them each a meal, and that's only fair. You know, I give that to my employees and we're all family here.
Speaker 2:Wait, you give your employees a $100 drink.
Speaker 4:No, sign me up.
Speaker 4:Let's correct that they get all the diet coke they can drink, yeah, but you know they were over their $100 in 45 minutes and they asked for more. I said you know what? I'll give you more the next time you play here, which will be never again, and they haven't been here since Whoops. But you know, when I look for in a band and, to be really frank with you, I get so many emails a day you guys I feel like the biggest jerk in the world because I don't get back to everybody. I'm going to be real honest with you because if I answered every email every day, I couldn't do my job or even talk to my wife. And what really gets me is when they get my phone number and then they start blowing it.
Speaker 4:I got a guy called me at 1230 at night. A booking agent that you guys know called me at 1230 at night last Saturday to try to book his band. I'm like kind of asleep right now, but I look for bands. The first thing I look for and I'll be really frank with you is vocals, because you know what? There is thousands of good guitar players out there and now with bar chords there's probably 2,000. But you know.
Speaker 2:You leave bar chords alone. Yeah, I love bar chords.
Speaker 4:I do too, too, that's what I play that's why I can still play not very well. That's why I do this. I'm better at this, but uh, I look for vocals, which is why john made me get up from my machine that I was winning at and walk over to see him uh, vocals are everything to me.
Speaker 4:Uh, if you got good vocals and you build a good band around them, you're special. You're special because nothing will wreck a great song than somebody singing it like they just got hit by a bike or a car or something. So that's what I look for in vocals. There's a girl I saw at your open jam, beth.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was here last week.
Speaker 4:Sing the Chrome off of Taylor Hitch. She'll be here Wednesday. She has fantastic vocals.
Speaker 2:I might edit that part out.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:She can sing a golf ball through a garden hose.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Hard and aggressive.
Speaker 1:Lay back with a beer afterward. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 4:Yeah, so and the other thing I look for? You lucky sop um, I can tell all the bands right now the biggest hint from bar owners, because we all talk.
Speaker 1:You know we share stories, uh yeah, I want to get more into that, but absolutely is that.
Speaker 2:That's something I tell every band I talk to.
Speaker 4:Well, it's really changed. I personally, a lot of times I'm fighting with starting a little earlier and ending a little earlier, but I just don't think that's what music's about. Music's a night thing, and so I fight that. There's some shows, like on weeknights and Thursdays we'll start at 8 because it's a school night, you know. But on Saturday or Friday night I don't want my night over at midnight. You know, if you're in this business you shouldn't. But the thing is what happens and all of us are talking about it and I've asked all the agents and you know, when I ask them, they're all like oh yeah, yeah, we can do that, but then they never do it. And what the bar owners want more than anything right now are two sets, because three sets are the kiss of death, because what happens after that second break? We lose 40% of our audience. So if you do two sets, bars are going to love you.
Speaker 2:That's one thing. As musician, I love 3Sets Because sometimes you have to run to the bathroom. So freaking bad. As a drummer, I don't get to just walk away If you have two guitar players. Oh, you got it, I'll be good. I do know what you're talking about with the 3Sets.
Speaker 4:There's no bass player here tonight. I didn't think so. I didn't see any houses out there with wheels on it. Whoa, there are drummers here, though. Your brother is going to kill me for that one, but I'm just teasing.
Speaker 2:Brant's not homeless. Here's to Brant.
Speaker 4:No, brant lives in Brantwood. He's got like 50 guards and 40 acres, so kids learn how to play the drums, you'll be rich 50 acres and Brant just gets to live there rent-free. Yeah, Learn how to play the drums. Marry beautiful women, have a great career, and you too can have a nice life, such is life. Cheers. One thing that's really important Two sets we really want to see guys.
Speaker 1:Have you seen it make a difference? Do you know that there's less people leaving because of it?
Speaker 4:I can tell you from looking at my POS system and seeing what my rings are from 1215 to 115, dramatically drops. That last set I don't know what it is and you know and I'll tell you where it really hurts is. I'm pretty good here because I'm kind of on an island, because there's not a lot of competition around here for me. But you know I go to Stillwater. When I had to use a Stillwater before I let that, that go it, it uh. There are a million places still waters, a walking town. You can walk everywhere. You take a break right, see you later. They never come back. So that late break is is is big uh and it could be, I, I don't know.
Speaker 1:Personally, here in Minnesota, I still feel like midnight rolls around and people are like let's beat the cops home.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 1:You know, and they're getting out, no matter what's happening.
Speaker 4:In Wisconsin they drink till the next day.
Speaker 1:Oh well, that's true.
Speaker 2:But, I would you suggest testing to see what works for your bar.
Speaker 4:I mean because some bars are different right.
Speaker 4:Well, next year, you know what I'm doing. Every band has to sign the contract at the beginning of the year that they're playing two sets. If they want to play here, yeah, fair enough, I have to, and I'm not trying to be a jerk. I want to be here three years from now. In that last hour it's 52, 54, how many weeks are in a year? 52 weeks a year is the difference. Sometimes, you know, it's a tough business, you guys. It's not like it used to be, because youth is not quite you know. Let's face it, the Internet and computers have pretty much put a big shot in the music business Changes scenes yeah.
Speaker 4:If you're a band right now you have to tour if you're going to make. I got a really good friend of mine who out of Nashville, he's always down in Tennessee and I used to bring him up here to play all the time. Scott Holt he was a buddy guy. He's a guitar player. He's one of the best musicians around. Foghat Bumped into him about three years ago and they fell in love with him and they built a relationship.
Speaker 4:Now he's the lead singer and songwriter for Foghat. They have a new album that came out. It's seven on the charts. F it's seven on the charts. Foghat hasn't been relevant in 20 years and they're 30 years and they got the number seven song. It's just behind the new Stones album on Billboard and he is so happy and I'm so happy for him. But anybody can make it If you're good and you're devoted and you really really care about what you're doing. If you got talent, you can make it.
Speaker 1:And if you write a song about a solar eclipse or anything regarding a solar eclipse, your hit can be number one on the Billboard chart. 30 years later, have you seen that? Yes, black Hole Sun became the number one hit on the Billboard chart last week.
Speaker 4:I love that song.
Speaker 2:There was a lot of weird things that day, but yeah, I mean.
Speaker 4:Or you could sit in your parents' basement and write a song about Fight Plus.
Speaker 2:Weird, but that's awesome though. I mean, who knew that? They obviously didn't. They were hoping for a number one, then 30 years later.
Speaker 1:You know, yeah, kids find it on TikTok and it blows up. But, paul, a question I wanted to ask you is say, I'm in a band and you've never heard of me. What is the best way for me to get your attention? What would you like to see me send you? Do I need to?
Speaker 4:Send me an email with video Video, Because I will not book a band unless I've watched quite a bit of them. I've only booked, and this is going to sound terrible in seven years, I think. I've only booked three bands through an email and all three of them sent me video. I'll get emails from people that'll say like hey, I got this band, you know we're really good, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. How about booking us? I'm like they didn't tell me their website, they didn't tell me their Facebook page. They sent me no video, they sent me no photos. I have no idea what they are. That's like asking me hey, mister, I know you don't know me, but will you give me a million dollars? I'll pay you back.
Speaker 2:Now, is that the same with agents? You want that same information from agents as well.
Speaker 4:No, the agents, yeah, I love them, the good ones. I got three that I work a lot with and I should tell them all three of them are really good Chris Bowden, greg Aspey and Chad Higgins. I love working with those three because they're professional, they don't try to sell me something just to sell me something to keep the band with them, they actually really want it to work and those three are shining diamonds in this industry are shining diamonds in this industry. The big thing is, like I said, I only booked three bands. I got an email. In fact, I've gotten the agents a lot of bands. This one I got for Chad. I got an email from Nathan Hanson, one of the nicest kids in the world, one of the best rising.
Speaker 2:I've played in a band with him before.
Speaker 4:Do you have yet? Yeah, One of the best rising country kids out there. He impressed the hell out of me. You know I had in-ear monitors. Then I have more stage. But he sent me a really nice email and it was different, you know, like he actually was thinking about it, and he sent me video and I thought, oh my God. I called up Ziegler and I said hey, here comes your competition. Yeah, right.
Speaker 4:Because I love Tim, good friend. He's made my business very successful, nicest guy in the world. But now what I'm doing is I'm booking him. People love him. He's blown up. He was another one booking himself. I think he was getting taken advantage of. I said you need an agent. He goes. Would you help me? I go call Chad. Chad signed him. He's been with Chad three years now. So good, so professional, so nice and he's genuine.
Speaker 2:So genuine he's extreme. I love that kid.
Speaker 1:I don't think there's a bad bone in that kid's body.
Speaker 2:No, there's not, Absolutely not.
Speaker 1:So when these bands out here send you videos, does it make a difference to you if it's a professionally done EPK, epk. So mixed down, sound, professional quality cameras or you just a phone is good enough.
Speaker 4:Well, with a new iPhone you can do some pretty good stuff. I've got some video live shows with my iPhone that would actually rival some of the professional stuff, but obviously you're going to sound a lot better if you do it professionally. It're going to sound a lot better. If you do it professionally. It's going to take an average band and make them sound above average really because you can play with the equalizers and that, but Get your live video, now comextudioscom. All this guy right here, best value in video Way better than an iPhone.
Speaker 1:I was afraid he was going to say, no, phone video is good enough. And then we'd have to be like Timmy cut that part out.
Speaker 4:No, but actually that's what I was getting at Timmy. Call Timmy and maybe I'll look at your video when you send it to me.
Speaker 2:You heard?
Speaker 4:it here first no, it's, but I do think about it though when I get it. If they send me something that their you know 15-year-old sister took in the garage, I'm thinking. You know they don't seem like they're very serious about this Right.
Speaker 4:And this is my investment, my livelihood here, and I want people that are as serious about their music as I am serious about having them here. So there was this place in West Minneapolis 60, some 60. They always have a blue background. It's a beautiful stage. They shoot stuff over there. It's up by I don't know somewhere in the west suburbs and I have a couple bands that I've been booking. You know they're pretty good, you know, but they weren't that good, but they were pretty good. But they went out there and they had these things shot there, these promos, and they sent it to me and I go who the hell is this? They were that good. So it really makes a difference.
Speaker 4:And I also look at the set lists. I read every band's set list before I hire them and if they got, here's the deal. If I only booked what I liked, I probably wouldn't be in business, because not everybody wants to hear British alternative 90s and Seattle. But that's the stuff I like. But I got a friend of mine, Glenn Marty, if you're out there, I don't like country.
Speaker 4:So, when I opened up the place, so much country hate, I know I wouldn't even put country on my jukebox. And the jukebox guy goes to me, he goes you know your play is a little low and I go well, you know it's country. And I'm like, oh, I put it on there. So Gwen was mad at me and then all of a sudden I you started making money off that jukebox.
Speaker 4:No, I booked Tim Ziegler. To be honest with you, my Sundays were just and I booked him and I've had Tim over there every Sunday now for seven years and he has made my Sundays rival my Fridays. So now I really like country music, as long as I'm not listening to it. He comes up to me once and he goes to me. Paul, how come, when I was, when I play, you go back in your office?
Speaker 4:you don't want me to answer that I go well, tim, you know you're really good at what you're doing. I really like you and you're you're really good. And he goes, yeah, and I go well, I hate country. He goes, you what? I go, I hate country music. He goes you don't like uh george straight. And I go I don't even know who the fuck george straight is. And then I am now a country music fan. He's got me into uh, some stuff and uh, it's really good. If nothing else will come in, I'll put it on.
Speaker 1:You're about to become a big fan of open mic nights. We'll be here Wednesday. We'll do all right. We're really excited to have you here Wednesday.
Speaker 4:Biggest advice I can give bands is don't text the guy, don't call the guy, he's got a wife and kids and a million things to do. Send him an email, but just don't send an email that says, hey, I got a band, put some substance in it, put some, you know, some videos, some pictures, set list. If a band sends me their set list, video, a website, a Facebook page, that's important to me, especially the Facebook page, and I'll tell you why. If you look at all these good bands in Nashville, there are so many good bands that should be national but they're not. And what these companies look for when they come in these record companies, they look for their followings. Well, how many people follow them? How many hits do they have? So that's why I look at the Facebook page, because if they have a big following, I know that it's not going to be just on me putting an ad on Facebook and hoping they come out. They have a following, people follow them. It's like an audio circus. You guys got a following. Bootleg's got a following. I booked. People follow them like an audio circus. You guys got a following. Bootlegs got a following.
Speaker 4:Uh, I booked this band out of minneapolis on chad's recommendation. Uh, and the kid in it, he's so nice, he's so good. He used to be the lead guitar player in quiet drive, if you remember those guys, but I didn't want to book them because they had the worst name I ever heard in my life. They're called some shitty cover band and, uh, they're the house band down at. I used to book the music for it down in Minneapolis. God, I'm getting old, I can't remember shit. Far in the corner down there. Poor House, poor House. Yeah, and they kill it when they draw there. So I go, all right, well, let me try them. They, whenever they play here, they bring in more followers than anybody. They're from Minneapolis and the place is filled with people from Minneapolis when they play.
Speaker 2:You know, I will say I was in an original band once. We played at Morehouse and I don't know if they still do this, but they kind of had it set up where, earlier than I, they would have all their original bands yes, yep and then late, you know, they'd have their cover band. Well, year than I did, they would have all their original bands. And then late, they'd have their cover band. Well, it made us think we were bigger than we were, because at the end of the night it was some shitty cover band.
Speaker 3:So we thought all these people were here to see us.
Speaker 2:We were this great punk rock band. And no, they were there to see some shitty cover band, but it still made us feel good.
Speaker 4:Well, that's good, because those people see you. Then you know, right, it was awesome. Yeah, will Caesar, one of the nicest kids in the world, he leads that band up. But when I first booked him here, I'd never heard him, you know. But I saw the video and it looked good to me. So I was upstairs that night and I was in the green room and I was working on something and we had the jukebox on and all of a sudden Van halen, uh jump, came on and uh, god, you know I like a song. You know it's old, but I like it. I love this. Yeah. So, uh, jake, you should learn that. Where are you?
Speaker 3:you could play that.
Speaker 4:it's another one for audio circus, but anyways. So uh, I'm sitting there, I'm getting into, I'm cleaning. All of a sudden I turn around. It wasn't the jukebox, it was the damn band doing a sound check. That's how good they are. So it's good, there's a lot of good young talent. I judge.
Speaker 2:my Van Halen covers pretty hard, so I'll have to hear that someday and be the judge of this.
Speaker 4:It's really, really good. And we got another up-and-coming young musician who I think is going to go a long way as he plays here a lot. His name is Josh Quinn, a piano player. He's like oh, thank you, how did?
Speaker 2:you know, I liked Rom, sir Megan, taking care of us.
Speaker 4:Don't you love it when someone knows you like Rom? So here's to you guys, absolutely, I like to roam Our producer Megan, taking care of us. Don't you love it when someone knows you like to roam?
Speaker 4:So here's to you guys, absolutely, but anyway so he's so young I'm looking at him and I look at his dad and I go I know that guy. I hadn't saw him in 30 years. His father and I grew up together and went to grade school. So that's how much older I was than him, right? And so I looked at him and he goes you want to hear anything and I go, yeah, you probably can't play. Could you maybe play my Old School and he goes. Oh yeah, I love that song and he kills it and I'm thinking I like young kids. Steely Dan, my Old School.
Speaker 1:So this must have been another North St Paul guy.
Speaker 4:This must have been another North St Paul guy.
Speaker 1:Yeah he's a North.
Speaker 4:St Paul, kid Right and North St. By the way, north St Paul really is Rocking the capital of Minnesota. There are so many good bands out there. Des Dickerson from Prince and Sky Church, little Red Corvette Saw him at the talent show Right? I think I saw you there too, John.
Speaker 1:They were kicking you out because you were bugging the band. Yeah, I remember. Ever since I was a little boy, I grew up seeing some great bands. There was Obsession, Bryn Arons and Jeff Loven Phenomenal Followed them throughout. But, yeah, all North St Paul grads. I graduated from North St Paul and I graduated from North St Paul. Brant graduated from North St Paul.
Speaker 4:I grew up two blocks away and I went to Hill Murray.
Speaker 1:There was always such a rock and roll community in North St Paul. We didn't care to be quarterback of the football team, we wanted to be in a band.
Speaker 4:No, when that guy was quarterback of the football team, we we wanted to be in a band. No, when that guy was quarterback in the football team, we were with his girlfriend with our guitar, hell yeah or if you're the drummer, you were with multiple girlfriends and drums but you, but you know, when you talk about great musicians, you're right, brad never mind that kim great musicians that came out of here Well before your time.
Speaker 4:If any of you guys have ever seen this guy or seen this band, you'll know what I'm talking about. But I doubt every because I'm a lot older than all of you. I think the best band well, I'm a huge Replacements fan. Paul Westerberg is the best songwriter in the world. Okay, jigs Lee I don't know if you guys know him. He's from White Bear Lake. He had a band called Kane which was I'm sorry, that's the best band to ever come out of Minnesota. They were tremendous. They traveled like crazy.
Speaker 4:Their second album that came out back when they had AM Skip. You know, on the radio channels their song Katie was number one on the whole eastern United States for five weeks. Marsh Edelson was their manager. They couldn't make it here. They came out with the best album and they were a Zeppelin type. If you guys listen to their stuff you won't believe it. They went down and shot the album cover in the stockyards down in South St Paul. They wanted to dress up like minstrels, you know the Zeppelin thing, you know and they shot a bunch of pig guts on a cement floor and called the album a pound of flesh and it killed their career. So perception becomes reality.
Speaker 2:But in a puck rock, Southern California. We call that Tuesday.
Speaker 4:I remember till Tuesday. I love Amy Mann, but I mean, if you got a band, just send video, send pictures, send your set list.
Speaker 2:Preferably video from comextudioscom.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, having worked with booking agents who said, yeah, be happy to represent you. You need to have professional video. I can't sell you without it. If you don't, I can't work with you.
Speaker 4:That's a good agent.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because like it is you know a lot of times you'd try to sell your band to um to a corporate gig, and you know you want those a lot of money you need those but um, if you're sending phone video to somebody who's booking a corporate gig, they're like what am I looking at here? Do these people care about what they do? See what I mean. F the iPhone. So we talked about you know.
Speaker 2:Comaxstudioscom.
Speaker 1:Earlier in the show I mentioned that marketing and promotion is something you will always do, and I mean that because this guy did it better than anybody, your first impression that you want to make, whether you're trying to sell yourself to a bar or a fan or an agent or whatever.
Speaker 1:Go as far as you can In your mind what can I do to make this more attractive? How can I sell myself better than I am now? And if you think you're doing enough, you're not, so keep going. How can I promote this in a way that is catchy and attractive and professional and looks like we know what we're doing and we want to make you a success as well.
Speaker 2:Studioscom will help you, make you look like you know what you're doing, and we want to make you a success. Go back to thosecom.
Speaker 4:We'll help you make you look like you know what you're doing. That's some of the best advice. But John just said, right there is, if you want to be successful, if you follow what he said, you'll have a really good chance. And another thing, I think when you start your band, you know, decide what you want to be. Uh, dress, you know, decide what you want to be.
Speaker 2:Dress like a rock star, like you belong on stage. Paul, how do you feel about Barbie shirts on drummers? Oh my, gosh.
Speaker 4:Well, if he's married to a Barbie, it's okay Fair enough, fair enough.
Speaker 2:All right, well played, well played, well played, but played Well played.
Speaker 4:But I mean dress for success.
Speaker 2:You don't see the camera right there?
Speaker 4:That's a hidden camera that's going out to your parents' house and decide what you want to be. And this is going to sound weird, but you know back from my booking days, there's pay scales okay, a beginning cover band you know you're at the bottom. A cover band that actually has a lead singer you're up there, and if somebody can actually play the guitar and drums, it's really good there. And if somebody can actually play the guitar and drums, it's really good. But if booking bands and working with all kinds of festivals, uh, the difference between a cover band and a tribute band is about 1500 a night. So if you're a really good cover band and you want to make more money, just cover like six different bands and say I'm a tribute band Because that's where it's at. That's a good point. There's a tribute fest. There's no cover fest.
Speaker 2:I think we've got to start that cover fest. I know I should do that. How would you book to make sure nobody plays the same song? Jam fest.
Speaker 1:Jam fest. We'll have a day-long jam, so everybody can get in Dude.
Speaker 2:That'd be crazy, That'd be insane.
Speaker 4:My dream, my whole life, which will never happen of course.
Speaker 2:Never Say Never.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's a good song that reminds me of Romeo Boyd Never Say Never.
Speaker 1:But you remember that song, don't you? I think that's a Bieber song.
Speaker 4:I might like you better if we slept together, but never so never. She just got weird. I would you know if you're out there and you're actually going through YouTube and you're really bored? Paul Westerberg, we'd sure love to have you play an acoustic show here, call out.
Speaker 2:Call out. We'll make sure to send it to him.
Speaker 4:And I got a great drummer for you. He can do a white stripes thing, right, Brent. And he wears a Barbie shirt and he'll bring his wife, which is a bonus the best part.
Speaker 2:I mean yes, bonus, bonus he got it. It's like Beavis and Butthead thank god, brad doesn't know where I live you guys are fun.
Speaker 4:I want to say something. I think it is so cool that these two care so much about the local music scene, because you know what they ain't getting rich doing this we need more sponsors. If you support local music, come sponsor these guys right on. We've got thank god. We've got hop and barrel yes, thank you very very much. I think is the best beer around. It's pretty damn good and, uh, the stickiest places sponsor.
Speaker 2:They're pretty nice guys I'm gonna take home a couple of these glasses, by the way go ahead.
Speaker 1:We've, uh, yeah, so we have a sponsorship level sheet. Please contact us if you'd like more information about sponsoring. We'd love to have you because we'd like to plan some big events and you know bring in some big names and have some live music at a show.
Speaker 2:Something we're going to talk about soon. You can sponsor bringing someone in. Again, it's our award show.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we've got that coming up. We are going to have an end-of-the-year award show.
Speaker 4:We've got to design awards and get them done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, end of the year award show, put that design award and get them done. Yeah, we'll get that put together soon. Paul, do you mind taking questions from some people? I know Jake is itching to ask you some questions. Don't screw with me, jake. Hey, jake, come on up. Buddy, come on up. Why don't you put the microphone at the table? Nope, not, since my microphone cut out.
Speaker 4:Hold up so I can jump for it, all right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Well, that blew my question. No, look, this is kind of a reverse question. From an establishment point of view, one of the reasons that I believe that Ziggy's is so popular with bands is because there are so many clubs out there that when they book bands they expect them to have 50 people in their trunk. But the way you built these places has been you're building the clientele established with the bar, so anytime somebody comes here, they know they're going to get awesome music.
Speaker 4:Great point. Thank you, that's very kind awesome music.
Speaker 3:Great point. Oh, thank you. That's very kind, but that's also, I think, maybe while you, while your, your inbox is overflowing, is because there are there are many bands that are out there that know that. Uh, one of the places to play is ziggy's, because you always have that crowd and, to john's points, like I'd rather play to 5 000 people. Every time we play there and on every time we played here or in stillwater in audio circus, it's been a packed house, which makes it even more fun that's why we book you so much well, but how do you communicate that to bands on the back end?
Speaker 3:what decorum do you expect from them when they come to say make me want to hire you, not just the first time, make me want to hire you back, Well that's a really good question.
Speaker 4:Yeah, who put him in here? I got to think now, no, you have to earn your audience audience. I have to earn my customers by giving them good food, good drinks, good service and fantastic music. But where I am blessed here is I have the best staff anywhere in the world.
Speaker 2:You know what I have to say give it up for the staff, absolutely Including the newly found producer, megan.
Speaker 4:Yeah, we've got. I'm blessed. I've got a great GM in Doug Isaacson and I've got a great AGM in Megan Slash producer.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm just really lucky, you guys. But you know, we're only as good as all of us we're family. I don't I would never ask anybody that works here to do anything that I wouldn't do myself. And it's you know, you all have to pitch in and the thing with a band is when you're, when you're new, you have to earn your audience, like we have to earn our customers, and what that means energetic set lists, communicating with the audience. It's you know, talk back and forth to him. Another good one, uh good with that, is it's nick anderson. Nick anderson, new skinnies, this guy's fantastic and uh, he's got such good audience rapport.
Speaker 4:Talk to your audience, make friends with them, make them want to come out and see you. It just doesn't happen overnight. You just get up on stage. If you're super good, you know it'll happen. But a lot of people that follow bands, it's a relationship, it's a group, it's a friendship, it's a family. This is my band, you know, and they follow them and they support them and you have to build that. If you build that, they will come.
Speaker 2:And that's something, something like. I know we keep bringing it up, but like audio circus, now, brand I get, rightly, is your actual daughter, but even if she wasn't, like you would I? I didn't know that until somebody told me, but the way you guys act on stage together and the way you all interact together, they like each other. Yes, even if it's only on stage. No, I'm just kidding, you know, because you could. You could see the bands who obviously have animosity towards each other, but you know, when you, when you go see an audio circus show, you're getting a genuine fun, good time. And it made it so much more fun for me to capture a video because you can see that. So you actually made my job harder in editing because I have to make sure I capture that. How do I make sure I show that? And, honestly, you can see the video when it comes out, but the only way to truly see it is to come and see it live.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I keep the camera on his daughter more than most people 100%.
Speaker 2:Riley had her own camera, but see Brant as a drummer. Brant had two cameras. Brant had the drum cam and he had a foot cam.
Speaker 4:He's got his disco drums too, that light up like Christmas. But you know what I love about that band Jake's hair.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, and the fan.
Speaker 4:I'm going to tell you this right now. I'm going to be really honest, because I always am and my wife tells me it's my downfall. Please be honest, paul, but Audio Circus was a four-star band.
Speaker 2:Four stars and.
Speaker 1:I'll tell you what there's not.
Speaker 4:It's not great, but it's good.
Speaker 2:There's not many four-star bands out there guys, is it because Brant's in the band?
Speaker 4:No, no, brant. Yeah, before Brant joined there were one, but when Jake joined that band it completed him and they are my largest ringing band in both venues.
Speaker 2:I can't remember what song it was, but there was one song that Jake started singing.
Speaker 4:Magic Power. I made him do it.
Speaker 2:And I was having somebody listen to the audio and they're like I can't tell the difference from the original to Jake, I thought you were going to say it was on the 16th when they played Creep.
Speaker 1:That was really good. Oh, that was good.
Speaker 4:You know, when I met Jake, Jake had a killer band with some really good, cool cats called Common Ground. I used to go see them all the time and Jake was very kind to me and always talked to me and he was just a nice person.
Speaker 2:Jake is one of the kindest people I've ever met. So is Brent, and I don't want I give him so much crap. Brand both of them. Barbie, barbie, kim you, I think you make yeah, but, but you know the thing?
Speaker 4:the one more thing I want to say was how would the band really elevate it when jake joined him? But what it is that works for that band. Besides, they're all really talented, they've got a strong rhythm section, but the interaction on stage between jake and your daughter is incredible yes it's just there's so much energy and if you see the video on on that. I mean, they play off each other. So well, I would have these guys every month it's could.
Speaker 2:It's going to be so hard to edit my work's cut out for me. Thank you guys, but I enjoy that.
Speaker 1:I actually like that because it's a challenge.
Speaker 1:I want to go back to a point that Jake brought up in that Paul commented on, and I would like to expand on that for the bands out there, and that is you come into a great place that's got an established audience, and paul says don't lose the audience. So this is your opportunity to take those people that you're meeting tonight and make them fans of you, because if you don't, the next time, if you're lucky enough to be listed there at that bar again, they're gonna see that and go yeah right, let's go somewhere else one. And so you represent the bar you're playing in as well as you do yourselves. So you owe it to your family being in the club to do your best for them as well as you, because you elevate it all. That way, you bring in bigger audiences to that bar, you bring in bigger audiences to your band and every other band that comes in and plays there as well, and that's what we're all trying to do Lift everyone up, because that's the best way to be really, absolutely.
Speaker 4:That's very stellar advice.
Speaker 1:Paul, I love you. Buddy, Thanks for being here.
Speaker 2:Before we let him go. Paul, this is a big question. Without mentioning band names, what is something? Or something, rather, and then I think this is just as important what are some things that you will see that you will never invite back again?
Speaker 4:no goodness. Well, I've got one in particular and it's really hard for me because I'm not going to say names, no names, and he's a super good friend and I haven't booked him in two years. Cut. Here's the deal. What do you look for? You play what your audience wants, not what you want to play. Okay, because nobody wants to hear, I'm just going to leave it at this. I've got a full dance floor with a lot of young kids dancing like crazy to start me up. They love it. They know the song. If you're 24 years old, you probably don't know the girl with the faraway eyes, so you probably don't want to break into that one next and empty out the dance floor. I have no idea what he's talking about.
Speaker 4:So your set list is important Set list what else.
Speaker 1:There will be a whole episode about that coming.
Speaker 4:What. What was that?
Speaker 1:We'll have a whole episode about building a set list, absolutely.
Speaker 4:And the name's important.
Speaker 2:What else? Obviously, we look at things like professionalism. You mentioned professionalism. You mentioned the way they act. What are things that? Not just a set list, but you look at a band and I mean a band could have a stellar set list, but what are some things that you look at? And I think again, this is just as important for people to know as a booker for this establishment or any establishment what are you going to see? What are you looking for that you're going to say I'm never bringing you back again?
Speaker 1:I mean, imagine, don't be hard to work with well, if you're here's the deal.
Speaker 4:I'm so sick of working with people that think they're the next john lennon because, guess what, you're not okay, so check your ego at the door. Yes, treat, treat the staff nice. Yeah, I instruct my staff to treat you with respect. Treat them with respect. I'm not going to bring anybody back that disrespects the staff, because this is my family and they expect me to protect them, and I want you know the whole thing when I started this. I'm about music, guys. This is my Facebook page. My slogan is music is life, okay. I'm going to guys my Facebook page. My slogan is music is life okay.
Speaker 2:I'm going to get that tattooed on me and I'll put your signature right under it.
Speaker 4:I was going to get a tattoo. He thinks I'm kidding. I'll actually do it. Here's the thing. As long as he pays for it, yeah right, tattoos are getting expensive.
Speaker 1:I'll get a sponsor.
Speaker 4:Just, you know, be a nice person. You know, be the person your parents want you to be. It's like just treat everybody the way. It's really simple, it's a golden rule Treat everybody the way you'd want to be treated. Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 4:It's pretty hard to screw that up if you do that, you know Right. Pretty hard to screw that up if you do that, you know right. But uh, also, I have some performances that really stand out in my mind. Uh, probably too many of them, but there's a few that are real special and I think, just because of the show tonight, when I get home tonight, I'm gonna dig up one and put it on my facebook page and you guys can go watch it, but it's probably one of the best live performances I've ever seen.
Speaker 4:Audio circus yeah, yeah, that one too no no, no not this.
Speaker 4:Uh, I booked the music for the city of stillwater too for their fourth of july shows now, which we need to talk about, but the You're welcome. We had a show there a couple of years ago and this band covered Creep by Radiohead and the guy killed it and he walked the entire festival grounds down there singing on a wireless. Was his name John Sonic? Festival grounds down there singing on a wireless. Was his name John Sonic? His name was John Sonic. It's one of the best, the very best live performances I've ever seen. I'll put it on my Facebook page.
Speaker 2:Was it really John?
Speaker 4:Oh it's tremendous, Just blew it away.
Speaker 2:You know I was joking, but I remember this time this mother effer was at the jam. I was like Timmy, you're going to have to follow me with the camera. Wait what? I'm not ready. Yeah, that's awesome Something. I want to bring up, something that I've seen. If you're in a bar and you're lucky enough to play any club bar, don't be drunken assholes.
Speaker 4:I'm glad you said that. Please don't. I want you guys to enjoy yourself and have a fun night. Oh God, I'm glad you said that. Please don't. I want you guys to enjoy yourself and have a fun night too, but if you get drunk, you won't be back.
Speaker 2:It's not good. I mean, the audience sees it, the staff sees it. Sometimes your band members who are not as drunk see it. Don't do it.
Speaker 1:Just don't do it. It's like I said you're always promoting yourselves 100. When you're there, you're promoting yourself.
Speaker 4:Everybody says you want to come back. Here's the deal. Everybody thinks well, I do some drugs and I drink, I sound better. I go. I'm here to tell you no, you don't absolutely not. You're like missing chords. It's so easy to believe you do. I have a question in the audience who knows the words to this song?
Speaker 2:Because I don't.
Speaker 3:To Tim's point is another thing that's kind of very much a turn off for you is if a band cancels.
Speaker 2:Jake just said because it's on the microphone, jake. Jake just said that when a band cancels, what's your point?
Speaker 4:Well, I didn't have any of them until COVID People seem to get COVID a lot lately when they're tired.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's Everybody uses that excuse. I got COVID Can't do it. It's difficult on all sides.
Speaker 2:If you're a legitimate cancel for a legitimate reason, it's understandable.
Speaker 4:Yes, Life happens, but you know what you find out right. Then you find out how good their agent is. Right, because their agent is on their butt off to get somebody to replace them for you. And if they don't, yeah, that's because the agent wants to get paid yeah. Right.
Speaker 1:That's a good point.
Speaker 4:Guess, I didn't think about it that way.
Speaker 1:And I mean, yeah, but if you don't have an agent and you're falling out, hopefully you know other bands that are good that could replace you. You don't want to give them somebody that's going to embarrass you, right?
Speaker 2:But yeah, having been through this Commitment On both, sides now, true, we talk about this all the time actually.
Speaker 1:No, in like 2008, I started getting strep throat and it never went away and eventually I had to have my tonsils out.
Speaker 4:Then you got the bullhorn too.
Speaker 1:Yeah, throughout this whole experience, there were times where it was like guys, I can't do this show, it hurts, you know.
Speaker 4:You can wreck your voice.
Speaker 1:So we had to contact some establishments and say, hey, you know, here's what it is. The singer's got strep. He can't sing.
Speaker 2:Life happens sometimes and it's truly legit Right, and there's truly especially a singer Right. The Metallica had a video album. They said I wouldn't ask you to do a drum roll if your arm fell off. Right right, it's the same thing, because James Hetfield was sick yeah.
Speaker 4:So yeah, because, uh, james hepfield was sick, yeah, so yeah, I mean, if you're, if you're legit sick, right, a lot of people have gotten their start from filling in for people, right?
Speaker 1:yeah, illness can suck, but we came up against some people. There was one guy in particular and said well, you're finished in this town, you cancel on me, you'll never play here again and I know every other booking agent, so I'm talking to them and we're like good luck. No, the guy was the owner I love booking agents.
Speaker 4:Book agents are really entertaining to me now I'm going to be too.
Speaker 4:I usually understand, never get them off the phone. It's like a 20-hour conversation, but you know it's. It's just the one last thing I'd like to say is that when I, when I, when I said you know, don't act like you're the next john lennon, I'm really serious. I mean, you know, be nice to people, be humble, because you know what humble is endearing to people, and if you're talented, you're humble. And I'm gonna leave you with this one little story. I was down in nashville and my poor wife, I dragged her to one more show at one in the morning. I thought she was going to kill me 20 years.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I was walking down the street and I heard somebody playing Purple Haze. I'm like holy shit, is that good? So I go, jane, one minute. She's like you know. So I go, jane, one minute. She's like you know. So I walked in there and I'm standing there and this young kid playing by himself is just killing it. And Jane was sweet as she was. Let me stay and talk to him because I'm going to bring him up here. And I went and saw him play four shows that week and finally the last night I'm there. He was so humble and so kind and I go. You are just way too talented for 19 years old. I go. You got to have a music background. He goes well. Yeah, I go well. Did your dad play? And he goes well? Yeah, and I go well. Maybe I know what he played. Was he in a band?
Speaker 4:He's like well you want to say you know, he goes come on I go. I'm not going to judge you. I was a bass player for Bon Jovi, oh well man. But he didn't want to live on his dad's laurels and I had.
Speaker 2:Gift cards Right now that could name Bon Jovi's bass player.
Speaker 1:Alex Johnson.
Speaker 2:Not you. He gave the name away.
Speaker 4:No gift card. You guys are great. Thank you so much for everything, everybody go over to Paul Barber. Thank you all for coming, and Johnny and Timmy, thank you for everything you do for the local community. Thank you, paul, for having us.
Speaker 2:Everybody. We are the Sage on Hitch. We are actually going to take about a 10-minute break and we will be right back with Toonie and we will continue the discussion on booking Right on.
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