Fast & Simple Facebook Starter for More Band Bookings

If you only ever do one thing to use Facebook for band bookings here it is

Don't be put off by the reference to "Jazz", this works for any musician or band.

If you're really interested in putting the power of facebook to work as far as band booking are concerned try these as well:

Facebook for Bands 

Using Facebook for more Fans at your Band Booking 

Successful Band Booking by Bringing and KEEPING the Crowd

Trying to catch up with things on Sunday  I read a  band booking post which amongst it's "Top 10 Tips" talked about bringing and keeping a crowd. 

I didn't agree with everything in the post (see bottom of this piece), but those two points about the crowd got me thinking.

Certainly any band or solo artist who wants to keep the gig(ie, get asked back), should ideally be trying to take some people with them. Although not necessarily literally in the same transport as the band of course.... 

If you can't do this, how are you ever going to build a following or make a full (or part)-time living out of  your music?

You don't need to take hundreds of people. Just a handful can often be enough to swell the coffers of small venues. 

It all comes down to working on the promotion of each band booking you play. 

Letting people know you're playing somewhere and giving them reasons to turn up. 

Here's one online way:

Getting more fans to your band booking

There's more to a successful gigging act than this though. Taking your own people to a gig generally gets more difficult the further away from home you gig. 

That's where you need to know how to RETAIN the people who are already in the venue. The venue's regular gig-goers. 

When it's been a particularly successful gig at the Hard Rock for example, the venue will often refer to the fact that we kept the crowd there (and so the bar busy),- rather than brought people with us...

Achieving this boils down partly to your music of course, but overall it's all about the kind of night you give the crowd. 

Isn't having a good time what going out for the night is all about?

A lot of bands find that getting a gig crowd to talk about you and the gig you've just played for days after is usually more than the music alone. Any thoughts?

 Audience interaction at the band booking

So anyhow, here's the post I was reading over the weekend

Talking between songs? Does your Gig Crowd care?

"Every band booking is only about the music" 


or.....

"Your gig crowd expects and wants some chat in between songs"



Which camp do you and your gigs fall into?

I've played 100's of gigs and worked with too many semi pro and amateur bands not to have a firm opinion on this. 

Give me two bands of the same ability, equipment and genre, pair them with the same crowd and watch what happens.

The band with even just a tiny amount of audience interaction (when it's done in the right way) will win hands down over the "music only" act every time. 

You don't have to recite passages from War and Peace in between every song but you do need to show them you're human and not "up yourself".

Here's a neat post where other musicians discuss talking between songs with their gig crowds. The site itself is one of the best for all kinds of discussions and help for musicians. Worth bookmarking I reckon..

More audience interaction tips

Gig-Getter Band Booking Tips in Play Music Magazine

The first in a series of three Gig-Getter band booking features is in the latest edition of Play music Magazine. 

If you pick up a copy (free) at your local music store you can check-out tips about how to get that band booking. 

The next issues starts to look at the performance itself, starting with overcoming any nerves you might have and making sure you get every crowd going - whenever you play live

Here's a sneak preview of the band booking tips

You can check the Play music website (including the full digital edition of the latest magazine) here

7 Sound Band Booking Tips

Could any musician argue with the 7 tips on the post at the bottom of the page about how to secure band bookings?

The only one I've never personally tried is the 6th tip - namely  Open Mic nights. 

That said, a number of singers and other musicians I've worked with used Open Mic nights to get their confidence in front of an audience up before even thinking about playing a band booking. 

You just need to make sure you don't get stuck in the rut of playing Open Mic nights and not "graduate" into playing for real.

As the writer of the 7 Tips post says, getting band bookings does take a little work. At first, at least. the key is consistency and knowing that contacting venues is a numbers game.

Some of the other tips are:

- Make sure you have a demo ready for when you get a venue interested.

Of course. Check out this for more advice re band booking & demos

- "Buddy up" with another band (Gig-swapping)

- Take "any" kind of work at first.

Not necessarily, and certainly there's no need to EVER play for nothing)

- Let people know when you do have a gig coming up.

Certainly if you want people to get a gig crowd)Or here's more ideas to get a crowd to your band booking

- Recruit someone to act as a manager or sole Gig-Getter.

Unless he's bringing something extra special to the party, a band manager if you're part time or just starting out can be a very expensive luxury.

Howverem you do need to establish who in the band is ultimately responsible for organising gigs if not actually pitching for all the band bookings.

Here's the 7 Tips Post

More Band Booking Tips

Do You Interact with Your Band Booking Audience?

Some ideas to get your crowd going in this post below from Harmony central this week.

You can't beat getting your audience involved in the show, whether it's having them up on stage or you getting into the crowd.

Suggestions about inviting someone to play tambourine or other percussion, dance onstage and even do some backing vocals can all work well for you.  

Personally I can't wait to try the "Hoola hoop" recommendation from the Harmony Central post below...

Harmony Central Post

More Audience Interaction Tips

Got all the Band Booking Venues You Need?

If you're struggling for ideas about where you could play next, check out the latest post over at band booking hub

There are some good tips to point you in the right direction. 

The key is to build up a large number of "Target venues" to aim at.

The larger the number of venues you're pitching - the greater your odds in favour of you filling your gig diary. 

 Also, if you have plenty to go at, you'll feel far less pressure/stress when you contact any of them if they're "just another name on my list".

 Contrast that with only having a couple of places to aim at. You'll need to score them both or it'll be the TV again at the weekend....

Get Ready to Rouse the Crowd at your Band Booking

Getting the band booking is one thing as is going down well when you play. 

What happens though if your confidence doesn't match your desire to book and play the gig?

  

I found someone writing about how to overcome pre-gig nerves here:

Gig Nerves

Nervousness does happen to the best of us and will get in the way of performing to your full capability when it strikes. Here's some more help:

Develop Confidence in front of gig crowds

Who Cares about Your Band Booking?

Holiday reading over the last few weeks reminded about one crucial reason to do your own band booking. 

Why I and many others do it rather than hand over the band booking to a 3rd party (like an agent).

 The writers of the DIY Music Manual  I was reading, were talking about all aspects of being an Independent artist (i.e. one not signed to a label). 

They posed the question about who cares as much about your music as you do yourself?

The point here is that no A&R man, no band manager or agent is likely to hold your interests (and your interests alone), as close to their heart as you do.

That being the case, whether you want a career in music or you're a weekend warrior, should you rely on someone else working with other priorities (and artists)  - to put your band first? 

The facts is, if you know how to get the band booking, put on a good show and build your fan base  - you don't need to surrender a % of your income to a 3rd party do you?

Band Booking versus band agents

Can Band Booking & Band Promotion really be this simple?

When your head's a little muddy after the weekend it's nice to read of an approach to band booking and band promotion that isn't complicated.

I came across a very simple little post which reduced the "art" of band promotion (without band management) to 2 key actions.

1.Get Your Music in Front of People

No point sitting in the bedroom waiting to be discovered. You need to get started initially looking for local events where your band can play.   Do whatever you need to do to get people to know your name. This means band bookings and lots of them.  You need to make sure you hand out flyers with your contact details (website, Facebook,Myspace,Twitter page, Youtube etc). 

On these flyers you might want to state your availability for private functions and you can even offer a discount (with limited time period) for anyone mentioning the flyer and where they got it  - when they contact you to book your band.

 2. Create and Interact with your fans online   

Start with your friends and be you can be pretty sure that their friends will over time notice and  start adding you.   This can  work wonders for gig crowd numbers if you manage it in the right way. Commit to working on building your fanbase on it every day.  If you goals are loftier than than plenty of band bookings, once you go international with your fanbase members it can only help you secure band management or a deal too.

Check these other online music marketing tips

Band Booking when venues are closing down

We've all seen the ongoing headlines about headlines about bars closing every day because of  the economic downturn. Some of these are obviously live music venues. So, the market for where you can play a band booking is likely to be shrinking isn't it?

Quite possibly. But it's not all doom and gloom. 

Keep in mind the following:


 

1. Effective Band Promotion is more important now than ever beforeIt's becoming increasingly vital to know more about band promotion than your competition. Mastering this will make sure can stand out from the herd fighting for band bookings in those remaining venues which are open.

2. There are still plenty of band booking venues.You'll hear it argued that in "recession", venues will cut back on having live music or at least reduce gig nights. A few will for sure. In reality  though, these will be the places that never had a crowd there in the first place.

To avoid becoming a "casualty" and closing down too, successful bars and pubs will more need a "Draw". Something to get people out from in front of the TV or Wii and into their venue. Without their point of difference (ie having live music on versus the bar down the road which doesn't) they will be MORE likely to fail not less.

3. Getting asked back for another band booking is simple and essentialReduced numbers of  gig venues means you need to make sure you're getting repeat band bookings from as many places you play as possible. The keys are to ask for the next booking on gig night itself and ideally get more than just one further booking at a time.

4. If you can Succeed when times are tough you'll clean up when they're not
This is a key point I advise all my business clients on. When times are tough you need to improve every aspect of your business to stay profitable. From a band situation this means you look at everything from how much you pay for your guitar strings through to the quality of your band booking performance (see point 4 below). Make  improvements everywhere you can.
 

Once you're set up to  prosper when times are tough your band booking success will be easy when the economy picks up again.

5. You need to Stand Out at every band bookingIt's never has it been more important to give each audience (and venue) a night to remember. This doesn't always  mean playing naked or setting  your drummer on fire when you play.Just think about how you can work some "events" and audience interaction into your shows. Aim for a "stand-out"  moment or two that people will remember and tell others about when they wake with a hangover the next morning.

 

And You thought Band Booking could be tough in your home town?

 Ever had one of those days when it just seemed tooo difficult to get a decent band booking?

How about regularly having to cancel gigs due to security threats?

Take a look at this and you might think again

Why you can't get a Band Booking

Band Booking trouble? You're not alone.

The just-published Gig-getter survey of  original and cover bands and musicians across 15 countries  gave the four most common  band booking problems as:

1."Knowing the right contacts"

I have to say, this one's always seemed a bit of a cop-out to me. Finding out who to talk to to pitch and develop your band is only ever a matter of a little research. To then make it work you just need the right words in the right order and commitment to applying yourselves

2. "Getting into NEW venues"

Finding "new" venues (i.e. ones you haven't yet played), should be an ongoing process. Everyone in the band keeps their eyes and ears open. Keep adding to your list of potential venues you can pitch. Oh, and if you make sure you're getting asked back everywhere you play you'll actually need less "new" venues over time anyhow..

3. "Finding suitable venues for our genre of music"

See points 1 and 2 above. A little research (boring though it may seem) , can go a long way

4. "Finding venues that pay - well"
This is where you have to give the venue Reasons why you're worth what you're trying to charge. It comes back to:

- Establishing your USP over other bands pitching for the same venue

- Building a fan base and so crowd numbers for the venue

- Being able to put on a live show people will remember and talk about (and which in turn helps further develop your fan base)

Band Booking: What Makes A Great Gig?

Sometimes we can all forget the basics of what a band booking should be. What makes a great gig.

Namely, something which:

1. Lives in the memory of the crowd (so you build your fan base with each performance)

2. Leads to more band bookings

Further down the page is a post which has some reminders of points to keep in mind and which help with both of those aims above.

To me, the most important are:

* Know your audience: Don't turn up at a rock venue to play 2 sets of country music unless you want to be heckled, play to an empty room or never be asked back by a venue. This all comes down to some basic, inexpensive venue research in the first place.

* Give 110%: - The difference between strumming through a couple of sets on stage or really rousing a crowd.

* Accessorize: Little extras can make a big difference. Whether these are lights, clothes, unusual or over-the-top onstage behaviour or the way you involve your audience. Keep in mind the 2 goals above...

Here's the post

Band Booking Disaster?

If you had a less than successful weekend as far as gigs go -

you might enjoy putting things into perspective with this:

50 Shocking Live Shows

Kind of makes you think again about calling the odd snapped string and unenthusiastic audience a "disaster" doesn't it?

Turn any unenthusiastic crowd around

Band Websites and Online Band Booking

I was talking to a music teacher come weekend warrior this week who is doing OK for himself as far as band bookings are concerned. He was though, embarrassed to admit his new band didn't even yet have a band website.

If you're pro-active enough off-line and get asked back often enough you can actually get away without an online presence. 

I wouldn't recommend it though. A simple, reasonably optimised band website can get you plenty of passive band bookings - especially in the corporate or private party sector (if that's of interest). 

It should also be more cost effective and less time-consuming than mailing or hand delivering demo CD.

So, here's a post and answers from someone asking how to get started with a band website.

Bandzoogle and wordpress are good suggestions or you can also try a hosting company like Hostgator who have hundreds of  website templates to chose from. 

Band Websites which never bring in a Band Booking

Importance of Band Bookings for Unsigned Acts

Three simple but effective band promotion tips in the post below to remember if you're trying to get your band signed.

The key for me is the point about how you'll be far more attractive to the labels with a good following. 

Obviously the main way to build that following is through exposure playing plenty of  successful gigs together with online music marketing via a good online presence.

Check out the reminder about not putting too much pressure on yourselves to get that deal too in the writer's first point below

Unsigned Advice 

Facebook for Bands (and other Online Music Marketing)

Whatever you think of some of the darker aspects of Facebook and privacy, there's no doubting the benefits of using it for band promotion. 

Not least of all in terms of getting more people to your band bookings. It can be a great tool for getting the message out and interacting with the people who come to your gigs.Letting them know when you're playing, talking with afterwards etc.

No wonder really. Check out some of the numbers on this post  which also gives a reasonable overview of other avenues open for band promotion via online music marketing. Many of these you'll be able to use to not just boost audience numbers at your gigs but in getting the band booking in the first place as well. 

Playing gigs is arguably the number 1 method of band promotion, but any band without a reasonable online presence working alongside this is likely to be missing out in terms of numbers of approaches from venues for band bookings and also crowds pulled per gig....

Band Booking

Band Websites which never bring in a Band Booking?

Band websites were always meant to help bring in the odd band booking or two and communicate with your fans - even if you're just a weekend warrior.

If your band website isn't helping you this info may be of interest. 

These guys supply band websites which offer:

- Customisable merchandising store  for selling CDs T-Shirts etc  which  is "easily" configurable to Paypal

- Music Player so you can include demos (essential for help landing the band bookings)

- Automatic synchronisation with your bands' Facebook, Twitter and Myspace accounts so you don't have to be signing in and out whenever there are updates for your fans

- Free first month trial

Pretty neat

Facebook for Bands - Getting More Fans to your Band Booking

On the subject of Online Music Marketing (see last post), here's some useful ideas about getting more fans to your band booking. Specifically on the topic of Facebook for bands.

High audience numbers will often do more for you in terms of band promotion and getting asked back by the venue than playing well will. Especially if you know how to get the crowd going for it when you play.

Below are some useful tips around Facebook for bands and gig crowd numbers. Couple of things which struck me were:

1. Don't call the band booking an "Event", it's a "Party". 

Big difference in the mind of the potential punter - and so the likelihood of them coming along

2. Get your long term fans to invite ALL their Facebook friends and show them HOW to do it

Not least of all that they should be inviting their friends to a "Party" not an "event" - as per point 1. above

3. If you're charging for tickets, increase this and include a "Free" CD in the cover price

CDs can be great band promotion tools for you - and doing this means everyone leaves the show with an advert for you.  Even if there's no charge for tickets you could offer free (or discounted?) CDs at the show - if you don't want/can't easily sell them.

Here's the post in question

Band Booking - Playing "Support" to a major act (and other online music marketing tips)

Found some neat band promotion ideas from a guy who went from obscurity to supporting people like the Foo Fighters, Chilli Peppers and Metallica.

There's loads of useful stuff on his website but if you're interested in online music marketing Hagop has some good starters.

One key pointer is the suggestion that any new band target the fans/audience of bigger bands of a similar genre. These can be huge signed acts or those with just a slightly bigger following to yours at the moment.

He talks about the need to find where fans of these other bands congregate to talk about the music they love.Whether that be Facebook or Twitter etc. This was you can aim to "divert" some of the attention they're getting - in your direction.

I especially liked his idea about posting your own performances as "Video responses" to large acts videos on youtube.  The writer (Hagop Tchaparian), likens this to playing a band booking outside the venue where a larger act is gigging. 

Nice. 

Here's his website

Band Booking - How to Compete with Band Agents

If you're coming up against the Band Agents objection when you're trying to get a band booking at certain venues - this might interest you.

Here's a brand new post just published on the Band Promotion Tips page at the Gig-Getter site under

How to compete with Band agents

Band Booking - How to Make Hard Work of it

We all know there can be benefits to hanging around in bars. 

There are though, far more efficient ways to get a band booking than the recommendation one writer made this week. 

He suggested going to the venue(s) you want the band booking in and said:

"If you tip well, the bartenders will remember you and by your third or fourth visit you may even be able to get them to hand your press pack to the person that books shows at the venue."

That might be fine for the odd local venue that you're going to anyway. How many venues though can you reasonably get around in a week? How much would this cost you in time and transport - not to mention beer?

Personally, I've always found it far easier to pick up the phone and spend half an hour ringing round a few venues. With the right questions you can pitch around 10 venues in less time that it takes to get served in most bars.

Visiting the venues for anything other than having a good time (or watching other bands sometimes) sounds like making hard work of gig-getting to me.

Here's an outline I use when making calls if you're stuck for something to say on the phone to get a band booking

Band Booking - Getting a Crowd to Your Gigs

"If you don't promote your shows no-one will come to them. If no-one comes to them you won't get a second shot"


So says the poster of this tip-packed piece about getting a crowd to your band booking.


Put another way, it's one thing to get gigs, quite another to get people into the venue for the band booking itself.


Some of the specific tips you might like are:


 * Space out your plays
Don't play any town too often. You want people to think a gig by you in any town is something special - not something they can see every week.

* Don't list all your future gigs on your website - just the next one
You don't want people picking and choosing which gigs they'll go to. The idea is to "get every fan to come and see you every time you play"

* You're not playing a band booking because you make good music - you're playing so you draw fans and so sell beer (a sobering thought eh?)
This is actually a great leveller. I've long said the band booking doesn't go to the best musicians. Rather those who know how to book the gig, get the people into the venue and then give them a great time

Here's a link to the post

Band Bookings & Stage presence

 I just found this cool site  which seems aimed perfectly at semi pro bands and solo artists like you and I.

The blog positions itself as:

"Articles about making it in the music business. These articles are not aimed at the bands who are already signed to major labels, they are aimed at the hard working local and regional bands who plug away each weekend and are trying to make a living" 

The page on the link below has some good stuff about the importance of dressing for Stage presence (once you've "mastered the music") and getting the gigs in the first place. Will be a useful blog to keep an eye on I suspect. Interesting to hear what anyone else thinks.

MusicBiz 

Band Bookings and the need for whole band agreement

I've just had an email from an incredibly frustrated drummer who's had to cancel a gig he'd only just booked for his band.

Jamie complained to me that he'd made a number of calls to potential new venues for his indie band which had recently re-formed and was trying to start gigging again.

One called him back to offer a date which another band had cancelled on. Jamie agreed a good fee and then alerted the other band members to let them know.

The only missing  ingredient here is the fact that the band themselves hadn't "signed up" to what dates they were and were not available on. The result was the singer being away at a family function on the date in question and the gig "that never was" needing to be cancelled.

It will be that much harder now for Jamie to go back and approach that venue with the band's professionalism and credibility somewhat shredded.

We've all done it for sure, but it really doesn't take much in terms of organising to share a calendar  so that gigs cannot be booked when any one's not able to play.

One final thought for those gruesome occasions when you may have to cancel a gig for whatever reason. If you've done a spot of networking with other bands you may be able to offer a "substitute" to the venue for the night you bail on. This can often soften the blow and keep your relationship with the venue as positive. 

So, you might want to network a little with a good band who aren't gigging as frequently as you ( and so are likely to be available if you ever have to cancel) - as well as a busy band or two who may be able to push gigs your way from time to time for a similar reason....

You can learn about stage presence from any musicians

Shouldn't we all be open to picking up tips about how to get gigs or improve our stage musicians from other musicians of all genres?

I spotted the post below where Flamenco guitarists were discussing the importance of Stage Presence.

As someone who believes that playing the music when you gig is only part of the show - there were some good points made.

1. Ask yourself what sort of atmosphere you want to create for the audience...Serious? Fun? 

In many ways this one goes right to the core of the image or identity you want to create for your act and so is well worth giving some consideration to

2. Think of people you enjoy listening to and watching speak or perform and those you don't - and ask yourself why.

An interesting exercise to try out really. See of you can identify why some people annoy the hell out of you as soon as they open their mouths and why you enjoy listening to and being around certain other people.

3. "Stage presence is mostly about being confident and looking as if you are enjoying yourself"

'Nuff said and I couldn't agree more

and if nerves are a problem for you when you're trying to develop and display stage presence:

4. "Start you gig with something simple...something you have played for years and can pull off every time"

Here's the post in full

and more Stage presence info

Band Bookings - How to Get started

Probably like you, I've read loads of posts and articles online about how to get gigs. Most are just are OK, others state the blindingly obvious and are - clearly written by people who gave up playing gigs years ago.

Once in while though we all come across something which offers an approach most of us would never naturally think of.


Here's one such idea written by a band manager in L.A. In it the writer talks about how to get started gigging by hosting your own "party".

Yes, we've heard this idea before - but most of us won't have considered  the professional approach  she suggests. I can really see this working for a lot of bands.

If you're still trying to get yourself established (or you haven't even started) have a read through this tell me you don't feel inspired....

BAND BOOKINGS - GET STARTED

"Can't build a live career without an agent"?

There was a piece in the Guardian here in the UK recently called "Rock n Roll jobs explained".

It talks about the various types of people involved in getting and keeping a live pro act on the road. IN it, Geoff Meall of the Agency Group who represent Muse (amongst others) says:

"You can't build a live career without an agent. You won't get any doors opened"

Obviously it's in Geoff's interest to say this - opening doors to gigs for bands is his business. He is of course right though for pro acts, none of whom will have the time (or probably inclination) to get involved in booking gigs.

Agents can take-over the band bookings hassle for us semi-pro acts as well of course - providing we don't mind surrendering control and of course a % of our income. Bookings though are far from impossible to get for yourself and doors will in fact open for any semi-pro act which commits itself to getting it's own gigs.

Also from the Guardian post - if you're concerned about the number of people you're currently attracting to your gigs, the knowledge that the mighty Oasis pulled 12 punters for the first promoter who got involved with them is enough to give anyone hope for building their own fan base....

How to Get Your own gigs

Look outside your Musical Genre to Develop Stage Presence

“If you want to be a headliner, you better put on a headline show.” - Jay Z

How interesting (and reassuring) to read about this enormously successful artist struggling with his live show in the early days. I've often thought musicians should be able to adapt ideas they can learn from other kinds of performers and use the best of them in their own shows. Rouse the Crowd for example, contains certain crowd-pleasing ideas inspired by a successful magician  but which work brilliantly to ignite any band's gig audience.

If you'd sooner not stray too far away from music for your inspiration, here's Jay Z again talking about how he looks to broaden the spectrum, soak in what he can from artists from all genres of music and use that for his own shows:

“In hip-hop, there's not many great performers.  I look outside the genre, measuring myself against others. I look at Madonna's production and envy that.  Daft Punk's set, I'm like, what the… And I look at the way U2 can command an audience.  Bono's a performer pretty much like I am. He's not a dancer; he's not jumping around.  He's having a conversation.  He's using his stillness as movement.

How to Get Gigs as an Indie Band

Getting cover band gigs is one thing but as an indie band with your own material getting started playing live can be tough.

Here are 6 tips you might want to think about which mainly revolve around getting together with other musicians. I wouldn't recommend the 6th suggestion about trying  to persuade non-live nusic venues to hire you as that can be a tough sell. 

The other suggestions though are all worth including in your toolbox for getting gigs and will work alongside directly approaching the existing live music venues you target.

How to Get Gigs

Rouse the Crowd - Amazon out of Stock

If you're one of the people trying to track down a copy of the new paperback version of Rouse the Crowd here's a link to buy direct from the author as Amazon are now out of  stock until some time next week

One Special Reason to be Thankful you Get Gigs

Someone asked me to write a piece called "10 Reasons to love gigging" and I'm working on it now. But yesterday's death of Malcom Mclaren gave me another reason I hadn't thought of until I heard the news.

There's a lot of us who were teenagers in the mid/late 1970's and who were hugely influenced by Maclaren bringing to us the Sex Pistols. Most of those people may stop for a moment and think of where they were when they first heard about the Pistols. Me, I was a paprerboy delivering the papers which had the Bill Grundy furore on their covers. 

Over the weekend there'll be some of us who will doubtless quietly toast what Mcalren did for music and the impact this had on us growing up. Those of us who are gigging though are lucky enough to have another option.

For me it's something special that tomorrow night we can dedicate an encore of Anarchy in the UK in MM's memory. Oh, an in case you're wondering what all the fuss was about, check out what Alan McGee (who discovered Oasis) has to say about the guy the NME once called TalcyMalcy