Do indie bands need managers/stage screws etc?

[DoubleBlade]

Just a little observation of mine which I feel is something of an eye opener for me engaging myself in the indie local music scene.

Have we come across bands in gigs where they have managers , marketing executives , stage crews , emergency guitar restringer , an "official fanclub" , very own soundman and so and so forth. But when you listen to their music , you find nothing fantastic about it. In fact it just sounds like any other indie band playing that particular genre of music.


To sum it all up in the nicest way possible , I feel that the band can make do without a manager/stage crew/very own soundman etc as their music ain't really at that standard for them to qualify to engage external parties to do part of their work. From the laymen point of view , we tend to have the impression that if a band has a manager , marketing excutive and stuff like that , the band ought to be famous and good but for a band an indie band which has no recording label under them , don't you think it's a little bit far fetched?

What are your opinions on it?

Do indie bands need managers and extras to do part of their work?

I think that indie bands can make do without managers and other kinds of extras because even for the most famous of indie bands (excluding Ronin and Electrico) , the bands themselves can handle the schedule arrangements because the other aspects are well taken care of by the organisers.

 

[Ichiro]

IMO... In singapore it is realli up to the individual band whether they wants a manager to help them in managing their shedule, or a soundman to help them out in live performance....

i hv seen bands with their own soundman..... they sounded great....

but ultimately it all depends on how the bands wants it and how the crews handle the bands

seriously there is no hard and fast rule to it.... it is always good to hv some ppl ard that u can work with.... however, if u hv it then live with it.... if not yr band music still goes on right??

 

[HeartRockSingapore]

Why do bands need manager? Some for the sake of it while others really cannot do without one.

One thing I always encourage is for the band to have one permanent person who knows how the band should sound. This gives consistency because ate different occassions, equipment can be different, sound engineers can be different and the acoustics can be different, but this one man should be competent enough to tell the sound guys exactly what the bands sounded all the time.

Engaging a manager is a business decision. What you make should be able to cover for the manager's salary at least and the presence of a manager should bring about an increase in income. Some managers are paid by per engagement basis, but such managers would not take up an engagement unless the fees is enough to cover his/her part of the deal putting the band into a disadvantage position.

Well, I have yet to see any local band whose reported income from gigs and album sales justifies a full time manager as yet.

 

[Elias]

I just need a roadie to help carry my pedal case, maybe an extra guitar or two, or lug my custom amp head to gigs :smt003 It'll ensure that I'll play better since it'll help conserve my energy, especially during those emo-jumps and all. Also, I'd sound better when I have an extra amp for my stereo delay output and flanger effects :supz: Better yet, he'll help me stomp on my pedals to change effects since he has learnt our songs by heart while I can go the edge of the stage to wink at the fangals. So you can see, additional crew do help indie bands on their way to stardom rayer: *LOL*

...oh, the screaming female fans makes a big difference to my playing too :lol:

 

[azlan]

i dun see anything wrong with having a crew..... up to them lah.... its their money anyway.... some of them know nuts about marketting their band, or setting the band etc... so what is wrong with engaging a sound engineer or a marketting person to help....

just dun action jackson and act big shot just because you have those people lah...

 

[jbarks]

I don't see anything wrong with having a band manager and sound tech; more often than not these people know the band on a personal level (especially with the local indie scene). I'm assuming that you're new to the indie scene here from your first statement, but I think you may be looking at a genre you're not really into as yet, and you're probably comparing our local indie music with whatever you have from the UK or what-have-you.

Then again, I'm a bass tech and FOH crew, so I'm probably biased

 

[litford]

haha.. do they need? well, its really up to them, and whether they sound good or not its up to them as well. i mean, as a gig goer i'm not going to bother whether they're "ripping me off" by looking pro but sounding amateur.. it would a pretty non-justifiable judgement on my part. -)

 

[AgingYouth]

Doubleblade, welcome to the music business where it's hardly about the music anyway...

Managers help to coordinate schedules. That's true. That's the only part of the job. They go in and negotiate booking fees, ensure that the correct technical support (i.e. backline, PA, lighting, etc. But of course, if there's a dedicated sound engineer, that's his pasah lah.) is provided and the artistes' requests (for alcohol, water, food, etc.) are met. The manager is sometimes like the maid, making sure everyone turn up on time and carry luggages.

I've dealt with managers who are pricks before. There are immensely hard working ones (aka Bamboo's. He's like a manager, roadie and maid rolled into one...) and there are several who look goddamn HOTT but don't know jackshit at all. About the music and about how a rock band should function on stage.

Is there a need for a manager? Why not? If the said person can do more things than what you/ the band can, go for it. How much you wanna pay the guy is up to you.

 

[madmonkeykungfu]

There are so many things for a band to do other than performing their music and writing songs, like getting gigs, coordinating with organisers or sponsors, scheduling, recording, equipment (eg PA) rental if needed, etc...

having someone else to handle these misc. and sharing the workload makes it easier for the bands to concentrate on doing what they really ought to do in the first place (music), instead of worrying about the misc. stuff.

if the band has the money, why not. If the band has no money, they have to do it themselves.

So the conclusion is, every band/artiste needs a manager,etc..., its just a matter of who does the managing job (the band or someone else).

 

[emg-rocks]

i could do wif a roadie to help me carry my stuff man. haha

 

[theblueark]

Usually I see girlfriends/boyfriends are usually the free manager-roadie-groupie-soundman-cameraman

 

[litford]

i just want a circus monkey that smacks its cymbals together.

 

[fenderrules]

it depends. the band may choose to have or not have a manager, roadies, crew, etc etc etc....depending on their sitch...like i wanna have crew carry my amp or my drummer's bass drum bla bla bla that kinda thing..

hmmm how about local bands like electrico?? do they have their own personal cre or something?? just curious..