From Bandmates Gone Rogue to Maximizing Gigs: Keep Fans Engaged

Gig Gab - The Working Musician's Podcast

In this week’s Gig Gab, Mike Schulte joins Dave Hamilton to dive into the world of being more than just your gigs. They highlight how using holidays, creating a video show, and grabbing content ideas from social media can elevate your band’s presence in between gigs. Whether it’s on stage or online, the focus is on building lasting engagement—always keep moving, always keep performing. You’ll learn why Facebook events might not be enough and how to strategically create blocks of songs in your sets to avoid giving your audience a chance to disengage.

From dealing with bandmates’ unpredictable behavior to handling gear endorsements, this episode covers the ups and downs of band life. Find out how treating your band like a business opens doors for custom gear and endorsements, even if you’re not a huge name. Mike and Dave drop nuggets on vocal effects pedals, drum mics, and how your behavior can make or break your chances of landing future gigs. Stay sharp and remember, Always Be Performing!

• 00:00:00 Gig Gab 446 – Monday, September 9th, 2024
  • September 9th: National When Pigs Fly Day
  • Guest Co-host: Mike Schulte
• 00:01:45 Be more than just your gigs
  • Use Dates and Holidays as Content
  • Create a holiday for your band
  • Create a video show
  • What’s the point of Facebook events?
  • Capture screenshots of other people’s content to use as ideas for content later
  • Pork Tornadoes Facebook Page
• 00:09:12 Be More Than Just a Band
  • Casual Gravity Facebook Page
  • Casual Gravity – Casual Chronicles on YouTube
• 00:10:53 Dave’s First Gigs with Casual Gravity
  • Moving Quickly from song-to-song vs. Telling Jokes on Stage
  • Finding the on-stage balance
  • Don’t give people too many chances to disengage
  • Build Blocks of Songs where you don’t stop playing
• 00:21:44 Getting the right people in place
  • Finding the right balance between perfection and joy
• 00:25:15 Band MEMBERS behaving badly
  • You can’t expect to get anywhere if someone in the band is going to fly off the handle
• 00:28:33 Band GUESTS behaving badly
• 00:32:12 Your behavior gets you a new gig…or kills the next gig!
  • Watching Robert Scovill do his thing
  • Hotshot pedal
• 00:41:19 Using a vocal effects pedal
  • TC-Helicon VOICELIVE vocal effects units
  • Using a synced tap-tempo to the click running the show
• 00:48:57 More love for the Earthworks DK6 Drum Mic Pack
  • KickPort
  • Shure Beta 91A
  • Eames Drum
  • May Internal Microphones for Drums
• 00:54:09 Mike’s new Custom snare drum
  • Hero Drumworks
  • Find small manufacturers who will make you custom instruments at affordable prices
• 01:01:00 BFSD…or not!
• 01:02:01 You are big enough to get gear endorsements
  • Collision Drumsticks
  • Soultone Cymbals
  • Cappella Drumsticks (is no longer)
  • Vic Firth DoubleGlaze 5B
• 01:06:56 Gigs and Babies and Whew!
  • Treating your band like a business
• 01:11:37 Gig Gab 446 Outtro
  • Contact Mike Schulte
  • Confused Breakfast
  • The Pork Tornadoes
• Contact Gig Gab!
  • @GigGabPodcast on Instagram
  • [e-mail]
  • Sign Up for the Gig Gab Mailing List

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