Monday 25 July 2016

Scott Patterson | GORDON: A force to be reckoned with GORDON debuts LIVE in West Virginia for Flood Relief



by CA Marshall

There’s a golden nugget waiting to be discovered in our Music Industry and it comes by the name of GORDON. I speak pretty strongly here when I make this claim so let me back up the bus a little and catch you all up to speed on what’s about to literally explode onto the music scene......

Since early June, 2016 when Los Angeles, California-based world renowned actor Scott Patterson tweeted out ‘The band prepping first two gigs! More info to come! #rockandroll #LAdebut #lovethemusic #RideTheBull’. As Editor of an established Music and Entertainment Website and online Magazine (Starlight Music Chronicles), my antennae immediately went up – this needed to be researched more.....

We are always on the lookout for new music and are happy to promote Indie Artists so this definitely had me subscribing to his Twitter account and following his tweets. I wanted to know more, see more, hear more....Here and there and up until this very moment while I am typing this feature, I would see snippets of what was to come. ‘In the Studio Recording’ was one. Then there were some video clips of the band at rehearsals followed by the Band Logo revealed on July 9th which read simply “GORDON (With a backwards `R`)  and the initials ‘R B S P T I D’” attached to the message: “July 29 Tractor Bar, Mt. Nebo, WV! 9-11pm. Flood Benefit. Tx 304-872-8100. Let’s Rock!’ On July 12th, Patterson posted “VIP/Meet-Greet/photos/autographs at Tractor Bar Mt Nebo WV 7/29/16, 2-6pm GORDON onstage @9PM!!” All of this followed by a clip of the song ‘Beautiful’, a deep bluesy soulful taste of what really is to come.

I put in the request to speak to Patterson immediately so that we could feature GORDON on Starlight Music Chronicles (SMC). After hearing the ‘Beautiful’ clip, I knew instinctively this was something the world is going to appreciate very quickly being that the music is what avid music junkies are seeking right now: a blues-based sound with a rock and roll twist topped with a little bit of Punk Rock perfected with powerful vocals (Patterson’s) that will blow your mind!

The debut for GORDON is not just going to be your average live show; it’s also a benefit concert for the families in small communities of West Virginia who have been affected by recent flooding. This is not only a bold move for a debut live show (most Artists will usually only debut for an album release), but every twitter sneak peek leading up to this event proves that it’s also going to be a ‘knock their socks off’ performance. After interviewing Patterson, it is clear that GORDON is a force to be reckoned with, bringing to the table a history rich with Rock and Roll roots and nothing short of magic to the ears.

Here is our exclusive debut interview with Patterson on all the info you will want to know on GORDON:

GORDON LOGO

-INTERVIEW, July 22, 2016 | Editor CA Marshall with Scott Patterson-

SMC – Hi Scott, thank you for taking the time to do this interview! Obviously this is your debut (for GORDON), and you have chosen a Benefit concert to be a part of that debut. I am curious to know a little about that but first, can you give us a little bit of a synopsis of the band and how it came to be?

SGP – Well, I’ve been in bands since I was in third grade and all the way through high school....and then when I came out to LA to pursue acting I was doing music as well. I was probably pursuing music as hard as I was pursuing Acting. Things weren’t happening on the acting side in any consistent way so I had a lot of time to write music (he’s written 500 songs!), and to play out in LA at the Kibitz room every Monday, which is a pretty famous venue. They’d have an open jam for people and you’d come in and get up on stage and play a set if you wanted to. I was in with the regulars there for about five years doing this. Right when I was starting to book real gigs in 2000, obstacles were placed in my way, good obstacles, but the music was put on hold. Since 2000, it’s been really hectic, busy, and great. Then there was a little bit of a lull, but then in June of this year, I was talking to a friend of mine from back in New Jersey (Patterson was Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and raised in Haddonfield, New Jersey) and we were talking about putting the old band back together. He’s a drummer and I grew up with him on the same street. He’s actually still a drum teacher back there in Southern New Jersey. So we are talking about the possibility of us joining forces  and then he referred me to somebody in the town next over, and they knew somebody, so it kind of started like that...then there were people out here (LA) that they knew so I got in touch with those people and I had been auditioning people for a couple of years trying to find the right guys, the right egos, the right players to fit together....there’s a lot of great musicians out here but I couldn’t quite find the right mix of people. It would get started and then it would fizzle pretty quickly for whatever reason. It`s not easy putting a band together. So anyway, I found some guys who were not only virtuoso players on their instruments, absolute monsters on their instruments, they’re really good guys. They are really excited to play together for this opportunity to get gigs. Nobody’s getting gigs! It’s really hard to play out live and get paid even a little bit of money.  It’s a hard business, a really hard business.

I write all of the material and the litmus test was (for band member enrollment) was going to be: are they going to hang around for my songs? Are they going to see the potential in the songs and they did. We’ve now been rehearsing for about six weeks now and we’re really beginning to come together as a band. The songs are sounding great and I’m very excited. Everybody is pretty excited. It’s going to be a big powerful sound. So I’m eager to start playing out and having fun!

SMC – I have listened to some of the clips you have tweeted out and I am blown away: the sound is very reminiscent yet it’s fresh and I think it’s something the world needs right now. How do you feel the music that is being generated and produced by other musicians is at this point? We’re missing a lot of really good Rock and Roll music as in times gone by!

SGP – Well, right, but look, every generation has their music, every generation has Sinatra, and everybody has their particular flavor what they produce and what they like. What’s out now is just really a reflection of who these kids are today and what they like. I’m not going to judge it. It’s just my experience and our experience was different. I grew up listening to the big classic rock bands of the 70’s: The Who, Led Zeppelin, Steppenwolf, you name it; I’ve seen all these bands when I was growing up. I made sure that when anybody was coming to town I was there at the area. Those were the most fun times of my youth were going to those concerts and getting lost in the music. A lot of what I hear today, yes, it’s a lot different. In the past 20 or 30 years there has been some music that hasn’t, shall we say, been honest? It’s kind of manufactured purely for the purposes of making money and I don’t see really, the Artists themselves  writing the music, it’s been written for them...but look, at the end of the day, it’s a business. What I’m looking to do is...well, you know, I write my own songs, I’ve written 500 songs. I have all kinds of songs: I have some that are attempting to be complex, and then I went into this phase where I thought the biggest challenge in popular music is to find a hook and something simple that people can really groove to and enjoy. So that’s been the challenge of the last several years is trying to come up with a set list of 15 or 16 songs that people will remember and enjoy but still pay homage to the era that I come from with the music that I grew up loving and the music that is in my bones. I think that the kids of today are very well versed in classic rock. When I sit down with a guitar, I’m not listening to songs of today and trying to emulate that kind of writing, it’s not what I do. What I do is blues based because that’s what I love. I am really trying to have fun with the music and I want the audience to have fun with the music as well. I think people get together at a venue and they want to have fun; they want to dance and enjoy the music and they want to feel happy and forget their troubles especially in this age we live in you know? So there you go, that’s it in a nutshell.

SMC – I was going to ask you about whether or not you write your own songs and what is the inspiration behind it. Specifically the song ‘Beautiful’ which you had up on twitter.....

SGP – That’s the song that came out of.... (He pauses reflecting) well, I had a son, a baby boy, and I started looking at the world differently and was looking at my own life differently and everybody else differently. That event changed me in profound ways as it always does for everybody who has a child. I wanted to share this new found ability to love, I guess, for lack of a better phrase, with the world! I was really thrilled that I was no longer bashful about it, I could take the armor off, and I could stop fighting in a sense.....look, it doesn’t matter who you are when your behind a microphone, that’s powerful and you’re spreading a message and for this 3-5 minutes of the song, I thought ‘What is this message going to be to these people for a good five minutes - why can’t I tell the people in the audience that they’re beautiful?’ It’s like what George Harrison did in his career is try to be a better person and try to convey a better message of love and peace. I just figured the world could use a good five minutes of that from my band.

SMC – We actually support an organization called Morgan’s Mission which stands for anti-bullying. By you saying the world has become hardened, it’s so true so it’s nice to know you have a song that stands for that.

SGP – Yes, well you know look, there’s a lot of people out there that aren’t doing too well, they don’t feel too good about themselves, and if they’re not what ‘corporate America’ wants them to look like, they’re depressed, bullied, and told that they don’t look right and they’re shamed in all kinds of ways, a very small percentage of those people are going to take their own lives and they’re 14 years old and 12 years old, it’s just the most tragic thing.

It goes back to how I write music. How I write a song – I will play around with my guitar and if I hit a chord or a certain chord progression the right way an entire story comes at me fully formed and I have to write it down pretty quickly. There are wormholes for songwriters and if you fall into one, and get into the right progression, there are some nice lyrics and songs out there. I don’t write songs first and then match the instrument to the song, that’s not how I write music.  I’ve been messing around with a lot of different tunings lately and you can hit some crazy chords! One chord I hit...I just love the song that came out of it. Again, its rock, its blues, and again, I don’t want to become too complicated with the songs. It’s really just the feeling behind them and the player’s ability to play the songs. Less is more for me. If I hit a chord, there’s a story that draws it out of me.

SMC – How much are you able to say about the band (GORDON)? It’s your middle name, correct?

SGP – Yes, it’s my Mother’s maiden name and my middle name.

SMC – So tell us a little about the Flood Relief concert, that’s the event you have chosen to debut and I am curious, there could be anywhere in the world that you could debut, why West Virginia? I see you are big into the humanitarian side, so we would like to know a little bit about that.

SGP – This Gentleman in Richwood, West Virginia reached out to me via twitter. They were hit historically hard with flooding. Approx 24 people died in White Sulphur Springs, Richwood, and Rainelle, West Virginia and other areas. He had tweeted out to a bunch of big country music stars and other music stars and somehow he included me in his tweets. I just was so taken by that. I read about what happened and I’ve been keeping abreast of the situation. His phone number was on the tweet so I called him and asked how I can help.

SMC – I bet he was surprised! (laughs)

SGP – He was really happy because I called him within 10 minutes of getting the tweet and I don’t think he heard from anybody else at that point.

SMC – That’s awesome! Good for you!

SGP – There are many, many chapters to this story, but it ended up being two benefit concerts. The first one is Friday night, July 29th at The Tractor Barn in Mt. Nebo, WV. Then July 30th, there will be a free concert in Summersville, WV which is right up the road, I believe, from Mt. Nebo, its outdoors at the pavilion downtown. They’re going to shut down the streets and rope off an area close to the stage and charge $25 per person for VIP access and everybody else is free. I’m going to do a ‘Meet and Greet’ for fans Friday from 2-6 pm at the Tractor Bar and then Saturday 2-6 pm at Maloney’s Sports Pub in downtown Summersville. The Tractor Bar show starts at 9pm for GORDON and the opening act is called the Carpenter Ants and they’re good players and I believe they are WV boys too so it’s going to be a fun time. They go on at 7pm Friday at The Tractor Barn and 6pm Saturday in Summersville followed by us at 8pm. So that’s how it happened. The Mayor of Summersville has gotten involved and he’s been doing a lot of heavy lifting getting this all together. It’s been a lot of work, yeah sure, I’m pretty tired at this point but these things are worth doing and there are people who are really hurting. Life’s been good to me and I’ve been very fortunate and now it’s time to try and help some folks out. I just thought it was the perfect way to debut the band, and these are really good guys in the band and when I told them about it (flood relief concert) they all wanted to do it. That’s why I chose these guys, because they are just good-hearted guys on top of being fantastic players, they’re just good people. Why not make a couple of concerts and try to help people take their minds of their troubles for a couple hours a day?

SMC – I know you say you’ve been involved in music at such a young age, yet I feel your band is going to go in a very strong direction very quickly.

SGP – Why do you feel that way? I share your optimism because the songs are solid and the band is just fantastic. But why do you feel that way?

SMC – Well, there’s a couple reasons: Number one – My impression from your twitter newsfeed about GORDON is that you’re very happy and excited about what you’re doing. It’s an excitement behind it, it’s not an ‘okay....well, we’re going through the process.....following protocol, we’re going to release on such and such a date, etc’, it’s more like ‘Hey everybody! Come out and join the party!’ and it’s rather refreshing. Secondly, I think that, with the music I have heard, this is what the world is wanting right now. I think that it is very fresh and enjoyable. It’s exactly what I imagined and you confirmed it just by talking about it.

SGP – Well listen, I have not been this passionate about anything in my entire life. I have never felt so great and so determined in my entire life. I have done some things where I have tried to build careers in different areas and I kind of know what it takes: It takes talent, hard work, patience, and you need to be on an even keel because there are highs and lows. I have been through that through a couple different careers now. The one thing that excites me about this and the one thing that was obvious to do was to do a live experience where I could connect with other people....I just started craving it. I could not be myself continuing solely in a profession where I had no contact while doing my job with an audience, you know what I mean? So the options were: Live Theatre or this. Music has always been, for me, the number one choice had I been able to choose a career. I thought to myself, well when the heck am I going to do it? I have to do it now (he laughs), I’m not 20 anymore.
Another reason I am so passionate about it is....my son is just two years old and he hasn’t seen me build anything yet. I’ve built a couple of different careers and one I was very successful but didn’t reach the ultimate goal and the other career I almost got all the way to the top of the mountain and ended up making a really great living but he hasn’t seen me do it. I want him to see me build something; I want him to see me enjoying it and see me successful at it so that’s what’s driving me. He sings songs with me and plays the guitar with me.

SMC – Are you kidding?! That’s so cute!

SGP – Yeah, he comes into my media room where I write and I’ll give him a guitar pick and he’ll hit the strings and he’ll sing along. I want my son to see me pursuing my passion because that’s what I want him to do. So there’s a lot of energy behind it.  I have a friend of 30 years come by and she didn’t have any idea (and she is in the music business) I was so heavily involved, and she said, ‘You have a band?’ (laughs) So I said, “Come by to the rehearsal studio!” She did and we had the best time. We played the whole set for her.

SMC – That’s great!

SGP- Those clips you heard were done a couple of weeks ago when we were just starting out. Since, we have recorded a couple of songs in one take, with no over dubs at all. I am talking to some people now about recording and working on our first album. I want to have something for people to hear obviously instead of these little clips here and there but we are just six weeks old and our band is just a little baby at this point.

SMC – Well thank you for considering us for the interview! We really appreciate getting to know the band while it’s still young!

SGP – Absolutely!

SMC – Do you want to remain ‘Indie’ or are you wanting to be signed by a label?

SGP – You know what I want to do? This is what I want to do: I want to play a lot of live shows for a lot of people. That’s what I want to do. That’s all I want to do.  I want to tour, be on the road, and bring my family with me all over the world. If at some point, someone wants to sign us, great! I just want to play live! I want the world to hear this band and there are times in rehearsal when I just stand there and I am amazed at what is hitting me in the back. It feels so good and I’m just so happy to be there. Look, it’s an intense band. These are intense songs.

SMC – Even better!

SGP – We’re looking to blow some doors off of some rooms. That’s what excites me...is the level of intensity of this band and how we can take a song I wrote 20 years ago and take it out of this moody, little quiet thing and rock it up and make it a powerful song and we do it. We have just finalized the set list that is most impactful to debut these songs. I don’t want to be a guy up there giving speeches and talking too much, I just want to keep people grooving for a couple hours at a time because I think that’s also a lost art and to share that with an audience would be monumental. Its contact with people and the world and I just feel a very powerful need and inspiration with my band and I am going to do it and nothing is going to stop me.

SMC – Would you ever consider coming to Canada?

SGP – Absolutely! We’d love to come to Canada. This WV concert is a lot of work but we are getting a lot of support from the Mayor and others. It’s really not a simple thing to put together and so many decisions that have to be made to make this come off right. We are looking at playing some benefit concerts on the Jersey Shore in mid-August. We are planning some bigger shows actually; maybe you can come down for those! Is there really anything better than going to a live concert? I don’t think so.

SMC – Do you have any co-writes in the future?

SGP – Well, I write all of the songs for now.

SMC – Have there been any interesting fan moments that you would like to share with the inception of GORDON?

SGP - Word is beginning to trickle out a little bit and everything that we have heard so far as feedback has been positive, just completely positive. People want to know more and are finding out where we are rehearsing and they are ‘stopping by’ saying ‘I was in the area’ and I say to them ‘Really? You’re just sort of stopping by here....really?’

SMC – So essentially, this is the ‘Golden Nugget’ in your career?

SGP – How can I say this....I am at a point in my life where.....there’s something far more interesting and deeper that is buried underneath your rage. There is something far more productive and artistic, you know, it is the heart and soul of art. I think I’ve finally gotten to that point in my life where I can wipe away bad memories and access some really golden stuff and enjoy it and share it with the world. That had a lot to do with the birth of my son and I am expressing it through the music. I should have probably named the band after my son because really, it’s me wanting to share the joy of my son with the world! (laughs). Now if everybody would do that, there would be a lot more music and a lot more peace right?

SMC – No Kidding! (laughs) Do you plan on having more children?

SGP – Oh yes! I like how this first one came out and I think I’ll do it again yeah.

SMC – Awe, nice! That’s great to hear!

SGP – Yeah, they’re wonderful. He’s wonderful.

SMC – Hoping for a daughter next time?

SGP – Maybe two boys and then a girl.....we’ll see....we’ll see....

SMC – Is it going to be far off into the future as far as recordings that will be available to the public?

SGP – I am talking to some people now and I want to be very careful about this because it is really important how the public hears this music for the first time. First impressions are everything. I want to do it right and I want to make sure that it`s the best quality tracks that we could possibly do at that moment before I share full songs with the world. I want to be really, really proud of it. I need to be impressed by it and I`m very demanding of myself and detail oriented. It just has to be great. I won`t share it unless it`s great. We have recorded five songs but I actually thought the power of the band wasn`t captured in those recordings so I will share little bits here and there but I think it`s important to come out guns blazing with some great tracks. You don`t get a second chance. I`d rather have people get a little frustrated with me than put out a product that I`m not proud of.

SMC – Understandable

SGP – Let`s just get some gigs under our belts because there’s a lot of mistakes and adjustments we need to make yet and we’ll learn as we go. Right now, it’s finding the right Producer who can structure and produce the songs with the sound we are creating and capable of.

SMC – Your logo, why does it have the numbers 1:11 on it?

SGP – That’s a tattoo I have on my left shoulder and the other one, in the middle of the logo, is another one I have on my right bicep. There’s meaning with them, all that kind of stuff, deep meaning. I just wanted to make the logo as personal as I possibly could.

SMC – It’s great! It’s very reflective of the band. With regards to your live performance, does the band feel like they can do a two hour show and walk off the stage feeling fine?

SGP – Let me put it to you this way: A three hour rehearsal for us is a short rehearsal and we go through the set list one and a half to two times in three hours with about a 15 minute break in between. After that, we are pretty spent...(laughs)

SMC – You boys are machines!

SGP – Thank God I am in good shape but I’m a pretty emotional guy as it turns out (laughs). That’s how I sing and that’s how I write.

SMC – How do you feel about how it’s all coming together?

SGP – I think we’re ready to play live. We were ready a month ago. They say playing one live gig is worth one week of rehearsal so I think we’re ready to get out there and learn what we need to do. We’ll put on a good show. People will enjoy it but we’re going to learn a lot. We’ll make some mistakes but we’ll learn a lot. I’ll forget some lyrics and they’ll forget some transitions, you know, it’s part of it....nothings perfect, it’s not going to be a seamless performance but we’re ready!

SMC – But the beauty in that is the audience hasn’t heard the full songs yet so they won’t know, and that’s the beauty in all of this. That’s what I am excited to hear about: is the audience’s reaction.

SGP – Well yeah, I write a variety of different styles too

SMC – Well I recall that we had talked about (in the beginning of the interview) different kinds of music that were your influences. Are there any Punk Rock influences you liked?

SGP – Patti Smith. I auditioned for her band when I was 15.

SMC – You’re kidding?

SGP – Oh yeah. You know she’s a South Jersey girl. She grew up where I grew up. When I was in high school, beginning my freshman year, I would go up to New York City to see her band every chance I would get. I would stay with my sister and I would see her perform at The Bottom Line (venue), speak at Amnesty International events, and I was in CBGB’s (venue) one night as a 15 year old with two of my sisters and she was standing there talking to some guy. He looked like he was a record Producer. She was wearing these Ray Ban’s with these blinders on the side...

SMC – I remember those!

SGP – Remember those tan leather blinders on the side?

SMC – Yep!

SGP – I went up to her....I am pretty bold and not terribly shy when I want something, and I just walked right up to her and interrupted their conversation and I said, “I’m from South Jersey too and I’m a big fan and I was wondering if you are looking for a keyboard player.” Then she pulled down her glasses a little bit toward the end of her nose and looked at me and said, “How old are you?’ (he laughs)

SMC – (Laughing) that’s awesome!

SGP - With Patti, she really started out the other way around. She started a band around her to match the words to some songs, I thought, with some terrific results. It was very unusual music very exciting music based on her inspirations and her love of great literature and French symbolist poetry and the alchemy of the work. She was trying to do what Rimbaud (French Poet) tried to do and achieve this kind of alchemy with her music. In my humble opinion she achieved that.

I also remember at that time I was listening to a lot of Led Zeppelin, The Stones, The Who, and who everybody else was listening to. Then she came along and I started listening to her on WMMR in Philadelphia was the big FM Radio station and they would do live broadcasts every Sunday night wherever she was playing. Those shows had just had incredible energy coming out of the radio and I just think: wouldn’t that be great to do that at The Tractor Bar on July 29th is have a live broadcast....because for me that was just so exciting as a young boy: the anticipation, waiting for that concert to be on the radio and having to hide the radio under the sheets because it was past my bedtime...you know....

SMC – That’s awesome!

SGP – Yes, and actually, after I had auditioned, I hadn’t heard anything.  A month later I saw her at an Amnesty International speech and we ended up backstage. Patti actually came up behind me and my sisters eyes went really wide and she said ‘Scott, turn around’ and, it was her. She said, ‘I remember you. How are you doing?’ I was totally star-struck again. I was gaga for the woman. We ended up having a nice conversation and afterwards, when we were walking out the door and taking a left down the Bowery and we weren’t 20 feet down the street when I heard this voice shout out ‘Hey!’ and its Patti Smith again standing there with some people. So I turned around and she shouts “Hey man! Good luck!’ For me, that was the biggest moment of my life. I kind of feel like I’ve been, how can I say – blessed by the Goddess right? You could say I was ‘Blessed by the Goddess poet Patti Smith’. It was a really nice moment which meant everything to me. She represented to me that somebody from south Jersey could get out of south Jersey and do big things you know what I mean? It was just a huge inspiration for me. It was a moment where someone I looked up to so much was so kind and beautiful to me. I will always love her for that. Those memories of seeing her in New York, those memories are deeply ingrained in me. To me, she represented artistic freedom, freedom of expression, living outside of society and not feeling like you have to fit in somewhere. She could be her own person and be proud of it and not really care what other people thought except what she thought. To me, she was self actualized and really loved herself and still does. Horses was such a deeply impactful and artistic album for me. You just can’t make that kind of album today, but I’m going to try!

SMC – I hope you do! Keep up the good work! For me it Bowie.

SGP – You know what? When Bowie died, it hit me harder than I expected it to. It was just because of his individuality and how unique he was and how bold and brilliant the music was. The song writing was so impactful. When I found out that he passed away, I was stunned. I just couldn’t move. Bowie was just (sighs)....Bowie was Bowie.....I sat in my media room and I wept. I was really in mourning. I knew Iman back in the late 80’s, we were friends before they got together....I wanted to reach out but, you know, it had been so long. I was just completely stunned and blown away. He wrote some beautiful songs. What an unbelievable loss to the music industry!

SMC – Yes, I totally agree.

SMC – You know, I’m going to have to see you live!

SGP – Absolutely!

SMC – So, there are a lot of Artists that go live and they sound nothing like they do in their recordings...

SGP – Yeah, well, we’re not going to have that. There’s a device now that you can put into your microphone so that live performances can get auto tuned through your mic. I’m not going to do that to my fans. If I go off-key then it’s on me. You know? We’ve got to keep it real for the fans. That’s how we record too. We record live and we just try to rock it as best we can. We want a real raw sound because our live sound is just so explosive we’re looking for a Producer who can capture that real like raw explosiveness.

SMC – NICE!  Someone needs to film this. I want to see the reaction! I have a feeling GORDON will appeal to a lot of different age groups really, because the younger crowd is looking for something new.

SGP – If the younger crowd is craving an iconic throwback 70’s rock band sound, that’s what we have. That’s what they’re going to get. We have searing lead guitar solos that will blow your mind, one of the guys’ plays a slide guitar that is absolutely wicked beyond wicked, the drummer is thunderous and he’s gifted. It’s just such a great sound. A lot of the songs are about life experiences.

SMC – Okay, can you name one of the songs you’ve written which still really affect you even to this day.

SGP – I think one of the most deeply emotional songs in the entire set is a song called ‘Christina’. I wrote it about a girl I knew a long time ago, but really, it could relate to anyone that wants to escape their circumstances as teenagers. Ones that are growing up in horrible circumstances and maybe some abusive circumstances and they long to leave and run away because they know that if they don’t leave, something bad could happen. It’s autobiographical and I realize why I liked the song so much is that I wrote it from experience: I was struggling to get out of my circumstances at the time as well. Those are always some of my favorite songs growing up are songs like that: songs about the need to escape, the need to get out, the need to know more about life. I think a lot of popular music comes from the need to pour one’s heart out into an instrument.  Let me sum it up for you: instead of therapy, you’re screaming into a microphone for three hours at a time. It’s wonderful. Even if you don’t have a band, you should buy yourself a microphone, get into a sound proof room and scream for a couple of hours. You’ll walk out feeling great! I’ve been screaming now for six weeks and it feels so right and good.

SMC – What do you want people to remember from this debut concert?

SGP – Our intention is to have people leave that theater exhausted and exhilarated and smiling and sweaty and hoarse you know? And their right or their left shoulders hurting from pumping their fists so much and their palms hurting from clapping so much. We’re not asking for much are we really?

Not at all Scott, not at all......
World, are you ready for the GORDON Storm?
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Sunday 17 July 2016

Festival Season: A Band's Guide on How To Sell A Ton of Band Merch!


Photo Courtesy of Editor CA Marshall of Candice Anne Graphics & Photography

By Michael McKenna – International Music Reviewer

You've packed the venue. You had a kick-ass performance. The entire crowd loved every minute of your set. Now you have to turn that enthusiasm into album, T-shirt and promo item sales to help pay the bills. How do you go about doing that? That's a question I asked a few Indie artists who are masterful at the merch table in hopes of finding out some of their secrets to their successful methods.

There's are no specific rules to the shit, so grab your CD's, your T-shirts, and your smartphone credit card reader (if you don't already have one of those, consider it your 10th commandment), because here's some of those secrets that I'm willing to impart to you to improve your Ca$h Flow!


1. Have Someone At Your Merch Table At All Times!

This seems so obvious, but you'd be surprised how many artists just set up a table and go on about their night thinking that the person will come seek you out if they want an item. Not having a person behind your merch table will likely result in stolen goods! By having a live body at your table, it will act as a security measure. Also by having someone holding down the table, people always have someone they can ask about the merch.


2. Invite Fans To Hang Out With You At Your Merch Table!

When you hold the microphone, you are in control of the crowd. Use that control to get your fans to join you post-show at your merch table. Tell them to meet you after the set over at your merch table just to talk and hang out. They don’t have to be pressured into buying anything. They'll do it on their own.

By walking straight from the stage over to the merch table instead of backstage, you are leading well-wishers to a central location that just so happens to feature your items for sale staring back at them. Support can be contagious. People see others in front of them pulling out money, getting their CD signed, snapping pictures, etc., and they don't want to be left out and will often buy on impulse.


3. Set Up Your Merch Correctly!

No one wants to pick out a shirt from what looks like a pile of dirty laundry. Set everything up professionally. You're essentially running a store, so it should look like a place where you'd want to shop. If you're in a space where it's possible, try to find a hook or something to hang the T-shirts from. People can see shirts hanging in the background up higher better than they can see something laying flat on the table. It's all about exposure of product! It's essential to have a price list that everyone can easily see! If there is a line, they can hand off a $10 really quickly and keep moving if they know the price. If they have to wait, chances are they'll say, 'I'll come back,' and they never do. This is a sales killer!


4. Show Up To The Venue Early!

Arriving just in time for your set is something only prima-donna's artists do. Professionals who actually want to make new fans and move some merch arrive at the venue a full hour before things get started. Work the whole room, and make sure everyone knows your name. Thank them for coming to your show even if they came to see someone else or are just hanging out at the bar randomly. Tell them how much you appreciate them coming out, and ask them how they heard about you. It starts a convo 75 percent of the time. It piques interest and gets curiosity happening. The more of a connection you have, the more of a chance they will watch your set with care, and the more likely they are to buy your stuff!


5. Leave the Venue Late!

Show up early and leave late? Yes, you're going to be burning the candle at both ends. I would like to point out that even after the last act, people are still meandering around looking for that last out-of-the-door impulse buy. Don't miss out on that opportunity. Some of the biggest sales are at the tail end of the night.


6. Have fans who already own your T-shirts come to the show wearing them!

If you have an e-mail list , or any sort of following on social media, influence your fans who already own your merch to come to your shows wearing it. The more people, especially women, wearing your merch at shows, the more people will buy your merch and they will feel that they belong.
And if a little motivation is needed, Have the venue take a dollar off the cover if someone is wearing your merch!


7. Hook up the venue's employees!

Since the venue is going to be your home for the evening, hook up the employees. Who are some people you are guaranteed to run into at a show? Door guy, DJ, Bartender, Sound man, Headliner. Give them a shirt! Ask them to rock it! They will essentially be promoting you all night.


8. Make sure you have high-quality products!

Loyalty is real, but garishness and cheapness is realer. This is a very important aspect of any merch sale, that is to "create a shirt that everyone wants to wear.” Quality is a huge factor when it comes to this. "You must invest some money into yourself, and try to maintain the highest standard possible when it comes to products you want people to take home. The days of iron-on logos and Memorex, handwritten CD's are gone. The internet has made so many great merch options available, or if you're like me, you hunt down the best local print shop, and work face to face with the people creating your goods.

I would also warn bands to do not overdo it with the corny merch – aprons, clocks, novelty weird stuff. Keep it simple at first – music, shirts, stickers, then think about expanding your brand. If people see 10 different things available, they might get overwhelmed and not buy anything.


9. Play "Let's Make A Deal"!

Fans love a deal, which is why you should bundle some of your merch. Give them everything all-in-one for a discount. This is also a way to connect with fans who might not have as much money on them. Understand the struggle, "If people paid to see you, cut 'em a deal. No one is truly Mr. Moneybags, despite what they say.


Now that I have imparted some of the wisdom I have learned over 45 years of attending shows, being part of them as a Promoter, DJ, Management and Reviewer, I can truly says that the bands I have seen using these 9 methods have been highly successful and have made MAD MONEY! IT'S YOUR TURN NOW!