Recording - July 2018 - 62

out there that's the right collaboration for you at
the moment. So ... hustle. [applause]
Continued from page 61
average TAXI member. I'm also trying to find
things that will work for me in this market.
I think my 10 years in China in the
entertainment industry helped me a lot. It
helped me learn patience. When Bobby was
talking about that this is a marathon, and don't

"While you might be talented, you
may not be talented for that
particular venue or that particular
town."
-Gilli Moon
run out of breath, I can understand that. I'm
starting to get syncs, and I'm starting to get
cuts, and I'm starting to sign songs to smaller
record labels. But getting paid is a long game.
Sometimes, it takes years!
I think the other thing that helped me in China
is learning to understand when is the right time
to approach somebody and when is not. For
example, when I first came over here I was very
lucky, I met people right away, and one of these
people was Chris Brown, Jennifer Lopez's main
writer and producer. I was like, "Great"! We
knew each other through a friend, so he was
polite. He allowed me to come to his studio and
play him some music, and very quickly I realized
that I was totally out of my league there. The
level of things that he was playing to me and the
level of things that I was playing for him was
not the same. So I told him, "Listen, I'm not
going to take up any more of your time here
today, but let's just keep in touch." And now,
after a year-and-a-half that I've sort of known
him, I am very shy and kind of avoid him at parties sometimes. And now I'm thinking maybe
it's time to try again. Maybe this time I know I
have to do a complete topline to send to him.
So I'm thinking that getting vibes from people
and understanding... You know, I had the same
thing with record labels. I'm like, "Ahhh," and
they don't respond to me. OK, I get it. That
means that maybe there's somebody else I can
connect with in the Internet.
SoundCloud has been such a great tool for me to
do that. I have a pretty small SoundCloud following. But I've reached out to producers that
have bigger followings, and they're like, "Yeah,
sure, we'll collab." And through collaborations
with them, I'm starting to get little record deals
and things are starting to happen.
So if somebody is not responding to you that
just means that maybe there's somebody else
62

Syd, how do you get labels to say yes to coming to a
showcase-especially major-label A&R people
who have really busy schedules, and they're only
gonna go if you're known act? How do you break
the ice to be that act that gets them to come and
see a show?
Sydney: It's not easy. It's easier to go to them
than it is to get them to come to you. You need
an angle, and if you think about it hard enough,
there's always an angle you can find. If you can
find the right angle to bring them out, then you
can get them to come. Maybe it's because someone that they've been trying to get or to talk to is
coming out. "This producer that I'm working
with really wants to meet you, Jamie. He's coming to our show on Friday." And if it's a phone
call, not "Check out my song," "See my new
video," "Like my Facebook page"-things that
people send out. I actually recommend that you
find another way to do that, because I literally
hate it when people send me that, you know,
"Check out my song, man!" because I get that so
much. And if you're at a record label, you're getting a lot more of that. That's all you're getting.
So they are looking for the guy who sends them
something much cooler than that, like, "Here's

"So if somebody is not responding to
you that just means that maybe
there's somebody else out there
that's the right collaboration for you
at the moment. So ... hustle."
-Aventurina King
my record," and on the front cover is a condom
that has your name on it. It's like, "What? I
gotta check this out." [laughter]
So it really is about finding a way to make it
happen that's completely unique and different
that doesn't have anything to do with, "Listen to
my music," "Check out my video, what do you
think?"
I've been doing angles for years. Back in the '80s,
we were doing like "Hot Legs" contests and giving away trips to the Bahamas. We've been
doing different types of things for years. I have a
deal with Karma Tequila right now for one of
my bands. To get people to come out in L.A. is
one of the hardest things in the world, so the
band advertises-thanks to Karma-"We'll buy
your first drink." It's free for the ladies, because
wherever there are ladies, there will always be
guys. So this band is building a pretty strong
fanbase, because now you've seen them, and if
you like them you'll come back and see them
again.
So to get the label people out... I'm actually

working with this right now to get the people
from BMG to come out and see my artist on Friday night. This is an actual real thing about how
to get them to come out. Because they work with
a producer that I work with, I call them up and I
say, "Hey man, really want to get together and
hang out with you guys. I really appreciate you
allowing the producer to work with me. We're
hangin' out on Friday." He says, "Cool man, I'm
down. I don't have anything going on Friday."
So now I know he's got nothing to do, and I
know he's available. Now he says, "Where you
guys gonna hang out?" I still haven't told him
yet what we're doing, and I'm waiting to find the
right thing, and I don't know what it is yet. But
when I figure it out-and I will figure it out
before Friday to get him to come out to the
show-I think he'll come.
Speaking of angles, as you were saying this, I
remember something we did at TAXI in probably
'95, '96, somewhere around that era. Sushi on Sunset had a private room upstairs-a fairly large
private room. And we used to do sushi nights probably four times a year, and we would invite a
bunch of A&R people for all-you-can-eat sushi,
first-come, first-served. So they would make sure
to show up on time, and they would drink so much
sake and beer that Sushi on Sunset was happy to
give us the private room upstairs, for free. So while
it cost TAXI $500 for the sushi, we would put on
TAXI-member music and just let it play. We wouldn't even tell the A&R people it was TAXI-member
music until the end of the night. Of course, by then
they were grateful that they've eaten free sushi,
they're a little buzzed on the alcohol, and they
would all take home a copy compilation. That led
to some songs getting cut, some acts getting to
showcase for labels, and some signings. So there's
always a way. [applause]
Mark, based on your incredibly extensive
background on booking acts, even before Gig
Salad, what would you say are the keys to getting
good gigs?
Mark: First off, it's establishing the audience,
establishing the venues. It's going after those
folks. I mean, there are creative ways of getting
in the door, getting them to answer the phone.
In this day and age, it's so much about marketing-digital marketing in particular-and how
do you stand out? That's the question.
First off, make sure you have the goods. You
can't underestimate that. Just work hard. I know
all of you are talented, but make sure the stuff
you send out-whether it's your original music,
or that you're out there ready to just gig and do
covers. Make sure that your set list is polished
and really great.
Getting into the venues, my sweet spot was
more your theater crowd. The clubs and the
Continued on page 65

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