Yes that’s right ’tis the season to be jolly… Hello and welcome to the blog of London based singer-songwriter Ben Hemming. Looking for the perfect cure for mince pie overdose or turkey intolerance? Well how about some blues to take the edge of all that Christmas festivity. Time seems to spinning by at a frankly worrying pace and I know before long the clock will be striking 12 and we’ll be ushering in a new year and for better or worse I’ll be looking back at the events of the past year though the bottom of a pint glass, or snogging a random stranger, something for another post me thinks…
But so far things seem to be winding down quite nicely, November turned out to be another busy month with a gig at the Roadtrip and taking part in a last minute booking as the closing act at the fantastic Culthouse’s pop up Christmas show at 93 Feet East. Both bookings turned out to be a success, if not for different reasons, but they did make me think of some of the problems that seem to be ruining london’s live circuit at the moment. Namely the pathetic promotion by most, but not all, of London promoters, and there total reliance on you bringing your own fan base, and doing nothing to get people through the door themselves, apart from a few posts on facebook and twitter, which in todays climate is no were near enough. When bands start out there fans are friends and family, which is all good and fine, but does nothing in developing a live music scene, and if the gig is booked up with new bands, which often happens, and everyone else at the gig are friends and family of other bands, this does little to help develop a new fan base. You can always tell when this is the case as the room tends to empty out when the band finishes and the next act who are not quite so popular, i.e. didn’t manage to drag so many friends along, play to an empty room. I’ve seen this happen time and time again to artists, including myself once or twice, and believe me it feels horrible! If the audience was full of genuine music lovers (not just friends and family) I can guarantee this would not happen, and they would add least give the next band a chance and listen to one of their tunes before making there mind up to stay or not. I know this because this is what I do, and I genially love music!
So what’s the answer I hear you say! Well you have to look no further than what’s going on in the clubbing scene at the moment. Venues full of happy clubbers who regularly go to the same club night every weekend because they know they will be getting great music and a great atmosphere too boot. Were acts have been chosen because of the quality of the music they play, not the acts ability to drag mum and dad along and the rest of the family tree, with no care for how good or bad the band is. And because of this the night has developed a good reputation and so regular punters. It’s not rocket science. Ever hear of a DJ getting asked to bring 25 paying punters to an event before they get a percentage of the ticket sales? Nope, they get payed a pre arranged amount for doing there set, but this happens to bands all the time and unfortunately they get payed little or nothing. I think it’s high time gig promoters took a leaf out of club promoters books and see how things could be so so different.
Anyway rant over, for the time being anyway. In other news unfortunately my gig on the 16th of December at the Lucky pig in Fitzrovia has had to be moved because Christmas got in the way! and is now happening at the same venue on the 27th of January. So please come down and show those lovely faces of yours if your about for that. I’m also back in the recording studio and slaving away at recording an album at last! More news on that as it develops. And as always you can catch up on some more videos from the Camden project.
Nice one