Info for Bands

If you’re sending a demo make sure it’s of a decent enough quality that we can actually hear what you sound like.

Remember to write the band’s name and contact details on the CD label as well as on the packaging and covering letter in case the various parts become separated. If you have reviews then send us photocopies of those too.

But first, ask yourself if we really, really want to receive your demo. Have a look at the type of bands we put on... We have a certain ethos, a particular musical direction. It’s not too rigid but it exists all the same.

If you’re nu-metal, oasis wannabes, folk, rap, hip hop, acoustic or something else that we don’t like, then don’t bother us. If you have a drum machine then everything else had better be totally amazing in order to make up for such a travesty. (The Kills manage it, for example. But few others with drum machines have what it takes.)

Even if you’re playing a musical style that we love - eg. you fashion yourselves after sixties US garage bands and mix in some blues and punk - we might still chuck your demo in the reject pile. Sending us a CD full of covers isn’t going to impress us very much, especially if you’re just playing the songs note for note, word for word, the same as the original version. Be inventive. Be creative. You can make use of your influences and still be original and exciting. Make us jump up and down and shout “What the fuck was that?!”

If REAL rock’n’roll is what turns you on, no posing, just full-on blues-punk-garage-rock-noise, then send us an email and we’ll give your demo a spin. Don’t send a demo without talking to us first. You’ll probably be sending it to the wrong address anyway.

And then, even if we do like your demo, it might take a while before you get a gig. This could be because we’re booked up months in advance, but also because we like to have a line-up be cohesive, to fit together, for the audience to go away having been excited by ALL three bands.

Right. Now go and rehearse some more...

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When the above was written we were receiving numerous CDs in the post every day but nowadays it's mostly emails asking us to check out a website or Myspace page. Much of the above still applies, though, so we're leaving it there as it is for now.

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If you are booked, make the most of the publicity you get from the web site!

Send us an image of the band that looks good even when scaled down to 100 pixels in width and that is optimised for the net. If necessary we can help you do that, just send us the high resolution version.

We can now add an MP3 of one of your songs to the listings, however those need to be your own work (no cover versions will be accepted) and will be published on this site under the "Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives (by-nc-nd)" licence, a "Creative Commons" licence that allows non-commercial redistribution of your material.

For full details of the Creative Commons project please visit this page:
http://creativecommons.org/about/licenses/meet-the-licenses

If your work has previously been published you may not be able to publish under the Creative Commons licence, please ensure that any material you send in can be legally published on this site.