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How many demos do you get a week?
Were getting fewer and fewer by (postal) mail. Maybe 20 or 25 a week at this point. But between Chris and I, we probably get 50 or 60 additional ones via e-mail either links to a myspace.com pages or EPJs.
And you listen to them all?
We listen to everything and we do respond to everyone. Typically, we listen to demos as a group, right here in the office. And theres one guy here who responds to everyone.
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What are your judging criteria? Do you have a point system?
No, no. Its more a matter of listening to something and saying, Wow! Who is that? If it moves us, we talk about it. Someone will say, Theyd be great with such-and-such a band.
Where do new bands come from? Local, regional?
All over, actually. And that works fine. If its a baby band, we generally like to it to be more regional than just local. No matter how much we may like a band, its really hard to take a band that only may get the opportunity to tour once a year and give them one show, opening for three other local bands. That isnt
going to do them a whole lot of good just coming through Chicago one time.
What we like to do is; for instance, say, Great, Youre a Minneapolis band. What are you guys doing? Why dont you come down for three months? Well swap out some shows with some other Chicago bands and you can really make a go of building this market.
Who contacts you? Is it a band member or someone else?
It depends on the local front. Its usually the band member. This week we have tickets on sale for everything from The Rapture and Good Charlotte to Frank Black. With those kinds of touring acts, were dealing with their agents and managers.
Do you pay baby bands?
Everybody gets paid. It may not be a lot of money. But we want to be able to cover their gas and their meals. But when it gets to the point that a band grows
Youre never going to ask anyone to play for free?
Never. This isnt Los Angeles. Theres no such thing as pay for play here. It doesnt happen like that. There arent a lot of bands that can draw 800 or 900 people. (Metro has a capacity of 1100.) We really have to like the band. If they play enough shows in front of the right crowd, it can go from an audience of 75
people right now, to 300 and 600 later. Its a development thing. Its long term.
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What the best advice you can offer a band that wants to get into a club like Metro?
Try. Keep trying. Keep us up to date. We only have a handful of slots. We have a perpetual list of bands that we want to do something with; were just looking for the right show and the right opportunity for them.
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So they need to stay in touch.
Especially if theyre not playing around Chicago. Let us know where youre playing, where youve played, whats going on with the band. Its usually an e-mail with a link to a myspace page, where there might be a couple of new tunes, for instance. Maybe theres a review in an entertainment newspaper we need to see.
Seems like youd be deluged.
Well, people recognize this as a great room and the next rung on a ladder. Theres a lot of legitimacy here.
Dylan dominated the clubs 15th anniversary with two Metro shows. Next year is the 25th. Whos going to show up?
(Laughs) That wont be announced anytime soon. I wish we all knew, but even were not sure yet.
Sean is one of three talent managers at Metro. We thank him for taking the time to talk to us and applaud Metro for its humane treatment of baby bands and the efforts it puts into their career development. You can find out more about Metro and submitting your material for consideration by visiting the clubs site at www.metrochicago.com |
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