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I recently had the opportunity of talking to Divakar, host of SEE THE MUSIC AND MORE, about a variety of topics related to our local music industry. Here are some excerpts from that conversation. Some
Insights from Divakar Shukla on
Live Local Music Q: What do you think of our local market? A: As far as the diversity of bands, I think you've got a fabulous cross mix. You've got everything in Charlotte, which is amazing. We've got a lot of great clubs, the Visulite is doing some great things, Tremont has been around for years, Jack Straw's deserves a lot of credit for bringing in shows. The only negative thing is that people aren't coming out to the shows, and it's not just Charlotte. I was talking to somebody in Raleigh and they were like, 'man you guys have it made in Charlotte, you've got so many clubs and this and that, but I was like, wait a minute everybody is always bitchin' about the scene. I had a band in from Charleston, Jumbowood, and they were ecstatic about playing here. They were on the TV show and had a gig in town and they think Charlotte is great. We just don't realize that in Charlotte, hey, we do have all these clubs. The bands just have to go out there and play. One thing is, and this is my pet peeve, just because you are in a band and make music doesn't give you the right to have an audience. Just because McDonald's opens up on the corner doesn't mean people have to go eat there. You have to have a good product, you have to advertise, and then you still may not succeed, but just because you're in a band that doesn't give the right to be heard. You have to understand that it's a business. A club owner wants you there only if you're gonna bring people in. You've got to get out there and put flyers up, tell all your friends, spread the word, do whatever you have to do to market yourself. Don't complain about the radio station not playing your music. The radio station not only has fifty or a hundred local bands to deal with, but thousands of national bands knocking at their door and if the station doesn't get the ratings, well guess what, tomorrow we're a country station. So when people call up and bitch about the End not supporting local music I'm like f*** you, we do support it to the extent that we can. They have to understand that just because they make music, it's not their right to be on the radio or to get interviews. They are a business like anything else and they have to get out there and self-promote. Charlotte has the venues that can allow that to happen and when it does, bring a hundred friends out, bring out your grandmother, show the club owner that you can bring people out. That's the bottom line. People say 'noboby comes to our shows, nobody supports us', I think we should get rid of this word "support". I don't ever go to an advertiser and say, 'support my TV show'. I say 'you guys are gonna get benefits from advertising on the show'. Now with an audience, don't say 'come out and support us', say 'come out because you're gonna love the music and have a great time'. That's the approach to take. Just because I have a TV show doesn't mean I deserve support from the End or Creative Loafing, they see a value in being a part of the show and that's what its all about. Q: What are some of your favorite bands? A: I really don't pick favorites. Different bands have different things to offer. That one thing I've always done since the beginning. Everything I do has nothing to do with what I like or dislike, I look at myself as the tower at a radio station, I do the broadcasting and let the listeners decide what's good and what's bad. Sometimes, when I was doing 90 Minutes, somebody would call and say 'that song is total crap', but the three people who called before them loved it. So my job is not to play what I like but to play a variety of things and let the listener decide. That's what I do on my TV show. People will ask me 'why did you play Hootie and the Blowfish?' I tell them they used to come to me and say 'hey Divakar, we're gonna be at 13-13, could you get us on Fox Exposures?' As a matter of fact, the Sunday before they released the album that sold 14 million copies, they were in for an interview and we played a few of the songs. They only the master copy so they said 'sorry you can't keep this one, but thanks for having us on'. Six months later, they're all multi-millionaires and they still call me when they're in town. So to me, I wonder why all these bands want to bash Hootie. I mean all these bands want to get to that level but they bash the bands that are already there, like Hootie and Dave Matthews. They reach that point where they're called "sell-outs", but what is "selling out"? Everybody wants to get to that level where you're called a sellout because then, you've succeeded in reaching that mass audience and that's what it's all about, I think, unless you want to be in the underground forever. Q: Is there room in the radio market for the continued growth of local music on the airwaves? A: I think there is, as long as the bigger corporations see a value in it. How do you create value? Supporting the sponsors. If music store XYZ is sponsoring a show, then go there and buy a pick or some strings, so they see a return and will continue to sponsor the show and the station sees a return. On 90 Minutes, if I was doing a remote, I would call up some of these bands and say 'hey come on out'. So for this local thing to continue, we have to show these big corporations that there is a niche here. You may not get thousands of people out to a show, but you get a few hundred and help the sponsor and that's how this thing is going to continue. Q: How does a band get on your show? A: Submit a promo pack like you would to a radio station to PO BOX 11468, Charlotte 28220- addressed to SEE THE MUSIC. Sometimes it might take me a few weeks to listen because we get a ton of promo packs here, but you can also send a second kit to that same PO box for the Music Comet magazine, which we are also publishing. Submit it and give me a call or e-mail me a few weeks later, just to make sure I got it. We're booked out six to eight weeks, but that doesn't mean we couldn't squeeze something in. We don't charge the bands anything, we don't sell the videos, it's only going to be used on the show and the band can use it for promotional purposes. So submit it, be patient and play a lot of shows. I like a band that's active. Its very hard for me to bring a band in here that just recorded and is waiting for something to happen. It's important that a band be out there working and not just sitting on their asses. There are many useful nuggets of info here and I hope that we can all put that knowledge to good use. Let's make it happen for fellow musicians and for ourselves! You can watch SEE THE MUSIC AND MORE on cable channel 58, Friday afternoons at 5:30. If you want to be considered for the show, send a press kit to: SEE THE
MUSIC AND MORE Bands can send info to the same address for review in the Music Comet. |