One of my favorite lines by comedian Mitch Hedberg is about handing out flyers:
“Whenever I walk, people try to hand me out flyers. And when someone tries to hand me out a flyer, it’s kinda like they’re saying, ‘Here—you throw this away.’”
That’s exactly what went through my mind before Colin and I headed out to street team for the Mike Middleton show at Double Door….I mean, Elbo Room.
We de-bussed on Lincoln Ave and brainstormed how to approach people. We started heading North and hoped to cross paths with students. Hoped is the key word….we didn’t see too many.
I found my first customer, a young man listening to his ipod. “Here.” I said, and handed him the flyer. “Thanks!” The customer said. Colin laughed. “Is that what you are going to say to people? Here?” “What should I say?” I asked. “Maybe give them more information about the show.” He answered. Yes, that makes sense.
We walked up Lincoln and I was on fire. Everyone I handed a flyer to willingly took it with a smile. Colin, on the other hand, was striking out. “What the heck? Why is everyone looking down with their arms stuck to their sides when I reach out to give them one?” Colin asked. But after his 10th attempt, all of a sudden, not one, but four people took the flyer from him! After that, nobody and nothing got in his way. We handed them out left and right, left a few in coffee and tattoo shops, and placed some in the RedEye bin (believe me people, going to a rock show is much more enlightening than reading the RedEye). After about 1.5 hours, the 200 flyers we had started with dwindled down to 50, 25, 10…. 0. Success!
The few things I learned from street teaming: You have to be engaging, smile, and tell yourself you are handing out the most important thing people will ever read. I was pleasantly surprised when a big smile ran across peoples’ faces after they looked at the flyer. I guess they liked how Mike Middleton looks while holding a guitar. Hopefully they went to the show to see him in person!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Music
Amanda “The Great” passed the blog torch to me, Angie, and here is my first blog for Wine from the Moon. Exciting!
When people ask me what Wine from the Moon is all about, this is my typical answer: “We are a music management company that dabbles in event planning, marketing, and PR....we work as a liaison between artist and fan.”
Between the numerous tasks, hours, and care we put into our projects, sometimes we forget the most important reason why we do this work; "Wine from the Moon is here for one reason: We love music."
Music can be defined as An art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. (http://www.dictionary.com) So, music is an art. It expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms. These forms are through elements of rhythm, melody, harmony and color. Wow. That is powerful.
Think about what music means/has meant to you. I bet you can name the first cassette tape (or record, or CD, depending on your age) you ever bought with your own money. Mine was Vanilla Ice’s "To The Extreme" (don't judge me) that I purchased with my hard earned weekly allowance of $5. I remember the days I would wait by my Sony radio for the DJ to announce the song coming up next is that one I’ve had in my head for hours. Once I heard the first note of that song, I hurriedly hit the record button on my radio so I could listen to it as many times as I wanted thereafter.
Fast forward 20 years later, you could say I partake in the same activities, but in more adult ways. I visit music web sites everyday to read the latest album review. I go to the record store with intentions of buying one album and leave with three. I purchase tickets to a show on Ticketmaster and cuss them out for charging me all the "convenience charges”. I will do these things a hundred times over this year. And it’s all for music. The emotions, ideas, thoughts, and creative outlet it brings to my life.
What are your best music memories? Maybe it was waiting by the T.V. to watch Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video? We all know the lyrics to Salt N' Peppa’s "Shoop". What about the first Indie rock album you heard and fell in love with? Remember that Chris Isaak video "Wicked Games" with Helena Christensen whom the French call "the most beautiful woman on Earth". How about playing Fiona Apple, Mary J. Blige or P.J. Harvey after a terrible break-up? Maybe you have a fond memory of the first band you saw live. Or remember clearly a song that made you feel as if you were levitating into a whole new world. Whatever the memories are, I’m sure they hold a special place in your heart.
All humans have a connection with music. We listen to music when we are happy or sad or feeling goofy or angry. We press play when we want to dance, sing, or make cleaning around the house kind of...fun. We gather in clubs, bars, house parties, and festivals to listen to music. Music makes our commutes to work much more tolerable. I could go on, but you get my point: Music brings joy and clarity into our lives.
There are numerous great quotes about music and I'll end my first blog post with a couple of my favorites:
"Without music, life would be an error" - Friedrich Nietzsche
“By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes.” – Bill Cosby
"Wine from the Moon is here for one reason: We love music" - Ryan Sweeney, WFTM President
What are your favorite quotes about music?
When people ask me what Wine from the Moon is all about, this is my typical answer: “We are a music management company that dabbles in event planning, marketing, and PR....we work as a liaison between artist and fan.”
Between the numerous tasks, hours, and care we put into our projects, sometimes we forget the most important reason why we do this work; "Wine from the Moon is here for one reason: We love music."
Music can be defined as An art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. (http://www.dictionary.com) So, music is an art. It expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms. These forms are through elements of rhythm, melody, harmony and color. Wow. That is powerful.
Think about what music means/has meant to you. I bet you can name the first cassette tape (or record, or CD, depending on your age) you ever bought with your own money. Mine was Vanilla Ice’s "To The Extreme" (don't judge me) that I purchased with my hard earned weekly allowance of $5. I remember the days I would wait by my Sony radio for the DJ to announce the song coming up next is that one I’ve had in my head for hours. Once I heard the first note of that song, I hurriedly hit the record button on my radio so I could listen to it as many times as I wanted thereafter.
Fast forward 20 years later, you could say I partake in the same activities, but in more adult ways. I visit music web sites everyday to read the latest album review. I go to the record store with intentions of buying one album and leave with three. I purchase tickets to a show on Ticketmaster and cuss them out for charging me all the "convenience charges”. I will do these things a hundred times over this year. And it’s all for music. The emotions, ideas, thoughts, and creative outlet it brings to my life.
What are your best music memories? Maybe it was waiting by the T.V. to watch Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video? We all know the lyrics to Salt N' Peppa’s "Shoop". What about the first Indie rock album you heard and fell in love with? Remember that Chris Isaak video "Wicked Games" with Helena Christensen whom the French call "the most beautiful woman on Earth". How about playing Fiona Apple, Mary J. Blige or P.J. Harvey after a terrible break-up? Maybe you have a fond memory of the first band you saw live. Or remember clearly a song that made you feel as if you were levitating into a whole new world. Whatever the memories are, I’m sure they hold a special place in your heart.
All humans have a connection with music. We listen to music when we are happy or sad or feeling goofy or angry. We press play when we want to dance, sing, or make cleaning around the house kind of...fun. We gather in clubs, bars, house parties, and festivals to listen to music. Music makes our commutes to work much more tolerable. I could go on, but you get my point: Music brings joy and clarity into our lives.
There are numerous great quotes about music and I'll end my first blog post with a couple of my favorites:
"Without music, life would be an error" - Friedrich Nietzsche
“By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes.” – Bill Cosby
"Wine from the Moon is here for one reason: We love music" - Ryan Sweeney, WFTM President
What are your favorite quotes about music?
Thursday, April 22, 2010
gearing up for the weekend
What are you guys doing this weekend? If you don't have something fabulous to do, and maybe even if you do, you should swing by our Crawfish Boil for Haiti!
I know, I know, like many of us here, you might be thinking: What is a crawfish? How do I eat one? Why should I spend my Saturday looking at these mysterious little creatures trying to figure out my plan of attack?
Am I right?
Well, let me tell you why. First, crawfish are apparently delightful- kind of like a lobster/shrimp cross. Second, the one and only Jojo will be teaching us exactly how to enjoy these little guys, so your experience will at least be informed. Third, there are Hurricanes as well as seafood. And, (yes, there is a fourth) fourth, even if it turns out you hate crawfish, all the proceeds of the $5-10 suggested donation go straight to help families in Haiti.
Yep, this is one of the vows we here at Wine from the Moon made recently; every month we host an event like this with all the proceeds going directly to Haiti. Nice, right?
The party starts at 3pm and lasts until everything is gone (or at least until the booze runs out!), and is at 1049 N Paulina.
We hope to see you there, but if not, keep your eyes peeled for our Haiti Benefit next month!
I know, I know, like many of us here, you might be thinking: What is a crawfish? How do I eat one? Why should I spend my Saturday looking at these mysterious little creatures trying to figure out my plan of attack?
Am I right?
Well, let me tell you why. First, crawfish are apparently delightful- kind of like a lobster/shrimp cross. Second, the one and only Jojo will be teaching us exactly how to enjoy these little guys, so your experience will at least be informed. Third, there are Hurricanes as well as seafood. And, (yes, there is a fourth) fourth, even if it turns out you hate crawfish, all the proceeds of the $5-10 suggested donation go straight to help families in Haiti.
Yep, this is one of the vows we here at Wine from the Moon made recently; every month we host an event like this with all the proceeds going directly to Haiti. Nice, right?
The party starts at 3pm and lasts until everything is gone (or at least until the booze runs out!), and is at 1049 N Paulina.
We hope to see you there, but if not, keep your eyes peeled for our Haiti Benefit next month!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Double Jeopardy
Alright, I'm taking a quick break from my packed packed task list because I realized I forgot to tell you something of the up most importance.
I.....wait for it.... won the Intern Showdown!
It turned out to be a Jeopardy-style showdown, complete with regular, double and final Jeopardy rounds. All the questions, created by our lovely boss Jojo, were Wine from the Moon based- everything from our clients' lyrics to talent buyers in Chicago to my fellow interns' day jobs.
We played at Finn McCool's, and our buzzers were shots of beer we took and then slammed on the table as fast as we could. So fun.
Everyone rocked it, but we all struggled with one thing- the whole answer-with-a-question thing. This resulted in question-stealing and yelling and beer flying everywhere.
So many many questions later (and just as much beer), there were three left standing for Final Jeopardy; Charmin, Steven and myself. After making our wagers (I bet it all- I mean, if you're not going to go big, go home, right?), we were given the question: This radio station plays Local Anesthetic every Sunday. (or something along those lines)
The answer that won me the big prize? WXRT, of course.
All three of the final Jeopardy interns won a fabulous prize. Steven now has drink tickets to the next three WFTM shows and a day off to recover, Charmin walked away with an at-home massage and I won a Double Door show of my very own to book and promote!
Speaking of which, I've gotta get back to it!
Wish me luck, and be sure to come check out my show: June 1st at Double Door!
I.....wait for it.... won the Intern Showdown!
It turned out to be a Jeopardy-style showdown, complete with regular, double and final Jeopardy rounds. All the questions, created by our lovely boss Jojo, were Wine from the Moon based- everything from our clients' lyrics to talent buyers in Chicago to my fellow interns' day jobs.
We played at Finn McCool's, and our buzzers were shots of beer we took and then slammed on the table as fast as we could. So fun.
Everyone rocked it, but we all struggled with one thing- the whole answer-with-a-question thing. This resulted in question-stealing and yelling and beer flying everywhere.
So many many questions later (and just as much beer), there were three left standing for Final Jeopardy; Charmin, Steven and myself. After making our wagers (I bet it all- I mean, if you're not going to go big, go home, right?), we were given the question: This radio station plays Local Anesthetic every Sunday. (or something along those lines)
The answer that won me the big prize? WXRT, of course.
All three of the final Jeopardy interns won a fabulous prize. Steven now has drink tickets to the next three WFTM shows and a day off to recover, Charmin walked away with an at-home massage and I won a Double Door show of my very own to book and promote!
Speaking of which, I've gotta get back to it!
Wish me luck, and be sure to come check out my show: June 1st at Double Door!
Sunday, April 18, 2010
sometimes I go to shows
I've finally got a second to fill you in on the great show I went to on Tuesday. I think you'll find these music tips were worth waiting for- I know I did a lot of downlaoding when I got home!
So on to Tuesday.
The setting: Double Door's revamped Dirtroom. Its not so aptly named now, by the way, the place is kind of 20's style lounge, and much cozier than the main stage upstairs, with a little bit of a glamorous undertone. Red walls, black velvet and twinkly lights make for quite the scene.
The line-up for the evening began with Identity Crises Inc.. They are, in their own words, 9-5ers from the north side of Chicago. These guys were working with a pared down band for a more intimate feeling in the Dirtroom, and I have to say, the show stealer of this set was Michelle. At first she appeared to be a backup singer.... but that didn't last long. Quite the Jill-of-all-trades, Michelle picked up a harmonica, danced, sang and gave a surprise trumpet performance during the short 30 minuet set! I love that kind of variety.
Next on the docket was Natalie Oliveri. The lovely, leggy lady stepped up in a striped skirt and a sweet flower in her hair- and blew us away. Imagine Amy Weinhouse but with a funky, loungey, bossa twist. Maybe her EP title explains it best: Eclectic Soul.
Yeah, that sounds right.
Natalie crooned to us in Spanish and Portuguese on some songs, which was so hot I had to take my sweater off. Not to mention that she was backed up by a chick drummer (always kinda drool-worthy, right?) and a sick guitar player, Anthony. Overall, an enchanting set, and the night was just half way over!
That brings me to the shivers that started down my spine the moment Leslie Beukelman opened her mouth. A cute, bubbly woman, Leslie enthusiastically thanked us all for coming, then got right down to business. During the show she kept a sound-board of some kind (please excuse my ignorance of the sound-board world) on a music stand next to her and played her voice like the instrument it is, adding echos, reverb and so much more that I simply don't have the vocabulary for. Truly awesome. Behind her she had a bass, a guitar/back-up singer and... a guy on a box? Seriously. I think we determined that it was a hollow wooden box with a mic or something inside that basically acted as the percussion.
The result? A bluesy, rocky jazzy kind of music.
After looking in to Leslie and her band a little more, I found that she regularly plays at places like Pops for Champagne, which totally makes sense. I would listen to her with a glass of red in one hand any time. Lovely.
Finally we come to the finale, and what a finale it was. Paper Thick Walls took over the stage and made everyone who was checking their watches with a grimace ,thinking about their long work day in just 6 or 7 hours, forget the clock and grab another drink. With 2 vocalists and a line-up of instruments longer than might be reasonable to list here, they have a kind of Of Montreal sound, but even better. I know I have a lot of links on this blog, but theirs really really is worth clicking on. I think I can safely say that everyone who was there when they started stayed till the end of the show, and I know next time I see their name pop up on my "Upcoming Show" list, I will be there.
With bells on, as my dad always says.
So on to Tuesday.
The setting: Double Door's revamped Dirtroom. Its not so aptly named now, by the way, the place is kind of 20's style lounge, and much cozier than the main stage upstairs, with a little bit of a glamorous undertone. Red walls, black velvet and twinkly lights make for quite the scene.
The line-up for the evening began with Identity Crises Inc.. They are, in their own words, 9-5ers from the north side of Chicago. These guys were working with a pared down band for a more intimate feeling in the Dirtroom, and I have to say, the show stealer of this set was Michelle. At first she appeared to be a backup singer.... but that didn't last long. Quite the Jill-of-all-trades, Michelle picked up a harmonica, danced, sang and gave a surprise trumpet performance during the short 30 minuet set! I love that kind of variety.
Next on the docket was Natalie Oliveri. The lovely, leggy lady stepped up in a striped skirt and a sweet flower in her hair- and blew us away. Imagine Amy Weinhouse but with a funky, loungey, bossa twist. Maybe her EP title explains it best: Eclectic Soul.
Yeah, that sounds right.
Natalie crooned to us in Spanish and Portuguese on some songs, which was so hot I had to take my sweater off. Not to mention that she was backed up by a chick drummer (always kinda drool-worthy, right?) and a sick guitar player, Anthony. Overall, an enchanting set, and the night was just half way over!
That brings me to the shivers that started down my spine the moment Leslie Beukelman opened her mouth. A cute, bubbly woman, Leslie enthusiastically thanked us all for coming, then got right down to business. During the show she kept a sound-board of some kind (please excuse my ignorance of the sound-board world) on a music stand next to her and played her voice like the instrument it is, adding echos, reverb and so much more that I simply don't have the vocabulary for. Truly awesome. Behind her she had a bass, a guitar/back-up singer and... a guy on a box? Seriously. I think we determined that it was a hollow wooden box with a mic or something inside that basically acted as the percussion.
The result? A bluesy, rocky jazzy kind of music.
After looking in to Leslie and her band a little more, I found that she regularly plays at places like Pops for Champagne, which totally makes sense. I would listen to her with a glass of red in one hand any time. Lovely.
Finally we come to the finale, and what a finale it was. Paper Thick Walls took over the stage and made everyone who was checking their watches with a grimace ,thinking about their long work day in just 6 or 7 hours, forget the clock and grab another drink. With 2 vocalists and a line-up of instruments longer than might be reasonable to list here, they have a kind of Of Montreal sound, but even better. I know I have a lot of links on this blog, but theirs really really is worth clicking on. I think I can safely say that everyone who was there when they started stayed till the end of the show, and I know next time I see their name pop up on my "Upcoming Show" list, I will be there.
With bells on, as my dad always says.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Friday again??
Oh, how did this happen?? These weeks have been just flying by! Here is is, Friday again, and I have just so much to tell you about.
First, though, in an hour I am heading over to the Ultimate Intern Showdown. What is this, you ask? A Jeopardy-style showdown in which in which intern is pitted against intern to find out who the Ultimate WFTMer is. In my head it is a lot like American Gladiator; we'll see what happens when I get there, but I do have my double-sided battle stick with me, just in case.
And, of course, there are several grand prizes, including an in-home massage, tickets to the next 3 shows, a day off and a Double Door show to book ourselves! Awesome, right?
Wish me luck, and I promise promise promise I will tell you about the amazing show I went to Tuesday- trust me, you'll want to check these bands out!
First, though, in an hour I am heading over to the Ultimate Intern Showdown. What is this, you ask? A Jeopardy-style showdown in which in which intern is pitted against intern to find out who the Ultimate WFTMer is. In my head it is a lot like American Gladiator; we'll see what happens when I get there, but I do have my double-sided battle stick with me, just in case.
And, of course, there are several grand prizes, including an in-home massage, tickets to the next 3 shows, a day off and a Double Door show to book ourselves! Awesome, right?
Wish me luck, and I promise promise promise I will tell you about the amazing show I went to Tuesday- trust me, you'll want to check these bands out!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Monday....Funday?
Well, maybe not quite, but it is looking like I have another action-packed week ahead of me.
First, though, the weekend review I promised you. Friday was by far the highlight. Remember that rooftop party I mentioned? It was epic. When I got there we were ushered straight up to the roof despite the chilly temperatures. After a few brief grumbles I grabbed a drink and took in my surroundings. Who am I to be complaining when I am on a rooftop in Chicago with twinkly lights sparkling, a view of the skyline and live music getting set up not 20 feet from me? For my job?? So I shut my mouth.
Some sweet DJ action by none other than JiMMy CoN got the night started on the right foot, and the always fabulous Matt Kelly was awesome, as usual. The highlight, though? Ryan Sweeney, our very own boss man, got up there and proved to us that he really does know the music industry from all angles. The man has got a voice! I almost want to say he has a Cat Stevens kind of thing going on.... very impressive.
The most important thing, of course, is that Talia and Jon (the birthday buddies!) had a great time, which, judging from the large grins and lingering goodbyes, they did.
Saturday morning began bright and early, ushered in (thankfully) with Dunkin Donuts and (maybe less thankfully) our PR seminar. An informative hour in, we had a special guest from Biz 3 come to talk to us about the world of PR. After furiously taking notes for 45 minutes, we were released back into the sun, blinking like little white creatures crawling from a cave. The rest of the weekend was a blur of family responsibility for me while some of my fellow WFTMers took in a few other shows. Check out their thoughts on John Mayer at the United Center and The XX at Lincoln Hall.
Now back to Monday. Let's see, tomorrow night is a big line-up at Double Door's Dirtroom with Paper Thick Walls, Natalie Oliveri, Identity Crises, Inc. and Leslie Beukelman. Should be a blast! I haven't been to the Dirtroom since its been re-vamped, but I hear good things. Wednesday all the interns get to take a tour through a real recording studio to get an idea of what its really like behind the music, and Friday is our intern throw-down trivia night.
That means that in addition to trying to get some responses for a show I'm booking in July (you'll have to wait to find out who!), trying to negotiate times between venues and 2 newer bands we are working with and everything else on my tasklist (not to mention organizing my tasklist!) I have to create some kind of study system so everything I've learned in the past 6 weeks will stick in my little brain even after the Friday night happy hour beer specials start flowing.
Wish me luck!
First, though, the weekend review I promised you. Friday was by far the highlight. Remember that rooftop party I mentioned? It was epic. When I got there we were ushered straight up to the roof despite the chilly temperatures. After a few brief grumbles I grabbed a drink and took in my surroundings. Who am I to be complaining when I am on a rooftop in Chicago with twinkly lights sparkling, a view of the skyline and live music getting set up not 20 feet from me? For my job?? So I shut my mouth.
Some sweet DJ action by none other than JiMMy CoN got the night started on the right foot, and the always fabulous Matt Kelly was awesome, as usual. The highlight, though? Ryan Sweeney, our very own boss man, got up there and proved to us that he really does know the music industry from all angles. The man has got a voice! I almost want to say he has a Cat Stevens kind of thing going on.... very impressive.
The most important thing, of course, is that Talia and Jon (the birthday buddies!) had a great time, which, judging from the large grins and lingering goodbyes, they did.
Saturday morning began bright and early, ushered in (thankfully) with Dunkin Donuts and (maybe less thankfully) our PR seminar. An informative hour in, we had a special guest from Biz 3 come to talk to us about the world of PR. After furiously taking notes for 45 minutes, we were released back into the sun, blinking like little white creatures crawling from a cave. The rest of the weekend was a blur of family responsibility for me while some of my fellow WFTMers took in a few other shows. Check out their thoughts on John Mayer at the United Center and The XX at Lincoln Hall.
Now back to Monday. Let's see, tomorrow night is a big line-up at Double Door's Dirtroom with Paper Thick Walls, Natalie Oliveri, Identity Crises, Inc. and Leslie Beukelman. Should be a blast! I haven't been to the Dirtroom since its been re-vamped, but I hear good things. Wednesday all the interns get to take a tour through a real recording studio to get an idea of what its really like behind the music, and Friday is our intern throw-down trivia night.
That means that in addition to trying to get some responses for a show I'm booking in July (you'll have to wait to find out who!), trying to negotiate times between venues and 2 newer bands we are working with and everything else on my tasklist (not to mention organizing my tasklist!) I have to create some kind of study system so everything I've learned in the past 6 weeks will stick in my little brain even after the Friday night happy hour beer specials start flowing.
Wish me luck!
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