OC Music Magazine

David Sachs

Hey everyone, things have been pretty hectic lately, so to help things get back on track I'll be writing daily blogs on what's going on. Some will be short and others more detailed but I hope you find them all interesting!

This is a short one.

Today I took my girlfriend to the Irvine Spectrum to see 2012--the new end of the world move. I enjoyed the film but this is not a movie magazine. The Spectrum will have bands play occasionally near the Cigar Factory and tonight featured an acoustic trio; unfortunatley I walked by in time for only two songs but one was a Beatles cover tune that caught my ear.

This brought two things to my attention: public exposure gigs are valuable and cover songs are just as important. To address the first, I always split shows into two categories (exposure and payed). As an upcoming band you will rarely mix the two so it's important to know the difference and use it to your advantage. When is it okay to take a financial hit? When is it better to turn down the gig? Splitting potential shows into these categories will help answer these questions.

Second are cover tunes. In this day of singer/songwriters it seems cover songs have become taboo; this is irrational as people will always perk up their ears to familiar songs. If you hook someone enough for them to stay for your set, you have a new fan (congratulations). Important to note is that the cover should not be the original's twin, i.e. change it enough to make it your own; in fact I would suggest a recognizable song outside of your genre, using your own style to bring it into your set.

More to come, stay tuned!