Writing Your Band Bio

[john]

Hi

I want to have a discussion about writing your band bio. Please post up your band bio and we can all discuss them, critique them and of course learn from them.

In my blog I have also just made a post about writing your band bio called "5 Critical Elements Of Your Band Bio". I would really like some feedback on that post. I am more or less using my blog to write editorials which also are likely to be developed into fuller articles for Songstuff. Your feedback can really help add to the usefulness of the final article, as can your posts in reply to this topic.

It'll be interesting to look at the differnet bio styles.

Cheers

John

[quadrant5]

Not to seem picky, but I found this a bit interesting:

4. Highlights and Achievements

You definitely want to list your successes. You may hev had your music played on the radio,

Okay, I always (try to) spell have as h.a.v.e. but hev works, unless:

No Typos

If you think that a typo or two would not count against you, think again. A simple rule: NO TYPOS

Okay, it's not a big deal, I actually thought it was a bit funny, but I'm weeerd like dat.

To the point, I have no band [unless me playing guitar, bass (at seperate times) and adding fake drums count as a band]. However, for the sake of the usefulness (humility really) of this post, I will make one up.

[bio]

"Uncle Fred's Freedom Fighter Fighter's Of Yesteryear" was formed by Uncle fred and his sister, Aunt Betty in the backwoods of New Orleans in a small church while making their third child, Billy Bubba (they were in the back pews unnoticed by the choir when they started beltin' out some uh dem back home lovin' hymns when Uncle Fred started singin' along along and Aunt Betty started playing the drums on and the next thing they knew, they's was livin' the high life in "The Big Apple"... which Uncle Fred hollowed out his self).

The pair got started writin tunes when they heard that lovely tune by that singer guy, uh, whatsisface, and ain't lookd back since.

The band was the first ever band to be inducted into the Harwood county jail/ hall of fame for moonshinin', pochin' and with yer cousinin (all in one day!!!).

From the "Homewrecker Gossip Magazeene":

Fred, Betty, Robkin and Fredbert was all 'rested Saterdae when Fred askedthedentistly drove hims old F150 intuh the county mourge with a box full at the old family recipe. A warent then led the poleece to the family ranh where Robkin and her cuzin Fredbert were, well, we ain't allowed to write no dirty stories, so wes can't talks aboot what Robkin and Fredbert was done caught doin'.

[/bio]

In all seriousness though, the article (blog post) was extremely informative and could really benifit bands looking to some self-promotion.

The only thing I would like to point out (that isn't completely asinine) is the bit about personal notes, the "Ricky played violin since..." bit. Adding it into the band bio is a bad idea, but I enjoy going to band websites and reading about the band memebers themselves as well as the band as a whole. It gives a bit more of a personl connection that allows (me at least) to get a deeper understanding of their music. That's just me though and it's not really relevant.

Overall, great job and a very great read.

[john]

I don't know what typo you mean?

lol

I soooo knew that I would have made a typo when I added that section! lol Funny Thanks for pointing it out.

On the point about personal notes, it is not the use of personal information that is bad, it is the relevance of it and the bland presentation of it. Music industry pros aren't interested in that sort of detail, and they are turned off very easily. They are however interested in relevant facts about band members, the forming of the band and more importantly to get a sense of the band, their attutde, their ambition, what is appealing about them and what sets them apart.

Glad you liked the article and found it useful! Thank you for your comments! I will re-read that section and see if I can make that point clearer.

Cheers

John

[JamTimeMusic]

Cool Post John,

I will apply these tips and post my bio soon.

JD

[john]

Thanks JD!

[upperlines]

Hey!

You can read our bio here.

I think it's a really difficult job to gather the aim, the way you do, and all the ideas in a small text.

That's why i wonder if it wouldn't be easier to ask someone (a friend or someone who know you very well) to write your bio. Think that the bio could be better this way... Maybe i'll try, i know some who are able to write something good...

Seb

[Prometheus]

I may as well find out all the things I did wrong with my old band bio...

Artist Bio

MOONSTRUCK IS A PROJECT THAT ORIGINATED IN AYRSHIRE, ON THE SOUTH WEST COAST OF SCOTLAND IN LATE 2007 WITH GRAEME YOUNG (MYSELF) AND ALAN FREW. WE HAVE NOW BEEN JOINED BY LYRICIST KIMBERLY TRIBBLE FROM MICHIGAN IN THE USA.

ALAN AND I WERE WORKING ON A SOUND ENGINEERING PROJECT IN THE STUDIO IN MY HOUSE IN THE SUMMER OF 2007 AND DISCOVERED THAT WHEN WE'D TRACKED A GUITAR SOLO AND PLAYED A MIXOLYDIAN DOUBLE TRACK OVER IT THERE WERE VERY BEAUTIFUL AND DISTINCTIVE HARMONIC PROPERTIES.

WE PLAYED AROUND WITH THIS TRYING OUT VARIOUS KEYS AND MODES, USING BOTTLENECK SLIDES, CAPOS AND FINGERING TECHNIQUES, COMBINING THESE LEAD SOLOS WITH RIFFS THAT HAVE RUNNING EIGHT EIGHT TIMING. WITH THE ADDITION OF SOME PHASING, FILTERING AND CHORUS EFFECTS WE HAD THE MAKINGS OF A TRADEMARK MOONSTRUCK GUITAR SOUND.

TO FILL THIS OUT, WE HAVE OUR ELECTRONIC DRUMMER, WHICH I CHRISTENED ERIS HATHOR AFTER ERIS, THE GREEK GODDESS OF DISCORD, AND HATHOR, THE ANCIENT EGYPTIAN GODDESS OF MUSIC. ERIS HATHOR IS ACTUALLY A PC BASED DRUM SEQUENCER SIDE-CHAINED THROUGH AN SSL TALKBACK COMPRESSOR AND SOME VST PLUGINS.

AT FIRST I TRIED TO MAKE THE DRUMS SOUND AS LIVE AND HUMAN AS POSSIBLE BUT SOON REALIZED THIS WAS NOT WORKING. WHILE I WAS TRYING TO DECIDE WHETHER OR NOT TO ABANDON ERIS HATHOR AND HIRE A LIVE DRUMMER, I SAW THE SISTER'S OF MERCY PERFORMING LUCRETIA ON YOUTUBE AND DECIDED THAT THEY HAD THE RIGHT APPROACH, SO I FOLLOWED THEIR EXAMPLE AND DELIBERATELY EMPHASIZED THE MACHINE LIKE QUALITY OF ERIS HATHOR'S SOUND.

FINALLY, I ADDED VERY SIMPLE STRAIGHT BASS LINES SO THAT I COULD PLAY BASS WHILE SINGING THE SONGS LIVE WITHOUT DIFFICULTY. THE VOCAL SOUND IS A KIND OF TIRED BARITONE THAT GIVES THE SONGS A DARK FEEL AND COMPLETES THE AMBIANCE.

KIMBERLY IS A VERY PROLIFIC LYRICIST WHO CAN WRITE LONG WEIGHTY EPICS IN MINUTES WITHOUT HAVING TO MAKE A SINGLE CORRECTION. I FELL IN LOVE WITH HER WORK AT ONCE AND SHE LET ME ARRANGE MUSIC FOR A FANTASTIC SONG SHE'D WRITTEN CALLED MY BEAUTIFUL RAIN.

[Gangleri]

A very thought provoking post! I especially like the idea of writing bios of different lengths and ahead of time, that's a good shout. I'll be trying that out and maybe posting them up here for some feedback in the next few days.

[rbaker181]

Hey i work for 'Daylight Music Productions' this is a bio that i did for one of my artist 'Jack Williams'

Jack is one of the latest artists to be offered a development deal by DMP.

Jack Williams is a 19 year old acoustic singer-songwriter from Southampton. He has been musical all his life, singing for as long as he can remember and playing guitar for the last 5 years. His songs contain heartfelt and inspiring lyrics, catchy melodies and an impressive skill in his guitar playing and vocals that combine to create one of the freshest, most original sounds around. Jack also has a unique style of playing his guitar with a violin bow, which he uses on some of his tracks. Used sometimes with a loop pedal, he builds up incredible layers of sound that will leave you inspired and amazed.

He takes influences from the likes of Bon Iver, City & Colour, John Mark McMillan and Mumford & Sons, yet has managed to create his own distinct sound.

Jack has played many shows around Southampton, gradually building up his fan base. In 2011 he won Quest for the Chest, beating 31 other local bands and soloists to the top spot and winning himself an organised UK mini-tour and a headline Christmas show. He has recently been noticed by an A&R team working for Daylight Music Productions who are working with him over the coming months to push Jack towards the success he deserves.

Keep an eye out for this one, he is not one to be missed.

“A jaw-dropping performance to say the very least. Consistently impressive throughout his set with exceptional guitar riffs which emphasized his insane talent….A world class, must-see act, the sky is the limit for him.†– Mel Jones Reviews

“Jack Williams is a one of a kind musician, and performs a mixture of skilfully reworked covers as well as his own beautiful originals.†– Soul Cellar

[Orrin]

I know this is an old thread but I was putting some thought into this the last little while so I just wanted to add my 2-cents from that experience.

I wanted to keep mine as short as possible. Something which will hopefully be interesting enough to get people to listen. I don't think people need to know all the details, in fact I think it's probably better to leave it a little "mysterious"... especially since a lot of my listeners will know me personally too. I've got a couple of interviews online now which spread more details, so if people are genuinely curious for more, they can find it out anyway.

Here's the bio:

"Bohemian Hobo Acoustic Folk Rock from the deepest darkest suburbs of Sydney."

I actually kinda wrote it as a bit of a joke but then it got run in some publications so now I'm happy with it sticking.