Being Independent is Tough Stuff
Photo by Henry Lin
The five-piece Canadian Indie Rock band No Island is preparing to invade your ears. Their recently released album, Sign of the Times, is garnering lots of attention for its unique ability to combine a Classic Rock sound with Jazzy undertones. Their album conveys a sense of warmth similar to that of a vinyl record.
Still fairly new, the band is trying to make a name for itself in the increasingly competitive music world. As with so many things, making it in the music business isn’t simple. The music scene has never before been so saturated and the road to success is full of bumps and obstacles.
No Island, however, is not afraid of a challenge. And it’s a good thing too, because for the time being, the group is trying to make a run at the business without the assistance of a record label or management team. I asked Andy Rice and James Wilfred Martin, the driving forces behind No Island’s do-it-yourself business model, to highlight some of the hardships of being an independent band.
(c)2012 Keith R. Martin
“For any band, but especially for an independent and unsigned band without a management team, booking agent and press agency, music is only a small part of the equation,” explained Andy, who is No Island’s keyboard player and occasional vocalist.
“As the finished and final product, the music is ultimately what people see when you hit the stage and play your set, or what they hear when they listen to your CD.”
“However, there are tons of large-yet-invisible details that need to be taken care of on a daily basis in order book venues, develop a brand and identity, grow a fan base, and maintain connections.”
“James and I handle most of the day-to-day operations of the band — the bookings, the emails, the business details”, he continued. “I love working on these things just as much as playing, but it does sometimes stand in the way of the creative process”.
(c)2012 Keith R. Martin
“There’s a ton of exhausting work that has to go into the business side of things that I don’t believe an independent band can afford to ignore,” added James, No Island’s saxophone player and the songwriter behind much of the material on the group’s debut album. “It’s definitely a lot of work, and you’re usually trying to do it on top of half a dozen other ‘more important’ things like work or school.”
“We were trying to make this thing while going to school full time. I’d be in class all day, maybe get some homework done in the evening, stay up all night mixing or recording additional parts with one of the other guys, and then would wake up and do it all again the next day,” he said.
“The hardest thing, I think, is that all that energy isn’t even going directly into your music. Instead, it’s going toward many of the less creative details that surround it”.
