General Music Chat

Ive been on here a while and on other sites trying to put together a band and have not really been that successful. But recently a situation happened to possibly get one of my old bands back together again. A local bar has contacted a former member about us playing on sunday afternoons for a biker ride in deal. They want a kick butt house band and I think that my old Aint Yo Mama band fits the bill, our old songlist would go a long way with these folks cause they are the same age as me, ride their Harleys and spend big money for entertainment. Our old bassist and singer are in an original band but arent making any real money, the bassist is fully onboard and the singer is coming around if he doesnt have to book it. But the singer does own a full pa so equipment is not an issue.

Im not really interested in a long term bar gig but this place advertise's on a local radio station all over West TN which is our market. The gig is outdoors from 4-8 pm. Im going to put together a promo pack and hit the guy up for a premium price for our area with the idea I could negotiate down some if he would push our name on his radio adds with the emphasis on the biker crowd.

What I need are ideas to capture the Harley Yuppie market. I feel like if I can put this together that over time we could become the go to band for the local Motorcycle community, they have rallys, festivals, partys all sorts of gigs. And with a band name like Aint Yo Mama, I can see all the women wearing our t-shirts. Im just opening up a thread for ideas, merchandise that maybe I havent thought about and in the process maybe some of you other guys can get ideas for in your area.

Crip I know you are a biker, it might be a place to market Panik Attack to a crowd that will pay up to hear your band.

Anyway any help and ideas would be appreciated.

Sounds like you are already on the right track for making $$. I'm sure you already know having a nice looking girl selling your t-shirts, cd's, bumper stickers, etc. on the side is a good money maker.

Outside of that, I'm not entirely sure of what you are asking. You seem conflicted on what you want.

Mention freedom, independence, Rock and Roll, USA, Made in America often. Use a lot of eagles, skulls and US flags for icons. Black and Orange are Harley’s official colors, so use it often. Don’t forget leather, studs, spikes, tassels and most importantly chrome, lots of it. Chrome on anything related Harley, is like an aphrodisiac to a biker.

Chrome lighters, chrome belt buckles, chrome key and wallet chains, chrome posts and earrings etc. Buy some chrome accessories, and mark it up 20%, it’ll sell. If they are they’re having a great time already, then they are already in the mood to buy stuff.

Air filter covers, gas tank tops and foot pegs would sell the easiest, since they are easy to install and make an immediate noticeable difference on a bike. How much into the merchandising are you willing to go? If you do leather jackets concentrate on the ladies. Get plus and extra large sizes, they are usually sold out at most Harley dealers. They don’t have to say Harley, they just have to look the part. Most guys have one favorite that’s worn too perfectly to rid of, but the girls seem to never have enough of them, that and boots. Don’t forget sunglasses and black leather gloves, can never have to many of them either.

And generic handkerchiefs. Should be able to get them cheap and mark them up for an ok profit. A generic item with multiple uses on a bike. Cleaning bug guts, checking oil, cleaning before mentioned sunglasses, bandana on a cold ride and head wrap when it’s hot.

Glad for ya John. The yup girl bikechicks use this thing to keep their hair into a ponytail so when they go to the office on monday they dont have bike doo. I dont remember what its called but I,ll check with my bud who does this kinda stuff. Get in touch with one of your local leathershop guys. They usually have lots of ideas about trinkets for people to spend money on. Like shot glases with leather covers. These people often drink and smoke with abandon on their weekend off and that can be a market angle as well.

I like to make a few bucks, And we all know that gigin' is hard work. But the main reason I've been doin' it since 1965 is primarily "FOR THE FRIGGIN' FUN OF IT!"

If it feels right, ROCK THE JOINT, MotercycleMan!

Howlin, Ive pretty much always worked at the club level and I do enjoy playing, but it looks to me like if you target a certain market and can get them behind you, there is some money to be made along with having fun. My idea with the biker crowd is if you can win them over to you, which means to me just playing whatever they want to hear, I guess that means brushing up on Stairway and Freebird or whatever, heck thats a whole other issue. But if you could become the go to band for this community of people, then it looks like you could get into some of their rallys, festivals and bike shows. This is a more mature crowd thats wants to cut loose and will spend some money.

In the past we never really had a plan just go in and play whatever we felt good about and if the crowd didnt like it srew em cause were musicians. I think for anyone here the first key is to identify who you want to play for and then cater to them. Being an older musician I cant expect to play heavy music for 15 yr olds anymore, they dont have any money to spend on me anyway, so why fool myself with that crowd. But the bikers crowd is 35-60, which is my peer group, I grew up with the same music they did.

Heck Im rambling, but maybe some other people on here will look at their music more from a business sense instead of the idealist veiw we all get about haveing fun. I mean I would play an hr set every weekend for free if all I had to do was show up plug in my guitar and leave afterwards. Its just all the other stuff that goes into it 4x12 cabs, pa, drunks spitting in my face when Im sober, dealing with club owners on and on and on.........................For all that i should get paid something.

Foot pegs & other accessories that do double-duty as single hitters & pipes & bongs, or flasks, or stash boxes...heh heh heh

Getting in with bikers is good. As you mentioned, they have TONS of rallies and festivals and bike rides, and the doors will open for you for MANY of these. When they like you, they like you.

We're playing a biker rally here in Georgia soon, and we expect it to open doors to many more biker events.

Get yourself a good logo, hopefully with a hot chick or bike on it (or both) and you can get it made into a patch. Bikers put lots of patches on their leather. They buy good quality patches, that have to be sewn on, and that mean something to them. Maybe a hot chick with "Ain't Yo Mama" semi-circled on top, with a band URL semi-circled underneath, would be saleable to them, as the message is funny, and the chick is hot, and you can't pay for that type of advertising, when that guy wears it all over the country. T-shirts are obvious, use the same design.

Merchandising is limited only by what you have to invest in it. You can do caps, traditional or leather, beer mugs, frisbees (seriously, lots of these are outdoor events, maybe the chicks will buy them to play with) ashtrays, cigarette cases, lighters, anything is possible.

We just invested in some custom guitar picks. Glow in the dark, with "Southern Mischief" on it, and a silhouette of a chick (think James Bond movies) on it. These are not for selling, but for passing out to good fans, or throwing out to the crowd, as a way for them to take something home with them, with our band name on it, and keep us in their minds. They are relatively cheap, and a good form of advertising.

One biker event will lead to many if they like you bro!

Good luck!

and never forget about the power of a diverse market while you take aim at a specific one bikers have kids after all but you sound like you have most all the ideas you really need, just need the details

Craig, We still have some of the old logos, I just cant figure out how to scan them for you to see. But one of them had a shadow of a stripper on a pole with the logo. I might have to pull some of those out. They might go over on a patch, thanks thats a great idea. Everytime I see a Harley rider they have all those patches from whereever theyve been.

Some of their t-shirts crack me up. I saw one the other day, it said on the back "If your reading this the bitch fell off" or "Wanted New Bitch To Cover The Back Of This Shirt"

Man am i gald I loged on for this!
I can help you out BIGTIME...I have several suggestions that can net you good money but i would rather tell you person to person versus a forum....myspace me or message me here so i can hook you up....my brother is actually a marketer and I KNOW he can give you some pointers.