Nadine Sez

-Clockwatcher

Dear Clockwatcher,

A timeline is a concrete visualization of what you are actually going to do in the next month, three months, six months, and one year. Timelines are designed to map out careers in a flexible fashion, with room for adjustments and changes when necessary. Your timeline changes to match how your music and music career change.

How can you know what you are going to do in the next month, the next three months, the next six months, the next year? Decide what you want to achieve and work backwards, breaking it down into small but effective activities.

Three-month increments are good for three reasons:

1. They give you a chance to create achievable results.
2. You won’t wander too far off the beaten path, in case you have to make course corrections.
3. Most people can’t envision beyond three months.

In three months, you can put a band together…write three songs…record a working demo to send to clubs. In the next six months, you can gig at out-of-the-way places on bad nights to get your set together…get a small fan base going…work the Internet. Three months after that, you can be playing opening slots on weekends…building your crowd…doing better publicity…getting your name around…creating a buzz. In one year’s time, you could be playing on a sold-out Saturday night.

If you want a big-name producer, you would time line back the steps necessary -- or work backwards from your end goal -- to attract their attention. This would include writing an attention-getting song. This song would be good enough to get a local producer of note to record it. This recording would be good enough to get played on a local demo or specialty show. This airplay would catch the ear of someone who could recommend it to a better-known producer.

Write down your timeline and keep adjusting it as necessary. Below is an example of a timeline for putting a band together...

Goal: Put a Band Together

Months 1–3:
• See lots of bands perform in music clubs.
• Post flyers in rehearsal spaces, guitar stores, coffeehouses, and recording studios.
• Place ads in newspapers, music newsletters, and on Internet music sites.

Months 4–6:
• Start to play and write songs with people who have responded to your ads.
• Discard apparent flakes, crazies, losers, psychos, and drama queens.
• Finalize solid lineup of flakes, crazies, losers, psychos, and drama queens masquerading as solid players.
• Start to write and play together.
• Start to get an image of you as a band.
• Let your daydreams run wild.
• Record bad rehearsal sessions and have fun.

Months 7–9:
• Get more comfortable and confident playing music as you realize no one will laugh at you.
• Begin to meet other bands more confidently.
• Commit to a serious rehearsal schedule.
• Realize that band members come and go as things get more serious.
• Invest in some better equipment.
• Develop the beginning of a 45-minute set.

Months 10–12:
• Play low-key shows in nontraditional venues and small clubs, or on off-nights in larger clubs.
• Understand that a nontraditional venue may not present live music currently but will consider your proposal.
• Remember that audiences in small neighborhood clubs are generally friendlier and less demanding than showcase clubs.
• Realize that showcase clubs may be open to you playing on an off-night just to see how many people you can pull in.

Best of luck,
Nadine Condon
The Godmother of Rock