Getting Gigs; with Luke Rinaldi
- Amber Baldock
- Jul 20, 2020
- 4 min read
How do I find gigs? Who do I contact?
2 days ago I got to talk one on one with of one of the best dudes in our local scene.
Published 20th July 2020.
Luke Rinaldi is the venue booker, band manager and booking agent of all the good names in Perth, and also the well deserved winner of several Golden WAMi awards for his contribution to the industry and his role in managing bands like New Talk, The Love Junkies and Red Jezebel.
When I hit him up a week ago to pick his brain about the industry and what bands need to do to get gigs, he was more than happy to have a chat.
We talked about ways bands can go about getting gigs, what to include in a pitch email, and how booking agents can help with it.
Most of what he had to tell me will be loaded into my soon-to-be-released book, Getting Started: Music Industry and Networking, but some of it was too good not to share in the meantime.
Check out how it went below;
Something I wasn't sure about when I first started, was how to find gigs. Do they reach out to the venues? Do they reach out to you?
"I think probably one of the more common wrong first ideas, is the venues, at least in Australia. In America, or even London you can walk up to a venue and ask for a gig, they'll say sure, you can play Thursday night, and you'll be on a line up with four other random bands. Which doesn't really make sense in terms of creating an actual show or event. Really, you want to get in touch with the venues if you want to put on your own show."
What about reaching out to you?
"I mean, there are times still where I will put bills together, maybe less so now, but it's not the ideal situation. I think the best way, particularly in Perth, is to get in touch with other bands, in a community sort of sense. But the times that bands do reach out looking to get on a bill, I'll try obviously to make it work. If I have four bands that are unattached, that will fit together then, cool, we might have a bit of a theme going and they'll play a show together, maybe become friends for life."
So, when bands do reach out to you, what do you look for?
"Well, one of the first things I usually ask is where are you based? Another is, what bands would they like to play with? Are there any bands they share a similar social circle to, and if they reply with 'nah that's fine, we'll play with anyone,' then that means they don't know any bands. And that's fine, if you don't know any personally, but I don't understand how you can be in a band, but not know about other bands? It's baffling."
Okay fair, so it's more about knowing your local scene?
"Well, if your so interested to pick up an instrument and be in a band, are you not interested enough to see other bands? Without any sense of community, how do they get going?"
Awesome, on that note, what should we be including in our email? How do we pitch ourselves?
"I think it's got to be something that clearly states what you're wanting, if you know what you want, if you don't know that's also fine, but say so, and always do it with a level of politeness and professionalism. Always contact via email, not phone, and definitely not social media.
Include some links to your music and social media, you don't need everything, and preferably no attachments. The social media is handy too, because then it means you don't need to include a photo and a bio, because it's all on there. And whatever your main site is, whether it's Facebook or a website, always make sure there is an email address on there too. So clarity, politeness, professionalism, via email, I think that's the way to go. And I think, nothing too pushy."
So, can you explain to me the role of a manager vs a booking agent when it comes to getting gigs? You play both roles with a few different bands, what is the difference and how do they help?
"I guess a manager would obviously cover all or the majority of the aspects of an artist, a booking agent would only really be looking after there live arrangements. Where as the manager would also be covering the promotion, the releasing schedules, and the admin side of things. Often times then, the booking agent contacts the manager or whoever the main person in the band is. But there's also probably no point of a band getting a booking agent, just to get more gigs. If they are not already getting gigs, the booking agent probably isn't going to change that.
I think in general, when they need a booking agent is probably when they say okay, do I want to do this stuff myself? Maybe someone is perfectly adept at doing it, but simply doesn't have the time or the inclination."
Okay, so it doesn't necessarily mean more gigs, like if a new band wants to get a booking agent to get more shows.
"Yeah exactly, it's really about getting someone to help with the strategy."
I hope some of you found this conversation useful. It's definitely enlightened myself on a few subjects, and I'm truly grateful to Rinaldi for taking some time to answer these for me.
Personally, I 100% agree with the need to get out there and see other bands. Going to shows and networking in person really opens up a lot of doors for you and your band. Obviously with the world in such a state right now, that advice is subjective for the time being. But it's definitely a useful piece to keep in mind.
So when it comes to getting gigs, it helps to know your local scene. Reach out to other bands over venues or booking agents, though if your looking to put on your own show, contacting the venue is the way to go. As for booking agents and managers, their role is not to get you more gigs, rather, to help strategize your live arrangements and take the workload off you.
As the old saying goes, it's not about what you know, but who you know.
Take care,
- Amber
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