Right when my name was starting to become known around the University of Minnesota, a Facebook Group popped up entitled “I Hate Ari Herstand.” With notoriety and marginal fame come the haters. The group happened to be started by a guy who dated a girl I wrote a song about, but moving on. One of the (five) members of the group was in a Minneapolis band. At the time, we were at about the same level with our local success.
+Who Is Ari?
A local college booking agency had taken notice of both of our acts and booked us to play a college event together. I played first with my band while the other band, containing the “I Hate Ari Herstand” member, waited in the dressing room.
+You Don’t Find A Manager, A Manager finds you
When the other band took the stage I could have told my band members to boycott their show, go sit in our dressing room and bitch about them, but I didn’t. We not only sat front row for the first few songs, but got everyone in the room to get up and move to the front of the stage where we started a massive dance party (didn’t hurt that this was an all girls school and we were 6 dudes).
After the show, the other band thanked us for being so enthusiastic and getting everyone dancing. We chatted at length and discussed playing future shows together.
The next day I noticed the “I Hate Ari Herstand” Facebook Group membership decreased by 1.
I spent the next year going to virtually every show this band played locally. We chatted after most shows. They played with other bands who I started following as well. For a few years I spent most evenings either playing a show or attending one.
Even if musicians in town didn’t care for my style of music, they appreciated my enthusiastic and positive presence at their shows and most of them began attending my shows as well.
Be a supportive member of your music community!
You may think that to make it in music you have to be cut throat and that it’s a race to the top; survival of the fittest. You need to immediately change this mentality. This business is all about relationships. People will work with you if they like you.
+It IS About Who You Know
+Don’t Be A Dick
By being a supportive member of the music community I not only made good friends, I increased my presence in the scene and got to know the scene first hand.
