Artist Story: Paul Natkin

The challenges are too many to list here but the most critical are:

1.) Building an audience
2.) Getting gigs

Let’s explore building an audience.
At a conference, I once heard a keynote speaker say “To build an audience, first sign up your parents, then all of your brothers and sisters, and then all of your friends.” What the guy was really saying is that you have to build your audience in a grass roots fashion. The days of putting out a record and selling out a 1000 seat venue the next week are over. You have to start from the bottom and work your way up. And you have to do it in a way that continually builds your fan base.

Step 1: Put together a 15 minute set of your material and start taking it to open mic nights around the area. Bring someone with you to judge the audience’s response to your songs, and if a song is not working, drop it from the set. Every time you play, tell your friends and family and get them to attend. Sign them all up to your email list. This shows the venue owner that you can bring a crowd, and provides you with the basis for your fan base.

Step 2: After doing this for a while, ask the venue owner if you can have an off night to do an evening of your music. Promote this night like crazy!! Get everyone you know to come. Sign them up to your list. At the end of the night, if you were successful, ask for another, better night.

Step 3: Send out an email blast for the next event, stressing that everyone on the list should come and bring a friend! If this night is successful, document the size of the crowd and have the venue owner write you a recommendation.

Keep on repeating this as your audience gets larger, continue to sign everyone up to your list (this is the most important part of the process).

Getting a gig requires a similar process.

Step 1: Document your earlier successes. Your efforts audience building has a lot to do with getting booked at venues. The main concern of anyone booking you to play a club is: How many people can you bring in? One booking guy that I know had this to say: “I am not a booking agent. I am a beer salesman. The talent of the band is second to their audience draw. I am trying to sell alcohol! If you don’t draw, that is the thing the booker is always going to have on his mind when you call him. Work slowly to increase your audience.

Step 2: Approach venues that you know you can bring a good crowd to. More than likely you only have one shot at these places. Ask the venue if they can pair your band with a similar band that has a good draw, so you can play in front of their audience. Work with that band to share the show- especially the promotion of the show. If two bands share the cost of making posters, they can make much cooler posters!

Step 3: Develop that next club. If you have a good draw when you play there the first time, don’t immediately think about a bigger place. Go to the booker that night and book another show at the same place. Develop that into selling out the club, then start thinking about a bigger place. If you dedicate some time to a smaller venue, you’ll see results and you will have a much better story for the bigger venue.

Remember, getting the gig is just the first step in the chain of events called “having a career.”

You then have to follow through on the next events, keeping in contact with your audience without being a pest, and continuing to build that audience as your career gets bigger!

 

Paul Natkin started out working with his father as the team photographer of the Chicago Bulls. He took him along and Paul learned photography in the trenches, shooting sports in the Chicago area for about 5 years. Paul discovered music photography and started switching over in 1976. He was working as the official photographer for the Oprah Winfrey Show from 1986-1993, when the music business work started taking over all of his time.

Through the years, he has photographed most of the major music stars of the last half of the 20th century. Among many credits, he has had the covers of Newsweek (Bruce Springsteen), Ebony (Tina Turner), People (Prince), and many music magazines from around the world. He has also photographed many album covers including Ozzy Osbourne and Johnny Winter, to name a few. He has done promotional photos and merchandising photos for many artists. Today he continues to photograph many of the new young bands of our time, along with the older bands that he keeps a business relationship with. Paul also consults independent bands regarding furthering their careers.

Paul is also Executive Director for the Chicago Music Commission.