The Quite Great Music Marketing and Label services team spend a great deal of time working with bands and artists across all musical genres every day of their lives and the question the Quite Great guys are always being asked by their artists is , how do we make money out of our music, so it is totally refreshing when an artist comes to us and tells us how they already make money out of their music, it is doubly refreshing when that band makes money out of the hardest genre in the book potentially that of Punk, so you just have to read what the guys in the band, The Healthy Junkies outline below and i guarantee you will be inspired, but before you read any further check out their site www.healthyjunkies.co.uk you will love what you see and hear.
‘Nina and I work as a team, full time self employed DIY punk rockers forging ahead against all odds in an underground scene that has taken quite beating over the last few years, what with venues closing down, alcohol prices at gigs soaring and a hell of a lot of competition. We have been running our own monthly night for live bands and a DJ for over 3 years now at a venue called the Unicorn in Camden . It is a free entry night called Punk n roll Rendezvous. Payment comes from selling merch (Tshirts, CDs etc), a percentage of the bar taking, a whip round with a hat for petrol money for the band travelling the furthest ( we always have one band from out of town, this has helped build our reputation on a national scale, and we often get asked to play in return with these bands. Places like Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol are now part of our regular circuit). As a result of playing so many gigs all over the country we have met various agents, promoters and independent record labels who have helped us along the way booking us at festivals large and small, gigs alongside bigger acts like the UK Subs, Vibrators, The Rezillos and more. We have also done many gigs UK wide in small venues as headline act, playing alongside other underground bands with a similar attitude and outlook, crashing on peoples floors to save money wherever we go. . We basically became part of what is a still thriving underground scene really by just getting out there and playing to whoever would have us pretty much, surviving by selling merch along the way, payments for the gigs usually just cover expenses.I also do a certain amount of guitar tuition to supplement my income, my mother was a piano teacher for many years, at one point she had over 100 pupils teaching both at home and in schools. I learned from her. Nina occasionally teaches French to supplement her income too.’
‘ As far as song writing goes.’ Continues Phil from the duo , ‘ Nina and I write together. Sometimes it could be a guitar riff or set of chords that I come up with and Nina takes an interest and puts a vocal melody on with a working lyric.; We then discuss what the song may be about ( Nina is good at direction for song ideas) , then the two of us set about completing the lyric and finishing the story with a brain storming session that happens quite quickly. Sometimes we have had to make songs up on the spot at gigs because of various line up changes maybe the other band members only knew 10 songs and we needed to play 15 to do an extended set. This happens a lot in France, Holland and Germany where we have also toured many times. Sometimes you get a good paying gig and 2 or 3 hour long sets are required and there is no support band. Incidentally in Europe the pay is better, they provide accommodation and always a meal and breakfast for the band as well as free drinks all night, sometimes it gets messy with all those free drinks !
We have also experimented with starting the songs from a drum beat or a bass line and then Nina and I add our guitar/vocals/lyrics , take the raw idea home and arrange it into a song. This is good because that way the whole band has an added interest in the song from the beginning. Other songs are started with a vocal melody and one line of a lyric from Nina, then I get involved and maybe add another section to go with. These song writing processes are very rewarding and a lot of fun but can also get very intense, especially when we don’t agree on something, but we’re usually on the same page when it comes to writing songs. We like to travel for inspiration when we can. One example of that is a song called ‘Witches of lust’ on our second album, there is a video for it on youtube too. We visited the ancient temples in Malta and could not help be inspired, taking in the spirit of the times gone by and letting it flow onto the page in the form of a goth type punk tune.’
The guys at Quite Great have total respect for Phil and Nina and if you have fully read what is written by Phil and have checked out their site we hope it has inspired you as well and that you will continue to check them out and tell your friends as these guys deserve a big leg up as they are a template for all developing artists as to how to run your band as a business and make your music matter.