We recently traveled to Daytona Beach to perform as part of the WinterJam Festival. Anyone who has seen our YouTube channel (youtube.com/ghostofgloria) knows that when we're traveling, things get a little crazy. You may expect me to tell you crazy stories about how our hotel room smelled like wet farts or that we scared the living crap out of an entire Friendly's restaurant. But no, I can do one better.
You see, on the day of the show, we had to load in our equipment to the festival stage at 8 am. Once we realized that the majority of the other bands had totally disregarded the instructions to load in at the break of dawn, we promptly parked our trailer and headed off to eat breakfast. Believe it or not, we are notorious for being one of the few bands that show up on time, follow instructions, etc. We have yet to see the benefits of this, but we continue to play by the rules regardless. Wasn't it Woody Allen who said 80% of success is showing up? Well, we are pretty darn successful.
Anyway, back to the story.
We enthusiastically roll into the Friendly's restaurant next to our hotel. Once inside, Jeff orders a stack of chocolate pancakes with ice cream and cool whip on top and chocolate syrup to pour all over it. While we marvel at Jeff's awesome food borne prowess, Mark C begins to tell us the story of his dream the night before. Last time Mark had a dream, I became convinced that we had been abducted by aliens during the night, so you know its gotta be good if he's sharing it.
Mark's dream began with an angry phone call from Mark P. Apparently there's a show starting right now and Mark C is sitting at home, totally unaware that he had somewhere to be. He finally arrives at the show and all three other bandmembers glare at him. Throughout the show, just nasty, malicious staring right at him. Mark C feels terrible but at the same time begins to think that the guys are overreacting about a simple mistake.
After a not so great show, Mark returns home and feels compelled to check our Ghost of Gloria blog, which is normally attended by Mark P. He is shocked, even furious, to see that the blog is titled:
MARK CALDWELL: PROFESSIONAL OR DOUCHE?
Really, I can't say much more than that. It is more awesome than anything I could possibly come up with on my own. I would have named the actual blog post accordingly but didn't want to cause confusion right at the outset. Let it be known that Mark C is indeed a douche.
Hey, his subconscious said so.
To speak more realistically about the weekend, we had a good time and were treated exceedingly well by all of the event staff. We didn't end up in the red after travel and associated expenses... a rare feat for a band like ours. So kudos to the people at WinterJam for being supportive of what we do.
Since then, we have put a great deal of effort toward getting some good shows together. Unfortunately we haven't had any to announce yet other than April 24 in Sarasota, FL with Eye Empire. But rest easy, we are working hard to get some good shows to showcase some of our new material. When all the pieces are in place, you'll be the first to know.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Jeff keeps his T.P. in the fridge
Well, yes. He does. While you ponder how strange that is, I'll recap some of the latest in Ghost of Gloria land.
We've worked hard to revamp a bunch of things this year and we're excited to be rolling out new t-shirt designs for our show at Daytona WinterJam at the end of February. Of course, there's more to merchandise than just t-shirts, so we're working on a whole slew of nifty things for your everyday enjoyment that will say "Ghost of Gloria" in one way or another. Stay tuned for all of them!
We've also spent a lot of time in our new band warehouse/rehearsal space/studio/fun house. Among other things, we hope to record new demos, write new material and even shoot some videos there. We also eat and sleep there because all four of us are flat-broke rock musicians who don't need a shower anyway.
You think I'm kidding.
Due to time constraints today, I'm going to keep this post short. Bigger update coming next time!
Til then, keep your toilet paper cold.
We've worked hard to revamp a bunch of things this year and we're excited to be rolling out new t-shirt designs for our show at Daytona WinterJam at the end of February. Of course, there's more to merchandise than just t-shirts, so we're working on a whole slew of nifty things for your everyday enjoyment that will say "Ghost of Gloria" in one way or another. Stay tuned for all of them!
We've also spent a lot of time in our new band warehouse/rehearsal space/studio/fun house. Among other things, we hope to record new demos, write new material and even shoot some videos there. We also eat and sleep there because all four of us are flat-broke rock musicians who don't need a shower anyway.
You think I'm kidding.
Due to time constraints today, I'm going to keep this post short. Bigger update coming next time!
Til then, keep your toilet paper cold.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Success!
Our new music is out! What a relief for all of us. Between getting the music together, setting up the distribution and that Kickstarter campaign, we've kept really busy over the past two weeks! We want to say a heartfelt THANKS to everyone who supported our campaign on Kickstarter.com! It really came down to the last 24 hours but we met and exceeded our goal. It means the world to us that so many people truly want to see our band succeed.
Now we find ourselves in a new position. We actually have the funds to do some of the things that we always talked about doing. We can follow through with our goal of three new releases this year. We can pursue publicity outlets that were closed to us before. We're planning on a whole new line of merchandise too! Wooohoooo! We're a REAL band!!!
Of course, the moment we reached our goals and released the EP, it meant we had a whole new to-do list. We're working now to fulfill every single reward that people signed up for on the Kickstarter site. That means signing a whole lot of photos, planning a BBQ that will have around 60 people in attendance, planning some open rehearsals, a golf outing, a lesson or two and a private party! I'm tired just typing that stuff. Not to mention how stressful it was to make sure we sent the EP out to our supporters on the day of its release. Inevitably, there were a few quirks and we're trying to make sure that absolutely everyone who pre-paid for the EP has received it. We're NOT ok with screwing anyone over!
Side note: if you supported our Kickstarter campaign and you haven't gotten the "Trial + Virtue, Volume One" link in your email box yet, PLEASE email the band at ghostofgloria (at) gmail.com. Don't wait another minute!
Well, for the rest of the world, GO BUY THE NEW MUSIC! Its on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon mp3... everywhere! Not trying to sound like an advertisement, but hey, it is what it is.
Check back again soon!
Now we find ourselves in a new position. We actually have the funds to do some of the things that we always talked about doing. We can follow through with our goal of three new releases this year. We can pursue publicity outlets that were closed to us before. We're planning on a whole new line of merchandise too! Wooohoooo! We're a REAL band!!!
Of course, the moment we reached our goals and released the EP, it meant we had a whole new to-do list. We're working now to fulfill every single reward that people signed up for on the Kickstarter site. That means signing a whole lot of photos, planning a BBQ that will have around 60 people in attendance, planning some open rehearsals, a golf outing, a lesson or two and a private party! I'm tired just typing that stuff. Not to mention how stressful it was to make sure we sent the EP out to our supporters on the day of its release. Inevitably, there were a few quirks and we're trying to make sure that absolutely everyone who pre-paid for the EP has received it. We're NOT ok with screwing anyone over!
Side note: if you supported our Kickstarter campaign and you haven't gotten the "Trial + Virtue, Volume One" link in your email box yet, PLEASE email the band at ghostofgloria (at) gmail.com. Don't wait another minute!
Well, for the rest of the world, GO BUY THE NEW MUSIC! Its on iTunes, CDBaby, Amazon mp3... everywhere! Not trying to sound like an advertisement, but hey, it is what it is.
Check back again soon!
Friday, January 21, 2011
High Gear
We're just a few days away from the release of our band's second EP. "Trial + Virtue, Volume One" is coming out on Tuesday the 25th and we've tried to get the word out as well as we can. One thing is obvious to us at this point; it's easier to promote something that is already available than it is to promote something that hasn't been released yet. Perhaps the most frustrating part is that we won't know how effective our efforts have been for another few weeks. But we are excited!
Already, the focus of our efforts has shifted. Now we need to address our merchandise. Our goal is to have new and better "GOG" swag very soon. Everybody knows about t-shirts, posters and stickers. That's the easy stuff. But we're looking at other items too. How do we set ourselves apart? Thongs? Shot glasses? We've probably considered two dozen different ideas. A few of them are really exciting, but our fingers are still crossed because we need to make sure we're selling quality. Whether its our music, performances, or merchandise, we're a group that believes in quality. Unfortunately, quality adds work and increases cost, which is why we're just so darn busy all the time.
We're also looking at the possibility of another music video. As many of our fans know, we already have a video for the song "Fight," off of our last release. After that experience, music videos have been a touchy subject. We spent a LOT of money on a video that didn't ultimately accomplish the goals we had for it. Any time that happens in our camp, it means there's gonna be serious debate going forward. We all see the value of a good music video, but we also don't want to repeat previous mistakes. We have some very talented filmmakers offering to help, which might ultimately make the decision for us. Nevertheless, we'll probably have heated debate over it for the next two days before we make a call.
Otherwise, we've had a bunch of cover gigs (which is how we all pay our bills) and have started on even more new music. We're really excited that we might have finally secured a rehearsal studio space that will be "command central" of everything we're working on. In 3 1/2 years, we haven't really had a place to really call our own. If it happens, things will only move that much faster. Of course, our "bat cave" will be a super secret location, only revealed to those who can recite pi to the 100th digit while doing jumping jacks on the back of an alligator.
So start practicing, ya'll.
Already, the focus of our efforts has shifted. Now we need to address our merchandise. Our goal is to have new and better "GOG" swag very soon. Everybody knows about t-shirts, posters and stickers. That's the easy stuff. But we're looking at other items too. How do we set ourselves apart? Thongs? Shot glasses? We've probably considered two dozen different ideas. A few of them are really exciting, but our fingers are still crossed because we need to make sure we're selling quality. Whether its our music, performances, or merchandise, we're a group that believes in quality. Unfortunately, quality adds work and increases cost, which is why we're just so darn busy all the time.
We're also looking at the possibility of another music video. As many of our fans know, we already have a video for the song "Fight," off of our last release. After that experience, music videos have been a touchy subject. We spent a LOT of money on a video that didn't ultimately accomplish the goals we had for it. Any time that happens in our camp, it means there's gonna be serious debate going forward. We all see the value of a good music video, but we also don't want to repeat previous mistakes. We have some very talented filmmakers offering to help, which might ultimately make the decision for us. Nevertheless, we'll probably have heated debate over it for the next two days before we make a call.
Otherwise, we've had a bunch of cover gigs (which is how we all pay our bills) and have started on even more new music. We're really excited that we might have finally secured a rehearsal studio space that will be "command central" of everything we're working on. In 3 1/2 years, we haven't really had a place to really call our own. If it happens, things will only move that much faster. Of course, our "bat cave" will be a super secret location, only revealed to those who can recite pi to the 100th digit while doing jumping jacks on the back of an alligator.
So start practicing, ya'll.
Friday, January 7, 2011
New Year, New Plans
As the four of us rang in 2011, we knew that a lot of things would have to change. A lot of our goals for this band remain unfulfilled, and we all agreed that this would be the time to make the changes we needed to make. So we set our first band meeting of the new year for Monday, January 3rd, at a Starbucks in Hollywood, FL.
On the to do list: put the finishing touches on our next 3 song EP, name it and agree on artwork, settle on a release date, discuss promotions, shows and distribution. Those collectively were item #1. So you can see how this went. Once we got a bunch of these specific items taken care of, we arrived at the most major point of the meeting. You see, the four of us are almost always the first to admit when we suck at something. On this day, like some meeting of recovering addicts, we all collectively came to the same conclusion. We totally, utterly suck at running this band. Our business has literally scraped along with such a painful limp that its amazing we are still doing this. Truly, it has only been our love of music and the support of a lot of amazing people that has moved us forward. It was our rock bottom moment. We suck.
BUT, like any successful AA meeting, or anyone doing anything right around the turn of the year, we decided to start anew. We devised a plan for not sucking in 2011. Our business needs to be taken as seriously as we take our music. The only other thing we take that seriously is hauling ass out of the van if Mark C lets one rip. That's probably the most urgent item on our "serious" list.
What we're excited about now is that we've delegated each responsibility of the band to a different person. One person is in charge of merchandise, another organizes all bookings. On and on. No sticking your nose in someone else's business unless they need help. Obviously, new music remains a group effort, but we realized that any business in the world that lasts more than a week has different departments. The best qualified people do the jobs that are relevant to their skills. Aha! It's a whole new world for us.
In fact, that meeting was the genesis for this blog. It's another great idea that should've been done a long time ago. Only now, it was given to one specific person to get off the ground right away. That's a world of difference from how we used to operate. In the few days since that meeting, it's been amazing to see the sheer number of things that have moved forward. We plan on continuing that trend for good. And we're expecting great things from this year.
A quick closing note: between now and January 25th, the release date for "Trial + Virtue, Volume One," you can go HERE to help us make this EP a success. It provides many different ways to support our new release and we came up with a whole bunch of different rewards for your help at each level. Please take a look!
On the to do list: put the finishing touches on our next 3 song EP, name it and agree on artwork, settle on a release date, discuss promotions, shows and distribution. Those collectively were item #1. So you can see how this went. Once we got a bunch of these specific items taken care of, we arrived at the most major point of the meeting. You see, the four of us are almost always the first to admit when we suck at something. On this day, like some meeting of recovering addicts, we all collectively came to the same conclusion. We totally, utterly suck at running this band. Our business has literally scraped along with such a painful limp that its amazing we are still doing this. Truly, it has only been our love of music and the support of a lot of amazing people that has moved us forward. It was our rock bottom moment. We suck.
BUT, like any successful AA meeting, or anyone doing anything right around the turn of the year, we decided to start anew. We devised a plan for not sucking in 2011. Our business needs to be taken as seriously as we take our music. The only other thing we take that seriously is hauling ass out of the van if Mark C lets one rip. That's probably the most urgent item on our "serious" list.
What we're excited about now is that we've delegated each responsibility of the band to a different person. One person is in charge of merchandise, another organizes all bookings. On and on. No sticking your nose in someone else's business unless they need help. Obviously, new music remains a group effort, but we realized that any business in the world that lasts more than a week has different departments. The best qualified people do the jobs that are relevant to their skills. Aha! It's a whole new world for us.
In fact, that meeting was the genesis for this blog. It's another great idea that should've been done a long time ago. Only now, it was given to one specific person to get off the ground right away. That's a world of difference from how we used to operate. In the few days since that meeting, it's been amazing to see the sheer number of things that have moved forward. We plan on continuing that trend for good. And we're expecting great things from this year.
A quick closing note: between now and January 25th, the release date for "Trial + Virtue, Volume One," you can go HERE to help us make this EP a success. It provides many different ways to support our new release and we came up with a whole bunch of different rewards for your help at each level. Please take a look!
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