Info for Bands

Mostly we're happy to listen to songs on your website (or Myspace page), but if you want to send a demo make sure it’s of a decent enough quality that we can actually hear what you sound like.

Remember to write the band’s name and contact details on the CD label as well as on the packaging and covering letter in case the various parts become separated. If you have reviews then send us photocopies of those too.

But first, ask yourself if we really, really want to receive your demo. Have a look at the type of bands we put on... We have a certain ethos, a particular musical direction. It’s not too rigid but it exists all the same. If you’re nu-metal, oasis wannabes, folk, rap, hip hop, acoustic or something else that's not appropriate to the night that we're doing, then don’t bother us.

If you have a drum machine then everything else had better be totally amazing in order to make up for such a travesty. (The Kills manage it, for example. But few others with drum machines have what it takes.)

Even if you’re playing a musical style that we love - eg. you fashion yourselves after sixties US garage bands and mix in some blues and punk - we might still chuck your demo in the reject pile.

Sending us a CD full of covers isn’t going to impress us very much, especially if you’re just playing the songs note for note, word for word, the same as the original version. Be inventive. Be creative. You can make use of your influences and still be fresh and exciting. Make us jump up and down and shout “What the fuck was that?!”

If REAL rock’n’roll is what turns you on, no posing, just full-on blues-punk-garage-rock-noise, then send us an email and we’ll give your demo a spin.

Don’t send a demo without talking to us first. You’ll probably be sending it to the wrong address anyway.

And then, even if we do like your demo, it might take a while before you get a gig. This could be because we’re booked up months in advance (which is often the case), but also because we like to have a line-up be cohesive, to fit together, for the audience to go away having been excited by ALL three bands.

If you are booked to play a gig, you need to send us all the information you can about your band. Help us to help you. It'll be a much better gig for all of us the more people that are there in the audience. We want reviews, press release type write ups, anything that we can use to tell people who you are, make people think you're sexy and exciting. You don't want your same half a dozen mates turning up and no one else, do you?!

Important note: For non-UK bands and those travelling a long distance to be in London - have a think about whether you are really ready to come here. If you want to "widen our fanbase" do that at home first. If you come to London from Germany or Italy or further away and expect to cover your costs, sit down and have a think about it again. People in London don't go to see bands they've never heard of. If no one knows you in London, no one will come to see you. No matter how good you are.