My Band is playing live on the air

[alexrocks]

Hey ricksters. Were playing on monday feb. 5th at 10pm (central time). I'll have my rick on/in hand. It's broadcast on 88.1 fm for those of you in the central minnesota reigons. and shown on tv on st. cloud community ch. 21. and you can listen online. we're pumped. trying not to get nervous. anybody played on the air (radio or tv) before? any tips?

www.kvsc.org

www.myspace.com/smallwhite

[jimk]

Yup. Been there, done that, and even got the T-shirt. Don't worry, you'll do fine. Yeah, and go ahead, be nervous. It's natural. Mostly, remember to have fun. After all, that's why you're doing this, right?

Jim K

[stubby]

I've done some radio shows-key is to just be yourself, do what you do and don't worry about the medium. It's all the same thing, right? You, your instrument, your band, whatever. Don't let the extra stuff get in the way.

[walker]

Hey Alex - What James & Bill said.

I checked out your Myspace site. Great bass sound on Get F'd!

[alexrocks]

Thanks y'all! Still nervous but I'm getting a grip. I'm really looking forward to it. We're going to play Gett F'd on the show but since we can't cuss we're changing it to "Gett Hugged"

[ozover50]

Go for it, Alan!! Best of luck!

[winston]

I've played on both radio and TV. Just be yourself, forget about the hundreds of thousand who will be tuning in and most of all...have fun.

[longhouse]

Best of luck today, Alex. Let us know how it goes.

[beefandbones]

I've played live on our local indie station KEXP three or four times now, and in my experience, it's most important to feel relaxed and try and, like Brian said, forget about all the people listening. I try and focus on what I'm playing and my bandmates, and envision being in an old studio in the 40s or 50s to capture our songs in a single take - which is what you're doing, basically. If someone makes a mistake, it's better to smile and run with it than it is to get uptight and angry - that'll definitely ruin the song! And some things may happen that you don't expect - the guitar solo's not loud enough in the headphones, somebody breaks a string. I know a drummer who was playing live on the air last week and he broke his snare! Woops! That could have thrown him off and his bandmates, but because they were all fairly relaxed, they realized the humor in the situation and rolled with it. Also, bands know their songs inside and out - radio listeners usually do not. Bands tend to be much more sensitive to little things in the music, like if the singer switches the second and third verses. That's not going to kill your song, you know? Although it seems huge at the time. Anyway, have fun, you'll do great!

[jimk]

Something I just thought of....If you need to feel like you're singing and playing for some one, focus on the technician present, or any other radio personnel about the place, even if all you can do is see them through a plate glass window in another studio. It helped me anyway.

JimK

[alexrocks]

thanks man I think I'll just do loads and loads of drugs. that'll take the edge off! just fooling. I'm not so nervous right now. just excited. I'll let every know how it goes.

[squirefan01]

Hey Alex, do you live in St. Cloud? I lived there in the early 70s for a few years (I think I was maybe 8-9 at the time), before moving down to Edina then Golden Valley. My mom managed a shopping mall called Crossroads in St. Cloud. Is it still around?

Good luck with the gig.

[alexrocks]

nah, I live in st. paul.

the show RULED! it was so much fun. We were able to block out the cameras and just let it fly. so much fun.

[squirefan01]

Great!

[johnallg]

Way to go Alex!