Make Your Music Stand Out

A common question among bands who have stayed in the local music scene for quite some time now (say 5-6 years) is how do you make your music get attention?

There are a thousand and one ways to skin a cat.

If one is patient enough to count the ways maybe success can just be right under one's nose. Unfortunately, cats according to some have 9 lives only, reducing the option from 1001 to 992 (just trying to be funny).

Making your music stand out is a bit challenging especially if you're part of the group yourself. I suppose it's because one has to be vain somewhat to make things work - of course not in all instances.

One thing for sure though is that, if all other bands are doing emo for example, rehash - do a derivative mix. If all bands are doing reggae, you can experiment on a new genre under this blend. Death reggae perhaps (trying to be funny again)?

Observing around, many bands I find sound the same. Most of them scream in the middle of a song. Many start with slow intros and builds up to heavy riffs and "powerful" drum beats. Some vocalists sing on "forced voice quality" trying to sound like Vedder, Stapp, or Weiland - at least by how it sounded to me.

Nothing wrong with the above. It's just that if you hope to get people to listen to your music, consider these mentioned as symptoms to failure.

One wise qoute says "I succeed when I dare to fail." Instead, many of the local bands tend to take the safer route and play what is commonly accepted by the masses. What is scary is that they're usually not even aware of it.

When the E-heads got hype, all of a sudden the rest of the band population sounded like "Pare Ko". When Slapshock was king, bands mimicked screaming at the top of their lungs without even knowing why. Bisrock community filled huge parking lots yet the quality of their demos didn't seem to improve (nothing personal).

So how do you make your band's music stand out?

Try not doing what other bands are doing. Listen to the music you want to play from your heart and not from what you hear on the radio. Remember that music is an extension of one's personality - see if you can bring that good character in you out as music.

This is not an absolute statement but I must say it's worth one's consideration and trying out.