[00:00:00] James: Welcome to episode 192 of the Bandhive Podcast.

[00:00:04] James: It is time for the episode of the Bandhive Podcast. My name is James Cross and I help independent artists tour smart. This week on the show, we're not gonna be talking about touring. We're gonna be talking about something a little different, and it's how you can relate to your fans through your music.

[00:00:19] James: Now, one thing I wanna recognize is, A band who does an amazing job with that. And it's a pure coincidence that this episode drops on August 1st, 2023 or 8 1 23 if you're using US date format. So if you don't know, 8 1 2 3 means everything to me. Well go check out this band called the Maine from Phoenix, Arizona.

[00:00:40] James: really cool band and they have an amazingly engaged fan base. So, hi. Recommend checking them out and see what they do with their fans. We've mentioned 'em on the podcast a bunch of times before. I'm not even their biggest fan. I could name like two songs by them, but what they do with their fan base is amazing, and I think any band should use them as an example.

[00:00:59] James: So like I [00:01:00] said, this week we're gonna talk about how you can use your music to relate to your audience and grow your audience by building meaningful connections, which will cause your fans to want to spread your music with other people.

[00:01:12] James: And just a few songs that have really powerful messages that I wanna highlight. I'm gonna use a lot of Enter Shakar here just because I know them so well, because I know their music really well. I do not know them personally. I make no claims of that. But a lot of their music, even though it's very serious, there's a lot of hope in their music as well.

[00:01:29] James: So the first example of this I wanna use is off their latest record, A Kiss for the Whole World. There's a song called Leap Into the Lightning, and one of the lines is, cause there's no use waiting for the storm to blow over leap into the lightning. and this is my interpretation.

[00:01:41] James: They haven't talked about this yet. But basically I interpreted it as, Hey, we all have issues. We all have things going on. But if you spend your life waiting, It's never gonna happen because your life is gonna be on pause. So just jump in, leap into the lightning and do what you can. that's really important to me.

[00:01:58] James: Cuz like for years I said I don't wanna [00:02:00] be a pilot. It's too expensive, it's not safe, which I learned is not true. And I just one day said, you know what? I'm gonna do this. and I'm so happy I did. I leapt into that lightning, and this is before the song even came out, so I'm retroactively applying this, but that is one of the things in my life that I was always apprehensive about, but I just went and did it.

[00:02:17] James: And because of that, my life is better. I enjoy my life more because I. I have a really fun hobby and you know, I have other hobbies too, but just flying. There's nothing like it. Like, it's just a, it's an incredible sense of freedom. Anyway, on the other hand of things, they also have a song called Arguing with Thermometers, and this is a slightly longer quote, but it's about climate change and.

[00:02:38] James: I'm sure they've discussed this. I don't know for sure if they have, but I do know that it's quite obvious what it's about because here's the lyrics, so let me get this straight. As we witness the ice caps melt, instead of being spurred into changing our ways, we're gonna invest into military hardware to fight for the remaining oil that's left beneath the ice.

[00:02:55] James: But what happens when it's all gone? You haven't thought this through, have you boys like [00:03:00] so obvious. It's a call to action. The whole song arguing with thermometers, you know, rising temperatures is about climate change. And this is from 2013. Before many people were talking about it. I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time, but only in the last like five years has it really become a mainstream thing.

[00:03:16] James: understand the the potential hypocrisy that people might see of, I'm talking about climate change and how I'm pilot. It's really flying. General aviation is pretty efficient. And being vegan myself, I'm not saying you have to go vegan. If you do, that's amazing. I love you for it. But being vegan is much greener already, so it's kind of, I see it as an offset.

[00:03:35] James: But either way, we do have to address the climate change issues, and I love that Shakar is speaking about this because it's something that their fans can get behind. tend to have very plain meanings for many of their songs. Not all their songs, but a lot of them, whereas some other bands don't.

[00:03:50] James: And this band I'm about to mention next is not one of those bands. They do have clear meanings. It's Bear Tooth, and there's an amazing speech that Caleb makes at many of their [00:04:00] shows. And there's video that'll be linked in the show notes at Bandai rock slash 1 9 2. That's the number 109 2 of that speech before their song disease from Chicago back in 2018.

[00:04:09] James: I highly recommend watching that whole speech. It's like seven minutes plus the four minute song. You don't have to listen to the song if you're not into bear tooth. But that speech is fantastic because it shows how much passion he has and how important the song is to him, and that he cares for his audience.

[00:04:24] James: And that leads us right into the power of music because. Whether you like it or not, music can shape culture. It can influence your emotions, and it connects people. Now you might be saying, how does it shape culture? Well look at the sixties. What do you think about music in the sixties, you think of the Beatles that changed everything.

[00:04:42] James: Or now look at bands like bts. I don't think they have the same power as the Beatles, but it's close. They have an incredible marketing machine by them, and there's an entire generation being shaped by BT S'S music. It's really something, and we won't know the [00:05:00] effect of this for another 10 to 20 years, but you can also look at any time in between.

[00:05:04] James: Look at people our age, you know, I'm 30 right now. People in their thirties, if they're in the alternative scene at all. Lincoln Park, you can't tell me. There's a single person who grew up in the 1990's and 2000's and is into alternative music and wasn't upset when Chester Bennington passed back in 2017.

[00:05:22] James: because Chester and his music with Linkin Park, Mike and the other guys had such an impact on so many lives. That is the power of music. They are shaping culture. If you look back to like the early 2000's Linkin Park was the rock scene. There were other bands, but Lincoln Park, they were it.

[00:05:40] James: Now another quote coming to influencing emotions, this is Shaka again, back in the day at many of their shows, they would say, we control pitch, rhythm and light to manipulate your emotions. And it's so true. That is what any artist is doing at a show. They're trying to build a connection with an audience, and they're trying to manipulate those emotions. If you can [00:06:00] make the audience feel what you want them to feel, You are going to be a more successful artist because ultimately people go to shows to feel something, whether it's excitement to see their favorite band, or they want to cry with a thousand other people in the same room, whatever it is, if you can control their emotions appropriately, that will help you as an artist put on a better live show.

[00:06:21] James: It's really incredible to see, going back to Lincoln Park, this is not in my outline. Back in 2014, I had the pleasure of seeing them twice. Once they were surprise special guest on Warp Tour, they came to the Ventura date and that was really cool cause I was on the tour and all of a sudden that morning there were rumors that Hail Lincoln Park's gonna show up.

[00:06:39] James: Well, what do you know they did? We knew as soon as we walked out, cuz there was a third main stage with a bunch of gear set up on it. And they played at like 5 45 or something. It was amazing. I did my work as close to that stage as possible that day because I wanted to hear. And then a couple months later I saw them again.

[00:06:56] James: AFI toured with them and I regret this now, but we left early [00:07:00] and this was at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, Massachusetts. Back then it was a Comcast center, and as we were leaving, the venue is on a hill as many amphitheaters are. We're walking down behind the shell to the parking lots and you could kind of hear the band, but what you could really hear, cuz the audience was facing us going down that hill, was the audience singing.

[00:07:19] James: And this was like 20,000 people singing in the end. I remember it so vividly and I stopped and said to my friends, Hey, we just gotta listen to this. And honestly, that was one of my favorite moments of the show. I'm sure it would've been cool to still be in the crowd either at our seats or up on the lawn, cuz we, we had seats, but our friends were on the lawn, so he mostly just chilled up there.

[00:07:39] James: Hearing it there would've been cool, but hearing the 20,000 people singing, that was even cooler in my opinion because, It was this special experience that most other people didn't get cuz they were hearing the band, not the 20,000 voices singing together in unison with solidarity.

[00:07:56] James: Like that's for forever. Gonna be one of my favorite moments [00:08:00] of all time. Just that memory. It was August 2014 and it was not super hot, but not cold. It was like a, a crisp. Massachusetts early fall, evening, and it's just amazing. Now, when it comes to sharing the meanings of your songs, there's something really important that you have to consider an artist, you have a responsibility to your audience, and I don't think anyone who's listening to this would do anything damaging to their audience, at least not intentionally.

[00:08:27] James: But you wanna be sure that you aren't ruining the experience for your fans because there is an advantage to having some ambiguity in what the meaning of the song is. with Shaka, when I mentioned Leap into the Lightning, I don't know if my interpretation is correct, but it's certainly a fitting interpretation in my opinion.

[00:08:46] James: If they came out and said, Hey, this song is about something totally different, I'd say, okay, cool. But maybe it wouldn't have that same personal connection to me anymore. And that's why it can be difficult for artists to go out there and explain the meanings [00:09:00] behind their songs. there are bands that I love who almost never explain their songs, and the lyrics don't make it obvious.

[00:09:06] James: Sometimes they do. Sometimes the titles make it obvious. But an example of this is afi. They, as far as I know, never explain their songs and some of them, you know, like God called in sick today. It's pretty obvious what that's about. It's about religion and it's about Davies's experience. Growing up as a religious child, I think he was Catholic.

[00:09:24] James: I don't know for sure, but his family's Italian, so probably, That departure from religion because he became a very pronounced atheist in his I guess, twenties Anyway. A lot of bands don't share the meanings of their songs. On the other hand, bands like Shaka and Tu who do, or it's just obvious in the lyrics, tend to, in my opinion, have a lot more.

[00:09:46] James: Success in holding fans for a long time. And I'm not saying AFI doesn't have an amazingly dedicated fan base because they do trust me and a lot of their music, at least in afis case, is more on the [00:10:00] depressing side of things. They don't have the hope. That Bands like Shakar have afis. Music by its nature is very dark and brooding, and that's totally fine.

[00:10:10] James: But on the other hand, if you can have a blend Darker songs and hopeful songs. I think that's something that's very positive because then you're able to relate to an audience on two fronts. You're able to relate to the audience who just needs to know that they're not alone. Something is going on in life and somebody else feels that way.

[00:10:29] James: But you can also relate to them when they're looking for something hopeful, when they want to see the bright side. I think that's an amazing combination, and if you can harness that properly as an artist, you'll be much better off than if you only have one or the other. Now, humans, we love to hope. It's in our psychology, it's in our bodies.

[00:10:49] James: We have hope. That's what keeps us alive, right. We think that everything's gonna work out or we want things to work out. Like I'm a very positive person. I try to always look on the bright [00:11:00] side, not with technical things so much because I always try to find the the solutions to problems before they show up with technical things.

[00:11:07] James: But when it comes to life in general, I always look on the bright side, wherever possible, or try to find a way to look at it on the bright side. if you are offering that in your music in a way that people can connect to, that's amazing. And I'm gonna use Shakar again. Two more examples On a kiss for the whole world.

[00:11:26] James: There's another song called Jailbreak, And the lyrics literally are, I hope I keep hope intact. I won't be held captive by my own idea of who I am.

[00:11:34] James: that's a great line. So first of all, I should say all of these songs will be in the show notes at Bandhive rocks slash 1 9 2, but one other one is satellites, and I don't know what rao's preferences are. he has a girlfriend right now publicly. He posted about her, but they have a song for the LGBTQ plus community called satellites.

[00:11:53] James: And one of the things that they say before they play it live is the restriction of human affection is one of the most [00:12:00] profound failures of our era. And I fully agree first of all, but putting that out there for anyone who doesn't catch on to the meaning, that just gives them this chance to relate to you on a deeper level if they are part of that community.

[00:12:13] James: And what's more is Shaka uses a lot of blue and red and green lights. Right. in their live shows, when they play satellites, it's just rainbow lights. It's this positive and uplifting atmosphere. Everyone in the room is just having an amazing time during that song. I think it was the lead single off of nothing is true and everything is possible.

[00:12:32] James: Either way, it's a great song. It gets the audience going, and it was one of their singles. It's a big hit and people love it. So putting that out there, talking about what your songs are about, it goes back to Bear Tooth and Caleb Schmo sharing his really long speech, like six or seven minutes in the middle of their set.

[00:12:47] James: It all comes down to balancing your artistic freedom and your responsibility to your audience. if you have an audience who's leaning on you for hope, you don't wanna go out and say All hope is lost. You want [00:13:00] to give them more hope. But on the same front, if your songs are like afi, very dark and brooding, you don't want every song to be hopeful all of a sudden, cuz then you're taking away what those fans can relate to.

[00:13:13] James: You want to have a mixture of both. And if you don't share the meanings of songs, people can always misinterpret your music. And maybe that's a good thing. Maybe that's not, it depends on how they interpret it. One thing that you wanna do is put yourself out there at least for some of your songs, so that people who want to know the meaning can find it.

[00:13:33] James: Doesn't mean everyone's gonna know it, but if people are seeking them out, they can find it. so all of that said, I think that artists should share those meanings. I think you should have some songs, at least some songs where the meanings are clear so your audience can pick up on what you're saying and understand it bright as day without having to question it, without having you to explain it to them.

[00:13:52] James: It's a really advantageous thing, and I know it will help grow your audience because people will be connecting with your music on higher [00:14:00] levels. that does it for this episode of the Bandhive Podcast.

[00:14:02] James: Thank you so much for tuning in and listening. I really appreciate it, and I hope that this episode has given you some insight onto how you can grow your fan base, how you can connect with your audience on a deeper level. It's truly amazing. How music can connect people, and I would love to hear what music you've connected to the most over your lifetime, over the past week.

[00:14:20] James: Whatever timeframe it is, let us know. Head on over to the Bandhive community. You can find it by searching for Bandhive, b a n d, HV E on Facebook or visiting Bandhive Rocks slash group, which will automatically redirect you to our Facebook community and in that community. We have a thread for every single episode, so please go find the thread for this episode.

[00:14:40] James: It'll also be linked at Bandhive rocks slash 1 9 2. You can join the discussion and tell us who you connect to the most musically, because it's truly an amazing thing. We'll be back next Tuesday at 6:00 AM Eastern Time with another brand new episode of the Bandhive Podcast.

[00:14:54] James: Until then, I hope you have a great week. Stay safe, and of course, as always key, keep rocking. But [00:15:00] at many of their live shows back in the day, they would say, we control pitch rhythm. Woo. That was a big one. Sorry, Leland, if I, that might have clipped.