[atlantaprog] Atlantis

>>>Atlantis is a very commercial, record label-oriented event--

>>>Supply and demand tells me that if a band or rapper or singer/songwriter 
>>>is not at that proven level yet, their chances in something like this are 
>>>kind of thin, no matter how much talent or potential or originality they 
>>>have.

I played at Atlantis in 1997 at the Variety Playhouse opening for the 
Marvelous Three (who were signed to Electra shortly after).  Although I 
agree that it's a very commercial event, you don't need to be at a proven 
level to get in.  The band that I played with was put together because the 
singer had sent in an demo and was accepted - even though he didn't have a 
band and had never played a show.  The cassette 4-track demo that he sent in 
was not at all professional quality, he had a terrible image and he had no 
fan base or history playing his songs live.  Atlantis was already receiving 
hundreds of applications in 1997.  I knew lots of bands who weren't accepted 
even though they were much further along - good size followings, 
professional demos and lots of experience playing live.  The only thing this 
guy had over them was very, very commercial songs.

Another thing about Atlantis that a lot of people don't know is just because 
you play doesn't mean that anyone will be there to see you.  A lot of bands 
play to no one - no record label executives, no huge crowds, no one.  I saw 
several bands that year who were very surprised to find that there wasn't a 
single person from a record label or from the industry at the show.  One of 
the bands who played before us was a full time touring band playing well 
over 100 shows a year to pretty large crowds (several hundred people every 
night all up the East Coast).  They even had a song on 99x during the 
morning drive, but no one from any record label was there to see them.  I 
thought that maybe the record label guys were just standing in the shadows 
or something, but the more I talked with people, the more I realized that 
just wasn't the case.  They make it sound like if you get to play, SOMEONE 
will see you, but the truth is unless you have a pretty big buzz going 
around within the industry, no one bothers to check you out.

-Wade

http://www.cobwebstrange.com

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