[Editor's Note: This is a condensed version of an interview conducted by Eric Jensen, a music business business strategist and consultant based in Los Angeles]
The members of Los Angeles-based rock band Killola are masters of their own destiny. Since forming around seven years ago, the band has been relentlessly innovative in its quest to raise its profile. They’ve given their music away, and they’ve housed their music on unusual formats (USB dog tags); they’ve kept themselves on fans’ radars with everything from a radio show to constant social media updates; they’ve made and soundtracked a movie starring their lead singer; they’ve partnered with brands ranging from Skullcandy to Bud Light. And they’ve done all of this without a manager.
What’s gotten the band this far, aside from hard work, is a deep commitment to learning all the time, and learning on the go. Read on for some insights into how Killola views the industry, what kinds of partnerships are necessary (and which aren’t), and also what record labels really offer.
Are giveaways driving fans to your shows and triggering sales?
Absolutely. We gave away our last album (digitally) to more than ten thousand people. Within 6 months, our CD inventory was totally depleted from online sales. We toured to cities that we had never played before, and people were there, singing along. I have to assume that’s at least partially due to all the freeleased music.
How have you funded the band as you have grown?
Basically, if it’s gonna cost us, we need to learn how to do it. That outlook saved us 90% of the costs that most bands just swallow. Learning exactly what outsourced-services DO gives us more insight into the cogs of this machine, and also makes us keen to what price we WOULD pay, if we were to outsource. We have lots of music in TV and movies, and that’s a fantastic way to raise money for the stuff we wanna do.
How have you learned the business side of music? Did you take classes, read books, talk to people in the biz?
There’s no better way to learn it than getting out there and doing it. We manage ourselves (something that we are more and more eager to offset), so we’ve dealt with seven years of business/issues first-hand. We’ve skinned our knees on contracts, and fended for ourselves in negotiations, and we all fairly headstrong in both business, and common sense. If something smells strange, 99% of the time its because it IS strange. Don’t be afraid to ask the difficult questions, and usually the source of the odor is revealed. We also picked a lot of people’s brains over years of coffee.
How did you vet your partners? How did you know what questions to ask?
If you’re friendly to people, they’ll introduce you to their friends, and so on. For years. In 2008, we played the ‘wrap-party’ for a big movie (hint: Nakatomi Plaza part 4), a guy we met in 2006 (who worked on our video for “I Don’t Know Who”) did special-FX for this movie, and he asked us to play. People from MOB Agency were there, and a few weeks later MOB contacted us for a few shows. We hit it off with them as people, and have worked together since. We didn’t have a TON of questions for MOB, because their work ethic and track-record spoke volumes. Similarly, we met Aderra through a friend of the band, and Killola ended up as the first band Aderra ever recorded live. Aderra now tours with some of the biggest bands in the world, recording live shows. We’ve worked with them since that first show. We want to work with people who 1) we get-along-with as human beings, AND 2) they do good work in the music business. This industry is saturated with people who are only good with one or the other.
In what order did you add partners, and why?
MOB (booking) was our first partnership. Good booking is the only situation that is almost entirely shut-off to independent bands. Clever and hard-working independent bands can do ‘almost’ anything that labels can do. However, booking agents are still absolutely powerful and necessary. Aderra offered an outlet to technology that no other company offered; we wanted to work with them because it’s a fresh, new medium (live recording distro) and the people behind Aderra are fantastic people and smart cookies.
How involved are you in music publishing? Are you making money with synch licenses, and performance royalties?
For non-radio-bands, and independent acts, music publishing and synch licenses are the quickest way to BIG checks in this business. Placing one song in a movie or commercial can totally change your entire year/decade. And the pretense factor in music licensing is surprisingly low. Record great songs, and movies don’t seem to care what band you’re in, what label you’re on, or what blogs are saying. They tend to buy music that works. Which is refreshing.
What are your thoughts on making a living in music?
All the successful musicians I know are a highly skilled jugglers, in the professional sense. If you want it bad enough, you can make art/music work without a “day job.” I wouldn’t recommend trying it outside of a major metropolitan area. But if you’re smart, flexible, and humble, it works because there’s always a need for determined artists.
Are you interested in moving to an indie or major label? What do you see as the advantages and disadvantages of working with a record label?
Certainly. We’ve only gotten to where we are by listening to reason. If a label provides something desirable, then there might be reason to work together. A record label has the built-in power of a catalog. If Label X has a successful back-catalog of great releases, that label’s “newest” artist is almost immediately granted ‘credit’ based on the past-successes of that label’s catalog. Labels can mean great exposure in the proper scenario.
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