Public Image Unlimited

THINK OF your favourite band or solo artist for a moment. The chances are, that as well as recalling how they sound, you’re also conjuring up a mental picture of how they look – not necessarily in person, but through a particular visual image – perhaps an album sleeve or a poster, a video image, even a record label or a particular kind of graphic or typeface design. You’re probably not actively aware of this subtle process at work but you cannot deny that it is indeed powerful.

Like it or lump it, the fact is that music is not just about music alone and it rarely ever is. From the earliest days of rock ’n’ roll, the “look” was as important as the sound. Elvis’s slicked back haircut, gyrating hips and blue suede shoes were as important in making him the popular icon he eventually became, as the music he sang and played. Almost every other rock ‘n’ roll artist of the time had a visual trademark – something that made them instantly recognisable; Bill Haley’s kiss curl; Buddy Holly’s thick-framed glasses and his red Fender guitar; Little Richard’s coiffed hairdo and cheeky grin; Chuck Berry’s duckwalk. These visual images couldn’t be conveyed thorough the music alone and it soon became apparent to those in control of the music business that they could promote their artists as much through the visual media of the time, i.e the press and television, as they could through the records or on radio.

This aspect of artist promotion became even more significant through the sixties. When the Beatles came back from Hamburg in 1962 sporting new hairstyles they were making a visual statement – establishing something unique which could be identified only with them. At the same time, The Rolling Stones’ uncouth, bad-boy image with Jagger’s pouting narcissism to the fore, was deliberately contrived by their first manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, to complement their raw rhythm and blues style. Likewise, The Who deliberately and cleverly embraced mod imagery to good effect, with early publicity shots showing the band dressed in parkas adorned with targets, draped in Union Jacks and posing alongside other mod paraphernalia like Vespa scooters.

In the seventies, David Bowie’s album covers on records like Aladdin Sane, Ziggy Stardust and Pin-Ups helped create and plot his ever-changing persona, becoming almost as acclaimed as the music contained on those albums. Similarly, punk’s strong visual impact exploded across the pages of the tabloids to a much greater degree than the actual sales of records would ever have justified, while the fashion-conscious New Romantic scene in the early Eighties was built almost totally on a visual image.

Every genre of music has its own visual cliches. Heavy Metal uses gothic imagery widely, while hi-tech dance music utilises computer generated graphics. And there are very few reggae artists who don’t feature the colours of the Ethiopian flag, the red, yellow and green to symbolise their African roots and defiance of Babylon.

If anything, this clever manipulation of imagery is used even more today to project the kind of music a band plays and the market they are targeting. With the increased fragmentation of the music industry, it has become important for record companies and bands to be certain that they are getting across to their audience.

The manner in which a particular image is created and generated is a complex one, but it should not be ignored by any band or artist wishing to make an impact. It’s a highly professional and skilled process which brings together the talents of photographers, graphic designers video-makers and publicists.

Photography is one of the more obvious promotional tools but also one of the most effective ways in which a band can portray and project their image. Whether on an album sleeve, poster, T-shirt or accompanying a press handout, a well-constructed photo can say as much about a band in the perception of their audience as the music does. The reverse of this is also true – a naff pose or badly photographed shot can be a real turnoff.

Lateral Thinking

“Bands should never underestimate the power of design and photography,” says photographer Michael Quinn, who’s worked with bands like Engine Alley, An Emotional Fish, Aslan, Sultans of Ping and Georgia. “It’s amazing the number of bands who think nothing of spending a couple of grand on a demo or a single and then they spend two hundred quid on a few photos or even worse, get one of their friends to do it. It’s a false economy to skimp on photos. Nobody listens to music with their eyes closed and the fact is, a band can take off purely on the strength of an interesting video. You go and see a band and even if you think the music is just average – if they’re exciting to look at, it’ll often tip the balance. It’s the same with photographs, they can play a major part in communicating what a band is all about.”

Quinn accepts that the quality of photography in relation to the music business in Ireland has improved vastly in recent years and that bands are becoming more aware of the importance of projecting a strong image. “It used to be almost substandard in this country, it was so bad,” he says, “but not any more. Bands like Aslan are very tuned into the importance of their visual image; Blink, for example have a logo which is instantly recognisable and lots of other bands develop an identity which is unique to themselves.”

So what are the essential elements that go to make for an exciting photographical image and what can bands do to make the most of their limited budgets?

“The most important thing for a band is that they know the photographer and are familiar with some of his or her previous work before they agree to work with them,” he says. “That way, there’s much more chance of them liking the work he or she will do for them. Most bands come in and say ‘we don’t want to look like this or we don’t want to look like that’ but they tend to have a vague idea of what they actually want and it’s left to the photographer to interpret that.”

“It’s also important for them to be prepared on the day of the shoot,” he adds. Sometimes you can spend half the time dressing people properly – you end up acting as a stylist much of the time, which is fine, but that can take longer and cost more.”

Belfast-based photographer Michael Taylor who’s work has appeared in Melody Maker and NME adopts a similar approach. “Image-making is a very tricky business,” he says. “The first thing I do when I get involved with a band is to listen to the music and read the lyrics and then try to interpret visually how the band want to portray themselves. I have a meeting with them where we come up with ideas, select different prints etc.

“It’s very easy to come up with wacky ideas but it’s always difficult to come up with good ideas that are simple,” he adds. “This is important because generally, simple ideas work the best. I don’t like to have set ideas about how a band or artist should be photographed – I re-invent the wheel every time. Without sounding pretentious, a shot of a band is not necessarily about the band or the music but is about photography itself. It often has to make a statement in its own right.”

Most young bands today are acutely aware of the power of video and the vital part it can play in determining their eventual success or otherwise. Since the early eighties and the establishment of MTV, video has played an increasingly important role in the music business, not only in promoting bands but as a form of entertainment in itself. MTV is now a major factor in the way bands are portrayed and making a video is high on the agendas of most bands when they start out.

Damien O’Donnell of Clingfilm, the video production company who made the highly acclaimed ‘Endless Art’ video for A House advises bands to think seriously about making a video.

“If a band has a good song, they should put as much as they can into a video,” he says, “because it can be one of the best ways to get out of Ireland, apart from touring. MTV will show it if it’s interesting – they will always consider the visual aspect over the song. A great video can make an average song sound better and a lousy video is unlikely to get much airing no matter how great the song is.”

He points out that bands who are visually aware tend to come out better from the video-making process then those who put all their trust into video-makers. He also has some strong opinions on what to avoid in a video.

“The worst thing for them to do is to make a video based on the storyline of the song lyric,” he says. “It’s so cliched and it rarely ever works. Turn it upside down, try something different – a bit of lateral thinking can work wonders.

Other cliches to avoid are performance shots that cut away to the dancing babes – that’s been way overdone. Performances are cliched anyway, there are only so many ways you can show someone playing the drums or a guitar, unless you place them in a weird location or have them underwater or something like that, but even those shots have become cliched. Indie bands use tower blocks and suburban spaces. Irish bands tend to go for the ‘gritty realism’ look which has become cliched too. Beaches are also out. Go for a simple idea and try to get the most out of it.”

“Cheap doesn’t mean bad either,” he continues. “The video for ‘Endless Art’ cost about £3,000 which is nothing compared to the budgets normally available for videos. Basically, everyone worked on it for free. It was a nightmare to make and we threw everything we had into it. If we had been paying for everything it would have cost around £50,000.”

O’Donnell also recommends using film rather than videotape for the initial shoot. “It’s more expensive, but it usually looks better,” he says, “and in the long run there’s more chance of it being broadcast which is the whole point of making a video.”

World domination

When a band has made its first record, organised some publicity shots and possibly have a video made, the next thing to do is to promote it. Unless they have a huge number of contacts in the press and media they will need professional help in this area. The best way of doing this is to hire the services a good publicist or PR agency who can do all the legwork and achieve much quicker results than the band would on their own. Lyn Fitzgerald of Brookham PR works with both bands and record companies in promoting and publicising artists, new releases, tours etc and she explains how the process normally works.

“Bands might come to us and say ‘can you look after us for three months – we have a single coming out’. In that instance they would already have all the material like CD’s and photos and they provide them to us. We might put together a biography or press release and then get to work using our extensive contacts and mailing lists. A lot of bands don’t realise how much actual work is involved. Generally we sit down and tell them, for example, that it’s going to take two weeks pre-release work alone to get to the press and radio. It tends to be airplay in the first instance, then press. If a single gets onto the 2FM playlist – that’s half the battle won.

“We get a lot of work through the major record companies, so quite often we just don’t have the time to deal with young bands starting out,” she adds. “The image-making tends to come from the record company so we’re normally not directly involved in how they want to portray themselves. Our job is to help them achieve as much publicity as possible over a given period.”

Robert Kinahan of Planet X, another publicity agency puts it even stronger in recommending bands to go for maximum publicity right from the start. “There’s absolutely no point in releasing an EP if no-one knows about you and the only way they’ll get to know about you is through a sustained PR campaign,” he says. “If you put a few thousand pounds into building a profile you can get more airplay, more gigs and ultimately command higher fees.”

So there you have it. Get your band out there and build a profile. It needn’t cost a fortune and a certain amount of publicity can be gained free of charge. Even if budgets are limited get a few black & white shots done and send them to the papers and magazines along with your gig lists. The chances are they’ll print them and people will know what you look like. World domination may not follow straight away, but it’s a start.

AERTEL, RTE’s Teletext service now has an entertainment section with gig guides, album reviews, music news and charts. Having your gigs listed is totally free of charge and there is a huge potential audience out there. Also, details can be changed and amended at short notice as the listings are constantly being updated. (See page 400 of Aertel).

With the development of the Internet, the information superhighway has truly arrived. Not surprisingly it is increasingly being used by bands, musicians and record companies to display all kinds of information, record release details, tours, biographies, fan club information etc. There are already several music magazines on the Internet and with a worldwide network it is an ideal forum for bands to get their message to a wider audience. Internet Eireann can connect you to the network for a flat rate of £10 per month, plus VAT giving unlimited access to the entire network. To publish on the Internet can cost as little as £1 per megabyte (equal to an average novel) and it is fast becoming one of the most popular promotional tools for bands trying to break into the international arena.

The quality of printing and packaging when promoting your band is crucial in getting your visual image across. PRINTWELL CO-OP specialise in printing posters, CD covers, invitations, tickets, and promotional material and can also arrange photographers etc. Sean Murphy of Printwell Co-Op is always willing to discuss the requirements and needs of young bands on limited budgets. “We generally operate with a view to a long-term relationship,” he says. “ We provide free time with our own designer and we would expect a certain amount of loyalty in that we would do a competitive deal for a young band starting out, in the hope that if they progress we’d expect them to come back to us.”