"Our cds won't be here in time for our cd release party so I've burned a bunch of cdrs to sell, and then at a later date give the people who bought a burned cd a copy of the real one".

Shoulda quit right then and there.

or the opposite:

"Let's do a really fancy pressing job on this unmastered record made on Cool Edit, then pay for express shipping from Edmonton to southern Missouri. Don't worry, we'll make it all back."

Probably not the worst decision. not the best, either.

noise&light wrote:The official name for this type of person is FANager (instead of manager). People are often flattered by the enthusiasm and attention that the fanager has for the band and will let this person design the website, design the t-shirts, book shows and sometimes even manage the band. Do not let this happen to you.

OK, guys, you remember that recording session we did for our first single, where we went to that new-ish studio owned by the drummer's old band-mate, with all those crappy mics and the horrible sounding control room? Those sessions where we were not happy with the guitar sounds, bass sounds, drum sounds, or mix? OK, well you remember that we recorded like 6 songs, but only mixed two of them for the single.

So, here's what we need to do to save some money. We'll go BACK to that same studio, and on those 4 songs we recorded but did not use last time, we will use the drum tracks (which we hated) and re-record the guitars, bass and vocals.

This will work better this time, cuz we will bring in our professional engineer friend guy who works at Fort Apache - he's so great that the crappy drum tracks, the crappy board, mics, control room, etc. won't be a problem. He's a genius, with a little eq, and a little tastefully applied reverb, we'll sound huge!

(actually, he did manage to make it sound much better, but we should have just gone to Fort Apache and done two songs from scratch.) It still sounded thin and shrill - the control room monitors were just terrible, it was nearly impossible to get a good sound, or a good mix.

Sorry Carl. That was a stupid idea.

"Hey, let's just keep replacing bass player after bass player and drummer after drummer instead of firing the one asshole who's making everyone want to quit!"

"Sure, we would love to sign with your label!"

"Aw, man! You KNOW that I would love to play a show for some metal kids who are totally going to fucking hate us!"

"Dude! I will totally play a D&D themed youth center in the hinterlands of Snohomish County!"

ozzy lee harvwald wrote:"Our cds won't be here in time for our cd release party so I've burned a bunch of cdrs to sell, and then at a later date give the people who bought a burned cd a copy of the real one".

Shoulda quit right then and there.

I've been in a band that has done this, and it worked out okay. Of course, I took down everybody's addresses and had our label guy mail them.

I think Racetrack did this as well.

ozzy lee harvwald wrote:"Our cds won't be here in time for our cd release party so I've burned a bunch of cdrs to sell, and then at a later date give the people who bought a burned cd a copy of the real one".

Shoulda quit right then and there.

Believe it or not, I had to fight really hard to talk my band out of this. The fact that I paid for the damn CDs was the only thing that allowed me to win the point.

"Hey, Ive just bought a theremin, I'm bringing it to practice tonight"

"Actually, Joe, I don't really have time to be in a band right now."

Time after time.

In the hardcore band I was in after high school, this one was my fault: "I think we should stop smoking weed and save money for a van." While I still think this doesn't sound unreasonable, it did signal the end of the band.