Read This Before You Join a Band!

Who Am I? My name is Michael McManus. I am twenty-eight years old and an independent drummer who has played with bands such as Saving Abel (whose first album went gold and first single, “Addicted,” went platinum) and 12 Stones, whose vocalist won a Grammy for his performance on Evanescence’s “Bring Me to Life.” I have performed and recorded with numerous other Grammy-winning musicians and producers. My recording career has taken me from my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, to Nashville’s famous Music Row and Franklin (a suburb of Nashville), all the way to Burbank, California—all expenses paid. My touring career has taken me all across the United States to the far reaches of Japan and Guam, and both aspects of my career continue strong to this day. I got my start in local bands and was eventually asked to join Wind-Up recording artist Breaking Point, whose label mates included the likes of Creed and Evanescence. After my stint with the group, lead guitarist and songwriter Justin Rimer was asked to coproduce the 12 Stones album Anthem for the Underdog with Skidd Mills, who founded Saving Abel. Justin asked me to come in and play drums on the demos for the album. It wasn’t my first time in the studio, but it was my first real time in the studio—not just a routine preproduction recording session. There wasn’t just going to be an engineer; there was going to be a producer as well. Naturally, this was somewhat intimidating to me, so I tried to find some helpful advice or words of wisdom but couldn’t find anything. Nothing. Thus the idea of this book was born. Regardless, I went into the studio and caught on pretty quickly to how things operated, and I was asked back to do all of the demos for the record. After the album was completed, Skidd Mills asked me back to play on many, many more demos and master tracks, and our working relationship continues to this day. Many of the artists for whom I recorded asked me to come back and play on additional sessions as well, and thus, my studio career was born. One of the sessions on which I was asked to play was for the rock band Sick Puppies. We did three or four songs total, and the band decided to keep one of them on the record. The song is called “Survive,” and it’s on the album entitled Tri-Polar. This track was coproduced by Saving Abel guitarist and cofounder Jason Null, and the relationship we formed would be very important down the road. Eventually I graduated from the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in music business/percussion performance, and joined 12 Stones and recorded on its newest release, Beneath the Scars. After the group disbanded, I called Skidd Mills and told him that I was looking for work. Nothing was open at the time, but a couple of weeks later he called and said that Saving Abel was looking for a new drummer and that Jason remembered me from our previous session. Skidd asked me to come in and play on some tracks for the band’s new album Bringing Down the Giant, and eventually I ended up recording on the entire album. After its completion I was asked to join Saving Abel and was a member for two years before leaving to pursue my solo career once again. For all people who want to get into the music industry, this book is for you. I am here to share with you the lessons I have learned—pitfalls, what to capitalize on, etc. Although I wrote this with the aspiring musician in mind, whether you’re just starting out or have been in it for a while, I am confident that this book will benefit you and help take your career to the next level. Thanks for reading. Promotion I have been involved in two aspects of promotion: one, for bands I was in and two, for myself. I will discuss certain tactics I/we used in an old local band, but after I quit the band, I took what I had learned and applied it to my personal career as a solo musician—or rather a “drummer (work) for hire.” Whether you are a singer/songwriter or a solo musician like I was, looking for a group to join, use these techniques to help you get to the next level. Grassroots Promotion My father and brother are in politics. My dad has been an elected official for the past seven years, and my brother’s career has taken him all the way to the White House and will undoubtedly land him in public office someday. One of the things I have picked up from listening to their conversations is the similarity between running a campaign and promoting yourself as a musician. The term grassroots essentially means getting out there and doing everything yourself—setting out on foot and knocking on doors, shaking hands, etc. I applied this to my own career. Here’s how you can too. When I was much younger, I ran triathlons. A triathlon is a sporting event that combines swimming, biking, and running, in that order. This was before the days of rampant Internet use, and after school I’d be in my room thumbing through Triathlete Magazine and would see these professionals running all sorts of races around the world, such as the Ironman in Hawaii, and I wanted to talk to them. I wanted to get to know them. So, what did I do? I picked up the phone and called 411 and tracked them down. I found out what city and state they lived in (even in Australia and Canada—thanks to my parents for paying the phone bill!) and called them. And they always talked to me. They had a soft spot for an aspiring triathlete in his early teens and sent me numerous autographed pictures...