Featured Artist – Darkest Grace

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Darkest Grace is an indie metal band in Seattle, on the grind, building a name for themselves everyway they can.  If you’re following this blog, you know one of the most frequent questions I receive is, “how do we open for a national act coming through town?”  This is a hurdle every young bands has difficulty overcoming.  Darkest Grace has and I’d like for them to share with you what it took to FINALY make it happen.  Maybe you can take something from their experience….

Guys, how long had you performed in Seattle before the opportunity to open for a nation act appeared?
We played around Seattle for nearly two years, slowly building up both our confidence and reputation in the area.

Who was the act and how was the show?  Give us some details about it.
The band was Soilwork from Sweden.  The show was great and finally tapped our band into the true Seattle metal scene which we were having trouble getting into with purely local shows.  It’s hard for local metal bands to find a scene and seattle, but getting on national shows really helped us break through.  We now have several die-hard Darkest Grace fans who show up to almost every show, and get engaged in our online presence.

In your opinion, what were some of the critical steps and decisions you made that lead to this opportunity?  What worked well and what didn’t work?
For us it was knowing what we were capable of doing as in terms of our draw and pre-sale tickets.  We were able to put on a successful CD Release show at the venue, El Corazon, which helped us get in good with the club, who then offered us this opportunity as a thank you for doing right by them with our show.  We have always treated our band as a business which is what it is.  We know that clubs are out to make money and if you want to get in good with these clubs you need to bring them business.  What doesn’t work is refusing to sell pre-sale tickets.  Pay to play blows when you have to sell the tickets.  But we have found that it does guarantee people in the venue, and it shows the venue that you are hungry and willing to do what it takes to get noticed.  Also what doesn’t work well for us is playing too many shows in the same city over a short period of time.  We space our shows out so that many of them can get good attendance.

What’s the number one thing you attribute to creating the opportunity?
As mentioned before our performance both on and off the stage regarding our CD release show.  We sold over 100 pre-sale tickets, put on a show that on a Sunday night brought in over 220 people, and brought in people who spent money in the bar.  Because of this we were given the opportunity to play the Soilwork show.

Do you feel better opportunities are starting to come your way since that show?
Absolutely, we get show offers almost every week now.  Including some for national acts.  We’ve now had a couple big shows that have come from us getting on this show!

What’s the main lesson you learned going through the entire process that you can share with other bands in a similar position?
This is a business.  If you bust ass and try to take care of the people who give you these opportunities, they will take care of you back.

Any other thoughts to share?
Just that we all do this because we love music, but you have to remember to be professional and most of all be nice to the venues you work with, the promoters, and the other bands you play with.  Being a dick won’t get you anywhere, nor will acting as if you are entitled to something.