VEGANGELICA

Trick, last week I listened to the four videos you posted. I try to do that for all the musicians who arrive here. Now that you've mentioned a video openly, I'll comment because I find this topic of band promotion interesting and I have some feedback for you.

I felt the short promotional video was professional and informative, and it used great footage and audio that showcase your band's skills, especially your singing. As you and your bandmates know, your singing *is* good. What I liked best about the promotional video is that it gives a feeling of energy and excitement, which I think your band wants associated with its image.

The only change I would have recommended is to include more vocals in the audio clip because currently the video gives me the impression that the band makes mostly instrumental music. I understand, though, that it's hard to pack everything into only 30 seconds.

Another more general suggestion that I have for your band is to include more YouTube videos of your songs. So far there are only two different songs posted. That doesn't give potential fans enough material to develop a strong sense of your group's music.

Your best video is this one because it looks and sounds dynamic and energetic:


Trick Bastard - "You're Gonna Miss Me" - YouTube

I recommend you delete the longer video of this song plus the additional one that you sang at a different venue...perhaps a competition?...where the audience was disconcertingly dead. It must be hard to perform when the audience is so voyeuristic and apparently uninvolved.

Finally, the bigger issue I've been thinking about as relates to your band is this: what are your band's goals for your music and for your performances? Which is more important to you: (1) creating meaningful music that goes beyond metal pop, (2) enjoying performing, or (3) earning money through music?

I'll be blunt: you and your bandmates all are very skillful, and the music sounds good, but I feel the sound of the songs and the song topics seem to repeat much of what is already out there in the world of music. I felt the subject matter (troubled romantic love) especially seemed overly simple, as if the words were chosen more for the sake of making a pop song rather than arising out of an authentic life situation.

I also felt that your band's image is very important to you (the black, the torn jeans, the antics), which to me becomes somewhat a distraction from the music. If your goal is to be primarily performers, then I can understand this attempt to "brand" yourselves with a certain image that seems stereotypical for rock bands...but I feel it would be better for you as musicians to show a wider range of your personalities and give more sense of depth to your music. This might also widen your potential fanbase.

Right now, your band reminds me of an American counterpart to someone else I "met" here at MusicBanter, a quite successful Ukrainian pop artist, Kirill Turichenko: Kirill Turichenko - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kirill is a good singer and he makes almost completely forgettable, vacuous pop music:

Kirill Turichenko - some love song


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvrJb...eature=related

If Kirill's goal is to build a raving following of teen girls (and some boys), then he may be succeeding in Ukraine, and so he may be satisfied...but to me as a musician, listening to his trite music and watching his image-heavy performances is like slow death. He's like a caricature of a pop artist.

I recommend you and your bandmates not lock yourselves into a particular image, but whether you want to do that or not depends on your goals as a band.

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