Local bands are using all the right keys to create their own promotional Facebook pages.
"Facebook is just so structured and easy," said Luke Sheehan, rhythm guitarist for Blame Sydney!. "You can message and invite a thousand people to a show with two clicks of the button."
Blame Sydney!, a ska-style band which combines big band horns to a fast Bob Marley beat, has been promoting on Facebook since the fall of 2009.
"I probably wouldn't be in the position I'm in now, with connections in New Orleans and Atlanta, without Facebook," Sheehan said. "I don't know if Facebook is directly the reason, but we're starting to play bigger shows now."
The social network gives bands the bonus of being able to reach thousands of users without having to do all the legwork.
"The ability to create events on Facebook is the biggest advantage to using Facebook," said Caleb Thomas, lead guitarist for Bottle Up And Explode, a 50s- and 60s-inspired garage rock band. "I make an event, I invite my friends, they invite their friends. Then we have hundreds of people attending an event that would have been pretty difficult to promote if we had just put posters around town at the last minute."
Composer and pianist Rodney King of the band Therapy created a Facebook page before the band was officially formed.
King said he wanted to make sure the Facebook world knew they were coming soon.
"We just felt we can get a lot of people to know who we are just through Facebook, even people that can't come to shows because they're so far away," King said. "We put videos online, and they can see that and just support us through there."
As with personal Facebook pages, the group can give Facebookers a sense of who they are as a band.
"You kind of need an online persona, so that way people who have never seen you before will see a picture of you and be like, 'Oh, they look interesting,' and, 'Oh wait, I like this band under their influences,'" Sheehan said. "It gives you a sense of our style."
The usability of the network allows bands to tune up their pages wherever they are and connect with users on an individual level.
"It's pretty easy these days with phones," Thomas said. "We keep it updated with the things we like and that inspire us, whether its other musicians or just little things we see throughout the day."
For these local bands, playing outside of the Auburn area means playing outside of their usual fan base.
"It's really good when no one in the area has ever heard your band before, and you find people within that town to be like, 'Hey, get your friends and send them to the Facebook page,'" Sheehan said.
Out-of-town shows give bands a chance to amplify their fan base.
An increase in fan base is a key for success, and Facebook allows for a more genuine approach than its predecessor, MySpace.
"It's not so much a digital sensation thing like MySpace, where suddenly you are adding all these kids, and they don't even listen to your music," Thomas said. "I feel like the people on our Facebook page really care and come out to our shows and really listen to our music."
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
