Stuck In Milwaukee

Demos are, in fact, a demonstration. They show who you are, and what you can do. If you put out a bad demo, you’ll only hurt yourself.

There is the common misconception among beginning bands that it’s okay to put out a crappy demo, because people will just understand that it’s a stepping stone until you can afford something better. Well, sorry. People won’t understand. Maybe your Mom, but she’s probably just being nice.
Bad demos are not a stepping stone, they are a stumbling block. First impressions will always be the most important. If a potential fan hears your demo, and it’s bad, that person will assume that your band is bad. And it will take you much longer to convince them otherwise, if ever.
There’s really no excuse for a bad demo anymore. A 3-song can be relatively inexpensive, but always remember that you get what you pay for.
So what makes a demo bad? It can be one thing or several things. Bad playing, bad recording (microphone placement is an ultra-fine art), bad tone, bad mixing, and/or bad presentation.
Here are several tips for your demo:

1. If your drummer isn’t an infallible human metronome, make sure that he/she is comfortable playing with a click track. It may be wise to have several practices where your drummer plays with a click, just to be sure.
2. Make sure everyone knows the music inside-out and is ready to record. Seems obvious, but, well, there it is. If you’re drummer isn’t ready, and he/she goes into the studio playing one bad take after another, that’s a lot of wasted time and money.
3. Your friend wants to record it for you and do it cheap? Well, that’s great, but usually not a good idea. Their equipment may be amateur, their experience lacking, or they may not feel comfortable telling you when you need to do that 37th take because you’re just not getting it.
4. Get it mastered. DO NOT SKIP THIS! The difference will astonish you.
5. Package it nicely. Here’s a Big Andy story for you: I once saw a band I liked quite a bit, but have completely forgotten since. After their performance, one of their band members came up to me and asked if I would like to buy a CD. Score ten points for them and any band that does this, which I’ll post on later. I shelled out my five bucks, he handed me a CD-R with the band name written on it with a sharpie. I almost asked for my money back. I never listened to it, and I never followed up with that band. I was PISSED. You must impress people, or you will lose them. Even if they already like you.
If you put a serious amount of work, thought, and money into your demo, then there’s no reason it should suck. Look at Simplistic Urge, from the Chicago area, for a great example. Their latest CD “Drown in your Own Demise” is only three songs, but it’s packaged beautifully, engineered superbly, and they’re now getting airplay on MTV2 and hundreds of plays a day on Myspace.
In the world of high-speed internet, you have less than ten seconds to get people’s attention and wow them with your recording. Probably even less than five. There are millions of bands out there, and many of them have great recordings. If someone stumbles upon your Myspace and hears your bad demo, you will have lost them. Forever.
The only way you can make it with a crappy demo is if your music is just that good and that original. And your’s probably isn’t. So don’t risk it. Don’t make a crappy demo.