Given the large numbers of unsolicited demo recordings we are receiving, We thought it was time to give a little clarification about what we are looking for in a demo.
In truth most of what we receive is not appropriate for our label, this said, several of our most recent compilation releases have featured tracks from unsolicited demos, and Stickleback, one of our key artists, originally came to our attention from an unsolicited demo.
So here's some questions to ask yourself before you send a demo:
1.) Are you, and your music, ready for a label to invest their time, effort & hard earned money in your art? If your music is not yet ready to be released, then perhaps more work rather than more demos are the answer?
2.) Why do you want to be released on our label?
It might seem like an obvious question, but its usually the one most rarely addressed. Very often we receive generic emailed demos from artists, with little detail about them, their project, history or vision and about a hundred other labels copied into the email, as you might guess we never listen to these demos, and from talking to friends at other label neither do they either... and why would you? There is nothing appealing about the impersonal in general life, so why would it make your art appealing? It smacks of unprofessionalism, after all you wouldn't do it with your resmue when you are looking for a job.
The fact is, these days you don't need a record label to release your music. So those of us involved in running a record label would like to know why you want to be involved with us.
Tempest Recordings is a label run by musicians. We release both our own music and other people's music we love. Its more than just a mechanism to improve promotion or collective bargaining. Our approach is collaborative with our artists. We encourage a collaborative approach to promoting & releasing the music, but also artistic & musical collaboration across the group.
We are a small, boutique, underground label. So this means budgets are modest, but the deal is fair.
If all of this seems appealing to you, then send a demo, if not chances are you will be more at home on another label.
3.) Are you a fan?
If you are not a fan of the music on the label, then its not going to work for either party. Its as simple as that. If you have never bought one of our releases or songs, then please don't waste your time. Approach a label who you like enough to buy their material.
So assuming you have considered these 3 questions, and still want to send a demo, then this is what we'd like to receive:
1.) Some information about yourself, nothing too detailed, not too much hype. We want to get a sense of who you are and what you do.
2.) Why you want to be on the label & why you think you are a good fit.
3.) One or two of your best songs. Enough for us to our heads around, so if we like it we can come back for more.
Some notes on style. We try to keep the boundaries pretty loose here and are open to just about anything... but we aren't a country, metal or religious label. We are not ever going to be a good vehicle for a mainstream pop act, boy band, girl band or any of those acts whose emails promise to make us a fortune. If you've considered the questions above, then you already know this, but it doesn't hurt to say it again.
We don't have any plans to take on any new psytrance artists. Sorry. We are proud of the psytrance we released in the past, and there is always the off chance some of our artists may release something vaguely trance in the future, but collectively we've moved on from this style.
All of the demos we have signed have conformed to these criteria, in fact all of the artists involved in the label, whether old friends or found via an unsolicited demo have satisfied these criteria. So if we don't get these things, we will be deleting/ binning the demo.
Thanks, and we look forward to hearing from you.
