Special Report: Interview with HotBands.com founder, Pat Ferris
by Kelley Guiney & Pat Ferris 

It's been a long strange trip since the concept for HotBands.com was first thought up over three years ago.  It's been exactly three years since I started having a featured band of the month, so to mark our third anniversary, I wanted to give the readers a chance to peek inside my mind to see what HotBands.com was about from my perspective.  The trick to doing this successfully meant that I couldn't conduct the interview completely without an unbiased view, so I was able to steal Kelley Guiney away from The Experience Music Project to help get my ideas in order. 

It's been a lot of fun over the past three years and as we add each new feature to our business, I can see my long term vision coming to fruition. Thanks to everybody that has helped make this website happen!  Now...on to the interview! 

<HotBands>What is your musical background?

<Pat>Gee…I guess I was involved with music as far back as I can remember, but I think people are either born with the passion for music, or they aren't. My parents said that when I was only months old that I would bounce up and down in the crib every time my father put "Yakity Sax" on the turntable. I remember getting my first pseudo-instrument at age 4…a mouth accordion that you blew into and had buttons on the side you pressed. From there, I moved on to toying with different instruments, pots and pans…pretty much anything I could get my hands on. I started formal training and lessons in 4th grade on violin, then moved on to clarinet and saxophone. I was in my first non-school band at age 11 when I was playing with my buddies Phil and Lenni Moore, both of whom have moved on to greatness in the music industry (Phil is a screaming studio player in LA and Lenni is a master composer for television and movies). After that, I started playing bass and guitar in college and taking as many music classes as were offered for a non-music major.

<HotBands> What was your major?

<Pat> My major was business and economics. I guess that I had visions of doing something great and making a lot of money, but I was too afraid to go for it full-time in the music industry because I was realistic on my chances of getting wealthy from it. There are a zillion jokes about broke musicians, so I chose a different path. My ultimate goal is to make the dough, then retire early and hang around the art colleges playing in different jazz combos. I can see myself at age 50 in a jazz trio in New York, or at age 90 picking banjo in a bluegrass band.

<HotBands> Who are some of your favorite artists (famous and not so well-known), and why do you like them?

<Pat> Boy…. that's a tough one! I've seen LOTS of great bands from all over the world, and obviously listened to many more that I haven't or couldn't possibly have seen. My earliest influences were big-band music, so giants like Benny Goodman, Pete Fountain, Glenn Miller and then later be-bop giants like Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. I did see Miles and Dizz, but they were all influential. Since music has been a lifelong experience, I couldn't put it all in a short paragraph or two. Other favorites that top the list include:

• The Grateful Dead - Best party in or out of the show! They set the standard for a "following." Best show: Eugene - 1990 with Little Feat.
• Fishbone - Highest energy band I've ever seen. Saw them at The Crystal Ballroom in Portland in 1994 with a fantastic Seattle band, Phat Sidy Smokehouse (another one of my faves that still plays).
• Paul Hinklin - An incredible bassist from Seattle band Sad-Happy. I took lessons from him in the '80s. Sad-Happy (at that time) was unique with a bass, sax and drums.
• Shankar - Double violinist from India. His playing will take your mind to another planet! I caught his show at the world music stage at Seattle's Bumbershoot festival in 1990.
• Carolyn Wonderland - The best female vocalist I've seen and one of the hardest working artists I've met. Seeing her live is something you should make a must if she's in your area.
• Joe Pass - The late great jazz guitarist. I saw him 11 times and spoke with him backstage a few times after his shows. He was one of the experiences I would call "great" for sure. He died on my 31st birthday (May 23, 1994).
• Larry Ortega - A fantastic mood writer. His music is primed for movie soundtracks, and has that unique ability to take your mind to other places.

There's a lot more, but these are some of the more memorable music events I can remember over the last 15 years. I couldn't really say any of them was "The Best" band. Each of them moved me in a different way. There are lots of currently touring independent artists I've seen that have that certain something about them that sets them apart from the ocean of other artists. Caroline Aiken from Atlanta, Georgia and Melissa Reaves from Charlotte, North Carolina are a couple of gifted singer/songwriter/guitarists that I also recommend to catch.

<HotBands> What is your take on the RIAA, Napster, and the direction of Internet music?

<Pat> I have never been involved directly with the record industry and can only base my opinions upon what I see and hear from people that are or have been involved. Based upon that, it seems to me that there is a lot of money in the music industry that isn't getting fairly distributed to the people that create the music. A while back, Courtney Love wrote a paper that covered how much money a "signed" artist actually makes, and it didn't amount to much more than a good paying job in today's standard workplace…about 50k/year. So where does the money go? Beats me. I have no idea how much money is spent on promotion, etc. I just find it odd that artists that "look good" and don't even write their own music, are superstars, while there are some absolutely incredible musicians with fantastic songs that are starving in the streets. As far as Napster goes, I think it is one of the coolest websites on the Internet, and a service that everybody would use. Should they charge? I suppose it would be fair to charge to use the service to reimburse the artists whose music is being traded, but the problem is the logistics of how to track that, be fair about it and keep the customers. Being an economist, I look at things from the perspective of supply and demand. The people of the world obviously want the product (music) for free…hence the popularity of Napster. The RIAA is trying to hang on to an archaic system by attempting to regulate something that can't be regulated.. If Napster is outlawed, the demand will create another source of file-trading. Prohibition of anything doesn't work, it only creates a black-market, and a criminal/anti-criminal industry. The focus should be on how to give the music for free or next to free, while selling other aspects of the artist such as tours, products, stickers, posters, even online auctions of their clothing after a concert. Believe me…these things will come as soon as they figure out that Pandora's box has been opened and there's no turning back. The last aspect of Internet music that I've seen that I especially think is important, is MP3.com. I think they are the holy grail for independent artists because they offer everything an artist needs to get their music heard and distributed. It really sucks that the RIAA has literally brought the Internet music industry to their knees with lawsuits. MP3.com and Napster have been sued for a HUGE portion of their investment capital because there was no regulation on the industry. Almost like they were getting sued for something that wasn't illegal until they did it. I think a MUCH more moderate penalty should have been issued. Now, a lot of the pioneers that went out on the limb to take risks are at the mercy of the record industry. It kind of reminds me of The Who song "Won't Get Fooled Again "…"meet the new boss…same as the old boss".

<HotBands> In a perfect world, what would the music industry be like?

<Pat> In a perfect world, a system will be created that will pay musicians a wage that would allow them to live a middle class life style. The live music scene is as close to fair as you can get and the artists that are popular can draw a crowd. The downfall to that is that the longevity of a band is typically short. It seems that large record labels get the majority of the money, and it would be cool to help artists set up some sort of retirement fund. I think it's really a shame to see bands that were on top of the world in the '70s reduced to playing the same old songs in "B" clubs when they're in their fifties because they didn't get paid enough from their record sales to set up them up for life.

<HotBands> You're notorious for being very picky about music. What are the most important elements that make up a great band?

<Pat> Am I?! Says who?

<HotBands> Everyone who knows you!

<Pat> Hmmm…I don't want to seem like a hard-ass to people! I'm just a goofball that likes music, but I always call it like I see it. If I really like a band, it's usually because there's something about the band that sets them apart from everybody else. There are some bands that are incredible in the studio that just aren't the same live, and vice-versa. The really great bands have a following, and people will come out again and again to see them. Sometimes followings are started with hype, but sooner or later, people will see through the hype and only come out for the event if the band creates the energy that gets people going. For example, at The Last Concert Café in Houston, every Tuesday Carolyn Wonderland and every Wednesday Pot Roast play to a totally packed house. It's really an event to see and has been going on for years. Now THAT'S a following! Years in the making and STILL able to get people off their butts and out to see live music on a week night! Other things that impress me are good hooks, good poetry, good changes, imagination, the ability to go "outside" and still come back smoothly, and good musicianship. If you have all of those things and a humble attitude, you have a winning combination.

<HotBands> I hate to break this to you, but you are a hard-ass. There's nothing wrong with that - if you say a band is good, they're good. In your opinion, what are the most common oversights and mistakes that you see bands making?

<Pat> There are lots of resources available to bands, but there are only a handful of people who are using the resources to their advantage. One of the most common mistakes I see artists make is to rush finishing a CD just so they have one. They'll spend thousands of dollars (they can't afford) to press a bunch of CDs that end up stacked up in their garage. Little thought was put into how to realistically distribute those CDs. Websites like MP3.com allow you to upload your music to their servers and set up a distribution system for your CDs on a "by purchase" basis so there is no surplus loss. The songs are made from MP3s so the quality is slightly less than a conventional CD and they do have their name, and advertising on your homepage at their site as well as the CD, but that's part of the price you pay to have such a great service available. I would eventually like to see HotBands.com set up similar to MP3.com, but we're not funded with millions (yet) and are taking a slightly different approach to Internet music.

<HotBands> What are you doing that is different from the other Internet music sites like MP3.com, eMusic.com, Liquid Audio, etc.?

<Pat> For one thing, we're not overspending our budget! The main reason for that is again because we didn't have a mult-million dollar budget to start with, so all of the work has been voluntary. We get hosting from a very together ISP in Washington called TSCNet, and through that relationship, we work with some incredible programmers and web-designers from a company called Exographics. We offer MP3s on our site, but they are links from where the artist actually stores their music. Storage and bandwidth is a killer in the Internet profitability factor. I feel that if a band believes enough in themselves, they should host their own music to help pull the wagon. We've also developed some great grass-roots relationships with companies like Fog City Productions (video production), Montrose Records and AMG (Artist Management Group) and latin website, Morango. I also  have a lot of music related domains that are being developed for future HotBands services. From what I've seen, Internet businesses are dying on the vine and only the strong will survive. In order to ensure the survival of HotBands.com we are pursuing standard brick and mortar businesses that have stood the test of time in the industry: recording, distribution, promotion, agency, and management. The idea is to use the Internet traffic to drive business to these existing companies. The businesses will either be owned by HotBands Inc. or affiliated in a mutually beneficial arrangement, allowing us to create a "virtual" music industry world wide. We've recently launched a booking agency in Seattle and are testing the market with a handful of nationally touring bands so we can figure out how we're going to automate it online.

<HotBands> That seems like a pretty big job!

<Pat> Somebody is going to pioneer this industry regardless of whether or not I'm involved, so I figure that I may as well stake my claim. It's either a sign of passion or lunacy to want to carve out territory that is besieged on all sides, but the time is right and when the right combination of people are involved, HotBands will be a household name in the music industry.

<HotBands> What do you see bands doing that impresses you?

<Pat> Working and making money with their craft. 98% of the musicians out there are not really professionals about it. What I mean by that is that they have a day job that supports their music habit. However, working within those parameters, there are still a lot of artists who are creating great music and performing when they can. Another thing that impresses me is the ability for the artist to market themselves. If you're making money in the music business, you're usually a really talented musician or a very good marketer (or you're working with one). Artist camaraderie is something else I admire. I'm in the Seattle area now, but have had the chance to travel around the country quite a bit over the past 10 years, allowing me to see the music scene in several different areas. When I lived in Houston, one of the unique things I saw was a real musicians' community…artists supporting artists. If you didn't have a gig, you were out seeing your friend's band play. I remember that attitude in Seattle in the early '90s.

<HotBands> You used to play a lot. Do you miss it and would you like to play again in the near future?

<Pat> I still play regularly although not as much as I did. The main goal right now is to get the foundation of HotBands Inc. up and running. My calling is not in the performance end of the music industry. I do miss it, and once I can afford the time required to put into a music project, you can bet I'll be back at it.

<HotBands> What do you think are the most important things a band should do to increase their chance of success?

<Pat> Use the resources available to you and spend the time to market yourself. One of the biggest things I see on HotBands is people not following through with what they start. They'll start an artist webpage, add their email address and genre and that's it. They have options of adding their band photo, mp3's, bio, press, reviews, description…pretty much everything I could think of that would help them be seen and heard, but the majority of artists won't put forth effort past the bare minimum that is required. There are lots of other free resources out there to help you market yourself. Learn how to use them and go to work. As far as the music side of things go, don't focus on putting out a CD. Focus on playing with musicians you get along with who complement what you're trying to express. The CD will come if you have the right chemistry. Finally, the best thing you can do….get a good paying day gig.

<HotBands> Any last comments?

<Pat> Thanks to all of the artists and readers that have helped make HotBands.com happen.  Special thanks to Jason Webb, Richard Cagle, Frank Shines, Kelley Guiney, Stacy Emerson, Brad Gelfond, Don Glenn, and all of the promoters and club owners we have worked with. If you're an artist, complete as much information on your HotBands webpage as you can so it will help the readers know who you are. Affiliate yourself with a METRO area so people from out of your vicinity won't have to figure out what part of the world you live in. Help spread good karma by adding our link to your official homepage. This is the only thing we ask for using the free services on our site, and any additional traffic or referrals only helps everybody. Thanks again and I look forward to many more years of providing services to help up and coming artists.

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