The FYI on DIY

You may have seen Cavil at Rest’s video for “Who’s There” on MTV2, a clever bit of stop-motion animation that was part performance, part pupa—it involves butterflies, guitars, some cocooning . . . just go watch it. Anyway, the success of the video reveals a lot about a band not only interested in success, but a bit fanatical about achieving it on their own terms.

And yes, yes, I know every band says that before the record company comes ’round and then they sell out, break up and end up pushing extended warranties at Guitar Center. But the fact is the members of Cavil have put desire into action. Action like making the “Who’s There” video themselves with some friends from Chapman University and then marketing it aggressively until it ended up where it did. The video led to increased web hits and folks at gigs—the band plays Sept. 19 at Costa Mesa’s Detroit Bar and Sept. 25 at the Prospector—and to the boys taking a serious step by quitting college to concentrate their energy on the band.

With five members, three lead singer/songwriters, and a sound that can vary between dance-y, poppy, three-part harmony-y and a bunch of stuff in between, Cavil at Rest is a very focused bunch who are very serious about what they do. So we asked the guys from Cavil—Kelcey Ayer, Ryan Hahn, Andy Action, Taylor Rice and The District’s own Matt Frazier—to tell us, and you, how a band goes about making it today. They gave us five ways. Look and learn . . .

COLD CALL
“Due to our plan to record our first full-length in the winter, we added a ridiculous restriction to our tour plan this fall; we need to actually make money. We found the perfect avenue in the college market. They pay well—it’s easy to command a $300 booking fee from someone who has a budget of $100,000—and have built-in promotion from the campus events staff. Our tactic? Cold calling. We lead off with our strongest laurel and try to sell ourselves in the first couple of seconds on the phone. We have six colleges booked so far this fall.”

DIVERSIFY
“We have three lead singers: Ryan the all-things-’60s-obsessed, Kelcey the indie experimentalist, and Taylor the Folkie. Our writing style is collaborative, and we allow our different perspectives to spin off of each other, creating something collective and not individually feasible. We get complimented on the diversity of our live show often, and while it sometimes makes it difficult for people to immediately fit us into one specific genre, we think that they remain interested when they sense what we are up to.”

MANAGEMENT
“Do not settle on just anyone. Having tried to work with two previous managers, we know how fortunate we are now to have G. Scott Barrett. He is the business-minded sixth member of the band who works as hard as any of us. He won’t hesitate to be the strong-armed tough guy when needed so that we don’t have to be. We all consider him a close friend and we keep in constant communication. He trusts us and respects our decisions even when they diverge from his advice. Most of all, he believes in this band as much as we do.”

PRESS FLESH
“While a label might pay a bunch of people to go litter a parking lot with flyers to promote you, we take a much more involved route. At any time, each of us is carrying a dozen flyers. A couple times a week we’ll go to shows and events to personally promote the band. Here’s the trick though—it’s quality, not quantity. We’ve found that if we can personally connect and converse with a handful of new people, we’re much more likely to have them find us on MySpace the next day. We’ve actually made some of our most loyal fans this way. Plus, I should mention we are really tight with our street team.”

SELF-DETERMINATION
“Something that always seems to become a point of frustration when labels are involved is a band’s image and marketing. We decide who takes our promo photos and which shots look best. We decide what we wear and what instruments we use. We’ve personally designed our last three shirts. We design our own flyers and posters. We designed our website and laid out our MySpace. We’re personally responsible for the upkeep of both. Basically, we have complete control of how we represent ourselves.”

CAVIL AT REST THE PROSPECTOR | 2400 E SEVENTH ST | LONG BEACH 90804 | 562.438.3839 | MYSPACE.COM/THEPROSPECTORLONGBEACH | TUES 10PM | 21+ | CALL VENUE FOR COVER

Tags: Cavil at Rest, mtv, who's there