When Trikuti, an enormously popular band with twenty-something Long Islanders, decided it was time to get serious about marketing themselves they asked Michael Rotolo for advice. One of the most important things he decided the band needed was the kind of media kit that they could proudly circulate to promote themselves. Bands that are seeking representation, air-play, and of course a deal with a major label, need to present themselves in a professional manner.
Trikuti band leader and lead singer, Scott Seader, understood this and put his trust in Rotolo Media. Although its all about the music when it comes down to it, if your not taken seriously and your demo never gets a listen, then what’s the point. Scott appreciated the need to put together a media kit that would distinguish the band from the myriad other home-baked discs that come across the desks of radio-station DJs, and record-label execs everyday. Its important for bands to understand that while they may be consummate musical artists they should seek the talents of a graphic artist to package their work and create attractive collateral printed materials to help the band gain notoriety.
Michael Rotolo had a ball in the studio with the band encouraging the guys, who had never done a photo-shoot before, to loosen up and get a bit zany. We cranked up the music and just had the guys get as kinetic as possible while Michael shot upwards of 200 frames. It was a fun afternoon and yielded a lot of great moments on “film” that the band will use for printed pieces, swag and their web photo gallery. We settled on creating a 4/1 glossy piece that shows the band in color on the front and then a description of the band and members on the reverse in black and white.
The piece is inserted unfolded into black folders with slits for holding the cd featuring four of their best songs to present to record labels and radio stations. When mailing to newspapers, fans, etc. the piece can be folded down in half with the cd in a glassine sleeve. For Trikuti this project was a necessary investment in their future, for not much more than a good amp, Scott made the decision to have Rotolo Media handle an important part of crafting their visual image. Now that we have some nice pieces under our belt and some good photos, the creation of additional printed materials such as posters, postcards, t-shirts, and other swag will be easy and the expense will be minimal.
To save the band some expense we decided it was best to supply them with print-ready PDF files that they could take to any Kinkos and print these pieces as they needed. The cd art was furnished as a 2-up template corresponding to an Avery cd label.
Posted By: Michael Rotolo President of Rotolo Media
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