The Potbelleez discuss going from hosting illegal beach parties to being a multi-platinum selling act

The Potbelleez have gone from hosting illegal beach parties to a multi-platinum selling act. 

 

The band's Dave Goode talks about the journey to Sound Advice.

 

Job Description…

Fun, passionate, tiring, late nights, excessive!  My job description is really making music in the studio and touring it on the weekends.

1st Album (bought or given)…

Madonna’s Immaculate Collection ... it was brilliant!

1st Gig…

An under18’s rave I was about 14 - in the Midlands (UK).

Years In Industry…

My first professional gig was in ‘97 so 14 years.

Early Influences (musical or other)…

My brother and my family were very musical.  My Granddad had his own band in the 40s.  My aunties and uncles used to play at Christmas and my brother influenced me through showing me rave tapes. 

Have you had or do you have a mentor…

We all mentor each other.  In the band we spend so much time together that we kind of mentor each other as we go along.  There is also a really nice guy from London that’s just moved to Sydney – his name is Mike Monday. He’s an old producer/DJ from London.  He’s doing motivational and creative seminars.  He’s been kind of mentoring me in a non-direct way.

First industry experiences: recording and performing live…

In the early 2000’s I was in many bands where DJ’s would play with musicians – bongos, sax, keyboards, guitars.  So I got quite a quick introduction to playing with not just 2 records and a mixer – actually playing in a band – a real sound system.  Jonny & I started recording.  We put on a gig for Groove Armada for the record label launch and through the proceeds we bought a little PC studio.  We just started working on Reason & Q Base and we eventually recorded “Junkyard” – which was our first-ever release.

 

Plus I also studied Audio Engineering at the JMC Academy. So I got trained on how to do that as well.

How do you break into the Industry…

We had a good idea where Jonny and I formed as 2 DJ’s on 4 decks and 2 mixers.  So we had a bit of a unique angle compared to other DJs.  We started promoting our own parties plus I had a residency every Saturday night for 5 hours, that then spring boarded me to do my own parties – illegal beach parties etc and through that we got noticed by the clubs.  They thought fuck, if you’re bringing that many numbers to your own party why don’t you bring them to a club. So we then got poached by clubs.  That’s how we got working heavily as The Potbelleez every weekend.

 

In the recording sense, we just got together a really good EP and just shopped it around to record labels.   We put the money up front to record, mix it etc and then we shopped it.  We were lucky enough that the music was good enough at the time, got noticed and got bought on.

Legal Advice: when is the right time to get it & what are you looking for…

Whenever you start getting into management, recording and publishing contracts and even when you need a strong booking contract.

Management: they find you or you find them…

Our manager, Myles Cooper, from Phat Planet came into Moulin Rouge where our residency was - he came in through a mutual friend.  It just happened to be the right time, right place.

Indie or Major: preference & how do you get that first recording deal…

We’re Indie.  We’re Indie on purpose so we have full creative control and it works for us.  With some people it might not work as well. We’re lucky we’re got a good team. We know what we’re doing and we’re all on the same page.  We’re able to shape our career in a positive way. 

Booking Agent: do it yourself or how do you get one…

Playing gigs live is the most important thing.  As soon as you can get out playing. Whether it’s through getting your own gigs or someone else getting your gigs – do it.  It’s one of the first things you should be doing, because problems happen and you got to fix them.  And now it’s just a simple trouble-shooting thing now when anything happens – it just becomes second nature.

Touring: how do you build your fan base and most memorable 'on the road' moment so far…

(Gigging) is a great way to build your fan base, build your confidence, build your skills up.  We done a tour in 2005 for Jim Beam - emerging markets in the world - we played in China.  It was just Jonny and I DJ-ing in some shit old town in China somewhere and I stepped off stage and put my foot in the DJ’s spit bucket.  I was up to my ankles in spit!

 

Also meeting some of the biggest peers I’ve had … Frankie Knuckles, Fatboy Slim and Pete Tong. Amazing. I’ll always remember.

Media: how do you find your audience - traditional, social or both…

Both. You’ve got to cover everything. Some people are still not on facebook so you have to hit them through other means. The power of facebook and myspace before it…we jumped on very early with that stuff because it’s definitely the way forward.  It’s a new generation coming through.  All they know is computers. Computers were like a big heavy box when I was a kid.

First Music Video: what should you spend & how do you find a director

Finding the right director is about putting your song out there for pitches.  You see what director’s are available and you pitch to them and if they’re into the idea they’ll come back with a treatment and basically we choose the best treatment.  Budget wise we’ve done videos from $30000 to $5000, but I don’t think you can get a decent video under $5000.

Publishing: biggest pro & biggest con, plus how much was your first royalty cheque…

We got stuff on TV way early in our careers.  To get our royalties and to get our monies from the TV synchs that we got, we opened up our own publishing company and got approved by AMCOS and we were able to collect our own royalties. So when “Don’t Come Back” became big Universal approached us and wanted to sign our publishing, but we said we’d already signed to ourselves.  So we ended up going into a joint venture with Universal.  We did it DIY and the big guys loved what we did, so they said we want a piece of you.  That’s not to say it works for everyone, but it works for us.  We have some great synch-able music that works for publishing.  Some people sign a 10-album publishing contract but wouldn’t get … they never see the light of day.

[First Royalty Cheque] …It was probably in 2004 from a fitness show…it wasn’t much!

O/S: When is the right time to go & how do you fund it…

We went in 2005 before we even had a record deal and I think that was quite important.  We got in early and we got to see what the pressures were, the stress of it … the different cultures. We had a big alcohol brand behind us. We didn’t get any traction from it, but the experience alone has stayed with us ever since.

Career High…

Chartering our own private plane and own private helicopter to bring us to gigs.  Doing two NYE shows in the one night. One in NSW – counted it down. Went over the boarder and did it again.

Career Low…

Missing family & routine.

Rockstar Moment…

The plane and the helicopter one I think. That would be hard to top.

Top 3 Sound Advice Tips for new artist's trying to break into the industry…

1. Be to be passionate.

2. Take knocks.  I know all of us in the band have taken knocks but you just have to pick yourself up and go again.

3. Be true to yourself and what you want. Don’t be doing anything you know you don’t want to do.

The music industry is changing rapidly. What direction do you see it heading…

If I could do that I think I would be a very rich man.  With the American’s jumping onto dance music the way they have done in the last few years, I think this is a good thing for us as a dance band. It really opens up that market way more than it did for bands like The Prodigy when they went over.  So if there is ever a time we’re going to break – America - the time is now.  But I think dance music has never been bigger in the world.

What are you currently working on…

Working on new material on the road and during the week. Touring up to March and then have some time off and come back with new material.

Last recorded music bought (paid or complimentary & what delivery format)…

I got some music from my friend in Dublin on my Drop Box.  A whole range of dance music from the last 10 years.  Some absolute gems on it.

Last Gig (paid or 'on the door')…

I want to Eminem & I paid.

Finally, what job would you be doing if it wasn't for music…

I’m a printer by trade, but I stopped doing that in 2001.

For the record (the plug):

New Album "Destination Now" out now through all good online & retail outlets.  The Potbelleez currently touring Australia.  See details through below links.