One Time Weekend: Building a Band Fans Love
Why is a band this good still playing mid day festival slots? I asked myself that at set after set last summer, walking way too far to a side stage to watch One Time Weekend melt faces, until my wife made me stop following them around.
So I brought Ian, Sam, Alex and Adam onto Episode 71 of The Purpose Chasers to talk about the headliner conspiracy, the DIY booking grind and the thing that actually made me a super fan: the community they have built around the band.
It Started by Copying the Community, Not the Music
Ian was there at the beginning, about 10 years ago, when he, Adam, Ben and Zach started the band in high school. What they noticed at the shows they went to was not just the playing.
"We were going to shows in the area and seeing bands like Twiddle play. And one thing that we realized was how closely knit their fans were and the community behind that."
"We should try to build our fan base as well and not only focus on the music, but also focus on the community element of it. And that's sort of like an ethos that we've carried on through Masquerade Madness, our bigger profile shows that we put on, any sort of online fan engagement that we have."
That ethos is why their Facebook fan group is one of the most engaging communities I have been part of. It was a decision, made early, to treat the people in the room as part of the band.
You Remember Their Faces
Adam joined the call late, so I hit him with the question cold: what does the fan base mean to the band?
"Wouldn't be a show if fans didn't come. We have especially like the fans that you see at two or three shows, and you remember their face, and a month ago you saw them seeing you somewhere in Vermont and then the next time they come and see you it's in New York."
Sam, the newest member, described joining from the other direction. He had always been the guy who wanted to stay behind the gear, write, and be in the studio.
"From the very first time you can't help but be a member of the community. The community that has grown up around this band is so welcoming and so warm and so genuine."
Life After Zach
The question in my inbox was about Zach leaving and Sam coming in. We talked about it the way the band talks about everything, openly. The musical direction I was hearing on Nugs was not what I expected, and that turned out to be the point. A band that lasts has to survive a lineup change without losing its community, and this one did because the community was never built on one person.
Fans Are the Proof
Here is why a marketing guy keeps bringing bands onto a purpose podcast. A fan who has seen you 3 times and drives to Vermont to see you again is the most honest testimonial there is. Nobody paid them. They tell their friends, they post the clips, they fill the side stage until the festival has to move you to the main one. That is the Social Proof System running on its own, and every coach and contractor I work with is trying to build exactly that.
Keep Listening
Want a Community That Sells Out Your Shows?
On The Purpose Chasers I sit down with people who are building something that matters. In my business, The Happy Check, I help coaches, creators and service businesses turn that same kind of real story into video testimonials and content that bring in clients.
If you want to take your marketing to the next level, book an organic marketing audit call with me.
Or start with the free Happy Check book and learn who to ask, when to ask and how to use what they say.
Keep reading: why owned proof beats rented attention, video testimonial marketing.
