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doomedandstoned · 5 years

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Your Band and Advertising

~Bacon's Blog~

Featuring Photographs of Russian band TSYGUN by Rita Fevraleva

Here's a big topic that I don’t address nearly enough. I’m going to tell you how to target your ads on social media. Understanding the core concepts behind advertisements on Facebook and Instagram is one of the most fundamentally important skills that you can teach yourself in 2019. Now, I know as well as many of you that this might not seem cool. I get it. Social media ads are sort of the devil. They are the reason Trump is president. They are the reason that you always see ads for made to order shirts for "Tough Guys who like Vikings born in November." I get it. It’s frustrating.

However, there are a lot of easy ways to target your ads that are actually going to pay off for you in the long run, and that’s what we’re going to get into in this post. Moreover, we’re going to delve into something more fundamental: the logic that you need to deploy when figuring out how exactly you want to target your ads. We’re going to dig deep into why you should be hyper-targeting, and then guide you through the process of how to grow your advertising strategy in a meaningful way that will actually pay off. It’s gonna be a helluva ride.

The key to understanding all ads on Instagram and Facebook is that they are looking to find the cheapest possible click. In layman’s terms, this refers to your lowest common denominator fan. So, if you are trying to push ‘kvlt black metal’ you shouldn’t use the term ‘black metal’ as part of your targeting settings in Ads Manager. If you put ‘black metal’ in the targeting settings, you will get Cradle of Filth fans, when you were actually hoping to get the same people who like Darkthrone. Your ability to hyper-target is incredibly important when trying to reach that next level. At the end of the day, you can’t be marketing to who you want your fans to be. You need to be marketing to who your fans are. Yes, you may want all black metal fans to like your project, but right now, you’re a lot more likely to get clicks out of the dudes who are already in your niche.

The thing is, you’re not going for just the cheapest possible click -- you’re going for the cheapest possible sale. It’s the conversion you should be focused on. This is why smart ad buyers employ a tailored approach towards how they target their audiences. For example, if you have a really big German audience, then go and run an ad in German. People like to feel catered to. They will feel especially catered to if you’re not a German-speaking band, but you make that effort anyway. The ads you run everywhere else in the world can be in English, but running the right one to that core fanbase is going to win. You need to be looking at the analytics, because you have those numbers available and aren’t taking as much advantage of them as you should be. I know this, because I have them available and I don’t do it as much as I should.

ТЛЕН (TLEN) by TSYGUN

Another big part of hyper-targeting is getting granular on geographic and personal levels that are contextually relevant to your promotional campaign. For instance, let’s say you’re a band about to embark on a 30-show tour of Europe. You could do what foolish bands do, which is just run one big $150 ad and say “Hey, Europe, we’re coming for you.” Or, you could get the most bang for your buck, and run individualized ads targeted to each city you are playing. You could say, “Hey, Paris, we’re coming for you!”, “Hey Belgium, we’re coming for you”, and so on and so forth. You get it. Yet you don’t. Why? Because it’s a pain in the ass and you’re lazy. I get it, but here’s the thing. If fucking Kreator can shoot individualized advertisements for each and every of their dates on the Decibel tour, then you can run the same ad slightly edited across 30 different markets. It’s not hard. You genuinely care about this stuff, right? Right?!

Now, I’m not going to blow smoke up your ass. This shit can be super fucking hard. Not only can it be super fucking hard, but it’s also going to take a lot of work on your end. Constant experimentation and refinement of your target audiences is inherent to the process of making sure things are performing nicely. As a general rule, you want to be paying around 75 cents per click for audiences you are targeting on Facebook, and under a dollar per click on Instagram. A little higher is okay. Those numbers are by no means precise, and in a few months they might be wrong again – but I know a lot of you guys like having detailed info like this, so I’m doing my best to give it to you.

This is also part of why I like to run lots of smaller ads before I run bigger ones, and why I run a lot of smaller ads in general. It not only gives you the ability to target more effectively, but I’ve found that the sheer power that you get from constantly optimizing pays off more in the long run rather than taking a bunch of $50 shots in the dark. There are two kinds of people who take $50 shots in the dark: people who are bad at targeting ads, and people who actually buy their own drinks in Vegas. Both of these people are the result of bad planning, so don’t be like them.

I hope this makes sense as a general primer on targeting your social content. I know that it’s some pretty complex stuff, and I’ve experienced firsthand how overwhelming Ads Manager can be. That being said, once you know what you’re doing, it’s easy to run effective ads that are going to get you traction. Once you understand some of the basic concepts behind how these ads work, then you’re going to get a whole hell of a lot further. If you guys like this article, I can get even deeper since obviously this is only the beginning. Just realize that social media ads need to be targeted not at who you want your audience to be, but rather who your audience actually is. Because when it comes down to it, that audience is a lot bigger than you might expect.

Matt Bacon (IG: mattbacon666) with Dropout Media is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Matt also co-hosts the Dumb & Dumbest podcast with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR.

#Bacon's Blog #Matt Bacon #Dropout Media #Advice #TSYGUN #Moscow #Russia #Photography #Rita Fevraleva #Doomed & Stoned

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doomedandstoned · 5 years

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Doomed & Stoned in Russia with Neuropolis

~By Billy Goate~

Photographs by Darja Fetisova

I like to keep my finger on the pulse of scenes around the world, especially those that are lesser known in the light of the mainstream. For the past three or four years, for instance, we've been covering events like the Sludge Convention and Tune Low, Play Slow in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Russia has a thriving heavy underground that trends towards dark, dank sludgy doom, much of it with a hardcore or southern rock twist.

Support for local gigs is robust compared to what most bands experience in the States. Alice in Chains just played their first gig ever in Moscow and it was incredible to see the fast crowd singing along with every song (yes, even the new ones). Bands in the doom-stoner scene such as Acid King, Eyehategod, and Elder have, in recent years, taken the long trek into what was once forbidden territory to perform before a most grateful (and highly involved) audience.

The homegrown scene is no less impressive, though much of it is tragically unknown outside of local circles. Some have broken free from obscurity, like The Grand Astoria, and more and more people are sharing the likes of The Re-Stoned, Dekonstruktor (formerly The Moon Mistress), Pressor, Stoner Train, Tsygun, Without God, Lord of Doubts, ИЛ, Illegal Ones, C.X., Phantomass, 609, and Fuzzthrone on the socials.

This is the point at which we're introduced to a fresh face in the doom scene, a six-member crew called NEUROPOLIS. I happened upon them while browsing a Russian-language metal forum one afternoon, which led me to a YouTube video for the EP, 'Temptation' (2019), which itself was quite the unexpected emotional odyssey of peaks and valleys. Take a listen for yourself:

Temptation (Искушение) by NEUROPOLIS

Perhaps the band got lucky their first go around and composed a masterpiece of doom with deft touches of death. Perhaps there is more greatness awaiting in the creative well of these young musicians. Regardless, the time is ripe to get to know them all better. In the process, we're afforded a rare window into the St. Petersburg heavy underground and the cultural distinctives that are shaping the Russian doomers of today.

Doom resonates with our worldview and perception.

It has already become an integral part of us

Take us underneath the soil, into the roots of Neuropolis. How did it all begin for you as a band?

Now it is difficult to note any one of the band's stages of existence as an absolute foundation point. Every one of us has been creative, mostly in music, before we became a band. The first crew, from which our band slowly began to develop, was formed approximately five years ago. It was a naive time of experiments and searching for sound. Kim, Freakedelic, and Dmitry (the former vocalist of the group, whom we jokingly call Maestro), arranged jam sessions together, tried and eventually learned to play instruments, and worked on their first songs ("Heaven in Hell," "Secret Paradise," "Killing Machine"). Then the guys gave their first concert in a bar called ZIS and got a couple of whiskey shots for their fee.

After this, due to internal contradictions and uncertain life circumstances, Freakedelic left the band, devoting himself to spiritual practices and psychedelic experiments. Our band hasn’t got him back for a very long time. In those days, the number of session musicians, bassists, and drummers has changed and two concerts were given in clubs Ulitsa and Money Honey. None of the invited musicians, however, could find their place in the group.

In 2017, Freakedelic, who achieved enlightenment, returned to the band together with his wife, Miroslava Antonova (aka DegraDante), who began to play keys, and Maestro brought in a new bass guitarist, Sergey Berezhansky (aka Sotona, aka Diversant). In such a composition, the band recorded its first single in mid-2018: "Surf (Priboy)." This was an important stage in the history of the band, which can be considered the moment of foundation.

By that time, the name of the band had already existed -- Neuropolis. After the release of "Surf" online, a concert was held in the club Banka and one was planned in the club ROUTE148, but difficulties arose. Maestro was fired from our band for his inappropriate behavior and his personal ambitions based on nothing. A week before our concert, the band was left without a vocalist. Sotona invited his old friend Vladimir Alekseev (aka "V") to scream into the microphone at the rep and he immediately made an impression on us with his pitch, and especially the frail, deep lyrics that he immediately wrote for three old versions of songs. We decided that V would perform at ROUTE148 with Neuropolis.

In just a week, a new song was written and the old material was reworked. It was the beginning of the modern history of Neuropolis, which lasts to this day. At the end of 2018, rhythm guitarist Valentin Rebrov (aka "Verghil Alighieri") joined our band. He was invited to our concert by the keyboardist, having just moved from Sakhalin (almost from the other side of the world). He had few friends, so he was interested and offered to write an Intro to one of our songs. Then he decided to become our rhythm guitarist and contributed a lot of good stuff to our band and music. Given the crew we work with today -- and the release our debut EP, 'Temptation' (2019) with V’s lyrics -- there isn’t any reason to for us to break up the band.

This is our sad six-person party in the basement

What was you goal in creating new music together? Did you specifically choose to play music in the doom genre?

We do not think that each of us himself has chosen doom as a genre. Many of us like heavy music: someone is fond of black metal, someone of thrash, someone of death, and someone likes specifically doom. You may like different music, but when you start to create it, it is so-so -- like it comes out of you and if there isn’t one person in the band, the result depends on the preferences of each, so it is a kind of the general mood quintessence. We made doom that sounds quite old-school.

In the end, each of us has his own interests and motivations: for one it is a hobby and profit, for another a leisure time with an instrument in his hands, for the third it is an opportunity to work in a certain genre niche, the opportunity to improve his composing talent. For still others of us it is an opportunity to express emotions in a musical and poetic form. The atmosphere of the genre, its emotional component, is sometimes striking, and in some forms of this genre -- from the smallest detail to the greatest effort -- is worth it to do.

The musicians who love all of these different styles have met and have made doom, therefore it must be fate. The most interesting thing is that doom never bothers us, it resonates with our worldview and perception, it has already become an integral part of us -- minor viscous riffs, powerful drums, texts permeated with doom. This is our sad six-person party in the basement.

Air here is saturated with the fall of several empires and thousands of crippled destinies of young people.

'Temptation' has some very sad and moving moments, indeed. What inspired you to write this pair of songs?

Our first EP is imbued with the spirit of the city we live in, the spirit of St. Petersburg. Life here leaves a certain imprint on perception. We live in a rather shitty climate between the Gulf of Finland and Ladoga Lake. It is cloudy and rainy here, with sunny days in the year limited to about 50. This northern city is considered one of the most depressing in Russia, while it bears the title of the cultural capital of the country. This explosive combination -- depression and creativity -- such mood is close to Scandinavians (Swedes, Norwegians, Danes). But, in addition to the weather, we have a huge area decorated with monuments, cathedrals, buildings, and grotesque mythical figures of granite, which lie on a huge variety of islands, canals, and stone waterfronts.

The air here is saturated with the spirit of the fall -- the fall of several empires, thousands of crippled destinies of young people. The soul of this location is impossible to express through the textbooks. It penetrates inside of us throughout life. Through our creativity we broadcast it.

In addition, if we exclude the influence on our music of recognized masters of doom metal (and their influence is undeniable), such as Candlemass, Saturnus, Katatonia, Saint Vitus, and Black Sabbath, there is something else that inspires us. Here is just the question of whether we will draw inspiration from life. Yes, we draw it from the experience of our own lives. It happened so that each participant of Neuropolis has had quite a difficult fate -- alcohol, drugs, hospitals, wars, suicide, loss. We have seen some shit. Almost every living inhabitant of the planet Earth is faced with these things. This, of course, could not but affect our music and our lyrics. The lyrics of our songs are always permeated with references to both religious texts and masterpieces of classical literature. It's not as easy as it might seem. We're working on every word. And Kim and Verghil sometimes just write good riffs.

This seems like a good time to introduce us to the individual members of the band and tell us what instruments, gear, and amps you all use.

Vladimir Alekseev (aka V) -- vocals, lyrics. Before meeting the musicians, Neuropolis wrote sad lyrics and worked on a solo album in the genre of psychedelic rock. Suddenly, he felt a desire to experiment with extreme vocals and to play old-school doom metal. Microphones: Oktava MK-319, Shure Beta 58A.

Valentin Rebrov (aka Vergil Alighieri) -- guitar, arrangements. Arrived from the other end of the world and joined Neuropolis in late-2018, proving himself as a good sound engineer, reliable guitarist, and talented arranger. Guitar: Schecter Omen-7 Walnut with stock pickups. Pedals: AMT Heater + AMT B2 + AMT Pangaea CP-100

Alexey Antonov (aka Freakedelic Anvy) -- drums. Our drummer is also one of the band's founders. This guy really has seen some shit and in some shit had to play. His custom-crafted drum kit was used to record our Temptation EP, with its iron ED Cymbals Legat and Pearl Eliminator Redline pedal. In everyday life and for gigs he uses a hi-hat Paiste 303, 201 Paiste ride, crash Sabian El Sabor, and Pearl Eliminator. "There was some experience using Axis," he says, "but the chain drive was closer to me."

Dmitriy Kim (aka Kim) -- guitar. One of the founding fathers of Neuropolis. The most beautiful riffs are his job. Guitar: Epiphone Les Paul Custom with prophecy Pickups - EMG 81/85. Guitar processor: Zoom G5n.

Sergey Berezhansky (aka Sotona, aka Diversant) -- bassist, millionaire, playboy, philanthropist. He has two bass-guitars -- the first very strange ESP The Surveyor (there are doubts in originality) and Fender Precision Bass'82 -- plus a rather unique "craft" guitar. Despite its mystique, the ESP sounds pretty good for its price. "Well, Fender just made me happy with a single touch to the strings," he remarks. "In general, this is the very case when playing the guitar, is the great pleasure of the instrument. I use processor Boss GT-1B. It satisfies me completely. I used the delay pedal, but with the help of the processor, this no need to use a separate pedal. And the presence of preamp removed some inconveniences with connecting to different guitar speakers in different rehearsal rooms."

Miroslava Antonova (aka Degradante) -- vocals, lyrics, keyboards. Originally from Ukraine, she met Freakadelic in a chat and moved to St. Petersburg. Instruments: Diapason (mezzo soprano), Akai MPC mkII MIDI keyboard, PC, and reaper. Microphones: Oktava MK-319, Shure Beta 58A.

Some delicate ears do not stand up and bleed a bit from what they hear.

Well, you are certainly loaded for bear! Have you turned your attention to composing new material for an upcoming record?

Good question. We don't want to work on anything else, but it seems to be necessary, because it is stronger than drugs. (laughs) At the moment, we are working on a new EP, Golem, which we plan to release in the fall. This release will be different from EP Temptation, with a sharper, heavier sound. Presumably the Golem will be four new killer songs in the genre of death-doom. We have already recorded some demo tracks for the new EP. Some songs have lyrics, but there is no music and vice versa. Some are completely ready for studio recording. We hope to surprise those who liked our first release.

We want to bring doom metal out of the underground.

What is life like for a heavy music artist in Saint Petersburg? Do people understand your music or is the heavy music scene more of an "underground" phenomenon?

The life of a musician playing heavy music in St. Petersburg is like trying to give people vitamins, while everyone wants to eat a triple burger with sauce. Some delicate ears do not stand up and bleed a bit from what they hear. It's not bad, we love blood -- it's beautiful.

Music takes a lot of time and money, especially when you do something ideological and conceptual, not mainstream. The genre in which we play is not common here. Our music can really be called underground. This is the trend of our time: there is more in fashion pop music and light indie rock, which is convenient to play in bars and clubs. Such music helps the owner of the clubs to sell more alcohol. But we are still a young band, we hope to find like-minded people and organize concerts together. After the release of the second EP we will pay a lot of attention to concert activity. We want to bring doom metal out of the underground and are ready to make a lot of effort, not only in terms of sound, but also in terms of visual performance.

They come to us after the concerts to thank, praise, and even scold us.

Take is into your scene and tell us about some bands you play with that you might recommend to our listeners.

Freakadelic recommends cool Moscow guys Kamni. They play great stoner metal, although in recent years they trend more and more towards psychedelic rock. V recommends Arkona. This is a well-known Russian band. We haven’t not played on the same stage with them, but maybe someday we will be lucky to do it. Arkona's guitarist helped us with the EP Temptation, as we are close to his vision of heavy music. Degradante recommends a wonderful St. Petersburg band Theodor Bastard. Although it is not metal, the guys are original, with a gorgeous sound and interesting vocals. And also black metal collective Second To Sun.

We played with different bands, but we have never met anyone like us. Sometimes we saw a lack of understanding in the eyes of the listeners who came to have a rest after a hard day, but sometimes we saw interest in their eyes. There are all kinds of feedback: they come to us after the concerts to thank, praise, and even scold us, so we are doing something right. This world needs us.

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#D&S Interviews #Neuropolis #Saint Petersburg #Russia #Doom #Metal #Doomed & Stoned

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