King of Stage

In the vast music market, it has never been so simple to occupy a place; what's more, in 2012, the band has gradually declined, and pop, hip-hop and rhythm and blues are fully occupying the market, leaving the band There is little room for development.

It can be seen from the audition show "The Voice of America" ​​that was officially launched in April 2011. Many lead singers with extraordinary talents and abilities choose to participate in the show. The development prospects of the band in the torrent of the times are getting narrower , They were also forced to choose to fly solo.

The same is true for the One Day Kings, even with the help of Trastan's manager, it is difficult to impress the record company.

Unable to sign a record company for a long time, and the hope of recording a new album is even more distant, the band gradually fell into the rut of commercial performances.

The so-called commercial performances are not concerts, but "guest performers". Performers of the same level as clowns, magicians, circuses, puppet shows, etc., in opening ceremonies, year-end conferences, birthday parties, wedding ceremonies, etc. The guests who perform in the show and are responsible for stirring up the atmosphere.

It is undeniable that commercial performances bring in money very quickly, and it is basically cash flow. One performance can earn a lot of money; but commercial performances have nothing to do with music, albums, dreams, etc. This is a completely different category of business. The development direction and ultimate goal are different.

Moreover, the income of commercial performances focuses on the quantity. In order to maintain the band’s daily practice and daily expenses, and it is shared equally among the four people—plus the agent’s commission, this also means that the number of commercial performances must keep up, otherwise The frequency of performances for three days of fishing and two days of posting on the Internet, and the income is still a drop in the bucket.

In the initial stage of development or the low stage of career, it is understandable to use commercial performances to improve the situation, change the status quo, and win some performance opportunities; but in the long run, no development opportunities can be seen, just like the "wedding singer", who will always be just a clown and fell into a vicious circle of commercial performances one after another, and there was no time to create new tracks.

Unknowingly, the band slowly fell into another rut, the light of rose-colored dreams gradually dimmed, the confusion of the future and the pressure of reality were like a process of slowly drowning, and no matter how hard they struggled, they could not get rid of the sinking Cold and suffocating.

Should we give up?

Should it persist?

They have no answer, and life continues to move forward in such a muddle, but it has already deviated from the original track.

Regarding this matter, the band members once sat down with Trastan and had an in-depth conversation face to face, exchanging views on future plans, development goals, and the current predicament.

Maxim even directly issued an ultimatum to Trastan. If they cannot sign a record company within three months—at least one interview with the record company is required, then they will terminate the brokerage contract; It will be decided by the members themselves, success or failure has nothing to do with Trastan.

The ultimatum, it worked.

Two months ago, things finally turned around - Trastan found a tour opportunity for the band, not a commercial show, but not a concert tour, but a bar tour.

This is a contract to tour 30 bars across the United States. Although it is not a commercial performance, it is a pure performance, but it is not a formal performance stage. It can only be regarded as the lowest level of touring performance.

Of course, it's not perfect. However, countless independent bands have completed such tours, especially during the peak rock and roll period of the 1980s and 1990s. Most independent bands in the UK and the United States have experienced this kind of honing, including The Beatles (The Beatles). -Beatles) is no exception, the band can get close contact with the audience, but also gain exposure opportunities and performance experience,

It can be described as a win-win situation.

What's more, Trastan secured two record label auditions for the band, one in New Orleans and one in Chicago.

Representatives of the record company will go to the bar to watch the show in person and make judgments based on the band's performance.

This is undoubtedly ecstatic news!

So, the band embarked on a journey of bar tour, with hope and expectation.

However, the ideal is beautiful, the reality is skinny, and the cruel truth made the band slide slowly into the abyss again.

First up is the bar tour.

Obviously, there is a huge gap between this and expectations. The reality is that those bars do not have dedicated performance venues, and at most they are at the level of a "piano restaurant", which is not much different from previous commercial performances. It's worse and worse.

Even the payment of remuneration is not straightforward, it is divided into two parts, one part is cash, and the other part is dinner supply, using the latter to lower the former's asking price. From here, you can clearly see the level of the performance, which is completely the most embarrassing performance at the bottom.

Followed by record label interviews.

The interview in Chicago went well. After the performance, the other party said a lot of greetings and compliments on their performance, and sent a lot of compliments and praises, but in the end they couldn't go further, because the other party expressed that they needed to go back and discuss further with the company. Unable to answer within time.

Although there is still a glimmer of hope, they all know how slim such hope is.

The interview in New Orleans...was put off, and the record company didn't show up at all.

The last hope bubble was also burst.

At this point, there are still five more shows until the bar tour is complete.

However, Trastan has already given up on the band ahead of time. He secretly advanced the cash income of the last five performances behind his back, and took away the accumulated income from the band's previous performances, disappeared without a trace, and remained in the brokerage contract. In the next three months, the contract was terminated early——

It wasn't until the lawyer's letter arrived at the motel that the band members realized they had been abandoned.

This happened two days ago.

It's over, everything is over, the band's struggle and persistence seem to be all over. Ronan, who suffered a heavy blow, caught the flu, had a high fever, and spent two days in a daze. Finally, today Passed out during the night's performance, and then they came to their current position.

Abandoned by Trastan, this is already an established fact; moreover, it is an undeniable fact that he is impoverished and desperate.

As Cliff said, the last five shows, should they continue? Even if they performed on stage, they would not get any cash income, at most they would just have a dinner together; moreover, there is no audience, no hope, and no goal, so what is the point of performing?

What's more, they still need to pay their own expenses, rush to five different venues to complete the performance, and then look at Ronan's terrible physical condition... Does the band really need to do this?

This is also the reason for the dispute between Cliff and Maxim tonight. All dreams and the future can be temporarily forgotten. Now they have to work for a living again, just like the past years, struggling and persevering. But never really saw hope.

What's more frightening is that Trastan's abandonment seems to have sentenced them to death:

You guys are not worth it.