During this entire project, I had a great time learning new songs and discovering new bands from my band mates, We picked songs that fit into our style of music, and we all agreed we wanted to perform goth/alt-rock songs.
During the first week, we gathered in a small practice room to decide which songs we wanted to perform. To do this, we created a Spotify playlist that everyone in the band could join and contribute to by adding their song choices. We listened to the songs and ranked them based on playability and personal preference. After discussing our selections, we all agreed on three songs, with one as a backup in case we wanted to make a change later. We then jumped right into rehearsing the first song, “Black Sheep.” Since we were all familiar with the song, it made our rehearsal quite smooth.
I enjoyed every aspect of organizing a successful gig.
I worked on the promotion side alongside Aimee, and our task was to promote the entire performance. First, we decided on the name of the performance. We gathered all the name suggestions and created a poll, which we sent out on Teams to include all the students. After choosing the name, we created an Instagram page and encouraged the students to share it with their family and friends to help generate recognition. Once we had photos of all the students from their photo shoot, I designed some posters. This was a fun project for me because I love using Photoshop. I made sure each band had a unique poster based on their setlist.
On the same day, I also created the program using the setlist I received from Lacey, the stage manager. I stayed up until 5:00 AM to finalize everything and double-check that I had everything right.
Overall, I enjoyed this project. This year, I accomplished much more than in previous years since we had to organize the entire project ourselves. I managed my time by practicing the songs, working on promotion, and updating my digital presence. I still want to be a performer, but I also want to focus on the promotional side. I loved creating posters and the program using Photoshop because it allowed me to showcase my creative talents beyond just music.