SpokesBUZZ, Taking Colorado by Storm
by Tim Wenger
SpokesBUZZ is becoming Northern Colorado’s voice of music, and the group has been working hard the last four years to take some of Colorado’s best music and expose it to a national audience. They recently concluded the induction of their Class of 2014, with the Yawpers, Common Anomaly, Winchester Holiday, Wasteland Hop, Shatterproof, and Maxwell Hughes making the cut where many others fell short. This marks the first year that SpokesBUZZ has expanded outside of Northern Colorado to include regional acts from elsewhere in Colorado.
Colorado Music Buzz caught up with SpokesBUZZ El Hefe Dani Grant to get the lowdown on what makes the organization tick, how it works, and where you can find them drinking beer and talking music throughout the summer.
CMB: Talk a little bit about how SpokesBUZZ started, and take me through the basics of what you guys are doing.
DG: We got started in 2009 asking the question, ‘How do we let the world know what Northern Colorado has to offer in terms of music, arts and culture?’ Our music scene is so rich and plentiful but it seemed to be a secret. The first program was SXSW 2010 with six Fort Collins bands and a $7,500 budget. We had 250 RSVPs but we did it, and we rocked Austin, and we knew it was just the beginning. This year, with our collaboration with CO showcases through the Colorado Music Party campaign crafted and executed by SpokesBUZZ, we had 80 bands and 15,000 RSVPs. The SpokesBUZZ showcases had 14 bands, approximately 2,000 attendees, and went through 10 kegs of New Belgium beer and two cases of Coyote Gold Margaritas in four hours. I use beverage giveaways as a measurement, it was jam packed.
We are a promotion engine for the Front Range music scene, and we incubate the best musicians that cover a diverse genre mix. We are the self-proclaimed spokespeople for the scene, spreading the BUZZ about Bikes, Beers, and Bands in Colorado. We decided we didn’t want to preach to the choir about how amazing this culture is, that it was more important to spread the BUZZ nationally and regionally. We began to create opportunities for our bands to be showcased nationally, regionally, and locally. Our reputation has grown significantly, we are perceived as a top non-profit label with a roster of high caliber bands that have professionalism and promise of a future in the industry.
Our incubator and our board bring resources and education to the bands involved, we develop our artists as entrepreneurs. Our marketing and promotion is crowd sourced through Cause Marketing. We develop a relationship with the public. The fans want to be part of the momentum, DIY bands receiving support from their communities to succeed and operate in a complex and invitation-only industry is worth getting behind. They will support our organization and our business sponsors who are leading edge conscious capitalists.
CMB: How was the class of 2014 selected?
DG: The application is a rigorous selection process. We only receive applications for four weeks of the year, and generally we have only 2-3 spaces available for a new band. After you meet initial criteria, then we send music off to national listeners for ratings, local selection committee and the board. Then we review a short list of live performances and we meet for three hours, vote and haggle. It’s an intense meeting.
CMB: How are you bringing global attention to local music?
DG: We promote the music through national showcases like SXSW and BandSwap, regional showcases like SpokesBUZZ at UMS and garnering press and media attention and grassroots viral social media. We also work hard to put our bands in opener positions with nationals. Our productions are top notch, we know how to market and promote, throw a party and how to produce a high quality show.
CMB: What events do you have going on this summer?
DG: The SpokesBUZZ showcase at The Underground Music Showcase in Denver is going to be amazing. We will have six SpokesBUZZ bands playing Saturday, July 20th at The Irish Rover starting at noon. We expect to bring a lot of new faces to the UMS, a lot of Northern CO folks who are excited to learn more about our indie scene, and we expect to meet a lot of regional music fans that will be enchanted by our small town big scene impact.
CMB: Where can the readers find more info on SpokesBUZZ, and if they want to get involved, what can they do?
DG: We are always adding new volunteers and looking for sponsors and donors. We are a non-profit, and we don’t earn money from our musicians so we look for support from the community. SpokesBUZZ.org has more information on the bands involved, our calendar listings, how to become a volunteer and how to donate.
Online: spokesbuzz.org
Category: Buzzworthy
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