Greenville Scene

by Keith Groover and Michelle Hannon

If you have followed the Greenville music scene for the past year or so, you have probably noticed the name of one club in particular popping up repeatedly – Gypsy G’s. This, the second in our “How to Get a Gig in Greenville” series (here is the first), features the co-owner of Gypsy G’s, Scott Guiffre.

GS: How should a band present themselves to a club (in general)?

SG: Well in general, they should know who they are. They should have a concise, short description of what they can do; what their music sounds like. Have a good package together. It doesn’t need to be real wordy because most bar owners don’t really spend a lot of time on it. If I go online to a myspace, I’ll listen to sometimes less than a minute of a song. Actually, a myspace address is, to me, essential. For my personal business it’s essential, and it really helps stay organized. So, if they have a myspace I think that puts them ahead, because they can just email the bar owner, and the bar owner can get on myspace and get a pretty good idea about what they’re doing. I would say really that’s pretty concise; that’s exactly what they should be doing.

GS: Is there anything that you would add to that specifically for Gypsy G’s?

SG: Not really, for me I try to keep it as simple as possible; they should know who they are and know what they can do. Now, in my personal circumstance, I never ask a band how many people they can bring in because I don’t make guarantees. So, they get 20% of my sales. We’re all working together for one thing and that’s one good night. You start stringing one good night together after one good night and pretty soon you’ve got a scene. And that’s worked really well for us.

GS: What should a band do to prepare for a show?

SG: Practice, practice, practice! Make sure all of your equipment is in really good working order. I’ve had some bands where their pots on their amps are not working or they forgot to bring mics or extension cords. Be over-prepared musically. Be over-prepared equipment-wise. Make sure all your equipment is in perfect order.

GS: What should a band not do to get a show at Gypsy’s?

SG: Arrogance is a real turn off. And that’s in life in general. You know, the pomposity of some folks. “We’ll come in here and we’ll kill it in here.” Being earnest is good. “Hey we’d really like to play here,” “we think we’d do well here,” “we think your club would really benefit by us being here.” And if I say “well, how will I benefit from you being here?”, which I don’t do, but if I did, they should have an answer.

I’m a musician. Music should be fun. Yes, you should have some business sense about you but if that’s all you are then you’re not any fun. Be prepared, be professional. Don’t lose that child in you.