Summary: There are some new interviews on Youtube that show David Lee Roth interviewing Alex and Eddy Van Halen. It starts off with them talking about how they started off. They weren't shooting for stadiums. They were shooting to play that first small club. Then the next bigger club. Then the next small theater. I read a book last year that was called "Just 10 lbs." The idea is when we think about a giant task in front of us, we can get overwhelmed and either quit, or get frustrated. A better approach is to think about the next 10 lbs (instead of the 100 you need to lose). For me I think about my next meal. If I string together a bunch of good meals, and throw in some exercise I lose weight. We can do the same for playing gigs. Think about your next gig. Forget about how small or big it is. Ask yourself, "What can I do to make this a gig that ensures the owner of the vendue asks me back?" One of the wasy to find out what to do is ask. Ask the owner when they would like you to drop off any promotional material. Make sure you have a way to collect e-mail addresses at the gig. Have promotional material for your website and explain why people should visit. Ask if there is any promotional items the owner would like you to mention during the performance. Do your best to have the staff names. Make sure you know when you are expected to setup, and what is the best door to come in. Think about your next gig. Think location of the neighborhood. Think about your promotional material, and your merch. See what you can do to make sure this is the best gig ever. Still Want A Record Deal? Later in the video Eddit and David Lee talk about their first record deal where they got 11 points. Before you go thinking that is 11 cents for every dollar. Think again. There is a stipulation (based on old 78 records) that 10 percent of records broke during delivery. So you got 11 points for every 90 cents. The producer (Ted Templemen) took three of the 11 points that the band got. According to Van Halen, Ted Templemen makes more on their records than the band members do (as they split the 8 points by four people that means you get 2 points per person). From that you have to pay agents and attourneys. As David Lee put it, "The whole thing is a loan." The band split $1.15 between four people and paid for everything. They toured the world. Their album went platinum. When the tour was over Warner Brothers let them know that the band owed them 2 million dollars and another record.
