13 Emerging Bands for 2013 Infographic by Sonicbids
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A Pale Horse Named Death Streaming Live From Brooklyn
6 Jan
For a little over a year now my Husband and I have been working with Sal Abruscato and his band A Pale Horse Named Death with their digital marketing, social media presence and online community. It has been an absolute blast and an honor to work with some of the most talented guys in the rock/metal scene.
Friday night they had the opportunity to live stream their concert from The Knitting Factory in Brooklyn NY. I am so proud of them and this was a pretty awesome opportunity not only for them but for all their fans who can’t make it out to see them.
Also to my network, now you guys can finally get a chance to see the band that I am always talking about and that I devote my off hours to. Please enjoy! http://apalehorsenameddeath.com/page/aphnd-video
Your New Favorite Band: A Pale Horse Named Death
30 DecThis short but sweet blog post comes from Invisible Orange’s Cosmo Lee. Considering my husband and I are the masterminds behind the awesome website/fan community I wanted to share it with you. You can also visit the original blog post by clicking here.
Due to daily inundation, I almost never listen to new metal recreationally. But over the past few weeks, I have fervently sought out A Pale Horse Named Death. This band is unsigned – probably not for long – and landed in my inbox without a publicist. So I approached it with fresh ears. Now I’m a rabid fan.
A Pale Horse Named Death sound like Type O Negative and Alice in Chains put together. This isn’t surprising, given that vocalist/guitarist/mastermind Sal Abruscato was the drummer for Type O Negative. Sometimes the worship in either direction, TON or AIC, is so slavish as to raise eyebrows. But, man, the songs! I thirst for metal bands who can write songs. For most of the year, I am parched. Then come APHND, delivering songs by the ton. They are heavy, and they stick.
First, a note about the band’s brilliant marketing campaign. It set up a website with a media player that streams its entire debut album, And Hell Will Follow Me. (Each song is streamable separately on YouTube.) Then it undertook a social media push that had fans besieging blogs like this one with requests to cover it. I wouldn’t want every band to do this; my inbox is overflowing as is. Then again, few bands have (a) the skills to engineer such a campaign, and (b) the fans to carry it out. Sure, bribes help. (In this case, the band gave away a single CD.) But fans won’t proselytize for you unless they love your music. If the tunes are good, fans will talk about them. Hence, this post.
I can’t count the number of times I’ve heard “Die Alone”. (You can do so above.) I’ve streamed it over and over again for literally hours. It stucks in my head and comes to me everywhere – in the shower, at bedtime, while walking around. Sure, it’s depressing. Each morose lyric is clearly understandable. But its sound is addictive – Abruscato’s heavy-lidded voice; the huge, doomy chords; the sax that comes out of nowhere. This is a hit waiting to happen.
I’m not sure when And Hell Will Follow Me officially comes out. But you can order it directly (and autgraphed) from the band here. Judging by its Facebook page, fans are ordering and receiving the CD in droves. All this, with no label or publicist. The tunes are that good. A Pale Horse Named Death – you will hear much more about them.
-Cosmo Lee
Designing an Effective Band Website
21 DecThis Student Spotlight article was written for Full Sail University, where I am currently getting my degree in Web Development. Unfortunately you cannot see it if you are not a student, so I have taken the time to re-post it here for your reading pleasure!
As Musicians try to figure out what works in online music distribution, one essential component they can’t afford to ignore is their Web presence. Web Design and Development BS student Rebecca Slosberg recently built the website for A Pale Horse Named Death, a new Brooklyn band formed by Type O Negative Co-Founder and Life of Agony Drummer Sal Abruscato, and now she wants to help by showing other students how to build an effective music website that will promote your songs, connect you with fans and appeal to listeners.
“The website is critical to maintaining the mood and personality of the music and the band,” Slosberg said.
Slosberg lucked out because the band used artist Sam Shearon, who had a clear vision that evoked the bands personality well. She said that this made the design work for the website a lot easier.
“The website carries on that feeling in its design through the background images, buttons and even the skins used on widgets,” Slosberg said. “We did have a limited budget, so I had to be creative when it came to the design, using widgets and plug-ins and other work-arounds to keep the mood and the style in tact.”
To cater to fans, Slosberg has a few suggestions to keep them coming back. First and foremost, you should give them what they want immediately: the music.
“We are living in a world where if you can’t provide instant gratification you aren’t going to make it,” Slosberg said. “Giving fans the ability to listen to the music and buy/download the album is number one.”
Your next move would be to provide fans with a connection to the artist that won’t only feed their interests but will make them lifelong dedicated listeners. For A Pale Horse Named Death, Slosberg created an accessible forum that fans could use to really connect with the band and with each other. Currently there are 216 members in the band’s community and over one thousand Twitter followers.
“Giving them some say, whether it is to share their opinions on the music, or to actually be able to help influence decisions on who the band should tour with, it keeps them engaged,” Slosberg said. “Engagement is the key to a successful fan base.”
Slosberg got the gig because her Fiance, who used to do radio, had established some contacts in the rock and metal world. He had already been in discussions with a member of Abruscato’s former band, Type O Negative, about a social media strategy,when the band dissolved after founding member Peter Steele’s death. Once he found out that Abruscato started a new band, the couple came forward to offer Slosberg’s talents to assist in the new music endeavor.
“Networking and creating a personal brand is VERY important in today’s world,” Slosberg said. “I urge other students to get themselves out there. Create a website, get on Twitter and Facebook, write a blog, anything to really show the world who you really are and what you can do. And engage with people in your industry, you never know what opportunities are out there if you don’t get involved.”
More of Slosberg’s Work
If you want to see more of Slosberg’s design work for businesses and organizations in other industries check out her website at www.rebeccaslosberg.com.
“I’ve always been a bit of a tech nerd,” Slosberg said. “It wasn’t until a couple of years ago I started messing around with social media and blogging. My love for creating websites blossomed from there. I have a natural desire to want to build things and see them grow, and building websites has become just the place for me to do that.”
Written by Ashley Belanger
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