Indie Band to Play PodCamp
Aug 28th, 2006 | By James Lewin | Category: Digital Music, General 
Canadian indie band Uncle Seth will be playing at the first PodCamp, being held in Boston September 9-10.
Uncle Seth’s reputation in the Canadian podcasting community recently earned them the chance to play at the inaugural Podcasters Across Borders conference, which took in Kingston, Ontario this past June. Podcasters from across Canada and the U.S. grooved to the band’s high energy pop-rock sounds at a post-conference party that went on well into the next morning.
“We knew very little about podcasting, except that it seemed to be a way to get some online exposure for our music,” says lead singer Tara Thompson. “I don’t think any of us realized there was this amazing community we’re now a part of.”
It’s not often podcasters, musicians and podcast listeners get the chance to meet face to face, but that’s what the members of Uncle Seth and hundreds of others will be doing at PodCamp. The grassroots event is being called an “unconference” — there is no registration fee, but all attendees are expected to help by offering peer training sessions or by participating in panel discussions.
PodCamp takes place September 9th and 10th at Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Massachusetts. Details can be found at http://podcamp.org/. Uncle Seth will be playing live on the first day of the event.
Encouraged by their success with the medium, Uncle Seth decided to launch their very own podcast this past spring. “Basically, it’s us talking and being ourselves, and playing interesting live or acoustic versions of our songs that our fans won’t have heard before.” says Thompson. “It’s a way for people to get to know the band, to hang out with us. It’s really fun, and we already seen thousands of downloads, which is amazing!”
Moonah, who is the band’s tech guru and an Internet music business consultant, is convinced that podcasting is becoming an important means for independent artists looking to build their audience. “What’s great is Uncle Seth have exactly the same distribution channels for our podcast as established acts like Barenaked Ladies or They Might Be Giants. You don’t need label support or big time marketing, you really just need Internet access and some basic recording equipment, which many indie bands already have.”
“Podcasting lets a band find their audience no matter where in the world they live,” adds Moonah. “If your songs have appeal to hardcore punk fans or modern jazz fans or whoever, there’s probably a podcaster who will love your stuff. There’s probably a bunch of them!”
More info is available at the Uncle Seth site.
