Dave Arcari is first and foremost a musician, but don't think that means he turns a blind eye to the business side of the industry. By running the Buzz Group - an independent music company in Scotland that encompasses a label, management company and publicity company, Arcari has picked up music biz know-how in all aspects of the industry. Here, he talks about how his work at Buzz has helped him as a performer, how he juggles life on the road with his other responsibilities, and what priorities he thinks up and coming musicians should have.
Let’s start off talking about the Buzz Group. Under the Buzz banner you have a label, management company and PR company – can you tell us a little bit about the evolution of the company? What led you to diversify from simply having the label to offering management and publicity services?
Buzz Publicity came first in 1992. I had a day job as a PR consultant and had seen first hand the difference that getting gigs previewed in local newspapers and radio airplay for demos could make. Folks in the area thought we were a 'proper' band because of the coverage I managed to get and it became clear that, more often than not, visibility and perception played as big (if not bigger) a part in the success of an artist/band than the songs or musical ability. I also realised that it wasn't hard to do and I'd built a good network of journalist, DJ, producer contacts – I figured other musicians could benefit from my experience. What I didn't realise at the time was that the artists/bands most in need of help could hardly afford the envelopes, stamps, publicity photos etc, let alone paying someone to do it for them - so I wasn't going to get rich by doing PR for local artists/bands. So although I didn't make any money at that point, I was able to help a lot of local acts and build some credibility with the local/regional media.
A year later (1993) I started the label to put out my (then) band's first album. I didn't have the patience or inclination to go through the whole 'trying to get signed' process and couldn't really see much personal benefit in a record deal. It was still quite unusual for indie acts to release music on CD so I though I'd start a label just for that one album and promote it through using Buzz Publicity..and why not call it Buzz Records. So Summerfield Blues' one and only album was duly produced and I took a week off work taking a vanload of CDs and promo posters round every record store in Scotland.
Between Summerfield Blues being perceived to be doing pretty good, the Buzz Publicity machine rolling into action, having started a label and doing some freelance music/pro audio writing for various mags, folks started to ask me to help them out. So over the next year or two I started managing my own band properly and also looking after another up and coming act called The Cottonfield. They were much pop-ier and commercial than Summerfield Blues but because the infrastructure was in place I put out a single for them too.
The label then went on the back burner as I still had a day job and Summerfield Blues split up - but I kept on managing The Cottonfield and another solo acoustic guy and continued helping out local bands etc. After the demise of Summefield Blues and the moving on of the other acts I'd managed I'd planned on doing solo acoustic stuff, but almost immediately a band formed round it and Radiotones was born. I wasn't taking it very seriously, but gigs came in pretty regularly and punters kept asking for CDs – so I did a Radiotones album and injected some life (and interest) back into the label and, of course, supported the release through Buzz Publicity.
There was so much going on that in 1999 I decided to leave the day job and run Buzz full-time. A young alt.rock band I'd been helping out Tenesee Kait) as a favour joined Radiotones as formal Buzz Artist Management acts with the label and publicity angles covered by the other strands' of Buzz. Over the next few years I put out a bunch more Radiotones releases and a series of development singles for Tenesee Kait and brought another band (Tim Elliott & the Troublemakers) onto the label's roster. In 2004 I started doing solo stuff as the band (Radiotones) weren't able to gig as much as I wanted to and, despite third party label interest in my solo stuff, I decided to stay fiercely independent and put my solo debut out on Buzz too.
In 2005, by default rather than design, I was offered a job as regional officer for Scotland and Northern Ireland for the Musicians'Union (MU).The label wasn't as I could let it run itself in the background, but I had to stop managing any third party acts as there were too many possible conflicts of interest. Apparently the MU didn't allow employees to remain active on the live scene (a whole 'nother story!) but they agreed I could gig solo and with my band so long as it didn't interfere with work. After a year or so, though, the MU decided they didn't like me playing after all and asked me to curtail my musical performances...and they also didn't like the fact that I ran a record label in my spare time. I (politely) told them to stuff their job as playing music was always going to be priority over talking about it – although we are on good terms and I'm still an active member and serve on one of the MU's national committees. That was the start of me focusing 100% on a career as a touring live solo artist.
How do you go about marketing Buzz to potential publicity/ management clients?
I don't! Now I'm gigging and writing I'm only managing myself. In between bunches of gigs I do a bit of ad hoc PR work and music consultancy, industry lectures, etc. but generally the work comes to me - and if I'm around and have the time, I do it. It's pretty nice not to have to put on a sales hat!
