13 - 19 September 2001

Sing for your supper

Alex Grech, manager of local band Scream Daisy, talks to Blanche Gatt about his efforts to turn this local rock band into a profitable business

Maltese musicians trying to make it to the big time know they face an extremely tough time, a fact which makes it difficult to imagine any band lasting for longer than a couple of years. However, a refusal to accept the word impossible is a step in the right direction – at least that’s what Alex Grech, a full-time PR professional by day and manager of the young band Scream Daisy, believes. Their single, Room 7, continues to be played widely on local radio stations, and even made it to no. 19 on an Internet Top 30 Chart, remaining in the chart for a total of six weeks.
“Scream Daisy are young and determined,” he said. “They really have talent and a great will to succeed, which is why I am willing to invest so much of my time and money in their development.”
His long-term vision for the band is to take them abroad, get them a record contract or at least a road tour, and try to break into the international market. Is this an impossible dream? “Well, thanks to the National Recall Chart, which is based on votes, not sales, we were able to see that many people abroad love our music. Thanks to this chart, the song Room 7 has not only been broadcast on the Internet but also played on several radio stations in England. This has already brought Scream Daisy a couple of interesting contacts, including three producers who want to keep up with what’s happening.”
Most of the local bands complain that governing bodies do not provide financial support in order to establish themselves abroad. Alex has different views. “We do not expect that the government backs us financially, however there are other means of support. We are proposing that every year a rock festival is organised by the Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Sports and Culture together with private entities where local bands can present their original music. A kind of exhibition, so to say. The organisers invite foreign record companies, scouts and producers to attend this festival and they will have a good idea what the Maltese music scene sounds like.”
Alex has a pragmatic view on how to get the band ahead as rapidly as possible. With their new single, Wolf (In a Sheep’s Skin) recorded and ready for release this month, he looks on the band as a viable product that he’s confident he can sell. “Promoting a band is just like promoting any other product,” he explained, “and this one is a good product I can easily sell. My mission is to promote the band to turn it into a profitable business – the band members can concentrate on creating music and not worrying about the logistics, but my job is to define our ambitions clearly and then go out and reach them. So far, we know that we want to take the band abroad, but we also realise this is a step-by-step process and we have to be patient.”
With just one CD single released so far, and another for imminent release, the band’s portfolio is still a bit thin to make a credible bid for international recognition. “This is what I mean by step-by-step process,” said Alex. “After the success of Room 7, we decided to spend a summer doing gigs and really getting to know our audience here, and make enough money to record an album later in the year. The band has been working incredibly hard, playing an average of three gigs a week to do this.”
Without a recording contract any releases the band makes have to paid for by themselves – or if they’re lucky, by sponsors. “The CD single, Room 7 was sponsored by Cisk Export, The Alley and Eco Energy Services and we’re now in talks with various potential sponsors for the album – several of whom are very keen,” said Alex. “It will cost us around Lm4,500 to record the album, and we’re looking to sign up just one sponsor who’ll cover all the costs. In return for the sponsorship we are offering to carry their logo on the back of the CD, a Web site link www.screamdaisy.com as well as 15 gigs where the company or individual can promote its product. So far, we have three potential sponsors who are very keen, but obviously I can’t announce them until we’ve finalised. We’re open to any other potential sponsors.”
“The thing is, unless you have a record label behind you, you will never be taken seriously abroad,” Alex went on. “So our trust will definitely be towards getting some record companies interested in Scream Daisy – and to do that, the album is essential.”
Scream Daisy was set up in 1999, including the guitarist, Alex’s stepson. When he first heard their music, in that same year, Alex was not very impressed. “They sounded like a typical Maltese garage band,” he commented. “They weren’t working hard enough and it showed. Then they were given the opportunity to support Smokie in concert and they did very well. This boost motivated them to start taking it more seriously and in the ensuing year-and-a-half they started writing better songs. But still they were only playing small gigs, to sparse audiences and not getting any good feedback.”
When the band wrote Room 7, Alex went to hear them play again, and realised that they’d come a long way since their early beginnings. “I remember Brendan said listen to this – can we do anything with it, and as soon as I heard it I knew it was a winner. So we set out to promote it fully – making the CD, which was very expensive, and distributing it among Radio DJs for their comments. All were amazed that this was a Maltese band, they liked the sound so much.”
The business of running a band on a small scale, like Scream Daisy, is an expensive one, with the burden of covering expenses weighing down firmly in the musician’s pocket.
“First you need venues such as clubs and pubs to play in, plus all the equipment,” explained Alex. “And every time you have a gig in a bar or club, you have to carry all your equipment around with you. All these venue managers expect you to have your own sound – this means not only your instruments, but also mixers, speakers, amplifiers – most don’t have such equipment themselves.”
In return for playing one night in a bar the band gets paid around Lm100 on average – their earnings at present are a grand total of around Lm300 per week. “I think we’re worth much more than Lm100,” said Alex. “The band should be getting at least Lm150 a night, because I know that wherever we are the bars are doing very good business, not only with passing customers, but also with a strong personal following that comes into the bar just for the band.”
Alex himself takes no remuneration for the long hours of promotion that he puts into the band. But his eyes are firmly on the horizon, where he sees opportunity beckoning and growing. Others have seen the same signals before, but so often they proved to be just cruel mirages. Whether Alex and Scream Daisy are chasing an impossible illusion, only time will prove – but their manager is determined to raise them out of their Lm100 a night gigs to platinum record status. With luck, the band will find that this commitment becomes the key that unlocks their ultimate success.