ProTip of the Day: Accepting Credit Cards at the Merch Table

Dear bands who sell merch at merch tables,

If the only way people can buy your merch is to hand you some cash, please, please, please look into using Square.  If you’ve never heard of it, Square is a tiny little credit card reader that plugs into your iPhone or Android device and allows you to accept credit card payments.  And it costs you nothing to get one.

Why should you care about this?  Because if the people who are watching your shows are anything like me, the odds are pretty good that they’re not carrying cash. And if they’re not carrying cash and you can’t accept credit cards, they can’t buy your stuff.

I promise, Square isn’t paying me to promote their service, I just really really really want to buy your merch.  Please?

Rock on,

Alicia

UPDATED 4/2/12 3:40 PM

One of our own, James Brooks, pointed out that PayPal is now offering smartphone card readers as well in its recently launched PayPal Here program. You’ve got options, people!

Oh Condor – Ohio Band to Know

“We’re like the senior class of the Dayton scene,” says Oh Condor bassist Alan Baker.  An accurate description, I think.  With ten years, 180+ shows, three albums, two EPs, and one name change under their belts, Oh Condor has more than earned the respect they deserve as Dayton’s alt-rock elder statesmen.

Read on for our interview and a giveaway!

Things To Dig

So, we just got ourselves some stickers:

We’re pretty stoked about them.  Jared and I are even making plans to make space for these stickers on our bumpers by saying goodbye to some others.  Hard decisions ahead, obviously.  Anyway, if you want them, you can pick some up in a pack with some pins for $2-3 at a Galaxy show.

In other news, we are currently digging this EP:

These guys are from Australia and they call their music “Nerdcore”, which is awesome. Australia is a long way away, but should Milhouse ever find themselves on this side of the Pacific Ocean, we hope they make a stop in Ohio.

Rock on,

Alicia

Radorable

This is Ramona. (She's the one on the left)

Meet Ramona.  She’s the pooch our fearless leader Jared adopted a couple years ago.  She has been described as “the epitome of awesome” and is well-loved by everyone here at The Lonely House, as well as every band passing through that has crashed at Jared’s place for a night.  (Seriously, the guys in Hands On The Stereo would have taken her home with them if they could have.)  Nobody can resist her adorableness, and if you met her you would understand why.  Since she exists to bring the joy to people’s lives, and we’re into sharing good stuff, we figured we should come up with a way to share her with the world.  And we did it, you guys.  We did it:

Radorableness in T-Shirt Form

We tasked the resident designer of TLH, James Brooks, with reaching this seemingly impossible goal, and this is what he came up with.  And it is brilliant.

Look me in the eyes and tell me you’re not smiling at that t-shirt.  I didn’t think so.  It’s not possible.  It’s the most Radorable shirt you’ve ever seen, isn’t it?  But what’s especially awesome about this is that you can own a piece of the Radorable yourself.

We’re getting these made and you can pre-order one!  They’re $10 and will be printed on a black Gildan 5000 t-shirt.  And every bit of the proceeds will go toward making sure we can keep the shows rocking at Galaxy CDs!  As soon as we get 20 total shirt orders, we’ll start the presses.  Tell your kids!  Tell your wife!  And tell your husband ’cause we t-shirtin’ everyone out there!

Click Here to Pre-Order at GalaxyCDs.com

Putting Faces to Names and Weekend Update

Good morning, people!  TGIF!  Some news and info for you all:

If you’ve been wondering who the people behind The Lonely House are, we’ve put up a new bio page where you can see our b-e-a-u-tiful faces and learn a little bit more about us: (not)Lonely People.

There’s a lot going on this weekend and into Monday, so here’s a quick rundown:

• Tomorrow (Sat. Feb 25) is another BFD at Galaxy in Hamilton.  It’s A Night of Art and Music with 3 local artists displaying their artwork and 3 bands playing.  Just $5 to get in and join the party.  Full details available here.
• If you’re from a more northerly direction, I (Alicia) will be heading to South Park Tavern in Dayton tomorrow night to hang out at Dayton band Oh Condor‘s EP Release party.  I’ll be snagging interviews with those guys and Roley Yuma, so stay tuned for that later next week.
• On Sunday, the guys from Shoot The Glass Podcast will be broadcasting live from Galaxy at 6PM.  These guys are hilarious and it’s going to be a good time, so come hang!  Afterwards, head over to Wings on Brookwood for the best wings in Hamilton and some cold beer (or soda, if that’s more your thing).
• On Monday, we’ve got another awesome show lined up at Galaxy.  Honah Lee will be stopping by from Trenton, NJ as well as Emily & The Complexes from Columbus, Mad Anthony from Cincinnati, and Hamilton’s own Yankee Go Home.  This is one you don’t want to miss.  Full details here.
• Also on Monday, I (Alicia again) will be a guest on the Salina Underground radio show, playing some tunes I’m into, talking about The Lonely House and music in Southwest Ohio.  The new General Manager of Bogart’s will be there as well, and I’m excited to meet her and find out what they’re cooking up with all the renovations the venue’s undergone.  Show starts at 7, and you can tune in online here.  If you’re going to be at the Galaxy show or otherwise occupied during that time, it will also be available as a podcast later on.

So that’s what’s going down.  We hope to see you sometime in the next few days!  And as always, hit us up if you want to chat about anything!

ProTip of the Day: MySpace

Dear bands who still direct people to MySpace pages,

Cut that crap out.

I don’t mean to be harsh, but I need you to listen.  There are plenty of reasons that you should be switching to a different platform, but you really only need one: nobody uses it anymore.

When MySpace started, that’s where everyone (potential fans included) kept their online profiles and connected with other people.  Having a MySpace page then meant you could grow your fanbase by having the opportunity to show up in people’s newsfeeds.  That doesn’t happen anymore.  Now, all you’re doing is hosting your music on a platform that takes forever to load and doesn’t have the best quality.  You don’t want to frustrate someone who’s just discovering your music that way.  If it’s hard to load and looks janky, people are going to click away before they hear what you’ve got to offer.  Don’t let a website cockblock you from making a new fan.  Pick a different platform (need ideas or help? email me: lonelyhousealicia[at]gmail[dot]com), and host your music there.

In short, don’t use a crappy website to host your music. Give people a chance to connect with your music and your band’s personality before they click away.

Rock on,

Alicia

Why I Love Southwest Ohio

Have I ever told you how much I love Southwest Ohio? No? Well, allow me to.

When I first came here in January of 2004 as a Pennsylvania resident and potential student at Cedarville University, I thought, “God this place is cold and brown and flat. I don’t know if I can take this for four years.”  One graduation, two apartments, three jobs, eight years, and God-only-knows-how-many shows later, I’ve met a ton of awesome people, tapped into a music community that puts out legitimately quality stuff that will be talked about in generations to come, eaten food from top-notch restaurants, and become a part of a growing craft beer loving fandom. I also found a home.

ProTip of the Day: Bandcamp and Email

Dear bands who post albums for free on Bandcamp,

Please don’t let me download your album unless I give you my e-mail address. Yes, you read that correctly.  I don’t want your music unless I can give you my contact info (not my digits, just my email address). Even if you currently have no intention of doing anything with it, keep it on hand. My downloading of your album was a signal to you that I am interested in your music enough to navigate my browser to your website and click a couple times, take up hard drive space on my computer, extract a zip file, and import it into my iTunes library. The odds are good that I would also be interested in coming to see you if you tour nearby me. Or downloading more music that you post. Or telling my friend across the country that they should go see you if you’re near them. If you update me on what you’re up to, I might do that. I might not, but if you don’t have a way to contact me to try it, you’ll never know.

In short, if I download your stuff, please email me about what’s going on in your world. If you don’t know how to do e-mail campaigns or don’t know what to say in an e-mail newsletter, ask me (lonelyhousealicia[at]gmail[dot]com). I swear I’ll help.

Rock on,

Alicia

Dear Dirty Ghosts, Please Bring Yourselves to Southwest Ohio

One of my most anticipated releases of this year is the debut full-length from San Francisco rockers Dirty Ghosts. I caught them at the Consequence of Sound showcase at SXSW last year and was blown away. Frontwoman Allyson Baker’s shredding skills anchor their sound, and their hip-hop influence (Aesop Rock produced their single “Shout It In” and is at the helm again) provides some really groovy basslines and beats.

Metal Moon drops February 21.  I’m hoping that with this release, we’ll see them bring a tour in the direction of southwest Ohio.  If that happens, DO NOT miss it.

Check out and download the album’s first single, “Ropes That Way” at Spinner.com.

by Alicia Inman

Belle Histoire premieres new video at AltPress

By Alicia Inman

Not that long ago, Covington, KY- based Belle Histoire was in its infancy, opening for Into It. Over It. and Ace Enders at Mad Hatter.  But though they were just getting their legs under them, it was obvious that there was something special about this band.  Now, just 7 or so months later, they’ve signed with InVogue Records and released a music video exclusively through AltPress.  You guys, that’s a big deal.  I really believe in the potential of this band and am expecting great things to come from them, so make sure to keep an eye out.  They’re dropping a new EP on February 4, but if you haven’t been keeping up with them, make sure to watch the music video for “Be Alright” and pick up their first EP, Spirits, to see what they’re about.