Interview w/ Mario Trevizo, CEO & Founder of Fans 4 Bands, by Nathaniel Lay

First, let’s start simple with you telling us what Fans4Bands is and what it does?

Straight up, short and simple…Fans 4 Bands is a caring music community that provides the essential operating services needed to help a band progress in most aspects of their careers. So as you can imagine, some of these services include management, booking, promotions etc…We are gradually tapping into new things the more we grow.

Fans4Bands has kind of evolved a lot over the past year or so. What kind of changes have been made along the way?

It’s pretty awesome that you are aware of our existense a year ago. I mean to be honest, we have changed in every aspect. Starting out, we had this goal of creating a press site that was made up of the ultimate street team. The way our vision worked is we were looking for street team leaders in every state who were dedicated to promoting up & coming artists in their hometowns. This way, whenever we found a new band, it was guaranteed that we would have 50+ kids promoting them all to their different networks. The ideal of a street team never died, however, we mainly just stepped away from the press side of things.

Now, instead of writing reviews and all of that stuff, we just do things alot more physical. We are booking artists that normally kids in MD would have to go out of state to see. We are creating compilations featuring bands we believe are ready to be exposed. And our biggest thing is we have created a program known as “Tour Support”. The idea behind Tour Support is that with the money we raise from our shows and our personal jobs, we go out and buy essential tour items (toiletries, snacks, clothing etc.) to donate to traveling bands we support.

What led you to creating this company?

It actually comes down to three bands. Of Broken, Olympus Shall Burn, and Before Their Eyes. Around 2007-08, I was a huge supporter of all three bands. The first two were a local rock and metal band, whereas Before Their Eyes was a newly signed Rise Records band. They each brought an unfound energy in their live shows that I knew deserved to be shared among many. It blew my mind that show after show they weren’t getting the support they deserved. In my mind, I thought how cool would it be to have a music community that existed merely to support newly found talent? A community that trusted my opinion in music. That way when I told people to check out a band like Before Their Eyes, it would guarantee new eyes and new fans. From that point on, I just started formulating my business plan for what would later turn into Fans 4 Bands. We’ve been in the works since 2007, tried a bunch of new ideas out, and we are finally breaking out and gathering the best supporters in the world! At the end of the day though, our main goal is to create a community. So our business goes as far as our supporters take us. Artist, fan, manager, or whoever…we are all one and we all depend on eachother.

You are currently based in Columbia, MD. Do you see yourself expanding the company to other areas sometime soon?

Where we are based is just where we are on the map. I mean, yes, we are a new booker for Baltimore, but with the goals we have I definitely see us expanding soon. We are trying to make our idea and our vision as contagious as possible. We want the fans of this music industry and even the business people to see what we see in the hopes that they join us in our cause, as well as taking action for their own personal communities. With the help of other companies like Sarah Saturday’s Earn It Yourself and whoever else comes our way, I know that expansion is definitely going to be happening sooner than later.

This company revolves around tour support. Are there many other people doing this sort of thing that you’ve come across? If so, how do you guys differ?

I’ve looked around and no one is doing exactly what we are doing. There is a company called RYFO which I know is a pretty familiar name in the industry…at least if you are into supporting bands, then you have probably heard of them. But where we differ is in our actual services. They bring a lot of companies together to support traveling artists as a one stop shop.

We are a community in ourselves though. Rather than relying on other companies to provide the different forms of support towards bands, we rely on our fans. With our fans donations, word of mouth, anything, we are able to do more and more. We are as strong as our numbers. I mean not to sound cheesy or anything, but I think what our main difference is our genuine interest in helping bands. We just care a lot about who we work with and we put a lot of effort into what we do. You can talk to any of our bands and they will let you know that they really felt like we were there for them, even the ones we haven’t met yet.

You have a new compilation coming out soon, correct? Can you tell us the tracklisting, where people will be able to get it, and whatever else about it?

Yes sir!

I’ll give you the bands and the order they are in. Lets keep the actual tracks a surprise 
But fans will be able to purchase these compilations online and at our shows. As we generate more sales and expand our productions, I look to send multiple copies to each of the bands on this compilation. My goal is to have each band promoting and selling these copies to each of their networks. That way every band will be getting promoted to new areas on the map, and every band will have a chance to profit from their work for free.

The coolest thing about this compilation is its flow. I wanted to put something together that would play like a concert. From it’s explosive beginning to it’s insane ending. Every track flows perfectly into the next, which really showcases each individual talent we have gathered together with this mix-match of bands. Fans will also notice that we have strayed away from most bands’ single. As a music fan, it is incredibly easy to find an artists single almost anywhere. I wanted to put together a mix that had a bands hard hitting song, or the song you wouldn’t normally expect to be their attention grabber. All in all, I am very proud of this compilation.

1. Every Minute Can Kill
2. Sirens & Sailors
3. Treason Among Thieves
4. Buried In Verona
5. The Twin
6. In Alcatraz 1962
7. No Bragging Rights
8. Lakeview
9. Calling Ocala
10. In Oceans
11. Camisado
12. She Has A Fashion Vice
13. Sky Came Burning
14. Within Wolves
15. LookOutBelow!
16. HereGoesNothing!
17. A City Serene
18. Feed Her To The Sharks
19. Handed To The Thousands
20. Skies Of December
(Bonus Track)

How did you go about choosing the bands featured on this compilation? Was it hard getting any of them on there?

This will actually be our shortest answer (haha). Most of the bands we have been working with for sometime now. We consider these artists our “community bands”. The others are groups that we have had our eye on for anywhere as long as two years to 2 months. Some of them were a little harder than others, yes. Simply because we needed to get managers to confirm, or we had to really show what we were all about to win trust. All in all though, we got nearly every band I wanted to work with. I’ve wanted to promote a majority of these artists for a long time. I will let you know though that I am relieved that this part of the compilation process is over (haha).

On your Facebook, there is a line that says “Brand your sound before you brand your name”, and you recently had posted a status about bands clinging to comparisons. Can you elaborate on these thoughts?

Yeah, this is something that I am really pressed on. I feel like bands these days are fighting to win a beauty pageant. I understand that there are a million bands now, and it’s getting harder and harder to get noticed. I also understand the logic behind picking up fans early so you have an audience to promote your news to once things start to happen. But in doing so, I’m seeing more bands put focus on spamming pages and branding their image rather than actually holding back and really putting their effort into their music.

I think that bands shouldn’t worry about how many ‘likes’ they have, and just worry about getting the best recordings of their music possible and playing as many shows as they can. No matter what you do as a band, if you are serious, everything is going to take a lot of time. Bands just don’t seem to have that sense of patience anymore. If you are a pizza company that has the potential to make the BEST pizza, you probably don’t want to promote your pizza to the entire world if you are missing some key ingredients. So why jump the gun and promote your band if you don’t even have your sound figured out? With that being said, BRAND YOUR SOUND. I do not support getting your bands more ‘likes’ because you are a new band. I support hard working bands that have something to show for their time and effort.

You’ve dealt with some great bands. What are some of them?

That’s a pretty broad question for me (haha). “Great” has a lot of definitions to me. From easy to work with during a show, to helping promote our name, to being an incredible interview. So I’ll categorize some of my TOP FAVORITE bands for two different categories.

Top Interviews Include:

Tonight Alive, Disturbed, 36 Crazyfists, Chevelle, Parkway Drive, John 5/Rob Zombie, Chiodos, From First To Last, Senses Fail, The Used, Silverstein, Texas In July, Scarlett O’Hara, & Royal. There are really a ton over the last two years, but these guys in particular were so easy to vibe with and really fun to talk to.

Top Supporters Include:

No Bragging Rights, Sky Came Burning, Royal, She Has A Fashion Vice, Sirens & Sailors, Lakeview, & Oh Romeo. Still, it’s hard to answer this one because all Fans 4 Bands is made up of is great supporting artists and people. These guys however, I feel very comfortable asking ANY favor from, as they probably feel the same way.

Which interactions have been your favorites? Why?

My top 3 personal favorite interactions with Fans 4 Bands have been with No Bragging Rights, A Bullet For Pretty Boy, and She Has A Fashion Vice. I’ve followed all three bands for a HUGE range of time. And for them to be cool as shit, support our cause, and be incredible artists, it just made everything amazing. I can’t speak for the other guys in my crew though (Matt D. & William L.) as im sure they have their own say for this question. Overall though, every interaction has been cool as hell!

How do bands react to what you do for them? Are any of them surprised by you doing more than what they expected?

Yeah, dude! They ALL are 
No one is doing Tour Support, at least not the way we are. And in exchange for the most fun interview they’ve probably ever done? No contracts, no payments, just FREE help? I mean I personally get stoked for the bands before I even see their reactions.

Imagine picking out a present for someone. Now imagine that one reaction you dream of them showing you when they open that gift. Just a total energized freakout. That’s the moment we get to share with these bands EVERY time we do “Tour Support”. It’s life changing.

What kind of merchandise does Fans4Bands have?

As of June 17th we will have: Shirts, Wristbands, Posters, and Compilations.

For the fans that bear with us, we look to eventually sell: Shorts, Long Sleeves, V Necks, Hoodies, and BEER PONG BALLS! So stick around friends 

Do you have street team or any way for the community of fans to become involved with the company?

We are more or less in the process of creating an actual street team. But right now we just rely on a whole lot of “word of mouth” promotions and open donations. As Fans 4 Bands becomes my main job, I will be looking to expand more roles for our supporters. It definitely helps people stand in a spotlight now however if they start helping us while we are small. Fans 4 Bands isn’t about the benefits, it’s about believing in our cause to freely support a dying music industry.

Tell us about the Community Collissions Fest. What bands are on it? What date(s) does it span?

We’ve got a ton of amazing bands on the bill. My goal was to create a festival that featured a bunch of the TOP up and coming artists soon to break into the scene under one roof. We picked Sonar as our venue because not only is it one of Baltimore’s premiere venues, it has a mainstage that a lot of these bands deserve to play on, but never have the opportunity.

We have the top bands coming from all over. These states include: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and more!

On Friday June 17th, we will be witnessing bands such as My Ticket Home, Sirens & Sailors, Royal, Spies Like Us, and In Dying Arms all in one room. However, I am stoked on literally EVERY band we have on the line up. Each one was hand picked by us. Soo…check it out!

My Ticket Home will be in Maryland for the first time for this Festival. How did you go about setting this up? Is this “first time” kind of thing something you’d like to do more of with the bands you’re supporting?

I mean it is kind of a funny story. I sent out so many requests looking for a headliner for this festival. While some big names confirmed, they later dropped off. We were losing time and it almost seemed like we weren’t going to have a headliner. Then luckily, I saw My Ticket Home post a status about something. It intrigued my attention and I started talking to one of their members. I talked to him about possibly setting up a Maryland date and it turns out they had never played here before. Next thing you know, I’m talking to their booker/manager and we worked it all out.

Personally, I love booking a band’s first show. It is such a privilege to me. It definitely has to come in good timing, but when it works out I get very happy. What makes this event even more special is the fact that we are hosting another band’s FIRST show ever! Treason Among Thieves. They are opening the festival, on top of being a feature on our compilation. I gotta say those boys go to work and deserve any attention that can be given. With that being said, it is pretty awesome that our headliner and opener are playing their first shows in Maryland and we get to host it.

What other shows, tours, and/or festivals have you set up that are on the way?

We are looking at hosting the MD date for the “InVogue Records Tour” featuring: Another Hero Dies, Sleep City, Spies Like Us, and Royal.

We also have a few other shows being worked out, but nothing official. People should stay tuned though because we are climbing up the ladder of booking bigger shows. It’s going to be a fun year!

Do you have any last words, announcements, or events you’d like to note for our readers?

The best way to get involved with us is by talking to us. Like I said earlier, we do not support spamming, so hit us up before you think to post something on our wall. We’re real dudes that love to talk to our fans and love to talk music! Let’s grow this community and show this industry why treating the artists better needs to be a higher priority!

Oh yeah, get interested in our compilation and come out to The Community Collisions Fest!

ALL PROCEEDS GO TOWARDS TOUR SUPPORT!!!

www.facebook.com/fans4bands