Helping a DIY recording artist make the leap from street teams and photocopied posters to the internet and social media
Faun Fables didn’t come to me, I went after them. Some years ago I was warned about the dangers of sedentary living, a bit too late and found myself getting out in the woods for exercise. It was on Long Island and the scenery left you feeling you were in the middle of nowhere. But you never could escape the sounds of traffic, so I brought my own soundtrack. Which quite often was an album I had just bought, Mother Twilight.
They kept me hiking, and in the process I discovered their back catalog and was hooked. It’s funny though, in New York where they played fairly often, I never caught a show. It was in the midwest when I reached out to them, offering a bit of help and found a willing friend in Dawn McCarthy.
Faun Fables was her baby till she married and brought onboard Nils Frykdahl, a noted fixture on the punk circuit for some time. What they created together with Dawn’s voice – described by the New York Times as a force of nature, and Nils’ slashing instrumentation was something new, avant garde folk if you will.
The first order of business was to rebuild their website on the WordPress platform, so she could make her own updates. Unfortunately, their gypsy existence meant the world of technology had passed them by in certain ways. The first time we met, Nils asked to borrow my phone to make a call. I handed over my iPhone and went back to the conversation I was having. A few moments later I looked over to see Nils staring at the iPhone’s dark screen still. He asked, “Where are the buttons?”
So over the years they’ve come up to speed with new technology, and she’s become fairly adept at using Facebook to supplement their website, as well as their emails. Over the years they’d collected a pretty healthy set of addresses, which we mail to via MailChimp.
The latest update, to coincide with their latest release, Born of the Sun, brought full width graphics to their site, which is now mobile friendly as well.
As they have three small children now, tours are a family affair. The kids make some of the items they sell at shows and have been known to pop up on stage, as well as on their albums. In addition to concert shots, it’s a chance to take photos of three adorable little girls, and who can pass that up?
Lyrically Dawn reflects the same changes we’re all going through as our families grow and time on the road grows shorter. It’s not just dealing with the changes in the music business that’s problematic for groups now, but life changes as well. For Faun Fables and their fans, we’re all family. So why not bring the family into the group?
Let’s talk
Call Todd at 631-935-4726 or click here
