Angie Munsey
The punk rock band The Beat Dolls are quite the team. Although The Beat Dolls have been together as a band for almost seven years, Angie Munsey has only been playing with Barry Anderson and Mike Reisch for four. The three came together when Barry and Mike answered Angie’s ad on Craigslist.
When I asked The Beat Dolls where they play live, Angie laughed and exclaimed, “Anywhere that will have us! We play all over Austin.” If you live near Austin, TX, you can probably hear The Beat Dolls punk sound rising out of such clubs as The Legendary White Swan, Bull McCabe’s, Head Hunters (aka Metal and Lace), Spinners, Beerland, Antone’s and Emo’s.
Angie told me, “we’re truly not a punk rock band; we’re just heavily influenced by punk rock.” So, here’s some background on The Beat Dolls:
Barry plays bass. He’s self-taught and he’s been playing since he was 19 years old. “I’m quite a bit older than that now, so I’ve got quite a few years of experience. I listened to a lot of metal and punk, and I taught myself how to play that way. I like everything from metal to punk to pop to Brit invasion. My influences are greatly varied. I love punk.”
Mike has been playing drums for 18 years. He also taught himself how to play music in his parent’s garage. “My parents and, basically, everybody in my family has a musical background. I like everything: classical music, punk rock and some metal.”
Barry Anderson
Angie sings and plays guitar. She’s self-taught too. “I just started singing one day. I’m not sure that I was ever really taught. I picked up the guitar because I couldn’t find any band members to play my songs right. I was like, is it really that hard? Yeah, it is. It is really that hard, but I learned how to play. I like all kinds of music, but somehow, punk rock seems to influence me more than anything else. Angie writes the music and lyrics.”
Although Angie told me that The Beat Dolls could use lessons in social media, from what I’ve heard, they’re doing just fine. “We communicate with supporters on Facebook a lot.” The have a Facebook band page, though Angie says, “we actually learned that communicating with people on our personal pages was more effective than communicating with people on our band page. But, we met all the people on our personal pages from our band page. I guess it’s because the band page doesn’t reach as many people.”
As for Twitter, after Barry took over the account The Beat Dolls are on more internet radio stations than ever before and they have a lot more fans. What’s their message? “Hey, here we are, listen. If you hate it, give it to your worst enemy. If you love it, share it with somebody.”
How are The Beat Dolls organized for success? Mike does the videos and the mailings. Barry manages the Twitter account. Angie organizes what she calls the “personal stuff” with the band’s supporters. As Angie describes it, “We definitely are a team. We all do work. A lot of people think that being in a band is just fun, but it isn’t just fun, it’s a lot of work. We all are trying to get our name out there and it’s not easy.”
Mike Reisch
Barry’s advice to other artists is to maintain a heavy social media presence. “They are such good tools. Use them to your advantage. Don’t just open an account and not go check it again.”
He also advises bands to play local and get their name out there, whether you are going to be paid or not. That could lead to a tour and get your name out to an even broader audience.
Angie advises, “Give your stuff away. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t make any money, but if you’re at a show and nobody wants to buy anything, you need to give it away. It’s awesome when I see someone wearing our shirt. We leave CDs in Walmart; we put them in magazines.” Barry adds, “It’s kind of like pushing drugs. The first time is free.”
The next step is to raise the funds to produce their next CD. The Beat Dolls are in the process making a video for a fundraiser campaign to raise money to produce a full-length CD.
Watch the complete video interview on the Amused Now YouTube channel:
http://youtu.be/SAdYjjwBEl4
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