As Malta prepares to welcome Boyce Avenue – YouTube’s most-viewed independent band – Iggy Fenech speaks to The Travellers and Relikc to find out why some bands decide to go at it without a record label.
Although I’ve been a fan of Boyce Avenue for many years, it was only while working on an interview about the band (out in next month’s edition of the Sunday Circle) that I began to realise just how impressive its numbers are. In 10 years, brothers Alejandro, Daniel and Fabian – who make up Boyce Avenue – have managed to go from a band uploading covers on YouTube from their bedroom, to having 10 million subscribers and 3.5 billion views on their channel, as well as three studio albums, one live album and an EP, and numerous regional and world tours under their belt.
Their rise to fame, particularly as a now-independent band, has been spectacular.
Now, Boyce Avenue – following concerts in North and South America, and Europe, including at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall in London – is heading to Malta thanks to Big Ticket Events. The show, an acoustic set that has become a rarity for the band, is sure to make anyone, no matter their taste in music, join in.
But, I wondered, why do some bands decide to go independent?
The Travellers got together in 2013 and have since released an EP, which included the hit songs Sempliċità and Xemx u Xita. Now made up of six members (Chris Gatt on vocals, Andrew Vella on guitar, Joseph Xerri on trumpet, Clayton Bonello on bass, Michael Camilleri on drums, and Sylvano Mizzi on saxophone), the band performs mostly Maltese songs and has garnered an astonishing 720,000 views and over 3,100 subscribers on their YouTube channel.
“As a band, we started working on a mix of contemporary music while incorporating brass lines and Maltese lyrics,” Sylvano explains. “This had originally started out of curiosity as we wanted to see what kind of sound would emerge. But we have always strived for a fresh and contemporary feel to our productions, and embraced the idea of singing in Maltese, something which our fans must have enjoyed given the views on our videos.
“Our choice to go independent, however, was based on the fact that we wanted to take our own decisions according to our experiences as a band and, hence, out of our own passion and willingness to move forward. Of course, that has its drawbacks, and the hardest part about this would definitely be the handling of every last detail to ensure everything we plan runs smoothly.”
Both bands count social media as their main way of keeping in touch with fans
For Relikc, meanwhile – a band that got together while at school and has been kept as a ‘hobby’ by its members – being independent meant that they could achieve things at their own pace, without any contractual restrictions. While that hasn’t stopped them from getting sponsorship contracts with huge brands like Costa Coffee, it did make it harder for them to release their first album, The Code of Antics, particularly financially.
“Being our first album, the expenses surpassed what we had anticipated by a considerable margin,” says keyboardist Joseph Axiak, who, together with singer and frontman Keith Zammit, bassist Ivan Giordano, guitarist Luke Grech, and drummer Lesnich Vassallo, makes up Relikc. “It took time to raise the money for the recording and mastering of the album, as well as the other activities which related to the album release, including the album launch via a live music event, a music video for one of the songs, and promotion costs.”
In order to generate funding for their album, the band decided to start accepting more live performances, including weddings, and saved money from them as well as from sponsorships. While it took them a few years, the album was launched earlier this year, and spawned an animated music video and a mini-series on YouTube.
Not unlike Boyce Avenue, both bands count social media as their main way of keeping in touch with fans, share important moments from the band members’ lives, and announce new music. So much so, that The Travellers’ fast rise to one of Malta’s top bands can be attributed almost solely to their huge social media presence, which includes 17,000 followers on Facebook and a further 2,500 on Instagram – and, of course, their talent.
Relikc, meanwhile, come from a different background (playing at St Aloysius events), and that has translated in the way they keep in touch with their fan base: “We like to socialise and mingle after performances, as it gives us the opportunity to talk to music-lovers and other musicians. It’s always fun meeting new people and old friends, and they also provide great feedback and insight,” Joseph adds.
As both bands explain, their game plan has always been to give their band the passion it deserves and to keep in touch with their followers even when new music isn’t in the works. That is no different to what Boyce Avenue did – and still do, in fact, as they have been uploading videos answering fans’ questions and of wherever they are on their ‘Being Boyce’ YouTube channel, which was launched seven years ago.
Undoubtedly, going independent has its risks and its troubles; but it has its advantages too. And while it should be mentioned that Boyce Avenue wasn’t always an independent band, it has become a mainstay on a platform that has thrived on being open to anyone, the internet.