Cover Story: Atlantis or IG Fest?

Atlantis Conference v. IG Fest

Last summer, the two events fell on the same weekend, and bands generally had to align with one or the other. This year, the music-industry confab/ showcase called the Atlantis Music Conference (July 30-Aug. 2) and the East Atlanta-centric indie-music smorgasbord known as the IG Fest (Oct. 15-19) will keep their distance from one another. Still, the cultural differences between the two events remain wide. So while bands don’t necessarily have to pick sides anymore, it’s still important to know where they stand philosophically. So for bands trying to figure out whether they’d be better off pursuing a showcase at Atlantis or getting a slot to perform during IG, we’ve devised a test to help navigate the decision-making process.

Complete these sentences:

1.: “In the near future, our band hopes to secure ...”

”... legal representation.” Atlantis

”... a part-time job at Grant Central Pizza.” IG

2. “When we perform, we wear ...”

”... whatever we happened to put on that morning.” IG

”... whatever we happened to put on, as long as it’s tight and glittery.” Atlantis

3. “The first thing we did after recording as a band was ...”

”... print up stickers with our name and logo so we’d seem more popular than we really were.” Atlantis

”... misplace the masters under a pile of old vinyl.” IG

4. “Our market is ...”

”... Atlanta and the Southeast.” Atlantis

”... that bodega around the corner.” IG

5. “While we want to get our music heard, we’d never be willing to ...”

”... compromise our artistic vision.”IG

”... sell it for less than the industry standard.” Atlantis

6. “I admire Sting because of ...”

”... his career longevity and ability to age gracefully with his audience.” Atlantis

”... his ability to sing and play bass at the same time.” IG

7. “Our promotional photos display ...”

”... our image as strong but sensitive artists.” Atlantis

”... the photo processing skills of CVS.” IG

8. “Our band’s website ...”

”... features high-resolution photos and MP3 downloads, plus a secure server for Web-commerce.” Atlantis

”... will be totally cool if we ever get it going.” IG??