HOW TO RECORD A DEMO

If you're an independent band in Sydney getting ready to record, chances are you're not going to spend money recording a demo in a professional studio. That budget is better saved for the real thing, the final recordings you'll actually release on Spotify and Apple Music. So what should a demo look like, and what do we actually need before your session at Everland?

A PHONE RECORDING IS FINE

Seriously. The most common demo we receive is a voice memo or phone recording made during a rehearsal, and that's completely workable. It doesn't need to sound good. It just needs to give us a sense of the song's structure, tempo, feel, and arrangement. If you can play the song in a room together, you can make a demo.

HOME RECORDINGS ARE GREAT TOO

If you have some home recording experience, a rough Garageband or Logic session with each part recorded individually is even more useful. It gives us a clearer picture of how the parts sit together and what overdubs you're planning. Bands that come in with this kind of demo often have more developed ideas, more parts worked out, more production thinking done, which means we can hit the ground running in the studio.

WHAT WE’RE LISTENING FOR

We're not judging the sound quality of your demo. We're listening for the song itself, the arrangement, the dynamics, the tempo, any specific ideas you have about how you want it to sound. A rough demo also helps us plan your session more accurately and give you a realistic quote.

AT THE END OF THE DAY…

Don't overthink it. A phone recording from your next rehearsal is enough to get the conversation started. If you’re based in Sydney and want to chat about your next project, Get in touch and send it through (you can attatch an mp3 to the contact form), we'd love to hear what you're working on.