mattcoston.co.uk

Why did I start Find An Open Mic?

Because I couldn't understand why it was so hard to find open mic nights!

I started out playing live music around 2007, and I have learned a lot of difficult lessons since then. First and foremost, playing music live is a skill unto itself. I could practice a song a million times in my bedroom, and it wouldn't mean jack when I got up on stage. But I eventually learned how to overcome this.

When I started out I always played to the same group of people, and I told myself I had to play three new songs every gig otherwise my audience would become bored of me. The only result was that I learned to play a bunch of songs...not very well. Because I only ever played a song live once, it never had time to sink in, and I was convinced I was getting worse at playing guitar.

Then I decided to keep playing the same songs every gig, and in time, I actually learned to play them convincingly well. Through friends, I slowly found a few different open mic events and went there to play the same few songs I had been playing before. These performances contained few mistakes, and went down better than I ever could have dreamed (really). It then dawned on me that this is exactly what the pros do; they learn a few songs really well, then travel around playing them to different people. Clearly, this was how you got good at playing music live...practice (well duh!).

So, I had to find new places to play. But I didn't have any idea where to go to find them. I slowly came to the conclusion; open mic events are largely independent ventures run by musicians, not business people. Therefore no one is going to pay for advertising or large amounts of networking. I had to find a way to connect all the events together in one place, and I had to do it myself. A social network was the obvious choice.

After getting motivation from a few friends, I created Find An Open Mic. Its primary focus is to allow solo musicians (like myself) to easily find new places to play their music, and get great at playing it. Therefore, the 'mission statement' of Find An Open Mic is:

TO BECOME THE FIRST PLACE ANYONE GOES TO FIND AN OPEN MIC NIGHT.

I am completely serious about this. I want Find An Open Mic to become a 'household name' among performers of all types, and there is no reason why this cannot happen.

Matt Coston. January 2010.

Contact me directly through the contact page.