When asked what do you sound like what do you say? There are a multitude of answers for this question, however how you and your band answer it can make or brake you. Many novice musicians and even pros answer by saying nobody, that they are truly originals with very versatile styles. That sounds like a great answer to this question, however it is not the best.
Think about it, if you were in the place of your potential fans and a musician that you know nothing about came to you with this common reply without you hearing there music how would you know whether to like or dislike this person. You would have no idea what they sounded like without hearing them play and most likely they wouldn’t of made a big enough impression on you to convert you into a new fan. This is why you must learn to strategically choose your answer to the question who do you sound like. Doing so puts limits and sets boundaries. The key is not to try to include everybody, but to actually exclude people. This is how you gain true die heart fans. The fans that will go out and tell all their friends about you and be devoted to your band until its end.
The key again is to exclude people, thus creating a cool exclusiveness that stating a vague answer would never create. For instance saying that you are like Michael Jackson and Madonna had a love child together or Ben Harper mixed with a twist of Dave Mathews then a person would know exactly what you’d sound like. Not everybody is going to like your response, but at least you’ll know the fans you do gain are honest fans. Think hard for the answer to what bands do you sound like and you’ll soon be rewarded with more and more targeted and hardcore, die-heart fans.
Other than excluding people to will be tying your band into a certain image and style. This is also important in the music industry because your image is everything. This is why the question what do you sound like can easily be turned into what do you look like. You should look like what you sound like to. This will immediately be a visual that potential fans will have and you’ll possibly gain even more fans just for looking a certain way. Keep in mind that the there is actually a whole lot tied behind the question what bands do you sound like and make sure you give your most ingenious answer you can think of.