Writing a bio for my band is hard.

[Charming Tedious]

This should be easy.  I used to write about other people's bands for the shitty college paper all the time.  That was easy.  Why is it so hard to apply the same descriptive techniques to one's own projects?  Anyone had to do this before?

[Maaik]

I've done that before and was cool with it until I re-read it after the band's demise.  I think I came across as kind of pretentious.  Is there any way you could hand it off to an objective third party?

[Keith from TTIKTDA]

I've done that before and was cool with it until I re-read it after the band's demise.  I think I came across as kind of pretentious.  Is there any way you could hand it off to an objective third party?

I would reccomend this. Juts get a friend to write the bio.

Writing your own Bio is automatically going to come across as either too self aggrandizing, or too self concious of just that, and therefore, too modest to be worthwhile.

[max]

A third vote here for farming out the writing to a friend.
My wife writes artist bios for a label, and one of the difficulties she sometimes encounters is that the artists don't always have the clearest sense of which details will be most interesting to critics, sales reps, buyers, etc.  So regardless of who writes the bio, keep it simple and straightforward.

[milly balgeary]

just put something in there that's humorous.

[terror firma]

don't worry so much about describing your sound. chances are the bio will read with either a demo or online (so hopefully with mp3's available). let the music speak for itself; just use the bio to talk about yourselves. or fill it with lies. lies are pretty funny.

[convensive]

best way to write them is either get someone else to do it... or make it a whitewash of total and complete Fiction...

[shatteredfan]

Yes, it is alot harder than I thought it would be too. I recently did up a bio for my band aswell. I found it's best to start by looking at a variety of different types of bios first and then picking the style that best suits your band. For example, some bios are almost like timelines, describing the accomplishments of the act. I found that this didn't work best for us because we are independant and have only been together for three and a half years, so I chose to write something using alot of adjectives that basically just give the reader a sense of our sound and the type of live show they can expect. Also, it's important to consider your audience, big name record exec's probably don't care about how many shows you've played at your local venue, but your fans probably will.  Take a look at some of your favorite artists bios too, they might inspire you.
Good Luck, hope this helps!

[rockmeamadeus]

I entirely agree... make the bio so tantalizingly awkward that they want to hear the music justto figure out what the hell you meant by that bio. And then let the music speak for itself. For example, here's the bio from my band (without the music to back it up;) for your perusal, I think it's a good example of what I was talking about. It cracks me up, anyway. It may not be the best way to write a band bio, but I found it effective...

' They Live Deeply, These Vagabonds

A Brief Biography

They Live Deeply, These Vagabonds was formed in the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution by 5 serfs forced out of their farms due to the collectivization of agriculture. They would sit around on their porches and sing old songs from their past and ignore all the future being imposed upon them. The band went through a rotating line-up (as all great bands must) until one day, in the year 2000, a guy picked up a guitar and began to play. This guy was Blake Offret, who proceeded to write a bunch of songs that were pretty good and, above all, honest. It is the burning desire of the band to inflict listeners with that gorgeous feeling of nostalgia. '

Hope that helped or at least proved a point;)

[ComputerJudas]

Just lie.