People are happy to communicate with other people. If you
send an email saying, "Hi, I'm in this band," or, "we're in Omaha doing demos and we'd love to send you one, we play once a week and we'll keep you up to date," sending information, not even looking for a response, just sending information, that is great. Somewhere along the line, I will pay attention and ask someone to check it out. Or, I will check it out myself. That is the best way of communicating, and you can do that with anyone in the business.

For example: "here we are, this is what we do, we did five shoes last months, we now draw 300 people at this club, we wrote some new songs," that's great.
Oh--also, don't send your materials to everyone in the company! We all talk! Don't think we don't all talk when you send things to everyone! (LOL) Just send things to me. Cut out the middleman.

MP3.com: Thanks so much. Any parting words of wisdom for indie artists and promoters out there?

GA: Well, aside from your mailings, etc., get on support slots with happening bands. This is BIG. New Found Glory, Something Corporate, Good Charlotte, those Drive-Thru Records bands, most especially punk rock/pop bands, they all support each other, and look for good people. If they play in local bands, that's great. It's better to get on those shows. We find out about a lot of bands, from other bands. If you're just that good, don't worry; we will find you.

--
Visit MCA Records @ http://mcarecords.com.

MCA's not just about that "indie" sound. Their roster's quite diverse, including: Lyle Lovett, Common, Sigur Ros, The Roots and many others. Go aural-surfing. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

article originally published at MP3.com