Words by Alex Watts Photography by Lucy Spartalis The role of the band booker is pivotal in the live music landscape, however the intricacies of their machinations can be a mystery to musicians taking their first forays into performing.  Damien Sutton, the booker for the much-loved venue The Wesley Anne, took the time to talk to Guru about this aspect of the music industry. “The first thing is style – it’s really important the band fits the style of The Wes, or whatever venue you’re booking for.  You need to make sure the bands fit the bill so people will trust the quality of the music that’s there.  Not so much that it’s all the same, more a consistency of quality,” says Sutton. “The other thing is numbers – what kind of pull bands have and how new they are, how old they are…what their demographic is. “It’s so easy to track a band’s work rate these days; the amount of publicity they’ve done for previous shows makes a huge difference. Plus band bookers only give you one shot – if you say you’re going to pull a hundred people and you pull five, the chances of you getting booked … Continue reading THE RIGHT APPROACH