It begins by understanding where we are as a scene. Pittsburgh has a few artists who are on the “map”, yet the majority of them in the city are nowhere near as popular as them. Our events employee tactics that artists can replicate in order to help themselves get much bigger in terms of fanbase. While we’re doing okay right now, I believe we can get to the next level, and put our city on the same level as bigger cities, like NY and LA. Ambitious, yes, but doable, with the correct execution.

There are many promoters in the city that only (or primarily) book touring bands. Those events are necessary for any scene to thrive. We are NOT that kind of promoter. The issue with these events is that they ask locals to sell many, many tickets in order to participate in an event, where the fans aren’t there to see that local, but rather, the touring act. Although ticket sales are the #1 way to get more people to a concert at this point, they should be used in a way that makes the local artist the focus of the event, instead of a touring band who doesn’t particularly care about the turnout as they’re receiving a guaranteed payment.

There are also many promoters in the city that stick to strict bare-bones ethics. Only use and do the bare minimum to get by with the event. Most of these events require no effort from a band for turnout, and in turn, suffer because of it. Not all events are like this thankfully. Usually the PA system is also bare bones, with two mains, a powered mixer, and a mic or two, perhaps three if you’re lucky. Those events are in-your-face and thrive off of the rawness of the atmosphere. We are not this either (at least all the time).

So what are we?

We consider ourselves as a creative event creation collective. Truth and White Lies thrives on creating well attended events that benefit all artists on it through high class visual and audio systems. We utilize a 5600w PA system and also employee a 2800 lumens projector, along with other lighting. When events engulf both the mind and the body through doing more than simply throwing an event together, something special happens. Events don’t suck. Some events are themed, such as informal (a semi-formal dance with bands instead of a DJ) and illuminations (a blackout event where all fans must bring something to make light), and these also help bring major attendance.

We rely on a DIY ethic. This doesn’t mean, “Do the bare minimum to get by!” like most others take it, but rather, involves thinking our way into creating some awesome event-related matters.

T+WL doesn’t only do over-the-top events though. We love to experiment. Some events involve a smaller atmosphere with less tickets to sell (usually the bigger events have a requirement no larger than 15, which is pathetically easy for any band to do in the area, but sometimes bands aren’t from our area, which allows us to cater to them with these smaller events), some involve no tickets to sell, and some even pay artists for every ticket they sell, so long as they meet the minimum required to sell. Most bigger events pay artists for each ticket they sell as long as they hit a 15 ticket minimum. There are even incentives to sell more than the minimum most times, such as doubling payout, making full ticket price as profit after a certain point, etc. It depends on the event.

With a different mindset of how the scene should be, we aim to take Pittsburgh and its suburbs into a new level of how events should be done.

+tim

If you’re in a band or are an artist of any kind, I’d like to welcome you to our mini blog featuring most, if not all, the info that you’ll need to participate in Truth and White Lies events!

My name’s Tim, and I’ll be showing you around today.

There’s a TON of stuff to talk about that sets us apart from the normal events you may be used to tiredly playing, so I’ll try to be as thorough as possible with these works. Hang on!

Tim

This is no concert. This is the semi-formal dance you wish you had back in high school. I certainly wish this happened when I was younger. Instead of top-40′s DJ’s with a four can light system, we cater to the edgy side of the scene by featuring ten of Pittsburgh’s best and up-and-coming bands. This is arguably the strongest lineup we’ve ever had on a T+WL event.

Semi-formal attire is REQUIRED for informal². The whole point of the event is to get dressed up. There are some ways to get around this (such as wearing a tuxedo t-shirt, you know, the ones that have a screenprinted tie on them) but for the most part, theme MUST be observed. Last year’s informal had the vast majority in proper attire so this year should be no different.

More to come!
+tim

This is our first post on our new website, truthandwhitelies.com / tpluswl.com!

I don’t have much to say here honestly. This is going to become a main portal for our content, being either event-related, scene-related, or mobile development / web development.

Yes, we’re using WordPress. And we licensed a theme that looks great.

So yeah. Welcome!

Tim