::automaticchris's blog

Now that it has been a few months that Doc's Music Hall has been ALL AGES and the first official all ages show has come and gone, I think it is time to kick, what I am calling, the All Age Revolution into high gear!
We need to get more young people interested and involved with Doc's Music Hall; there is so much that can be offered at the venue for anyone and everyone. With Shameless Promotions, I plan on doing just that. I will invest a great deal of time and care into this venue and do my best to help turn it into what everyone who has ever been involved with it has wanted it to be. I will hold monthly local scene meet ups at Doc's to get more people interested in the local scene and interested in helping to get it up and running full speed again. I will bring more shows to Doc's and try to sell it out every single time I bring one of these shows to town. My last show, which was also my first at Doc's and the first official all ages show there, was welcomed with a huge turnout and it was a great time! I plan to roll off of that momentum and keep it going for a very long time.
20 July, 2011, that is THIS WEDNESDAY, there will be a Full Circle Co-Op meeting and my local scene meet up for the month of July upstairs at Doc's at 8PM. I hope to see a lot of people there and spark some really good conversations!

I decided I would use my first blog post to introduce myself.

First off, my name is Chris Koons, I am 22 years of age and have lived in Muncie my entire life. I am currently a student at Ivy Tech Community College - Muncie campus doing an Associates of General Studies degree, which should be completed next summer. As I said, I have lived in Muncie my entire life. I have never moved, actually. I've always lived in the same house on the Northwest side with my family. I am the second youngest of 10 kids; yes, I said ten. I have 6 older brothers, 2 older sisters and a younger sister who doubles as my best friend. I went to school at the following schools in the order that they are read: North View Elementary, Northside Middle, Central High, Ivy Tech CC. I also went to Midwest Bartenders School of Indianapolis upon turning 21 to get my bar-tending licence, which I have not been able to use yet. I enjoy learning anything and everything. I feel like you can never know too much and I strive to know as much as I can while I can. I also enjoy reading, biking, hiking, anything out-doorsy really, soccer, american football, music, arts, diversity, community, friends, meeting people and traveling, just to name a few. I aspire to travel the world and meet as many people and see as many places as I can. I love meeting people almost more than anything. I am mostly American but I have a little bit of British in me as well, so if you hear me speak with an accent, say "funny" words or read my posts and think I have mis-spelled something, that would explain it. I am very social and I love hearing people's stories. Everyone has a story. I have been blessed to hear some of the most interesting ones in my 22 years and counting. I am very active in community-oriented things and non-profits both on the local stage and nationally.

What I will be bringing to FM Music is 6 years of experience in the Music Industry, fresh ideas, energy, spirit, and a local connection that is family-like. I will delve a bit more into my background as an industry figure in a second. With my FM Music Live blog I will be focusing on the local music scene here in Muncie. Updates on what is going on in the scene, shows, local bands, festivals, and anything else you could possibly imagine with the local scene. I will also from time to time bring in a bit of a regional touch to my blog as well. With me being a regional promoter I work a lot with regional bands, and from time to time I will highlight one of those bands in hopes of giving everyone something new to listen to.
I love music of all genres and will not discriminate based off genres. To me, genres are simply a way of organizing all of the bands. The term "genre" is not one of my favourite terms tho, simply because music is music. I think everyone should have an open mind when it comes to what they listen to.

Here is a bit on my background in the Industry, a resume if you will.

I have been active in the industry since 2006. I started off working on street team work for the Florida-based band Automatic Loveletter (hence my user name on almost every social networking site "automaticchris", I used that name because of that band and it has just stuck ever since.). They needed someone to help promote a show that was at The Launching Pad here in Muncie that they were going to play in March 2006. I loved the band and going to the LP so I volunteered to promote it. I had so much fun doing so, and introduced so many people to the band that I decided I wanted to keep doing it and I even started helping a few of my friends with their band, Dreams of University, as well. I did street team-like things for bands up through 2008, where I was also promoted to Automatic Loveletter's Street Team Leader for the entire state of Indiana. In 2008 I went from street teaming for bands to full-on Representing the band. I have always been able to talk to people and I became the voice of a couple local bands. In Early-Mid 2009 I had a lengthy list of bands that I worked with across the United States and even in the United Kingdom. I decided then, that I should probably get a name for myself, and, after a long while of thinking about it I came up with the name Shameless Promotions. The idea for Shameless came while listening to my favourite band, All Time Low. I was thinking hard on what to call myself one day when their song "Shameless" came on, and thats when it hit me, Shameless Promotions. The name stuck, and I have had it ever since. In October of 2009 I was asked by one of those local bands that I was working with, Green Means Go!, to be their manager. I accepted this position and was their manager for 6 months before they band broke up. Late that same month the band had a show fall through in another town because of a venue closure and asked me to find a new venue for a show with them, My Hidden Track (Indianapolis, IN), Don't Forget Thursday (Muncie, IN) and Same As Sunday (Indianapolis, IN). I was hesitant at first, seeing as I had never booked a show and had no idea what to do, but I accepted the role and found a venue. It was Motini's Bar upstairs of the MT Cup in Ball State's Village. I found the venue with a couple weeks to spare and quickly began promoting the show. I'm not sure what the capacity was for that place, but we managed to cram 90 paid people into the tiny space, and the show was a smashing success. Not too bad for having 3 weeks notice to book the show and 2 or so weeks to promote it. Not to mention the fact that I had never done this before. After that I continued booking shows in Muncie, mostly local at first, but I quickly grew. In early 2010 I was asked by Automatic Loveletter to be once again promoted, this time to the Regional Street Team Leader for the band, and I gladly accepted this promotion. By mid-2010 I was being contacted by Regional bands and booking agents and Music Agencies to book shows, manage bands, book tours and so much more. Almost as quickly as I had begun booking shows, I had become a Regional Promoter in the Midwest.
Today, I work as a solo promoter with Shameless Promotions and I also work with a number of companies and non-profits and bands across the world. The things I offer are: Booking, Management, Tour Management, some Tour Booking, Representation, Artist Development and a few others. I also do work with Music Venues across Indiana.
Here is a comprehensive list of who I currently work with and a list of bands that I have worked with over the years:

Owner at Shameless Promotions (Muncie, IN) March 2006-Present (Name est 2009)
Midwest Regional Street Team Leader at Automatic Loveletter (FL) March 2006-Present
Band Manager at The Day After!!! (Indianapolis, IN) April 1, 2011-Present
Booking Agent at Call it Karma (Royal Oak, MI) May 2011-Present
Promoter/Booking Agent/Talent Buyer at The Sights Set North Agency (Detroit, MI) May 28, 2011-Present
Volunteer at The Emerson Theater (Indianapolis, IN) May 28, 2011-Presnt
Promoter/Booking Agent/Talent Buyer at Affinity Entertainment (Lansing, MI) March, 2011-June, 2011
Band Manager at Part-Time Hero (Muncie, IN) Summer 2010-Winter 2010
Band Manager at Green Means Go! (Muncie, IN) October, 2009-August, 2010

Bands I have worked with (a very short list):
Barely Blind
The Promise Hero
Automatic Loveletter
Time Bomb (The Next James Dean)
We Say Sunrise
With The Punches
Set it Off
Dreams of University
Dismember the Fallen
The After Party
Joy Island
Rocky Loves Emily
To Kill a Monster
Freshman 15
Part-Time Hero
Green Means Go
Don't Forget Thursday
Same as Sunday
My Hidden Track
Call it Karma
The Day After!!!
Violets For Verona
Swing The Coast
Set Phasers to Stun