We are here with Gina B. of Gina B. Productions. She is booking the Blue Saloon and Club 21. We are going to find out whatÕs happening in the L.A. Scene, the Valley Scene, the Rock Ôn Roll Scene, and whatÕs on her mind.

RCN: So, Gina, how are you today?
Gina: IÕm just fine, thank you.

RCN: How long have you been booking bands in Hollywood?
Gina: WeÕll, I started in 1984 at the Troubadour, and I worked there until 1992. (About 8 years). I got all my experience from working at the Troubadour.

RCN: So, you were at the Troubadour when Guns ÔN Roses performed there?<BR> Gina: Yes. Guns ÔN Roses, Poison, Warrant, and L.A. Guns were all bands that started with me. When I started Poison was the biggest band, and they got signed in 1985. Then Guns ÔN Roses, Warrant and L.A. Guns did.

RCN: I remember the Troubadour was always the place to hear heavy metal music.
Gina: Yes, in those years (1985,1986,1987) we had nothing but heavy metal bands. Seven nights a week nothing but heavy metal bands. Everybody thought the first pop band that I booked in the Troubadour was a mistake because we always had heavy metal. They didnÕt believe the Troubadour would ever host any pop bands.

RCN: After you left the Troubadour in 1992, where did you start to work?
Gina: I went to NiteRock, which is in the Tujunga area, I just wanted to get out of Hollywood for awhile. I believe they closed down after a year. After that I started working nothing but The Valley. I worked at Bourbon Square and then now I'm at The Blue Saloon and The Club 21 at Riverbottom.

RCN: You were at Bourbon Square for awhile.
Gina: I was there for three years, until they decided to close the place cause the owner retired, that's the reason he closed. So right before that I moved to The Blue Saloon, which has been around for ten years. Actually they are celebrating their tenth year anniversary April 16th of '98. It's like a neighborhood bar and has a great atmosphere, that's why people like coming there and bands like playing in there. And the bartenders are great, it's a very pleasant place to be. Very very friendly atmosphere, that's why people keep coming back.

RCN: You've made the stage bigger.
Gina: Since I took over I changed the whole sound system and I enlarged the stage. And we've done quite a lot of remodeling inside too. And now it looks great, it sounds better and with the bigger stage the bands are very happy with it.

RCN: You have bands there every night of the week?
Gina: I have them every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And once a month I do acoustic sets only. The first Thursday of each month is nothing but acoustic single acts. And the rest of the time we have rock bands, I have alternative nights, we have hard rock bands, we have blues, which I do a lot. The whole last eight months we did nothing but blues on Wednesday nights, which was stopped in December, but we are going to go back to it by February. Wednesday nights we do nothing but blues bands. And on the weekends it changes. And there are certain types of bands the club doesn't allow which is very loud music or the punk bands that create problems a lot of the times. Those are the ones I try and stay away from. Occasionally I'll do it, not that often. The same thing with Club 21 at Riverbottom, which is in Burbank. That one I started since last May. I haven't been there that long and I also remodeled the whole club inside. We got a brand new PA system and it has a large size stage. It's a great location, plenty of parking and across from Warner Bros. studios. All the studios are around there.

RCN: So both clubs are five minutes from Hollywood.
Gina: Very close to Hollywood and very close to the freeways. It's very easy to get access to. And it's a perfect place for a band starting up new to build up their following there. Also it's a great place for a showcase, in which a lot of my bands do it as a showcase. A lot of bigger bands when they have a big show to do they pick up a small club like the Club 21 or The Blue Saloon to have a small show before they go on to their bigger show.

RCN: So do you like booking the smaller clubs better than the bigger clubs?
Gina: I like booking these two clubs, especially The Blue Saloon, I like it very much. And occasionally once a month I do a big show at The Troubadour. I've been doing that about a year and a half or so. I do a bigger show and I put four or five bands. The bands that have a bigger draw I put them at The Troubadour. A lot of them I kinda built up the bands here at The Valley at the smaller clubs, once they have close to 100 people then I put them at The Troubadour, which I advertise quite a lot for. It gives the bands a lot of exposure.

RCN: You are really good at doing that for the bands and you seem to know a lot of the local bands, you're like the guru of local bands.
Gina: Well, all these years since '84 it's been quite a lot of bands that I've worked with. A lot of times the bands break up and they want to get back after several years and they put a new band together they always look for me and they find me. And they start with me all over again. I guess I know quite a lot of musicians in this town.

RCN: So you see a lot of bands.
Gina: Yes, I see a lot of bands. That's why I get a lot of phone calls sometimes from record companies or newspapers and A&R people, they wonder if there are any bands around that's worth their time seeing.

RCN: Are there any?
Gina: There's several bands. Yes, I see a lot of good bands sometimes, but unfortunately once you see them after a couple of months you find out they already have disappeared or have broken up or gone their separate ways. I don't know what happens to the bands.

RCN: Well I think that some of the pressure is what breaks the bands up. Bands will stay together forever and ever and ever as long as they are a small band. As soon as they get label interest and start drawing and making money, then they start fighting amongst themselves.
Gina: I don't know what happens to the bands.

RCN: So who are some of your favorite local bands.
Gina: Well, some of my rock bands that I like is Judge Jackson, Shiloh, there are so many of them, I don't tell everybody, they get upset.

RCN: Atomic Punks, Caress of Steel, Bad Medicine . . .
Gina: Those are all the tribute bands, which they do quite well for me, but you know we still have to help these original bands. Choking Ghost is another band that I like, they're great. I have lot of blues bands that I work with lately that do quite well for me. The Grave Robbers, they're great musicians, they're great guys and have great music. They play for me every other week or so. Both clubs. There's another band that I like they've done quite well for me it's The Sweet Tree band. There's Four Cylinder Mary, that's one band that knows how to promote themselves better than anybody I know lately.

RCN: That's why their name is always on the marquee at Club 21.
Gina: Yes, they make sure that their name is on the marquee. If I can't put it up there, they will come and do it themselves and they really work on their shows. And there's another band Yellow House - they do quite well.

RCN: So you build these bands up and try and help them build a draw.
Gina: I try to help them as much as I can, but first thing is they have to help themselves. If I see the band is working hard on their shows I help them out. Some bands they just want to come down and play and they just don't want to do anything. It wasn't like that years ago, years ago I feel like the bands use to work harder on their shows and more out their with their fliers. And bands nowadays they don't do as much promotion.

RCN: Well, you have to find the ones that do. I found that out too. Most bands are laxy daisy or whatever you call it.
Gina: They set up a show and all they do is come and play and that's it. They want someone else to do their promotion for them.

RCN: So what advice would you give to local bands that are trying to build a draw? Play your clubs.
Gina: Well, one thing that I find out is some of the bands they feel like if they do too many shows, too many close dates they will pick up more of a crowd and I don't thinks that's right, I think that works against them. Instead of playing twice a week, take a show every two or three weeks and concentrate on that one show and promote that one and have the crowd in there. I've seen a lot of bands have a good draw in the beginning cause they didn't do too many shows and then they start playing every day every weekend and you see them on the calendar everywhere and next thing I know their crowd disappears on them and the next thing I know they disappear. I myself don't feel a band should do too many shows. I feel they really build up a strong following. This is my opinion.

RCN: I agree with that too. I think once a month for a big band and maybe twice a month for a small band.
Gina: Years ago I had a band, that was sometime ago, they wouldn't play unless every three months they did one show and they brought 3 or 4 hundred people. So their crowd, they knew if they don't see this band that particular day they'd have to wait for three months to come to see them. So everybody use to come to see them and wait for another three months to see them again. Now with bands there are so many shows that nobody rushes to see them. First of all they don't have such a big draw anyway starting with. I feel bands shouldn't play too many shows every week. The minimum they have to keep is two weeks apart.

RCN: Any other advice?
Gina: First of all the music is important. Second of all is the promotion. And I think personal touch makes a lot of difference, like calling the people and letting them know where they will be and all of that. Nowadays everything is on the computer, they put them in the internet and tell them they are playing and they think everyone is going to rush out to see them. But unfortunately it just doesn't work out that way. The bands that I know that work well for me they that's what they do they get on the phone and call their friends, they call their following, they let them know they'd like to see them certain days, certain places and I think they bring in more people than just doing their mailing list or just putting an ad in. Ads help, but it's not enough. I feel personal touch is the best thing.

RCN: I find that out in business that's important too. You can fax out 300 letters and nobody will pay attention to them, but you call them up personally and all of a sudden you've made contact.
Gina: I remember way back in the '80's when Guns 'N' Roses or Poison use to promote our shows they were out there every night, they'd go up and talk with the people and let them know who they are and what shows they had. They did such good promotions for themselves. They use to go flier a lot of people in those days. They were out there every night working hard.

RCN: I remember bands like Warrant too use to flier every show they did. Whoa Nelly would print them up a box of fliers and they would be out there every night, every concert fliering.
Gina: I remember when I was driving from The Troubadour to go home every night and I'd pass in front of The Rainbow and those places there were hundreds of fliers all over the place, on the streets, which they don't let you do anymore. So the best thing to do is phone calls, I feel like it's more important than anything else.

RCN: And of course ads in Rock City News.
Gina: Well, Rock City News ads helps quite a lot. You've been very good to me all these years. You've always supported me, the shows and my bands, so I do appreciate that.

RCN: And The L.A. Weekly if you can afford it, but I don't think many bands can afford it.
Gina: Well, The L.A. Weekly's prices are too high. I run a very small size in L.A. Weekly every week and I always have an ad in Rock City News, which I do a larger ad with the pictures. Anyway, we've been working together since you started.

RCN: Do you have any plans for the future, what do you foresee happening?
Gina: Well, I will be keeping these two clubs and I'm still going to put some shows at The Troubadour and The Blue Saloon and Club 21 at Riverbottom in Burbank are excellent clubs for the bands to start with. It's a great place to play. We have a great stage and we have a great sound system. So every band that want to start out new, it's a perfect place to come and play. And we're not too far from Hollywood.

RCN: You have North Hollywood covered and FM Station closed.
Gina: There aren't too many clubs left in The Valley and if you look at the poll they did in Music Connection they rated us quite highly, The Blue Saloon. Higher than The Whisky and all those clubs.

RCN: Well, you get a more personalized service.
Gina: I guess that's what it is.

RCN: And all the other clubs in The Valley closed like Mancini's, FM Station and Bourbon Square.
Gina: Our prices are very low, admission prices are lower, the drink prices are lower. We have no parking problem, you don't have to pay for parking, so you know in Hollywood to get into the club ranges from 10 to 15 dollars and you have to pay 5 or 6 dollars for parking and their drink prices are higher, so it's more difficult to go to those clubs. The Valley is not the same, it's much easier, it's a more relaxed atmosphere, that's what it is. And the pressure is not as much on the bands, cause I don't expect them to bring a hundred people for me. If I put a show at The Troubadour I expect the bands to get me a minimum of 100 people, but it's not the same with The Blue Saloon or the Club 21. The bands are more relaxed to come down and play there.

RCN: So do have any plans for a bigger club?
Gina: Well, I had quite a lot of offers last year, clubs that hold at least 500 to 700 people. I went and checked it out this time and I refused. I had another offer right now in The Valley that holds between 200 and 300 people, but I have to think about that one. Someday I hope I will have my own club. I'd do things differently. I do like to help the bands that are starting up new.

RCN: So if you had your own club and you could design and book your own club what would you do?
Gina: What would I do? Good question. As I said I will not have too much pressure on the bands, when they want to come down and do some shows and I would try to keep the prices as low as possible, so they can bring people in. And I would try and do a lot of promotion myself again, get into record companies, try to get a lot of A&R people to make a lot of showcases for these bands. I would give them as much exposure as possible. A lot of the shows that I do, I don't do it for the money, I just try and help the bands, that's what it is. Most of the time I lose money. I don't make any.

RCN: You like to hang out with the musicians.
Gina: I like to hang out with the musicians. Most of them are very nice to me and they are like a family to me. Some of them I become like a mother to them. A lot of them call me now and they call me mom.

RCN: I think that's good.
Gina: I do have a good relationship with the bands I work with, they respect me and treat me well and I do they same thing, treat them well. They should be treated well. They work hard on their shows and you have to respect their ability, their music. Some of them, their music is great and they just need some push, some help from the club owners and the promoters. Some places it's just the money situation. Sometimes I have some bands that don't have the draw, I try to help them and put them with bands that have a draw to give them some exposure cause I know they deserve it, they have great music and are great musicians. So I try and help them as much as possible. And a lot of times it's very difficult cause you have to make a certain amount of money to cover your expenses, your sound engineers, your advertisement and all that.

RCN: You have to draw the line somewhere.
Gina: Yes. If you don't have those expenses it would make it easier. The clubs owners, of course, they expect you to bring a certain amount of numbers every night to the club, it makes it kinda difficult, so you have to push the bands sometimes.

RCN: So what kind of music do you like?
Gina: I like all kinds of rock bands, I like alternative bands, I like the blues, that's why once a week I do just blues. And I have some heavy metal, I don't do as much. Occasionally, I have certain ones I work with. The punk bands the clubs don't allow me to bring them, cause everytime I do we have a problem with them. And I like dance bands, and lately I've been doing a lot of reggae bands too. As long as I like their music I like to put them together as long as their music is similar. I don't have one set date, like hard rock on Friday or reggae on Saturday. The only thing I keep always the same is Wednesdays for blues bands. And the first Thursday of each month is nothing but acoustic acts. A lot of my bands like to do unplugged so they do it once a month for fun. They enjoy doing that. That's one of my favorite nights.

RCN: So your club is just kinda like an unpressured place?
Gina: Also I started open mic night on the Club 21 in Burbank. It's every Wednesday, the sign up time is 8pm. And that one is really building up.