Keith Lawler takes his iPhone from his pocket, opens an app that uses the phone’s camera and points it at a business card with an ‘F’ inscribed on the front.
“Watch this,” he says, as three tiny men suddenly pop up on the screen and begin singing, the business card being their impromptu stage.
Welcome to Firstage: the new smartphone app that allows you to experience a pre-recorded gig by emerging artists wherever you see that magic “F” logo.
The idea for Firstage – a self-funded venture which uses augmented reality to create a "virtual stage" on anything from a tabletop to a street corner, to the cover of today's Ticket (no, really, check it out) – first came to its creators Keith Lawler and Neil Harrison when they were both living in Dubai and working for advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi.
Don’t mistake them solely as high-flying tech entrepreneurs, though; both men have form as musicians, too. Limerick native Lawler is best known for his role as drummer of Limerick noise-rock duo Giveamanakick, while Harrison, from Durham in England’s northeast, fronted Beat Antenna, a band he formed during his nine years in Dubai.
“It was an amazing experience, but Dubai never had a strong music scene, so it was very difficult to gig consistently because there were very few venues,” he says. “That’s where the idea for Firstage really started; how can you create stages and maximise the opportunities for artists to get their music out there?”
Virtual world tour
“Then we started thinking about it and thought ‘Wouldn’t it be great if an Irish band could play in Dubai? Or an American band could play in China, or wherever?’” adds Lawler. “Emerging bands [without the money to tour worldwide] can now do that through a virtual stage. You can get loads of exposure, use the power of playing gigs and connect with people who really want to discover great music.”
There is undoubtedly a novelty element to seeing musicians seemingly pop up out of nowhere on whatever you’re pointing your phone screen at, but Lawler and Harrison have the tools to back up their innovation and turn it into a cottage industry for musicians.
The initial Virtual Stages version – which is out now and will continue in the build-up to the Hard Working Class Heroes festival – will allow fans to buy the exclusive Firstage track that the artists have recorded, or simply act as patrons of sorts by donating a few quid if they like what they hear. All of the money will go directly to the artists and there is an incentive for fans to be generous, too; as they donate, they will be rewarded with Fan Points, which will allow them to buy music, get onto guestlists and other similar rewards.
Going forward, Lawler and Harrison intend to roll out the second stage of the app, Firstage Live, which will be used in conjunction with actual live performances by artists.
One-off performance
“Once you’ve got the buzz of a live gig, you can maximise that with extra content,” says Harrison. “We’re looking at using gig posters or flyers as a portal, where people can scan the logo and watch extra performances [by the act they’ve just seen live]. We’re still in the early stages; until we work with artists and find out how they want to use it, it’s wide open.”
Exclusivity is an important facet of Firstage. For Hard Working Class Heroes, eight emerging acts on this year’s festival line-up were recorded performing two tracks each at Dublin’s Windmill Lane studio.
“We wanted to make sure that it’s not just a track going up there, that it’s a performance,” says Lawler. “It makes the content that’s on Firstage exclusive; you won’t be able to hear those versions of the song anywhere else. It should feel like a gig that you’re looking at. It shouldn’t feel like you’re watching a YouTube video that you can watch on your laptop.”
“People have said to us, ‘Why are you spending so much money recording these artists – can you not use a YouTube video, or something?’” adds Harrison, nodding. “But that’s not what it’s about. It’s about giving artists an opportunity to show how talented they are, and fans an opportunity to see some exclusive content.”
The plan is to expand Firstage to cities around the world, allowing people to see performances by emerging Irish bands on virtual stages in Australia, or emerging German bands on virtual stages in Los Angeles, or emerging British bands on virtual stages in Brazil; you get the picture.
As well as the “network” aspect, there is scope for corporate branding, too. “A beer brand could do a festival on their beer bottle and stuff like that,” suggests Lawler. “It’s a really good way to sponsor emerging talent and get involved.”
For the artists
They will travel to New York’s CMJ festival next month to spread the word, but for now, they are concentrating on Irish bands and partnering with First Music Contact, which runs the Hard Working Class Heroes festival. The partnership to launch the app is ideal, Lawler says, since the initial idea for Firstage was born through an up-and-coming band looking for exposure and a way to get their name out to international audiences.
“This is an artists’ platform; it just happens to have a tech solution with it,” he says.
“We can make a big amazing app that looks awesome and goes all over the world but if it’s not working for artists, then it’s no good.”
“You have to question yourself; go, ‘Are people just going to see it as a fad?’ but you’re always brought back to the point of it, which is that we’re doing it for the artist, so how can we make it work for them?” agrees Harrison. “If it’s just about a piece of tech, people will get bored of it. That’s what’s great about the content. You’re normally wowed by a bit of technology, but then you’re going ‘Who is this? What song is this?’ That’s exactly what we want.
“We want people to be aware of how much talent there is, because Ireland’s full of it.”
Who’s on the virtual stages bill for HWCH?
Over the next four weeks, The Ticket will feature Hard Working Class Heroes festival acts performing on Firstage’s virtual stage. The acts have been selected by HWCH alumnus Michael Pope from Le Galaxie.
This week, hip-hop trio Hare Squead and Dublin rockers Bitch Falcon – both fresh from stomping sets at Electric Picnic – go head-to-head on the front cover of this edition of The Ticket. On September 18th, dream-poppers Saint Sister and experimental dubstep/garage artist Joni will feature. On September 25th, electronica trio Everything Shook and synthpoppers Buffalo Woman take the virtual stage, while bluesy folk-soul duo Basciville and woozy synthpoppers Dear Desert round things off with a virtual gig on October 2nd.
