For up and coming musicians and artists, getting credible publicity is one of the best ways to earn community support. With the success of YouTube, this task makes it fast and easy for anyone to promote their music and art.
Kilson Street is a YouTube channel based out of Santa Ana Calif., dedicated to promoting Southern California bands and artists by filming and promoting artist performances, interviews and local events for free.
Creator Modesto Briseno said the idea was sparked from a previous project, a series of videos for a local pomade company, Suavecito. The concept was that bands would be filmed playing in front of their products- no hosts, no skits just music and pomade. Soon after, the project was scrapped and Briseno was left with an idea, a couple of friends and lots of local support.
“I wanted to keep the project going, but twist it and make it a full-fledged TV show. I kicked the idea around with a small circle of friends, whom probably thought I was a psycho until Richard [Bernal] actually believed in it and said, ‘F**k it. I’ll do it,'” said Briseno.
Richard Bernal was chosen to host the show and with the addition of videographers and audio engineers, Conrad Leon, Omar Zamora and Miguel Briseno, the project took off.
The bands get two songs recorded and filmed live alongside an interview. The videos get posted on Kilson Street’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. Briseno jokes about how bands get their chance to perform on Kilson Street.
“We pick three musicians/bands from a hat and hold potato bag races on Sunday’s before tapings. Winner gets to be on the show. Naw, we get inquiries and pick out who is putting in work on the scene. If it’s just someone looking for a handout and doesn’t do crap to put their name out there… see ya.”
The channel has 56 videos, 21 of them are of local bands. Not only do they provide a platform for bands, they provide local stores, bars and artists publicity for events involving local talent.
“Events are covered either by request from the event coordinators or because we feel it is important to our audience. Sometimes we just randomly cover whatever we feel is cool,” says Briseno.
Their other videos range from dry humored skits, “commercials” and mock news reports. But that only adds to the novelty of the channel.
The people behind the scenes are talented, experienced, music lovers who are motivated by supporting their community.
“We’re here to help bands put themselves out there. We come from a music background. We have done what all bands are doing and understand what it’s like to play gig after gig. This is just another stepping stone,” says videographer, Miguel Briseno.
“Kilson Street allows me to stay relevant in my field of entertainment. It’s like going to the gym or practicing your craft.” says videographer Conrad Leon.
