https://kelankoenigdrummer.my.canva.site – Link to the EPK
The purpose of creating this Electronic Press Kit (EPK) is to showcase myself as a drummer and begin the process of becoming well-known and thus, employable. Currently, I believe it is incredibly difficult to become a musician that people know about, getting your name out there for people who have no relation to your private life is no easy task. Therefore, an EPK can be a great way of doing this as it is typically an online format, meaning it will be pushed to the right people through the different algorithms that search engines use. However, this does mean that your EPK must contain the correct information in order to be pushed through these algorithms, but, it must also condensed and ‘human’ enough that is also draws in the attention of the people it is being pushed towards. Ultimately, I want to be found by the right people who will employ me, and the information I have included, alongside examples, has been selected to showcase and explain my specialisms in a digestible manor.
As I previously mentioned, an EPK has to be readable and well structured, or else the reader will get bored before coming across any examples of your musicianship. I structured this EPK to be a 5 page website ordered as such: Title page, this is where my name in large lettering is alongside a picture of me behind the kit and small biography about myself. Then, it is the extended bio that details who I am as a musician, my specialisms, what I’ve done, and what I plan to do, this builds a connection with the reader as they quickly learn about who I am their interest begins to spike. After this page, I have one dedicated to testimonials from musicians I’ve spent the last year working with. Then, it is onto the page showcasing my live performances over the last three months, I have selected sections that I believe showcase what I am capable of and presents an image of me that is what an employer would want to see. I also showcased my work with percussion/electronics in this section. Finally, I have a page dedicated to contacting me, this includes my professional email address, along with my social media accounts. I didn’t want the EPK to go on for too long, and I believe the 5 pages account for this well. Though, in a ideal world, I would also have examples of my recorded work here, I don’t have any currently available as the person I’ve spent the last 5 months recording with has neglected to send me the audio files.
With that said, I do genuinely think this EPK has a good level of content, I am a musician who has spent years performing already, and thus I have the materials needed to create this EPK without fabricating any information. I also make sure to pay attention to certain facets of the business side of this industry, which I believe gives me an edge compared to some musicians.
I previously mentioned that this EPK has been created to be seen, and for it to be seen, it must have an audience. I found this part slightly harder than the rest of the EPK as I specialise in aggressive rock music, but also soft folk music. This is a completely okay thing to do, but, it did mean I found it difficult to weigh up what information I should include when considering how different the audiences of these styles are. The solution for this was to create a vague EPK that details my versatility rather than how developed I am in one specific genre. I included videos with different styles of music in them, along with talking very generally about how I aim to innovate and experiment as a musician because this conveys who I am to a larger audience without driving away potential employers. In continuation of this, its important to acknowledge that the EPK is something that drives revenue, therefore targeted advertising, intellectual property, and the cost of assets must be considered. These will all vary, but the general consensus is that these things will cost atleast over £100 together, potentially a lot depending on how much marketing one is doing. I am lucky that I also do photography and most of my press photos are free in exchange for me doing the same..
When it came to my branding decisions, I started with the colour palette which is a simple dark red and black combination. I chose this because in my private life I am very attached to a certain red fleece that I wear every day, this has lead to people knowing for being “the guy in red”, and I often get asked if I’m wearing this jacket when people are trying to find me in real life. The red feels very ‘Kelan’ thus it was included, I also made sure the shade of red blended well with the atmosphere of the promotional videos and photos which tend tp be within the purple to red range of colours. I wanted my EPK to be cohesive in its styling and its relation to myself as a musician who strives for authenticity in my work. I also used two different fonts, I used ‘Blackletter’ for some parts as it’s a standard font with bands like those I’m in, and I also used ‘Serif’ as it is easily readable and looks professional.
It’s important to mention that this is a fairly standard EPK for a drummer, it doesn’t include anything out of the ordinary, but it does include everything necessary (other than the previously explained absence of studio work). I went through a fair amount of EPK’s to compare and take inspiration from and I found that they all follow a very similar formula to what I have also done. Though I did find that a lot of studying drummers tended to write in first-person, while I can see why people may do this, I think it comes across unprofessional.
In preparation for this assignment I spent time talking to my peers and asking them questions. One of these questions was about the relevance of an EPK when a lot of promotion is now social media based, I got a lot viewpoints on this. Typically an artist will stray away from an EPK as they believe their socials are all they need, but musicians who do session work, depping and other less image-focused roles rely on their EPK’s for work as it acts as a well-presented CV with examples of work.
The most important part of this EPK for me was that it required to dive into myself and who I am as a drummer and percussionist, and what my goals are alongside what I’ve already done. It isn’t often I find myself reflecting from a perspective that includes where I was at four years ago doing my first ever gig, and since then I have improved so much in every single way. I will use this EPK as a starting point and begin to refine more when it comes to the branding and business side. I am no longer a hobbyist musician, but an employable one who consider this art to be their job, and for me to excel at this I will need to keep a high quality EPK up to date. I will admit that the weakest part of my research is the business and that is purely because I’ve had too much self-doubt, leading me to close myself as musician off from others and keep my work hidden. Now this EPK has opened me up to this realisation I can see a clear path of personal and professional development where I will aim to push myself as a business and start confidently marketing myself as a drummer for hire.
Moving forwards I would like to improve on the quality of my material. I don’t have any logos or domain names yet, and the breadth of my performance videos is small due to them being mostly recorded by my friends at gigs. I will continue developing myself as a musician and widening my technical skillset, but I will begin the process of developing myself as a brand.
In the end I found that this EPK gave me a great insight into how the music industry runs, what you need to be employed, and what steps I must take next to further place myself within this industry. It’s also worth mentioning that the EPK made me pick up on the parts of myself that I neglect when it comes to pushing myself, and I will now be working on that too.
Bibliography
Judemcbride.com. (2025). Jude McBride. [online] Available at: https://judemcbride.com/home [Accessed 12 May 2025].
Bradbury, W. (2023). How To Make An EPK For Artists (with examples & templates). [online] Pirate Studios. Available at: https://pirate.com/en/blog/epk-music-artists/ [Accessed 13 May 2025]
Careersinmusic.com. (2022). What is an EPK? Here’s How To Make One… [online] Available at: https://www.careersinmusic.com/epk/ [Accessed 13 May 2025].
Reddit user (2017). ‘You need a budget for promotion’, r/WeAreTheMusicMakers. [online] Reddit. Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/WeAreTheMusicMakers/comments/6zfz3i/you_need_a_budget_for_promotion/ [Accessed 14 May 2025].
