[Featuring the band “Yellow Studs”] Handle your complicated musical activities schedule effortlessly. An essential tool for all bands!

We interviewed the members of the “fully independent” band Yellow Studs, whose musical activities are entirely self-managed. To carry out their activities swiftly and efficiently, the band members make the most of IT tools such as TimeTree in a manner similar to startup companies like us.

A “fully independent” band whose activities are entirely self-managed using TimeTree

Today, we are delighted to have with us the guitarist Mr. Nomura, the bassist Mr. Ueda, and the drummer Mr. Tanaka. First of all, could you please tell us a little more about Yellow Studs

N: Yellow Studs is a 5-member rock band that was formed 13 years ago. Although we do not have any negative feelings towards the idea of going major, we value the ability to have the final say in our own activities and the autonomy over how things should be done. Therefore, we have decided to manage everything on our own and we recently declared ourselves to be a “fully independent” band.

Profile of Yellow Studs: Formed in 2003. Incorporating elements from garage, rock, jazz, and other genres into their music, the band presents a unique worldview anchored by the unique gruff vocals of their vocalist, Taichi Nomura. Yellow Studs is a fully independent indie band and is affectionately called as “Iesuta.” Official Homepage of Yellow Studs

Typically, we think of band activities as things such as lives and music recording sessions. What other activities are you also involved in?

N: There is various other work we need to do as a band. For instance, when we release a new CD, we need to call up CD shops on our own and discuss with them if it would be possible for them to carry our CDs, and so on.

Indeed, if a diverse range of work is involved, using IT to increase your efficiency becomes important. In addition to TimeTree, are you using anything else?

N: We also use ChatWork (a cloud-based web conference service) to contact one another and discuss things, Base (an e-commerce service) for the online sales of merchandise, and a variety of other services. In addition to Twitter and Facebook, we are also actively trying out USTREAM and Twitcast to reach out to more people.

How did you come to incorporate TimeTree in the management of your activities?

N: In the first place, I am someone who loves apps that increase work efficiency, and I have always wondered about how great it would be if all my work can be completed on my smartphone. I had tried various tools but there wasn’t any that is perfect for sharing our schedule. Of course, I knew that it was possible to share it using Google Calendar. But some of our members are like, “What’s IT?” (laughs). So, if you can complete everything using just an app, there’s no need for any further explanation. That’s the kind of app I was looking for. When I found TimeTree, which you can use on your smartphone with a single tap, I knew that was exactly what I wanted.

Were there any hurdles for your members when TimeTree was introduced?

U: I am probably the least IT-savvy member among us, but I did not really face any difficulties.

T: I also did not have any problems in particular. I am rather easygoing and do not really make detailed plans, but the app was very helpful for me as some of our more diligent members can use it to schedule everything that we need to do.

Review your schedule for live shows and other activities at a glance. Search effortlessly for plans that have been decided.

What are some scheduling issues you face as a band?

N: For instance, there are many individual dates related to each live performance, such as the date on which the live show details are announced, the date on which ticket sales begin, and other details for the actual day of the live show itself. So, if we have 4 live shows in a month, that already makes our schedule really chaotic. Although we share this information on ChatWork, it is ultimately a communication and discussion tool, which makes looking up our schedule information at a later date difficult. But with TimeTree, it is possible for us to see everything at a glance, which is simply wonderful.

What other kinds of schedules do you share with one another?

N: We also share various other schedules such as studio practices, meetings, days when we need to check with the manufacturer about our merchandise, and so on. Also, as 3 of our members play in the band full-time without holding any other job, they can use the app for their personal matters and enter “day off” accordingly.

It seems like you also often use the comment box feature.

N: We make it a point to enter everything that has been decided. After meetings, we leave the minutes in the comment box, and the timetables for our live rehearsals are posted directly as images.

Never miss opportunities again by keeping up to date with your schedule. Timetree is a “must-use” app for all bands!

Did anything change after you started using TimeTree?

N: Our situation with schedule-related problems improved dramatically. First of all, we were able to look up the schedule very quickly. As we also accept work requests for music production, we can simply take a look at TimeTree if someone approaches us and asks if we can accept an urgent job that must be completed in 3 days. By using TimeTree, we can make a decision on the spot as to whether we should agree to the request depending on our scheduled plans.

What about the management of your live information that you mentioned earlier?

N: That’s really important. If we get the announcement timing for ticket reservations wrong, it will directly affect our sales. Because of that, I have always been very worried about that. Previously, there was nowhere we could go to see all the information at a glance, so I was very worried that we might have forgotten about something in our announcement schedule. A lot of this mental stress is alleviated now that we no longer have to deal with that.

What about other members?

U: I am also glad that I no longer have to bother with writing everything in our schedule in ChatWork as TimeTree can handle these trivial things. We have practice sessions a few times every week, but our members no longer mix up the schedule.

T: We also share the information with our band staff and manager, and it is really nice to be able to see everyone’s progress. Also, whenever our members diligently update the schedule in our shared calendar, it is also of great help to the rest of us.

Do you think other bands can benefit from using TimeTree as well?

N: It is not a matter of whether they should use it or not, because I believe TimeTree is a “must-use” app. Bands have a lot of information that they must disseminate using social media. As I have mentioned just now, the timing of an announcement is important, especially in the case of lives. I believe there are many bands who miss the ideal timing because they do not manage their schedule, which I think is a shame. TimeTree is free and easy to use, so it’s definitely a must-use app!

Thank you very much for your powerful words!