First, do NOT be one of those girls who sluts herself out to anybody in or around the band in order to get into their shows, go on the road, meet their manager, etc. In fact, don’t even think about the fact that you’re a girl at all. Make it a rule never to casually hook up with anyone involved in the scene where you are trying to begin networking and building your career. You only get one chance to make a first impression. Once you get the reputation of being slutty, you will always have that reputation — unlike guys, who can flirt and hook up with girls and still be respected in the industry. It’s a double standard that will never go away, unfortunately. And I’m not even a feminist! ;)

Next: offer to help local bands with merch, booking, and photography; put on shows at your house; offer to help your local promoter with flyering, working local shows, and putting up touring bands when they need a place to stay. Intern at a local record label or booking agency. If you know any bands who are about to go on the road and need help with driving or merch (who are making enough to pay you something), offer to take the job. Be the best at whatever you do, and people will take note. Then, when bands are looking for someone to go on the road, people will pass on your name because you left a good impression on them by doing such a good job. Be professional, demand respect, work hard, and don’t react to the wrong kind of attention from guys. Being nice and having fun is one thing, flirting and hooking up with guys because you think it will get you “in” with a band is another. The more respect you earn early on in your career as a hardworking, intelligent, passionate person (not a girl, just a person) with honest intentions, the longer your career will last.

Too many girls start out as groupies thinking it’s an “in” for them in the industry, and they end up always having that reputation, even if they get real jobs at respected companies. People always talk, and it’s nearly impossible for a girl to get rid of the reputation for ever having been slutty, even if it was a long time ago. The girls I’ve seen who have made it really far in the industry are the girls not known for who they’ve hooked up with, but what they’ve accomplished. They’re the girls who refuse to be objectified, and demand to be valued for who they are, not what they look like or what they are willing to do.

Ask away…