Music and Money with DERISION CULT
- Metalhead Money
- 7 minutes ago
- 7 min read
Chicago industrial metallers Derision Cult got their start in 2014 and show no signs of slowing down -- especially after signing with Glitch Mode Recordings in 2021. Led by frontman Dave McAnally, the band’s music addresses themes of media manipulation, technology, and survival in a rapidly evolving world. Shortly after the release of the band's latest EP, Mercenary Notes Pt. 2, McAnally went in-depth with Metalhead Money about his creative process and the band's business decisions:
Tell our readers all about your band! Where are you from and when did you get started? What is your music like?
This project started as a solo effort for me and in 2021 I connected with Glitch Mode and we began making some angry robot noise! I'm originally from Iowa but am now based in Chicago. True to Chicago, we make industrial rock/metal similar to the Wax Trax/Chicago sound we're all proud of.
What are your goals for your band?
It's an artistic outlet so the goal is to keep making music and hopefully there's an audience that connects with it. I tend to be pretty micro-goal oriented vs. looking at big pictures. So right now my goal is to get the band on the road and do a tour where we can break even between fees and merch. That's harder and harder to do these days economically, but it would be really fulfilling from a creative standpoint. When I started Derision Cult I had zero aspirations to play live or even make videos -- but then we made a video or two and it's become a big part of what the project is. Playing live is the same way. The guys around me in the Glitch Mode world very much encouraged that and when I did I started looking at live performance as another creative outlet, not just a thing you to do promote music or whatever. Plus it's super fun!
What do you do for a living?
I run a consulting business that focuses primarily on B2B Marketing. So pretty removed from this world!
How do you balance your work and personal life with the band?
I have a pretty simple life. I don't drink or do drugs or any of that, and my social life is pretty limited to what I'm doing musically or my family. I work from home so it's pretty easy to plot my day out around the things I need to get done. In addition to music and business, I've also been a competitive endurance athlete so I'm pretty comfortable cramming a lot of stuff into a day. It doesn't bother me to work 12-14 hours, do a few hours of music, hang with the family, and sleep for a few more. But it ebbs and flows. Sometimes if I'm between consulting projects, I'll have more time to focus on creative endeavors and I maximize that time. My family is really supportive too, especially my wife. She and I function pretty well as a team to make sure everything is running smoothly around here.
What do you consider to be the best investment you've made, music-wise?
I built out a room in my house I have exclusively devoted to music and creative endeavors. That sanctuary was an extremely wise investment. It's not an office or a corner of a room but a place with cool lighting, red and black walls, and a total vibe. I think that's been really good to be able to shut off the world and concentrate when I need to.
What's the worst or least helpful thing you've ever spent money on as a musician/band?
I did a lot of science experiments with marketing over the years, and did some things with big banner advertising to promote a release on big mainstream websites that get millions of visits a day. I think big display takeovers in hopes of reaching new fans don't really work. They're great for staying top of mind with people who are already fans, but for reaching new ones? Not so much. Plus it's expensive. If you want to spend a budget like that, you're far better off putting that resource into building really great social assets or better yet, getting out and promoting yourself via handbills/flyers.
What kind of merch sells the best for your band? And what do you purchase most often as a music listener?
Well CDs have always been a constant. We've done some off-beat things. We launched a hot sauce called Deaf Blood to go along with a track of that name when it dropped as a single and we sold out of all of those almost instantly. So that was a success. We do runs of cassettes every so often and they do really well. Shirts sell awesome at shows. Our labelmates Cyanotic went out on tour with KMFDM and they brought our shirts out with them to promote the label at the merch booth, and ended up selling out all of them a quarter into the tour.
Can you share some tour budgeting tips?
Sean would be a better guy to talk to about that but from what I've discerned on the tour planning we've done -- some smart things I wouldn't have initially thought of that make a ton of sense -- use AirBnb when possible to house the whole crew vs. hotels. If you are using hotels, plot them somewhere out on the highway vs. in the city. Not only do they tend to be cheaper than hotels in places like, say, downtown Minneapolis, but those rural hotels at big truck stops tend to be far less likely to have people break into your van and stuff.
Which online music or social media platforms are most helpful to your band?
We've been trying a lot of different things. Facebook and Instagram are definitely where our fans are, so we rely on them a lot. But you know, Tik Tok is slowly becoming more engaging. You have to be consistent there though. Every now and then I'll see sales on Bandcamp come through immediately after we post a link from there. We're also making sure we have a presence in places like Bluesky. I think my advice at this point is to find a strategy that lets you cover as much ground as possible. I think the days of focusing on just one platform are kind of over. Use something like Buffer so you can plot out your posts and push them out to all the platforms.
For music platforms, I've always been a fan of Bandcamp. It's where our more loyal fans are, spotify tends to be the casual listeners where you can be discovered because you're on a playlist that they like. There's more listens and streams there, but it's hard to tell if those are the same people that are buying merch on Bandcamp. Spotify lets you connect Shopify so you can sell on there, but I don't see near the numbers there that I do on bandcamp (even though the streams and monthly listeners have to be much higher). There's some nifty things Bandcamp does that artists need. For example, you can change out the album art anytime you want which opens up some cool creative opportunities. Some friends of ours will literally flip all their artwork on Transgender support events and things like that which I think is a cool way to use your art. You can't really do that when you publish albums out to other platforms.
What does "making it" mean to you, and what do you think a band needs to make it in 2025?
I heard a saying once that went, "Success means having things in your past you're proud of and things in your future you're looking forward to." I think that's pretty apt. To me, success is having a constant state of momentum. When creativity and momentum are in harmony and it allows me to set goals for what's next, I'm happy. I know that's not a hard metric, but I think in 2025 you have to look at the process differently than you may have in the 90's when I was starting out. We do well enough we can keep putting albums out, things like albums sustain themselves in the sense that they pay for the raw materials like merch and CDs. I like that.
As far as "making it" in 2025-- man if I knew the answer to that I'd always be doing it! I think its a constant game of test and learn. But that said, one thing I think is a non-negotiable is you have to have professional quality material. When I was starting out, local bands could get away with a four track demo that would be enough to get traded around my high school parking lot and you could be counted on to draw a few hundred people to your shows. The demo could have zero production values and, with the exception of some genres, I don't think that reality exists anymore. If things don't sound at least as good as anything else they could hear on Spotify people simply aren't going to come back to it.
So it starts with that. Find producers or people that can take your tracks and realize your vision in a way that'll stand up to whatever genre you work in. From there, I think a key thing is to be methodical about how you release stuff. Don't get high on your own supply. dropping "albums." I think is very difficult to do in a way that creates forward momentum when you're starting out. I think EPs, singles, and things of that nature just work better in this current climate. Finally -- I think as much as artists probably hate it -- you have to be your own biggest promoter. Being visible in your scene and drawing attention to yourself in 2025 is about building a big social presence. You have to decide what the right way to do that is for your art. What works for one artist may not work at all for another. That's not easy to do, but it must be done.
Ain't that the truth...
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