Super Happy Booking Information

Howdy folks! Super Happy Fun Land is always looking for interesting and unusual performers. We have a very diverse and eclectic range of events that are booked here. If your act is super, happy, and fun, this is probably the right place for you!If you would like to book you performance here, please do not call us or send us a Facebook or MySpace message.

All booking is done through email. Send us a description of your act, with the date you are looking for, and a website URL (preferably with music we can listen to) to Brian at: info@superhappyfunland.com

Please note, we get around 20 emails from performers every day.We try to answer all email promptly, but occasionally something slips by us. If we do not answer your email within a few days, feel free to email us again. Please note that individualized emails always get preferred treatment to those pesky "online press kit" type emails that are sent to multiple venues. We will accept CDs through the mail, but prefer listening to your music online to save time. CDs we receive for promotional purposes will be added to our music rotation in the lounge if you grant permission for us to play them. Super Happy Fun Land only plays original music by performers who have given us permission to play their original compositions. By sending your promotional CD addressed to "Permission Granted c/o Super Happy Fun Land" you are granting permission to us to play your original compositions. We will not sell, copy, or otherwise distribute your original music.

Notice to performers: Do not perform copyrighted materials at Super Happy Fun Land unless you have permission to perform them publicly. You will be required to agree to this before you perform at our venue.

We host many musical performances of all types here, but we also have a full sized real movie theater screen and 160 real movie theater seats as well as a video projector which makes SHFL a good venue for film screenings. We have an art gallery and would love to host your artwork in our gallery for a day or a month! We also welcome inquiries from theatrical performers, dancers, puppeteers, circuses, burlesque shows, poets, motivational speakers, whatever floats your boat!

Below is a copy of those forms bands and promoters always want me to fill out. If you ask me to fill out one of these forms I am going to refer you to this page:

1: Venue Name: Super Happy Fun Land

2: Venue URL: http://www.superhappyfunland.com

3: Venue Address:3801 Polk Street, Houston TX 77003

4: Venue/promoter Telephone #:713-837-87255: Venue/promoter contact name: Brian Arthur

6: Age Requirement: All Ages

7: Capacity: 290*

8: Admission: $8 (unless otherwise specified)

9: Wage agreed upon: Bands get 50% of the door**

10: Merchandise Rate: 100% to artist/artist sells

11: Load in: Doors open at 8pm (unless otherwise specified)***

12: Show time: Shows usually start around 9pm(unless otherwise specified)

13: Other performing artists: TBA****

14: Set length and order: TBD*****

*Theater seating and large floor area. We have a large patio/smoking area, art gallery and front lounge to handle overflow.

** We are a not for profit art and performance venue, so we can never offer guarantees.We do not guarantee food and drinks for the performers (except for water).Performers may bring their own food and drinks if they wish. Performers who have a large draw in Houston may be able to charge a higher admission if they wish.Minimal indoor overnight lodging for bands is available most of the time (couches and/or floorspace).

*** Sound check is made before each set. If extended technical sound check is required due to unusual circumstances, please make advance arrangements to load in 2 hours before normal load in time.

**** You will be notified when the lineup is finalized, check the online calendar for updates. Often we will not determine the order of the bands until the night of the show, after the bands have arrived. We try to come up with lineups that make sense (touring bands usually play in the middle).

***** We are pretty flexible, we try to come up with the best lineup to fit the night. See the Promotion section below for more info on how to come up with a good lineup.

Super Happy Sound System:new and improved as of March 2011

Mackie Onyx 24-4 mixing deskDBX Driverack Crossover
2 JBL PRX525 Powered Mains, 2 JBL Powered Subs, 4 Powered monitors

2 JBL passive Mains and 2 JBL passive Subs for sound reinforcement powered by 2 QSC RMX-2450 2400 amps (mains and subs)Active DI Boxes, 100 Ft. PA Snake8 Sennheiser E-835 mics & mic stands, various cables - drum mics

House backline equipment is available on request (full drum kit, small guitar and bass amps)

Pianos, guitars, ukuleles, misc other available on request

Chauvet DMX Lighting System with many effects

Super Happy Stage Dimensions:24ft9in Length, 14ft6in Width, 2ft5in Height

With removable drum riser Super Happy

Promotion:Several music newspapers and internet music directories list our eventsas well as public and college radio and the local paper.We send out a bi-monthly calendar to our very large (5000 +) email list,and daily show bulletins on Facebook (over 5000 contacts).We also distribute a paper calendar and posters and flyers for our events.We try to do as much promotion and flyer distribution as we can,but as they say, if you want the job done right, do it yourself. Here are some contacts that might help you out. Remember that creativity gets the best results! Here are some press contacts in Houston:

Houston Press: http://www.houstonpress.com
Free Press Houston: http://www.freepresshouston.com (Contact at Editors@freepresshouston.com )
Houston Chronicle Music News: http://www.chron.com/culture/music

KPFT Pacifica Public Radio: http://www.kpft.org
Rice Student Radio (online only as of 2011) http://www.ktru.org

Independent Record Stores in the Houston Area:

Sound Exchange: http://www.soundexchangehouston.com

Cactus Records: http://www.cactusmusictx.com

Vinal Edge Records: http://www.vinaledge.com

Evolution Records Tapes & More: (281) 476-0146 - 8099 Spencer Hwy, Deer Park, TX

Evolution Records Tapes & More: (281) 422-0112 - 907 E Fayle St, Baytown, TX

Music Town Discount CDs: (281) 251-2924 - 17034 Stuebner Airline Rd, Spring, TX

Here are some Houston music blogs that might be interested in hearing about your show (or that might be a good place to network with local bands):

Houston Calling - http://houstoncalling.net

Free Press Houston - http://freepresshouston.com

Examiner - http://theexaminer.com

Houston Press Rocks Off - http://houstonpress.com

Space City Rock - http://spacecityrock.com

713 Black - http://713black.com

Promotion and Networking tips:Step 1: Every Band Needs a Website!A lot of bands are going with Reverb Nation or Bandcamp now, Facebook is catching up but is still unfortunately an inferior resource for bands: at any rate, I do recommend that every band get a Facebook account (or if you totally hate Facebook at least a similar free music band profile networking website like Bandcamp, Reverb Nation, Sonic Bids, or even YouTube will give your potential fans some kind of reference). It is a great way to network with local fans and bands in any city that you plan on playing at. Visit our Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/superhappyfunland . A few bands think they are too cool and/or underground to set up a social networking profile. They are not cool, they are just dumb. Our Facebook page is here: http://www.facebook.com/superhappyfunland and is connected with Reverb Nation Venue Profiles, so if you list your show on Reverb Nation, it will get automatically listed on our Facebook page. Also, making a Facebook event for your show can never hurt!

If your band is new to Houston, local support is very important if you want anyone to come to your show. We try to set up local support for touring bands, but due to the number of touring bands that come through here, it can be difficult for us to arrange local bands for every show. If you are coming from a different city, feel free to contact some local bands that you think might be interested in performing at your show. Reverb Nation seems to currently be the best resource for this (as of 2011). You can do a search of bands by genre and location and they list bands in order of popularity (local chart ratings by genre) which is pretty handy, and are features that Facebook seems to lack at this time. Remember that a band that you have personally contacted is much more likely to put forth some effort to support your show.

Notice to local bands: We are always looking for local bands who can draw people out to a show (especially on weekdays) to support touring bands. Take a look at our online calendar and see if there are any bands from out of town playing that you would like to open up for. If so, send me an email and I will put you on the bill if possible. Local bands who support touring performers get preferential treatment during local showcases and festivals!

Here are the names of a few of the performers that we have hosted at our venue:

The Protomen

Joe Jack Talcum (of Dead Milkmen)

Nels Cline

Carla Bozulich

Tapes 'n Tapes

Matt and Kim

Kimya Dawson

The Incredible String Band

Mr Quintron and Miss Pussycat

Monotonix

Girl Talk

Dan Deacon

Melanie
The Polysics

Electric Eel Shock

Green Milk From the Planet Orange

That One Guy
Faun Fables

Brown Whorenet

The Human Marvels

The Twinemen

The Asylum Street Spankers

Mathematicians

Eugene Chadbourne

Pleaseeasaur

Two Star Symphony

Jean-Louis Costes

Z'EV

Rusted Shut

Blowfly

Gregg Ginn of Black Flag

The Acrocats

Bobbindoctrin Puppet Theatre

Non-Grata

Besides music we have hosted plays, puppet shows, independant films, art workshops, nude bike rides, sideshow circuses, parades, and more...

Here is a great resource for getting your CD on the radio and reviewed in print:

The Independent Recording Artist's Number One Resource...
The Indie Bible lists THOUSANDS of places where you can get your music REVIEWED and your songs PLAYED on the radio. ALL genres of music are covered!Click Here To Buy The Indie Bible(proceeds benefit Super Happy Fun Land)

Here is a list of some other underground venues in Texas that are currently booking performers

DIY Venues in Texas

http://dodiy.org/index.php?n=Main.Texas

Anarchist Book Stores

1919 Hemphill www.1919hemphill.org

East Side Social Center http://eastsidesocialcenter.com

BYOFL www.byofl.org (let me know if your venue would like to be added to this list)