That doesnt make a lot of sense.
You're ALREADY advertising by doing the gig with them, on a stage in front of people. When you think of what bands can generate for you in terms of income and respect/popularity, and then consider how many are trying to do the exact same thing, you need to consider every possible avenue to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
On a personal level, in my opinion you're CRAZY not associating your name with a band. If you are searching for some recognition as a player, its far easier to achieve by attaching your name to a popular band than it is to 'make it' as a player in your own right.
Promotion is a very important (if not THE most important) tool for a bands success. Refusing to help do this by one of the most noticable means (a kick drum logo) in order to prove some higher personal belief is uncomprehensible IMO.
My advice would be to get the kick logo on there, and think of it in terms of the GROUP and what youre trying to achieve collectively - Not as individuals.
Of course, if youre just wanting to go out and have some fun and not worry about whether people remeber you or not, then its not such an issue.
You along with others have helped me realize that I need to get over whatever it is inside me that resists this type of self-promotion. Maybe it's my hippie / punk ideals that scream "down with the man!" that views this type of promotion as yet another way to force something down someone's throat.
"Promotion is a very important (if not THE most important) tool for a bands success."
I would agree. It's not about the music anymore, it's about image. IMO this is a huge problem with the music industry these days, bands doing well simply because they hired the right PR company, not because their music is any good. There's a part of me that would like to
earn respect, both individually and as a band for the music I produce, not for who's clothes I wear, who does my make-up or what "a" list director shot my video.
Really, I should just man-up and start playing the game by their rules instead of trying to make my own.
My name is Jeremy, I play drums in 3 awesome bands, I've put links to their myspace pages in my signature and would like it if you all clicked on them to see how amazing we are. Please add us as friends and tell everyone you know about us 'cause we want to get rich, develop serious drug addictions and move to the Hills where all the cool people live. Oh, and hook up with other celebs for casual relationships to give the rags some tantalizing headlines. Don't forget to buy our albums off iTunes, Amazon or Napster too!
There, that wasn't so bad...
Seriously, as mentioned before, I thank you all for your honest opinions. I appreciate listing to your views and offering insight into my query. There are a lot of things going on in the music industry these days I tend not to agree with and struggle to find a happy medium between doing something I love and am passionate about, and turning my creative outlet into a product that at the end of that day, has little to do with the music itself. I'd love to earn a living playing drums and making music and take steps towards doing this in a way that I feel are true to the promotion of the
music. I guess I'm resistant to promoting the image.