Gianmarco “Johnny” Fiacconi, drummer of the local ’50s/’60s cover band The Dreamboats, started a new Instagram account on Jan. 7. Every day since, Fiacconi has uploaded a video of himself, sitting in his car and giving advice—about the music scene, performing, marketing a band and countless other topics.
These simple videos—urging musicians to practice more, do research, find a niche, or market themselves better—have resulted in a total of 26,600 followers (as of this writing) at instagram.com/johnnyfiacconi.
During a recent phone interview, Fiacconi said he started the videos in an effort to share his knowledge.
“I feel like I’ve taken so much from other people sharing things like that online—whether it’s about music or just life in general—and I felt like I’ve been doing this for so long, and I’ve gained so much experience, I wanted to give back,” Fiacconi said. “These are the kinds of things that I wish people would have shared with me, or that I would have had access to when I was coming up in music.”
Fiacconi has played a big role in the rise of The Dreamboats. The band brings high-energy performances, tasteful musical additions, and suit-and-tie perfection to classic-rock jams—feeling like a ’60s act untouched by time rather than a tribute act. Fiacconi not only assists behind the kit, but also spends time helping with social media, marketing and managing the group.
“I wanted to give people as much value as possible from all of the things I’ve learned over the past 15 years of managing stuff with The Dreamboats, and 20 years of doing music in general,” Fiacconi said. “I just felt like I owed it to the world to share that knowledge with the next generation.”
Other social-media accounts offer advice to musicians in an effort to sell lessons, a service or a product. That’s not the case with Fiacconi.
“There’s no sale; there’s no pitch,” he said. “I just want to connect and create a community of people. The whole idea is just giving back and providing value to people.”
Another difference: Most musical-advice accounts cater to those in the original-music realm.
“The position I’m in is interesting, because I’m doing covers and making a career out of that,” Fiacconi said. “I don’t know if anyone is really talking about what I’m doing with The Dreamboats—cover/tribute music … which is a world that I think sometimes gets a bad rap. I’m trying to tell people that you can have a very successful career doing music that you love by playing covers. There are a lot of bands making great money, six figures a year, doing music like this. You don’t always have to be grinding it out and making original music. … I feel like I’ve cut into some kind of niche online with people who are doing covers and doing the tribute stuff. It’s been cool to see people come out of the woodwork and be like, ‘I get this,’ or. like, ‘I’ve been in that situation.’”
“I feel like there’s room for everyone in the music business. It’s not a cutthroat thing; there’s room for everyone to grow and to make money. I genuinely love sharing the things I’ve learned, and there’ve been a lot of hard lessons.”
Gianmarco “Johnny” Fiacconi
Fiacconi said he’s always been the type to offer help to fellow musicians and friends.
“People have called me or have wanted to chat, and they’re like, ‘I see what you’re doing with The Dreamboats; what do you think about what we’re doing?’” he said. “These have always been friends of mine who are in bands, and they’ve reached out, being like, ‘Well, how did you get this contractor? How did you guys start playing at the casinos?’ … It feels good to tell people what you’ve learned and give them the little secrets. I feel like there’s room for everyone in the music business. It’s not a cutthroat thing; there’s room for everyone to grow and to make money. I genuinely love sharing the things I’ve learned, and there’ve been a lot of hard lessons.”
Fiacconi’s videos cover a variety of topics, but there are some overarching themes—like, for example, urging musicians to stop making excuses.
“People are like, ‘Oh, well, we’re not making it because we don’t have a manager; we’re not making it because we don’t have a booking agent,’” he said. “I’m all about taking the ownership upon yourself. In this modern day and age, you don’t need the ‘team’ until a certain level. You can do so much on your own. I’m trying to show people that they can do it, and to not blame other people. You can take matters into your own hands.”
Fiacconi’s simple videos are a prime example of this point.
“A lot of people are like, ‘I need the likes. I need the lighting. I need this,’” he said. “I’m doing it in my car, and I’m just talking and editing. You get better at it as you go, and consistency is king in all of this. It’s about just saying you’re going to do something, and actually just getting it done, and making it a part of your routine. That’s so key in accomplishing anything. That’s what I’ve learned from this process. … I was prepared to have no one watch these videos, and I was still going to do it every day, but it’s nice to see that it’s connected with people, and it’s really helped people. I get messages daily, and for me, that makes it worthwhile.”
On occasion, Fiacconi will skip the car chat for interviews with other music professionals.
“It’s really cool to hear things from the horse’s mouth,” Fiacconi said. “‘Here’s a corporate event planner,’ and I want people to hear how much they spend on their bands, because a lot of people think a corporate event is maybe a $2,500 event, but I know corporate people who are telling me they’re booking bands for $20,000—and these are tribute cover acts. It’s important for people to hear those numbers … and just know that some bands are getting paid that. That’s something to strive toward. There’s such a ceiling there in a lot of people’s minds, and I’m trying to get people to hear things from people in the industry. … I’m talking about the people who are out there performing on a weekly basis, doing theaters, doing private events, getting flown in. It’s a whole world, and I feel like no one’s really talking about that online.”
Fiacconi’s videos don’t always cater directly to cover and tribute bands, but he hopes his series will validate the profession in the eyes of other musicians.
“Not everyone is creative, or feels that urge to write original songs,” Fiacconi said. “Sometimes people feel the pressure to write music, and then they write it, and maybe it’s not good, because it’s not what they’re great at, and then they live this life of trying to push the original music, and it’s just not clicking. Maybe some people are built to just be performers. I think there’s a stigma around that right now. … You can be a killer performer and do life-changing performances for people, and connect with them with music that you and the crowd both love. People are afraid to dive into that world. I was afraid in my 20s, but now I’m having fun playing ’50s and ’60s tunes. I love this music.”
Fiacconi said that if he can find the time to grab a coffee, sit in his car, make a video and upload it every day, musicians all around the world can find the time to implement some of the great advice he’s giving.
“It all gets all done in an hour,” Fiacconi said about his videos. “… The whole reason I’m in the car is that we all live together, The Dreamboats, since moving down here 3 1/2 years ago. I’m all about ‘no excuses.’ I’ve got to get it done every day.”
Watch Johnny Fiacconi’s videos at instagram.com/johnnyfiacconi.