12 April 20th–April 26th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | music | cafe | film | culTuRe | NighT+Day | feaTuRe | NeWs | OPiNiON | feeDBacK | cONTeNTs | For his part, Weir recognizes that same notion, and mentions that the way forward may be focusing solely on the music and not the gimmicks and gags. “I’ve seen the dumbest, most basic guitar riffs blow up,” he says. “If we’re not trying to be fake, or talk a bunch of shit that doesn’t mean anything, we could try to find a good way to showcase our musical talent because people do like watching that. I feel like us, as a band, we are actually funny and genuine. But we don’t know how to display that naturally.” Preston, meanwhile, recognizes similar downsides of TikTok — namely, people flocking to ideas/concepts until everything becomes an oversaturated meme. “I think the idea of trends could definitely be a double- edged sword,” he says. “Obviously, we’re all coming together, and we’re agreeing that this is funny. But then it also sets up a blueprint for what people expect to be funny, right? Or what good music is considered to be.” Luckily, Louise has a kind of “formula” of sorts for making effective TikToks that doesn’t involve doing anything indignant. “Put your lyrics on the fucking screen,” she says. “Use the native editor. You don’t need 1,500 hashtags; pick three that make sense.” It also helps to know the biggest audience across TikTok. “They’re the nicest friggin’ generation,” Louise says of Gen Z, who, as of 2021, comprise 60 percent of the app’s 2 billion downloads (per Fanbytes). “They aren’t as easily influenced by the world as we [millennials] were. So as long as you’re not pretending to be somebody you’re not, which they [Gen Z] don’t like.” It’s with all of this in mind that perhaps someone like Dadadoh/Preston has the right approach in mind. Because while he’s seen some results from his presence on TikTok, he’s tried to get more out of the app than song streams and fresh followers. “I don’t think it has helped my music as much as it helps me as an artist,” Preston says, adding that his “music’s a little blue at times” to go viral. He continues, “Because [TikTok’s] really opened my eyes to a lot more possibilities and being in more control of my art and how people can consume it. At the end of the day, I think people are buying you more than they’re buying your music. That’s why [TikTok] is a really good place to express more than just your music.” But if nothing else, at least TikTok supports local artists and other creators in a way often unmatched by other platforms. “And that kind of ties into the ability to make money on [Instagram]. I tried to go live on Instagram during the pandemic,” Preston says. “I spent a lot of time and energy doing that, and it’s just not a platform that’s set up for that. But TikTok, you can make money every single month. I think that’s why some people don’t like it — they’re not getting that money, right?” And that issue, Preston notes, is maybe why TikTok is in danger of being banned in the U.S. While the debate still rages on Capitol Hill — there are concerns about the security of data among certain politicians — these local Jim Louvau Justin Weir of Celebration Guns found followers through tagging other music influencers on TikTok. TikTok from p11
