We almost feel guilty about naming Digital Summer as our Indie Band of the Week. Almost. Why? Because we just ran a featured interview with them in the December issue and things are going amazingly well for this five-piece band from Phoenix, Arizona. It finally just came down to the fact that these guys are the personification of a truly successful 100% DIY Indie Band. Should we penalize them for doing everything right? Hell no! If you’re a music fan or in a band, Digital Summer deserve some well-earned props for being one of the most successful and rockin’ indie bands in the U.S.
Digital Summer has toured and promoted relentlessly since they formed in 2006, gaining a loyal nationwide fan base and the respect of fellow musicians along the way. They’ve shared the stage with the likes of Alice in Chains, Godsmack, Deftones, Disturbed, Five Finger Death Punch, Theory of a Dead Man and many more. Digital Summer has also toured nationally with Sevendust, Drowning Pool, 10 Years, Saliva and 12 Stones. They are winding down a wildly successful tour with Nonpoint, Candlelight Red and DEDVOLT and have a lot of big plans brewing for 2013.
But, let’s take a moment to bask in the enormity of 2012, which proved to be a huge breakout year for Kyle 
Winterstein (Vocals), Ian Winterstein (Guitar), Anthony “Guido” Hernandez (Bass), Jon “Bubba” Stephenson (Guitar) and Ben Anderson (Drums) with the release of Digital Summer’s fourth album, Breaking Point, which:
- Debuted at #13 on iTunes Rock charts
- “Forget You” (featuring Clint Lowery of Sevendust/Call Me No One) is #38 on Active Rock charts
- #1 single on KUPD 8 weeks straight
- 5 singles to break major radio rotation (KUPD, OCTANE, WGRD, WWBN, WIIL, WZBH, WXQR, KHTO, KRDJ, KTUX and more)
- Top 10 on SiriusXM Octane 11 weeks straight
Digital Summer ended 2012 with “Forget You” being named the #1 Song of 2012 on Tunelab. It’s still charting and getting even broader rotation on mainstream, satellite and internet radio in 2013.
Are you paying attention yet? Good! Because this would be a fine place to tell you that Digital Summer raised over $51,000 from a KickStarter Campaign, which helped fund the recording, marketing/promotion of Breaking Point in the right way…and it worked. There must have been some cash budgeted to make this video for the hit single “Forget You” which as of this date has almost 450,000 views.
Watch “Forget You”
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Digital Summer is now pushing out their sixth single, “Dance In The Fire” to radio stations across the land, winning voting-based contests, Most Requested Song and the like on the airwaves far and wide. So, it’s extremely kind of Digital Summer to give it away to RockRevolt™Magazine readers! Get it and crank it up to 20!
Meanwhile…other bands are going, “WTF! How did they do this?” Well boys and girls it’s only rock n’ roll and we like it indeed, but it takes more than just immense talent to break out of the pack in today’s music industry; Digital Summer have laid out an “Indie Band 101 Guidebook,” if you will. Observe and learn:
- DS Website is slick, up-to-date, professional and easy to navigate, connect socially, contacts for press/bookings and the most important thing – finding their music with ease! Band websites should not look like video games.
- DS Facebook Page has almost 50,000 “likes” made up of real fans. What’s are “real fans” you ask? The kind that
believe in you to the tune of $51k, never miss a show, and are always there to catch you when you decide to leap like a puma off of the stage. Digital Summer talks to their fans by consistently posting (that means every day) where they are playing that evening and a big thank you along with a collage of photos from the previous night’s show. Pain in the ass? I’m sure it can be, but the band does it out of respect and with a lot of care – you can just tell. Click here to see one
- DS has over 86,000 Twitter followers and they are very active with the tweets.
- DS YouTube Channel has 5,000+ subscribers/2,300,000+ video views/76 uploaded videos. They have webisodes and tour update videos which allow their fans to be a part of their journey, successes and get to see what life on the road with a hard-rolling band is really like.
- DS has a well-written bio and EPK (Electronic Press Kit) and answer all emails/calls/inquiries promptly. This is a fast-paced environment. This is Digital Summer’s business and business is good.
- The links/icons to purchase Breaking Point are easy to find no matter what page/site you are on. It’s for sale everywhere, but just for fun – here’s a direct link to buy it on iTunes
- DS is sponsored by or endorse such iconic brands as Pearl Drums, Schecter Guitars, Vic Firth, Spector Bass, DeathGrip Clothing Co., StickerJunkie.com, Jägermeister USA and Headbanger (the “Official wines of Digital Summer” – it says it right at the top of their Facebook!). Well played Digital Summer. Well played.
If by chance the music thing doesn’t work out (that’s not going to happen) they always have their “other jobs” to fall back on. You see, along with being professional musicians, the members manage to maintain additional professional careers. Kyle is a Firefighter/Paramedic/Technical Rescue Specialist, while brother Ian is a Flight Medic on a helicopter. “Bubba” is an accountant, “Guido” is finishing up his Business Degree, and Ben is a highly sought studio engineer/drum instructor.
We’re not quite sure how they do it, but Digital Summer is one well-oiled machine that hit the scene a few years back and haven’t stopped since. This band is poised perfectly for a headlining tour sometime this year, and we would be shocked if it didn’t happen.
Surely hiring a Publicist, Management or a label (or perhaps not) would help alleviate some of the daily “business stress” side of music for Digital Summer. Until then…they probably do it better than a label, management and PR firm combined – and they’re doing just fine.
At the end of the day we simply had to name Digital Summer as Indie Band of The Week because they deserve it, dammit and we figured this was our last chance to do so before they are on the cover one day soon. We can’t wait…rock it, boys! \m/
Val King, Editor in Chief – RockRevolt™Magazine
