Alphabets' Colin Ward makes a tour video in an effort to appeal to random noise dude in L.A.
For bands, videos can serve many purposes: a visual medium for sharing music with a wider audience, as way to promote a current tour, or, in the case of Alphabets, Hideous Men and Milton Melvin Croissant III, a one-minute-and-thirty-six-second reason to book them. In an attempt to nail down solid West Coast show dates between March 19 and April 2, Alphabets' Colin Ward made a collage of sights and sounds comprising the three groups as a way for people to get a taste of what their music is all about. 
Alphabets' Colin Ward
"We've been trying to find ways to get people to pay attention to us," Ward says, going on to joke, "and basically, we're trying to appeal to, like, some random noise dude in L.A."
Ward is right on the money when keeping his audience in mind: That random noise dude in Los Angeles, or a kid that throws house shows in Olympia, or a collective that rents out spaces for performances in Santa Fe are his target audience, as promoters and bookers are few and far between at this level of DIY touring.
Plus, booking during this time of year can be a struggle, as bands and other participants in creative communities across this side of the country are often not in their home space, but rather making the pilgrimage to Austin for South by Southwest. So Ward wanted to find a way to make their tour stand out.
Along with the video -- which glues performances by Alphabets, Hideous Men and Milton Melvin Croissant III together with a little Rugrats cartoon footage and Keira Knightley imagery in between -- Ward has been, of course, working on new music.
Having released over two dozen albums, EPs and mixes in the last two years, the drum-machine scientist is putting out a new double cassette on Hideous Men's label, Laser Palace, and selling one-of-a-kind copies of a tape release he did with London-based band The Atoms. Plus, the albums are all available in digital form online or Ward will gladly take donations for limited tape copies at shows.
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