One could say Sidestage is an airbnb for musicians. To find out if we are right we spoke to Schuyler Deerman the man behind Sidestage.
Schuyler, you just launched Sidestage an online platform that lets you book musicians. Tell us a little bit more about Sidestage and why you decided to built that company?
Sidestage is an online plattform where anyone can find and book a musician, band or DJ. People book musicians for weddings, company events, birthday parties, etc. Ultimately, we want to enable musicians to do what they love by making it easier for them to get booked.
In a recent post you talk about your former Startup Moped which you had to close down and the learnings out of that. What will be the main thing you will do differently at Sidestage?
Moped was my first startup, I was young and inexperienced. It’s hard to regret mistakes that make you better, though. At Moped, we spent a lot of time building things we thought people would want, but in the end, they didn’t. At Sidestage, we’re a lot more focused on our core KPIs. We’re trying to make 100 people really, really happy, and not trying to do it all.
It seems like you are on to something here. After a quick search online, we were not able to find a good-looking, functional website solving the problem you are solving. Did we do the right research?
We looked online, too, and weren’t happy with anything we found, either.
Why are you starting over in Berlin and not in another city/ country?
When I started Moped, I actually moved out to San Francisco. But I didn’t know as many people there, and it was hard to gain a footing, to rise above the noise. Starting over somewhere new isn’t easy in general, especially if you’re trying to get a startup off the ground. This time around, I’ve been in Berlin for 8 years now. Berlin has come a long way in the last few years, the startup ecosystem is maturing, and it’s home.
When was the last time you felt that Berlin loves you?
Ha, that’s a funny question. I get up early. There’s this sort of magical time, when the sun’s still coming up, the streets are nearly empty and there’s this certain light in the sky. Feels great.
For our readers a lot of them being artists but also people looking for wedding singers, party singers etc. please explain one more time what Sidestage can and will do for them and how they can get involved.
Sidestage is the easiest way to find and book a musician for your own event, whether that be a wedding winger, a party DJ or a classical string quartet. For musicians, Sidestage helps you get hired to play music at private events and parties.
Thank you Schuyler for the interview!
Join us for an intimate evening of strings,vocals and harmonium sounds.
Featuring: Laboni Quazi and Ryan Ferris
Friday 15th of August, 20:30 | St. Oberholz, Rosenthaler Straße 72a, Berlin
The Official Sidestage Torstrassen Festival Party
Join Sidestage for a night of Garage-Punk, Deutschbeat sounds as we host The Sidestage Torstrassen Festival Party!
Featuring:
Manne und Die Maulhelden (Deutscher Garage-Mod-Rock)
DJ Bettibobikepunk and DJ Pirate Cat
At The Chelsea Bar on Torstrasse
http://beatsy.co Sidestage looks awfully a lot like our service Beatsy, launched 2013