@brandonspeck

MEMPHIS – Americans are spoiled rotten. From our choice of restaurants, shops and even churches on every corner of towns big and small, our options are aplenty.

Same goes for our concerts and tours.

“America’s hard. We’re so spoiled here. We’ve got all these great bands that come and tour,” Ill Nino guitarist Diego Verduzco said from the Memphis stop of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Fest.

That’s not a bad thing, but it leads to complacency of the modern concert goer. Even at Memphis Mayhem, the crowd was slimmer than it should have been for a loaded lineup that closed with Korn.

“A lot of times, it’s like, you miss your favorite band this week, your second favorite band is coming next week, so don’t worry about it,” Verduzco said.

A crowded market means bands have to reach fans in other ways. And there are plenty of them – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. It’s reaching the audience, and reaching them more personally than ever.

Veruzco joined the 14-year-old band in 2006. Last month, they released “Til Death La Familia,” a seventh studio record.

Vets or not, Verduzco says the band runs their own social media, which really started taking off the year he came onboard.

“A lot of us didn’t have any clue as to how it worked. It was brand new at the time,” Verduzco said. “What I’ve learned personally is you’ve got to be involved with what’s going on at the moment and keep an eye to what’s going on in the future. There’s a lot of other sites out, ReverbNation, that maybe some others don’t pay attention to, but we’ve got to keep at least a toe dipped in the water into each one of these avenues. It’s important. How many people do you know that don’t have a Facebook?”

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