Who Doesn’t Like Dark & Sexy? Indie Artists The XX Build Audiences by Extending Their Brand

The XX

If you’re an independent artist in today’s market, the only way you’re going to be noticed is to stand out. That begins by figuring out what your “thing” is—otherwise known as your “brand.” Whether it’s a video on YouTube or a poster at the local cafe, you only have a split second for your voice to be heard—and your brand is what broadcasts it.

An audience asks two things: Who are you? And why do I care?
Often, artists spend a lot of time answering the first part. Successful artists focus on the second. Case in point: if there’s a band who knows exactly what their “thing” is, it’s The XX. Even without hearing a single song, we immediately know what this band is about.

The XX – Cover Art

The XX – Live Stagiing

Dark, sexy, minimalist and a little goth. We immediately get it. We know why this band speaks to us, and we know exactly where it fits on our iPods.

Knowing who the XX are by how we “feel” about them is one of the most important parts of brand recognition. The band realizes this, and they stick to what they do best. They even poke fun at themselves for it. In a live set recorded for iTunes Live from SoHo, singer Oliver Sim remarks at how “bizarre” it is to play with the lights on and be able to see the people in the audience.

Your Brand Doesn’t Limit Your Creativity, It Just Gives Audiences a Recognizable Guidepost
Once The XX had established their brand recognition, they could extend their work into other realms—building on the foundation.

Enter Creep—the new side project of XX member Romy Madley Croft.

Creep – Album Art

Does anything look or feel familiar? By elaborating on the visual identity of The XX, Creep instantly reconnects itself with their fan base (capitalizing on brand equity) and positioning the side project as part of a larger XX story.

Or what about the band’s DJ, Jamie XX, who completely re-imagined the new album by Gil Scott-Heron, the 62-year-old American soul icon best known for his composition “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”

When artists acknowledge and reaffirm their brand, the work becomes more than a legacy, it becomes a story—a journey that we can follow through all of it’s various twists and turns. As a transmedia storyteller, I place a high value on creating a story world. I’m inspired by artists like The XX, and others from various corners of history that may never have realized they were creating a brand and developing a larger story around their work for audiences to follow. This can be seen across all mediums. Just look at the work of authors like Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ayn Rand, and ask yourself if what you’re reading is meant to be absorbed as an individual story or as part of a larger overture. Or do a Google image search on the architect Frank Lloyd Wright and see what story he has to tell us about mankind and our connection with space. These artists are recognizable to us not just for the mastery of their craft, but the way in which they present it.

As a creative person, you may or may not know what your thing is at the moment. But the answer is there, sometimes just below the surface. Just keep doing what you’re doing. And never stop looking and listening to the artistic choices you make—or asking yourself why you make them—because your answers will inevitably put you on the road to realizing your voice, understanding your brand, and building a foundation that will carry you for a lifetime.