“Get back, get back,” yells security. Camera flashes light up the Vodafone Arena foyer. The mob of Juke Kartel fans swarm towards the band. “I was standing up there with the boys because I was handing out postcards and I was getting pushed towards the table,” says Shae Isaac. “And I remember Todd looking at me and saying ‘Shae, you did it’.”

Publicity generated by the initiative of inspired fans is priceless in today’s music industry. For a band, getting their name out to the public and their music heard can be a real challenge. But with a few enthusiastic fans who really believe in them, amazing things can happen.

It is these fans who create and join street teams – a group of people who work on a ground level to promote a band they admire. Australian Street Teams (AST) general manager, Alison Michalk, says: “We are no longer passive consumers of media and entertainment; we want to be involved and participate in it.

“From the kids who post YouTube clips of themselves lip-synching to Parkway Drive, to writing blogs, handing out stickers – most people want to be part of the music culture and they can be. Being on a street team provides fans with a way to get involved and help.”

Michalk started her own street team company after working in music publishing, creating Blunt magazine in 2001 for Rolling Stone publisher Next, and working for touring company Blue Murder, where she was the touring manager for Frenzal Rhomb. The band would receive numerous emails from fans; therefore, the idea to start a Frenzal Team was developed.

Since, AST has worked with bands such as After The Fall, Gyroscope, 28 Days, Machine Gun Fellatio, Bullet For My Valentine and the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. “We hand select the bands we work with; we stick to specific genres we appreciate and we have no idea how to use crazy corporate jargon,” she says.

In the majority of cases, AST works directly with the marketing departments of record companies. “We usually approach them when we know a relevant release is coming out that we’d like to work on,” Michalk says.

But without members, street teams can’t work. “We let people join of their own volition because we want the most dedicated and active fans to join. One active member is worth a room full of lazy ones.”

Watching Toby Rand perform on the American reality TV show Rockstar Supernova inspired Shae Isaac, 30, who now runs the Australian Juke Kartel Street Team. “He was just a bloke from Melbourne, a carpet layer, out there living his dreams. Through watching what he was doing, I found a fire in me to get my own career going,” she says.

She became a fan of his Melbourne band, Juke Kartel, and was approached by the band’s US street team to start one in Australia. “I’m currently studying music business management, so it was a really good opportunity and gave me a lot of interest,” she says.

With Rand finishing third in the reality show, Juke Kartel were given the support slot on the international Rockstar Supernova tour and it was the street teams aim to ensure “people knew this was Toby’s band”. Through handing out glow sticks, tattoos and postcards at the Melbourne concert, the team helped create an unforgettable buzz. “Looking around the arena while the boys were playing and seeing all these people with glow sticks, I just thought ‘This is amazing, we did this for the boys’.”

Before a four-week recruiting campaign, the street team had 1200 members. It now has almost 4000. “We are all working together for the same goal – to promote a band we all love,” says Isaac. And the benefit of such a street team is evident. “We helped get ‘Throw It Away’ on Nova 9s in Perth to number one.

“We can say to a friend ‘Come see Juke Kartel’ and that keeps escalating…next minute you’ve got perhaps 200 people to a show that you wouldn’t have expected to be there. That’s the publicity we’ve helped create for them.”

Although the band approves, all the time, effort and costs involved in running the team is all done “off our own backs,” explains Isaac. And at times, street teaming involves a lot of hard work. Isaac continues to juggle work, study, managing bands and running the street team. “I’m tired, I’m busy, I’m stressed…but there is nothing else I’d rather be doing. I’ve met some really interesting people and made some beautiful friends out of street teaming and that is a benefit in itself.”

The band shows their appreciation to the team by knowing their fans and being themselves – “just blokes”. “It’s quite rare that you find a band that although their popularity is rising quite well, they are still in touch with their fans. They allow us to have photos; they comment on people’s myspace and the street team forum and always try make themselves available for us to ask questions and to be involved.”

This ambition to actively participate in the music industry encouraged 17 year-old Bernadette Axiaq to join the Evermore “Dream Team”. “I love the band and I want to get into the industry. So it works for everyone’s advantage,” she says.

“I’m nuts about music. I love finding fresh new talent and pushing their name out there, making sure everyone knows who they are.

“I was on a bus to year nine camp when I heard these guys and I thought ‘wow’. I didn’t know anything about them and a few months later I saw ‘It’s Too Late’ on Rage at about 4 o’clock in the morning… I went to an instore of theirs and they were amazing.”

She joined the then small team, which was based in Sydney. As the bands popularity expanded (they now have teams throughout Australia and overseas) Axiaq was offered the position of the Melbourne team leader. She is gaining invaluable experience, “a better insight into what it is about” and learning how to manage people. “I have a few people I can rely on. Every time I go to an Evermore show, it is like a reunion of my regular street teamers,” she says.

After attending so many Evermore shows and being the Melbourne team leader, she finds it amusing that the Hume brothers don’t recognise her. “They have no idea who I am,” she laughs. “And I have met them so many times!” But she can understand how many people they would meet, faces they would see. “But that is not what it’s all about. They have a relatively high profile now, but they are still so lovely. Them being so friendly motivates the fans to keep listening to their music.” This is what it is all about.

When asked what her best memories from street teaming are, she is overwhelmed. “I have heaps. Going to an Evermore show for me is always good times.” The recent Make Poverty History concert, which Evermore played at, was huge in terms of experience for Axiaq. Not only did she go backstage twice, but also attempted to take on security. “We were trying to get these banners into the venue and security would not budge. I am the smallest little weasel you have ever seen and me having a go at security is pretty funny,” she laughs.

But not all fans have such access to the band they appreciate. Kim Preece, 20, started an Australian street team for American band The Academy Is… in the hope that their popularity would extend out from the US.

Preece says she spends up to an hour a day updating the team’s myspace and gaining more “friends”. “We made up little banners for the page and asked the people who added us to put the banner on their page and from there their friends would add us. We also manually go through and see whose music taste matches this band and who would be interested in adding this team. Myspace is one of the best places to promote anything – especially music,” she says.

The band was quick to acknowledge her efforts. “Before we even had ten friends, I got a message from the actual band saying ‘You’re doing a great job’. It was incredible.” That ten has soon become almost 700, many of which are younger than Preece. She enjoys talking to these fans who share the same enthusiasm and adds that joining a street team is “one of the best ways to get in touch with the band and the fans.”

Indeed, creating and running the street team for The Academy Is… has allowed her to make contact with the band members. She speaks to the Australian member of the band Michael Chislett (guitars) often as he helps keep the team informed.

The Academy Is… has played in Melbourne once and it was at this show that Preece got to meet the whole band. The benefit of being involved in the street team becomes clear as she explains: “At the end of the show Michael and William Beckett (vocals) came out and the tour manager was ushering William away. I said to Michael ‘Can you please get William to stop and talk to me?’ and he did. William actually stopped, even though the tour manager was still trying to usher him away.”

For Avalon Drive street team leader Felicity Page, 31, meeting the band is no such problem – she is married to the lead singer, Damien. She got involved with the street team not long after the release of their first EP and took over as leader shortly after the band’s second release. “As I am the first to know what is going on with the band, it just made sense,” she says.

But beyond her affiliation, she says she is a massive fan of their music and of who they are as people. “They are definitely the nicest bunch of guys you will meet. They are always happy to take time out to chat to fans.”

The band also sends the team messages through myspace to show they really appreciate the support. One message says: “We even managed to be the highest requested band on Nova last week so here’s to you crazies. Couldn’t have done it without you”.

The benefit of having a dedicated street team and professional management has seen Avalon Drive support the likes of The Veronicas on a national tour and perform on Rove Live. Similar to the Juke Kartel team, their radio campaign has been a success as “Nova is constantly playing ‘Make Your Move’,” Page says.

She lives in Brisbane, but the team has “runners” in each state. “These are the people most dedicated to helping us promote Avalon Drive, so they receive the packages containing flyers, posters and such first. As Avalon Drive gets more and more fans, we will eventually build a bigger street team and these runners will become leaders for each state.”

Again, it is the people who get involved that make this team what it is. “We have the most fantastic bunch of street teamers that go beyond the things that they are asked to do. Meeting new people has been the best thing. So many friendships have been made through the street team, even ones with people that live in different states.”

At the time of the interview, Avalon Drive was busy writing their album, so the street team is not so active. When the album is ready to be released “it will be all systems go”. But Page sends a bulletin to her team members shortly after answering the questions about her team. “I realised how much I miss everyone and everything that’s usually going on in the street team,” she says in the bulletin.

Her final comment that she then shares with her fellow street teamers reflects the nature of the whole concept – why people put so much effort into supporting bands and joining such teams. She says: “We are doing this for the nicest bunch of guys you will ever meet and the friendships we have all formed are life changing”.

To join the FasterLouder Street Team, click here