Relentless Consistency and the Scarcity Premium with Mike Schulte from The Pork Tornadoes

Guest co-host Mike Schulte joins Dave with 15 years of Pork Tornadoes social media wisdom, and the message is blunt: relentless consistency wins. You literally can’t post too much in 2026—nobody sees everything anymore, so repost that same flyer as a fresh post (not a share) and keep going. Give it 45 days before you judge results. Why invest? More fans mean more bodies at the gig, plus the social proof that signals to newcomers that other people already love you. And remember—you’re not competing with other bands, you’re competing with people’s couches.

From there, Dave and Mike dig into the live-show craft. Build a sound check formula so it stops being a nightmare, then cook up a Suno-generated theme song to walk on to—Always Be Performing means the show starts before the first chord lands. Treat your setlist like art: the opener’s a throwaway, but song three is the most important slot of the night. Then think about your saturation—the Pork Tornadoes cap themselves at two ticketed gigs per year inside a 30-mile radius, and the minute they got scarce, their pay jumped tenfold. Simple, not easy.

• 00:00:00 Gig Gab 533 – Monday, May 11th, 2026
  • May 11th: National Eat What You Want Day (also Hostess CupCake Day!)
  • Guest co-host: Mike Schulte
• 00:01:10 Did you ever watch Night Court
  • Dave reminds Mike of Harry
  • Confused Breakfast
  • Shows that were so far ahead of their time:
    • All In The Family
    • Roseanne
• 00:05:06 Managing your band’s social media
  • Relentless Consistency is the key (right now).
  • “You can never post too much” – Mike Schulte, May 11, 2026
  • Mike has been running social media for Pork Tornadoes for 15 years
  • Everyone doesn’t see every post (anymore)
  • It’s money-driven
  • Repost the same thing, the same flyer, the same idea (as a new post, not a “share”)
• 00:09:49 Getting “started” on social media in 2026
  • I tried to follow your model and nothing changed. In two weeks.
  • You’ve gotta spend a month or more (Dave says 45 days)
• 00:14:05 What’s the benefit of investing in social media
  • The more fans you have, there WILL be more people who come to your events
  • Also: social proof. Showing people that other people like you.
• 00:18:55 Social Proof + Bullheaded Persistence = Success.
• 00:22:00 People don’t go out like they used to
  • You’re not competing with other bands, you’re competing with people’s couches
• 00:24:39 A band retreat!
  • If 2020 hadn’t happened, Pork Tornadoes would’ve probably gone full time
• 00:26:04 SPONSOR: Claude.ai – Ready to tackle bigger problems? Sign up for Claude today, which includes access to Claude Cowork, too, when you visit https://Claude.ai/giggab
• 00:27:42 Recent Gig(s) Gab
  • Boston Cream Band at Seacoast Repertory Theater
  • Pork Tornadoes is a 2-hours straight-thru band
• 00:34:19 Orchestrate your sound check
  • Sound check used to be a nightmare, until we created a formula
• 00:38:27 Create a musical lead-in for your show
  • For the wranglers in the Gig Gab audience
  • Use Suno to create a theme song for your band
• 00:42:57 Writing a setlist is an art
  • Your first song is a throwaway
  • The third song is the FIRST most important song in the set (according to Dave)
  • Develop business-like rituals for your band
• 00:48:32 What’s Your Band’s Saturation?
  • Self-imposed proximity clauses
  • Pork Tornadoes Proximity Clause: No more than 2 ticketed events in a 30-mile radius per year
  • Plus one free-to-the-public festival gig to pull people in
  • To the venues who don’t have proximity clauses: why do you not?
  • The minute we started getting scarce, was the minute our pay increased 10-fold
• 01:00:12 The Pork Tornadoes formula: simple, not easy.
  • Gig Gab 532 Outtro
    • Follow Mike Schulte
    • Confused Breakfast
    • The Pork Tornadoes
  • Contact Gig Gab!
    • @GigGabPodcast on Instagram
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