I've decided to break this down into sections.

Beginners

1. How to make Industrial music for free.
2. How to make Industrial music for next to nothing.
2A. You're all spoiled.

Advanced
3. Advice for Industrial bands playing out. You must read this.

A.) One thing no club will tell you is that there sound system isn't setup for Industrial bands. Club promoters will answer yes to any question you ask them, so don't ask if they have something, ask them what kind of something they have. It's not important usually what kind of something they have, but this will cause the promoter to actually check and then tell you they don't have a mixing board at all. If you know this kind of stuff in advance, you won't be completely screwed as often.

What clubs usually don't have is a way to convert the 1/4" outputs of your equipment to their XLR inputs. You will need a converter/transformer for each line out you need to their mixing board. I have often found that D.I. boxes introduce hum, so I use cheap radio shack transformers. You need more than an adapter, because the two sides use different voltages, so you need a transformer. (1/4" female to XLR)

B.) Don't bring more equipment than you need. No one cares how much crap you own. You won't impress people with stuff you don't use on stage but paid a lot for. The club wants you to setup and tear down quickly so the less the better. Industrial bands can take over an hour to setup, that is not acceptable in NYC. So my band makes an outline of the stage on a floor. We pack all our equipment and then time how long it takes us to set up in that outline. We practice it until we can do it in 15 minutes. We practice it for hours. It takes longer in the actual club, but still it helps a lot to speed things up.

C.) DAT's will jam up in high heat and humidity or when put out in the cold from somewhere warm and humid. If you use a DAT, it should always be the first thing you bring into the club, because it will need the most time to adapt to the change in temperature and humidity.

D.) Put on a SHOW. Don't look bored, don't ingore the audience.

E.) Don't piss off club owners, managers and promoters. You'll need them later. If someone in your bands keeps treating these people like shit, kick them out of your band. Now matter how big you get in Industrial, you're still not a big star, and no ones gonna wanna put up with your shit.

F.) If there's a guy in your band that you need, Don't sleep with his girlfriend.

G.) Don't talk shit about other Industrial bands. This isn't a competition, we're all in this together. However it's fine to make fun of bands that are really techno bands who think they're industrial.