tour?

[EyesOfAnguishbassist]

Well I'm 21 years old, live with my parents and have been working at the same shit factory since I graduated high school and have saved a good bit of money in the grands after buying some toys of course. Well everything is paid off and my band has been talking about touring for quit awhile now and half the band has now graduated from high school (me and the singer are 21 and 22) and we have decided to try to take this further.

After talking to my parents about this thinking they would kill me if I quit my job, they were actually ok with it. My dad wasn't happy about it by any means but he supported my decision. This first tour is only 2 weeks long so alot of my friends think what I'm doing is stupid but we are planning another tour now for Sept that is longer and if things go ok we want to just keep the ball rolling and keep touring at least every other month at first, booking our next tour while on the tour we're doing at that time. We are also booking alot more shows in general and want to do a few weeks in August maybe.

The way I see it is when my friends that aren't into music say its stupid heres how I look at it. First of all my parents won't disown me and they are supporting my decision. I know I'm 21 and can do my own thing but its kinda hard if I don't have a job and my parents would kick me out. Second of all I've worked at the same factory for almost 3 years busting my ass and I make $7.60 an hour. Thats right, $7.60. It's not like I have a "career" here friends. The ONLY thing I am uncomfortable with is losing my benefits. People who work at Mcdonalds and Sheetz make more starting out and I've been there for years. Another thing is I've never been anywhere other than the bordering PA states. We've done a few 3 or 4 dayers that thats it and they were all in bordering PA states. I'll get to see lots of things I've never seen before which I'm very looking forward to, and of course, I get to play lots of music haha. And I won't be not working at all. When we are home I am gonna do a few under the table jobs here and there part time so its not like I won't be making money. I don't expect to start touring and actually make money like some of my friends think I think. We got guarantees for all of our shows but I know we will be lucky if none of them fall through. We have lots of merch thought too to help.

So sorry this jumps around so much, I never write long crap like this but I'm very excited, and suck at stayin on subject hahaha

Which brings me to another point, anybody on here got some sweet touring stories, bad touring stories, any at all? And anybody have some advice from experience they wanna give?

I will keep you updated how this first one goes, we leave June 24th (next Thursday)..

[tornandfrayed]

Go for it...

Put everything into and believe in it.

Do it now.

People do succeed, don't let anyone tell you anything different. People make it. Why not you!

Good Luck and have fun!

Be safe also and don't do drugs and don't have unprotected sex!

I am older then you so that's what I would tell my kid......

And also have lots of safe sex....

[EyesOfAnguishbassist]

yeah i figure if I don't try it now I never will. Im not losing a good job, I don't have a family and I don't have any bills to pay. Chances are I will fail (im a pessimist).. but if I don't try it, Ill be an old man sitting on my porch wondering "what if"..

[witchhunt]

Can I have your shit fsctory job?


Good luck.

[olehand]

you cannot fail if you follow your dream. the payback is the experience itself . failure would be not following your heart . you will never regret putting 100% into what you believe in.

[rickw]

Go for it! You'll have stories to tell for the rest of your life and none of them will have to do with a certain factory job!

[homerski]

Go for it...

Put everything into and believe in it.

Do it now.

People do succeed, don't let anyone tell you anything different. People make it. Why not you!

Good Luck and have fun!

Be safe also and don't do drugs and don't have unprotected sex!

I am older then you so that's what I would tell my kid......

And also have lots of safe sex....

AMEN

I agree 100%

Cut loose and go for it. I did it many times in my lifetime, and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything. You'll have plenty of time when you're old to worry about the mundane things that society expects from you. If you do go ahead with your plan remember this, you will be among a miniscule elite percentage of people who have the guts to DO IT!!

John Homerski Jr. - Drumz/Vocals & Evangelist (Publicity & Promotion)
Flood City Brass

P.S. If you ever get in a jam out there (anywhere) give me a call, I probably know someone nearby who can help. Send me an email at john@homerski.com for my phone number.

[whitedevilone]

Ah to be 22 again!!Rip it up brother and have a blast!!!

[DrumAndDestroy]

your post was too long so i didn't read all of it.

but touring is fun...we did some really small ones when we could all use some vacation time. met lots of cool people this way.

have fun with it man!!

[lonewolf]

To quote a famous sneaker maker...just do it.

But don't forget to pack some Chef-Boy-Ar-Dee skillet pizzas.

BTW, with an engineering degree, my pay was $3.50/hr when I hit the road....

[Jim Price]

I agree, go for it! As you said, don't be looking back years down the road and asking "what if?"

If you have the chance to watch it, check out the movie Anvil: The Story of Anvil (discussed on another thread). The guys in Anvil are in their 50's, and are still getting out there and touring. They go through the hassles of the road like everyone else, but the rewards are the shows that go right and the new fans and memories they make along the way.

Also check out this website...the band Zelazowa (guests on the "Homegrown Rocker" recently) did a website resource for indie bands who want to hit the road, Indie On The Move:

http://www.indieonthemove.com/

[JayBird]

Honestly...I would suggest that everyone in the band coordinate their vacation time (if you have through your company) and try your first tour then. Touring is fun, but you're probably going to grabbing your ankles on a few of those shows. Someone will forget that you're playing their club on that night, someone will screw you out of pay, your van will probably break down along the way, etc, etc, etc. However, at $7.60 and hour...you really don't have much to lose. Hell, Sheetz pays more and they have benefits!

[DirtySanchez]

Have fun man! I wanna see lots of sweet pics when you get back.

[RobTheDrummer]

Don't forget about gas prices and other costs! Other than that, go for it!

[Plastered Bastards]

Touring is fun.
I have seen some pretty sweet things and not so sweet things.
Touring can easily break a person down both mentally and physically.
Make sure you have people in your band that can handle the rigors of touring.
Because mom and dad aren't going to be there to kiss your boo-boo's.
I have seen people flip the fuck out from being on the road for looong periods of time.
Make sure you eat well and get some form of sleep every night.
Also prepare for very little money and very little crowds especially if people aren't familiar with your band.
And make sure you have enough merch to sell.
And bring condoms so your weiner doesn't fall off

[DrumAndDestroy]

And bring condoms so your weiner doesn't fall off

clete lost his wee wee in europe last time the bastards were over there...

[MOONDOGGY]

I don't have any experience touring. I barely have much band experience. But this is an example of an opportunity. So here's some quotes and you can decide which ones make the most sense:


"The first step towards failure is trying"
- Homer (Simpson)

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work."
- Edison

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
- Edison

[DirtySanchez]

I don't have any experience touring. I barely have much band experience. But this is an example of an opportunity. So here's some quotes and you can decide which ones make the most sense:


"The first step towards failure is trying"
- Homer (Simpson)

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls looking like hard work."
- Edison

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
- Edison

I always thought that second quote was JC Penney.

[JackANSI]

I'm still trying to figure out why there is a question mark after the word tour and not an exclamation mark...

you know.. tour? tour! which looks more fun?

[EyesOfAnguishbassist]

Honestly...I would suggest that everyone in the band coordinate their vacation time (if you have through your company) and try your first tour then. Touring is fun, but you're probably going to grabbing your ankles on a few of those shows. Someone will forget that you're playing their club on that night, someone will screw you out of pay, your van will probably break down along the way, etc, etc, etc. However, at $7.60 and hour...you really don't have much to lose. Hell, Sheetz pays more and they have benefits!

Yeah we have stocked up on all of our merch...
I only get a little less than 2 weeks of vac. and i have to coordinate it to when other people have off and such so im lucky if i get 2 or 3 days at a time. We've done a 3 or 4 almost one week tours, about 4 days long and the band has been together for about 2 years, me being the only "new" member but ive been with them for 14 months. I know touring will be different since we're together all the time but Im not too worried about the hating each other thing. I mean we probably will from time to time but I don't think it will be much of a problem. I'm more worried about the venues we play like you said earlier haha.. not paying us or dropin the shows last second.

And yes it is crappy that Sheetz starts out more than where Ive been for almost 3 years haha. Somone that has been there for 14 years makes a little under 9 dollars because once the minimum wage went up that last time they didn't pay the ppl who made more than 7.15 any more than they already made.

Like I said, it may not be the smartest choice I'll ever make, but if I don;t try it I will hate myself for the rest of my pathetic life hahaha.

[Naga]

Dude, it's awesome that you're even considering the touring idea! I'll just give you a few thoughts, as I, like Moondoggy, have little band experience, and no touring experience...

If you've saved up enough to not care about the losses (can tour without having to concern over what they pay you) and that's where you wanna put your hard-earned money, what's stopping you. It's your money, and you can invest it however you want. Afterall, the way I figure money is, anything you put out is gone. If you get a return on it, it's like someone gave you money. Therefore, while on the tour, if you can survive off the money you've already got, you'll be fine. If you're paid well at most venues and/or sell tons of merch, that's even better!

If you go, have fun. If you don't, I hope you find something that's well worth the investment of time and money. Best of luck on either though!

[JayBird]

Try keeping the tour on a 3-5 hour drive from city to city and stick with the east coast. There are sooooo many clubs on the east coast and the 3-5 hour drive shouldn't be an issue. Always "advance" the show...this means that you call the club the day before to confirm and notify them that you will be there for load in. If the club is clueless and doesn't remember booking you...you now have options...either ask if you can still play or stay where you are without making a wasted trip. However if you don't make the trip for that show, you now have a longer drive to the next show without any gas money that you were hoping for from the show that you were canned from. Issues like this can end a tour rather fast.

Try not to take too many "door deals". If a club only wants to give you a door deal, typically this means that the club doesn't have any built in crowd and they will be relying on you 100% to bring a crowd. One or two of these back to back are ok, but really stick to the flat rate shows if possible...even if it's only a $50 guarantee. If you can squeeze out a "rider" from a club ask for pasta...it's cheap for them and really filling for you. Also, ask if you can take the left overs...you now have dinner for the following day when the next club might not feed you.

DO NOT DO NOT DO NOT get drunk of f'ed out of your mind on drugs...consider a rebook out of the question. Your band name is on the line and if you want to make it in this business you want venues talking positive about your band...negative talk spreads in the club circuit like herpes.

DO NOT go over board on merch. You should always have two shirt designs. If someone doesn't like one design, they now have another option to choose. Stick with a small run of 24-48 shirts of each design. You won't sell to many shirts to people who never heard of you. Also, people probably won't walk up to you so someone, if not everyone, in the band needs to be a "pusher" and walk up to people and ask if they would like to buy a cd or t-shirt. The best place to set up a merch booth is right outside of the women's bathroom (if possible). There is always a constant flow of people and the ladies love rock stars.

The best way to learn is to actually do it and make note of what works and what doesn't...tour number two will be easier than tour one and tour three becomes easier than two number two...trial and error!

[EyesOfAnguishbassist]

Well Im finally home and tour was a blast. I don't have much time to post a long story of how it went but Ill sum it up. We had 2 shows drop but luckily the one show we got a house show and still got to make a little bit of cash. Unluckily that ended up making for a 12 hour drive and an 11 hour drive 2 of the nights. we still profited 200$ altogether even with that happening so I thought that was a total sucess for our first time on the road for a full 2 weeks. I figured we'd loose money if anything, and if we wouldn't have had those 2 long drives we woulda saved alot of gas money. Got to meet a lot of cool people and had a blast. We are now planning a 3 week to a month tour in September, which will be easier this time around cuz we got alot of cool contacts from people we met this last time. Its gonna be weird sleeping in my bed tonight instead of a parking lot in a van haha. But heres some pics from our live show and once I upload actual pictures from on the road I may put em up on here.

As you can tell in the first pic I was having a blast hahaha..

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[Naga]

Awesome! Glad you had fun! And even better that you went up on cash, instead of falling under! Really cool that you didn't have to dig into funds, but it's cool that they were there as backup anyway. Looks like lots of fun! Damnit, I think I need to sharpen up and get back into playing hard again...

[songsmith]

At age 21 or 22?

DO IT.

1) Whatever crap job you have right now can be replaced with another crap job on your return.

2) In 20 years, you will remember far more of a two-week stint on the road than a two-year stint at said crap job.

3) At age 21, you can fairly easily sleep on a floor or couch. At age 45, this is not an option.

4) At age 21, your metabolism allows you to eat like a billygoat without repercussions. Again, at 45, not so much.

5) Right now is always the best time to follow your dream, and even if it fails, at least you'll know whether or not it was the right decision... otherwise you'll speculate on it the rest of your life.

Good luck.---->JMS