Touring Archive

Book Review: “Tour: Smart – and Break the Band”

By
Scott
 – May 16, 2010Posted in: Music Business, Touring, Touring Bands
Book Review: “Tour: Smart – and Break the Band”
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“Tour: Smart – and Break the Band” by Martin Atkins is a must read for any and all musicians, bands or anyone in a touring industry. It is amazing that someone actually took the time and effort to write such a comprehensive book on the subject – take advantage of the expertise.

This book is chalk full of insight, not only from author Martin Atkins (PIL, Pigface), but also from dozens upon dozens of interviews and stories compiled from touring insiders, musicians, tour managers, club owners, record executives and roadies – just to name a few.

I think Martin Atkin’s introduction to the book really sets up what you should know and will learn while you read this book:

“You should fail because your band is shit or because you don’t have the balls. You shouldn’t fail because of a lack of some basic advice and a bit of planning. Your music, your band, might be important to some people, very important to a few, mildly important to a few others, but it will never be more important to anyone than it is to you. Apply that principle to everything.”

Don’t let the book’s immense size turn you off (over 500 pages.) This is not a book that needs to be read cover to cover (though, that is what I did.) This book is meant to be picked at little by little. Chapters are short and impressively interesting. The book covers everything from the necessities of a tour to why those on tour shouldn’t do drugs or crap in the tour bus toilet. One resounding message is that you have to treat your music as a business and be responsible for that business at every facet.

The highlights of this book are presented in chapter summaries and lists outlining things that bands should do and not do. These smart tips are enough to guide bands in the right direction, but once you start reading the book, you are really going to get drawn into the witty and relevant stories from the industry insiders. The experiences that these people have went through range from the intensely cautionary to the absolutely hilarious.

“Tour: Smart” also goes into some great detail about marketing efforts, especially when the band is getting ready for a tour. These marketing tips will give you a great starting point for any efforts, though. The book tells you how to book shows, advance a show, get radio play before a show date, assemble a street team and actually get them to promote, and keep track of it all. Putting your best song first on the CDs you make, knowing your audience, and keeping track of everyone you meet, are a few of the other essentials Mr. Atkins stresses.

Learning the ropes of touring will never be easy, even if you think you are prepared. This book provides stories that show the highs and the lows of touring, what (and who) to avoid, and overall what you can expect out on the road. It is basically the quintessential textbook on the subject of touring.

“You need one voice for the tour. It has to be a benevolent dictatorship.” – Martin Atkins

Every band should have this book in their possession whether they are just getting ready to tour or are in the midst of one. If you are just starting out, you will learn a whole lot of things to do and expect on a tour. If you are already touring, you will not only enjoy reading the book and comparing your own experiences, you will almost certainly learn something new as well.

“Tour: Smart – and Break the Band” by Martin Atkins can be found at Amazon.com for less than $20 new.

Tips for DIY touring from Van Atta High, Ludo & Dropout Year

By
Brett
 – November 23, 2009Posted in: Music Business, Touring
Tips for DIY touring from Van Atta High, Ludo & Dropout Year
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image by Joe Seggiola

A successful tour is not created overnight. For bands like Dropout Year, Van Atta High, and Ludo it comes from years of hard work and having dedicated out of town fans.

The success of these bands comes from maintaining fans, making contacts and never turning down a show that could help their careers.

“Network, network, network,” Steve Reter, singer for Dropout Year, said.

Playing 200 plus shows a year, the east coast’s Dropout Year has learned a thing or two about surviving without a booking agent.

Looking for unique ways to reach new fans, Dropout Year set up a tour of Hot Topics. The band collected the names and numbers of Hot Topic managers, then they set up a tour playing acoustic sets in stores.

One of the ways Dropout Year is able to continually play shows and go on 2-to-3 week tours is from networking with other bands. Dropout Year’s intense promoting in their local area allows them to pull hundreds of fans to a show. By letting out of town bands play these shows Dropout Year is able to trade for shows in other bands’ hometowns.

Dropout Year warns that some bands will not return favors, something you have to learn to live with. “Be realistic,” Reter said. “Some bands will not help you if you help them.”

“Play everything,” Tim Ferrell, guitar player for Ludo, said. “That is the only way to get people interested.”

The music festival SWSX never invited Ludo to play at the festival. Yet, Ludo made sure they played at SWSX four times.

Without support from the organizers, Ludo went directly to the fans and played house parties. The buzz created by these parties led to record labels getting themselves invited to the parties to see Ludo play. Now Ludo is on Island Records.

“The worst thing you can do is not salvage a relationship with anyone in the industry,” Clark Starace, bass player for Van Atta High, said. “Things will come back.”

Van Atta High has been able to tour the country and draw crowds of 100 kids or more to shows hundreds of miles away like Michigan.

The band works every day with social media sites like MySpace, but they don’t spend their time adding friends and putting ads on comments. Every week they profile a fan on their homepage, with fun questions and a personal message to their fan of the week. The also write personal messages to fans. Starace said they don’t like to use bots or other impersonal ways to promote the band.

Much of Van Atta High’s touring success has been a growing out of town fan base. The band has been able to sell out shows out-of-state including one in New York City. With their dedication to marketing the band has leverage in booking tours.

Van Atta High and Dropout Year both hope that by successfully booking tours the bands will get picked up by professional booking agencies. “It’s not that we can’t handle the work,” Starace said. Yet once a booking agent sees that a band can manage themselves on the road, the agent can get them bigger and better shows.

Tricks from the pros

* Create street teams everywhere- A street team it vital to keep a presence in other regions. By creating a street team in other cities it allows your band to keep in touch with fans, make new contacts in the area and give the most dedicated fans a way to be a part of the band’s success. Just remember people have lives, too, and if they are to stay active give them a reason. Bands like Van Atta High and Dropout Year talk with their street team and give them lots of perks for helping the band.

* Don’t be afraid to sleep on people’s floors- Hotels are nice, but expensive. Also, going to a hotel separates the band from the fans. Ludo has been able to create unique experiences with their fans by staying at their homes and hanging out with them.

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