Tour: Smart

And Break the Band

By Martin Atkins, Margot Olavarria

Soluble, LLC

Copyright © 2007 Martin Atkins
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-9797313-0-3
CHAPTER 1

WHY IT IS ESSENTIAL TO TOUR

There’s one great plastic, fantastic reason for you to get out there, make a noise, jump up and down, meet people, shag people, smile at people, listen, interact, make friends, expose yourself, push, push, push, and make your music as important to other people as you can …

IF YOU DON’T DO IT WITH YOURS … SOMEBODY ELSE IS DOING IT WITH THEIRS.

You don’t need to look far for an example of how important it is to get out there, tour, and do the work. Do you think for one second that, if it wasn’t essential, that any politician in the country would ever leave home? Can you imagine the torture they endure? The lengths they go to protect themselves from air-borne and hand-borne germs? Most of those guys can’t even bring themselves to think about other people, let alone touch them — unless it’s on the ass. So the only reason they are out there is: 1. More ass or 2. Every one of their advisors has told them that they have to, shown them the evidence, and pushed them out the door.

“But,” you ask, “How does this affect me? I’m not into politics; I’m just making music!” Shut up, get real, and get in the van. Every single element affecting your career and your ability to continue is helped by touring:

• The record store is more likely to stock your music and put up a poster.

• The local paper is more likely to review your CD or mention your show.

• Anyone anywhere is more likely to check out your MySpace page if they see you are coming to town.

• Any promoter in any other city is more likely to give you a gig if they see you are performing in other parts of the country.

• People on the web write about things that happened at shows they went to, not shows that didn’t happen, that they couldn’t go to …

• You’ll have direct and immediate feedback from a real, live audience, either smiling and jumping up and down because the songs you thought were great really are, or screaming and throwing things because you are delusional and your songs are shit. Either way, this is way more valuable than a bunch of people on your MySpace page plugging their own albums.

• People are more likely to buy your CD or listen to it somewhere, anywhere! So they can sing along with their favorite songs at the show and look like they’ve known about you for years.

• If they buy the CD before the show, they’re more likely to buy a t-shirt at the show and a copy of the live album.

• Your manager, if you have one, will prioritize you over another band because you are working harder (unless the other band is Radiohead).

• You can be the eyes and ears for your label, if you have one … or for other bands. You can tell them where responses are good, let them know where no one has your music, and at the same time give them a real reason to tell retailers why they should stock your music, like: “We just played to 450 people on a Tuesday night! People went crazy! We sold three times the CDs we usually sell from the booth because no one can find it around here.”

• Your agent, if you have one, will pay more attention if you show him you are going to do seven shows a week. That means if he can get you to a point where you are earning $1,000 a night, then you have the potential to earn him $1,000 a week.

• You are creating more of your own content … you can’t release a Live in Paris album if you don’t go and play there!

• The more you play, the better you get!

STEVE BLUSH, AUTHOR OF AMERICAN HARDCORE

“YOU’VE GOT TO GO TO THESE PLACES AND SHOW THEM.”

You gotta go on the road. You’ve gotta work. You’ve gotta get out of town and play a lot. You can be a big fish in a small pond, and it doesn’t matter. I mean it’s nice to be big in New York, but it doesn’t mean anything. I say you’ve got to go to Austin, TX, and Portland, OR, five times before anyone gives a shit.

Let me tell ya, I was out on the road doing my Hardcore show, and I was doing very well because people want to know about Hardcore, but I hooked up with good shows. For the book tour, I do a slide show to which I tell the story of Hardcore. I would show up at the clubs; I would show up at bookstores; I would show up at record stores. I did some pretty big rooms and just about every city in the country. You’ve got to be a Road Warrior. You wanna go to other cities because coming from New York is a big deal, but you don’t wanna stay at home because it doesn’t mean anything. People read a little about New York, but basically you’ve got to go to these places and show them.

WHY IT IS ESSENTIAL TO TOUR

“The DIY legacy left by the punk scene is one of the best blueprints. It starts with the live show – you build an audience that way. Bands shouldn’t be in too much of a hurry to move to Los Angeles or NYC, where the competition for gigs and attention is fierce. Build a story in your own community. Tour regionally. Save a little money and record a CD. Come to the labels with good songs and an audience.”

– Larry White, Pil, Davy Jones Manager

“Let me know if the band is actually out playing gigs. Honestly, if your band isn’t playing live shows, you are a long way away from any commercial air play.”

– Chris Payne, Q101 Chicago

Martin Atkins: “How do you see the role of touring?” Jeff McClusky: “Critical”

“One of the easiest ways to protect your investment in an indie co-op deal is to let the record stores know that you’ll be on tour and stopping by within a month.”

– Martin Atkins

CHAPTER 2

BUILDING BLOCKS: BASIC CONCEPTS AND IDEAS

1. THE RUBBER EQUATION

Here’s a central issue: and maybe a reason why there hasn’t been a book like this before. Anytime I feel like we come to a concrete conclusion about anything, I immediately feel that there’s an exception to that rule. Like, “Don’t go west, head east!” Except if you are getting radio play in Phoenix or San Diego, then head west! It’s crazy to drive from Nashville to Denver for a Wednesday night! But, maybe Wednesday night in Denver is the big, monthly event for your genre of music and there’s a radio station involved, and … and … and … So, tear up the map and the budget and for fuck’s sake, get there!

Rather than randomly deciding to do something, there needs to be a reason.

2. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY

Take responsibility for everything. There’s no such thing as traditional efficiencies when dealing with the world of art and music. You need to begin by taking responsibility for everything. As things grow, you will learn not only the things that can be delegated and the way to communicate those tasks, but you will also begin to learn who can be trusted with them. If you hear yourself saying “that’s not my job,” staple your hand to a tree, call me, I’ll come down there … You can scream “please help me, my hand is stapled to a tree,” and I can say, “that’s not my job … sap!”

3. AVOID CONFORMITY

The challenge is to understand some of the rules before you can start to make them flexible. You need to think about breaking the mold rather than neatly slotting into pre-allocated holes. SonicBids is convenient, but you have a finite number of choices of how to present your band (The same choices that other bands are making right now). It is the really cool, unusual packages that will stop the traffic in my office and be a talking point for a few minutes. Understand where to avoid conformity, that’s the trick. Pay attention to the red light. But don’t listen to anyone telling you to stop.

4. AIM LOW, GET HIGH

(Another great t-shirt and an important thing to remember).

The best way to get high up the ladder is to start at the bottom and slowly work your way up to the top. Tortoise vibe. There is no way to bypass the first 36 rungs unless you have James Bond’s rocket-powered jet pack or the best drugs on the planet. Every instance of someone I know getting somewhere in this business (or staying in it) has begun in a very small, humbling way. Carrying ice up stairs; answering a telephone; doing something you don’t want to do diligently, without complaint. I’m not saying don’t have respect for yourself or your ambition. I’m just saying that the chances that are going to be offered to you might be surprising in their mundane and trivial nature. But don’t forget — this is the music business. The trick is to get inside the building, not to be outside claiming you are on the guest list. It’s only a matter of time before everyone in the building freaks out on drugs, runs off with a band, or decides to settle down. So, Aim Low, Get High. Wear the shirt!

5. TOUR TIME IS DIFFERENT FROM OFFICE TIME

This idea is explained very well with a chart in the merchandising section, but it applies to everyone on a tour. Simply being aware of this is helpful. When anybody needs to communicate with the tour, you don’t call at 9 a.m. or 10 a.m. The tour might not have gone to sleep until 5 a.m. Use e-mails and text so that your message is waiting when someone wakes up. If it is important, call ahead to the venue or hotel.

On the road, days melt and blur. It’s easy to forget which business is closed for the weekend and when the weekend actually is. After all, you’re trying to make every night be a Saturday night. You cannot alter this fact, it just is, so creatively deal with it wherever you can. Just help.

6. MOVE TO BOISE

A horrifying catchphrase to most of you, hell-bent on an office on Sunset Boulevard or 5th Avenue, and I guess this is the geographic equivalent of Aim Low, Get High. I absolutely don’t mean to imply that Boise doesn’t have the quality, the amount, or the impressive array of entertainment that you’ll find in LA or NYC, it absolutely doesn’t. It’s a fact. And no, I don’t have any property in Boise nor am I a member of the Boise Chamber of Commerce. But, when compared to someone’s alleged plan of achieving success by moving to either LA or NYC, moving to Boise is a fucking stroke of genius (as you will see from the figures here and in the Appendix).

How thrilling to meet DJ Doc Martin in Denver. Did he remember me for my drumming with PiL, for my production with Killing Joke or Pigface or for my appearance on the Grammy Award winning “Wish” with NiN? Nope, he started calling me Mr. Idaho!

7. THINK OF YOUR PARENTS BEFORE GETTING SHAGGED

This one is way more fun than any of the other ones. It’s good practice, before spending any chunks of cash, to think of what your parents might say. If you’re dropping $10,000 on a radio campaign, a producer, a publicist, or some kind of opportunity, think of that as if it was a car. What would your parents do? They’d look at the odometer to see if the amount of miles for the year indicates excessive driving. They’d look at the maintenance records to see if the oil had been changed regularly. In the absence of any records, they would conclude that maybe the oil had never been changed. They’d kick the tires and, in general, be cautious. Then, chime in with some anecdotal information like, “Oh my God, that’s that car that keeps exploding,” and then someone might actually suggest running the VIN number. This all seems perfectly reasonable and wouldn’t take more than half an hour or so.

In the music business, none of these things are going to take place. You are more likely to end up prematurely celebrating the success that you believe is just around the corner than doing any research to give you real information that might dissuade you from parting with the money … shut up, you know it’s true.

So, hear that voice of reason inside your head, be smart, and investigate. Think of your parents before you get shagged!

This strategy has the added benefit (like a pop song that uses an odd time signature to confuse your brain and embed the hook of a chorus) to completely fuck up your sex life. In the case of an erection lasting more than six hours, please call a doctor.

8. SELFISH PHILANTHROPY

Once you move away from a blaming mentality (and that’s no easy thing for many bands to do) and you start to take responsibility for everything, you start to employ selfish philanthropy whenever you can. It’s described in the chapter on riders. It’s basically the act of helping someone (whose time and energy is important to you) to accomplish their tasks in a more efficient way so that their time and energy becomes available to you should you need it. Worst case scenario, that person gets an extra hour to chill. Reduce your carbon copy footprint.

9. ALWAYS ASK EVERYONE (AND YOURSELF) WHY?

We end up back at the great big golden rule which is: always ask why.

WHY – are you heading west?

WHY – did you choose this agent?

WHY – didn’t you book this yourself?

WHY – did the ticket price get that high? Are you worth it? Would you pay that much to see you?

WHY – is it time to make another album, how many has the last one sold?

WHY – don’t you buy three copies of this book?? Just in case you lose two …

Why, why, why, why, why?

10. ADOPT A WAR-ROOM MENTALITY

That is what a tour is. You are at war with:

• Other bands looking for attention, an audience, and t-shirt sales.

• Other agents looking to book their bands.

• Your own situation.

• Service providers.

And once the tour starts, you are at war with:

• The elements.

• People (in and out of your band).

• Illness.

• Human frailty.

• The world.

11. FRONT END LOADING

Look at the incremental build up of costs (financial and human) with an understanding of the total investment needed for a two year commitment for your band. Then, apply some of the budget you’ll need to slog through year two onto the front of year one. If done intelligently, you will be in a much different place by year two. You can use this strategy on a smaller scale with a single show or tour … more money spent earlier will help more.

12. ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES

You need to know what shows are selling poorly early enough so that you can do something about it. You also need to know what shows are selling well. If a show is selling well, you can ease off on the number and frequency of promotional packages, phone calls, etc. When a promoter informs you that tickets are not selling, you can respond with a truthful, “That’s weird; the other three shows in California are going great.” This will give you the beginning of a problem-solving, fact-based conversation with the promoter. You might discover that the three shows that are selling have ticket prices of $5, while the show that is not selling has tickets at $12.50. Why? Perhaps it is because the agent over-sold the show to the promoter. Maybe your rider and sound reinforcement requirements are so overblown that it has weighed the cost of the show down and shot the ticket prices up. Maybe no one is paying attention. If you understand the markets you are in and have accurate information you can brainstorm with the promoter on how to increase ticket sales. Believe me, any promoter still in business will appreciate and embrace any realistic attempt to fill his venue.

13. RISK ASSESMENT

One of the first things we do is put up a huge board in the office and start to track the shows. We look at the day of the week, the capacity of the venue, advance ticket sales, past performances, any special web-packs that have sold, proximity to other secondary markets, and the number of street teamers we have in a city to help.

The definition of a low risk show is another one of those Rubber Equations. The following things can help to make a show date less of a risk:

• Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (less of a risk than Sunday, Monday, Tuesday).

• More than two or three street teamers in a city.

• One or two secondary markets close by — each with one or two street teamers.

• A low-capacity venue (in terms of the shows you have and expected levels of attendance).

• A low ticket price.

• A well-established, well-attended regular night.

• A traditionally good market for your band with good e-mail address coverage.

(Continues…)Excerpted from Tour: Smart by Martin Atkins, Margot Olavarria. Copyright © 2007 Martin Atkins. Excerpted by permission of Soluble, LLC.
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