Saturday, March 10, 2012

Ramble On

3 weeks down, 1 to go. 

Six shows left until the end of the 2012 Tyler Ward European tour. And what a ride it has been.

I’ve been asked to write about some of the details of our job; apparently, a great number of fans are interested in the behind-the-scenes aspects of what we do.

The touring life is not an easy one. In truth, it seems to me a kind of study in duality and contradiction: a lot of hurrying up to wait and routines that aren't routines.

Well, there’s a routine, of a sort, but it’s a constantly shifting one that doesn’t really allow for any kind of comfortable expectations to be formed. Some nights, you’re allowed 5 hours of sleep because you have to get up early in order to make it to the next venue in time for setup and sound check. Other times, you can sleep in until 11:00 in the morning because you’re not on your way until noon. We traveling musicians seem to have a kind of on-again-off-again relationship with rest. Sometimes she obliges us. Other times she plays hard to get.

Sleep, of course, is the bedrock of health, which is another aspect of touring that can be great one day and your worst enemy the next. From one day to another you may have opportunities to eat well, work out, relax… or not. For instance, we’ve found ourselves doing our best to stock-up on edible commodities that don’t get eaten backstage before a show in order to take them with us in the van for the next day’s travel (this provides not only ease of access but it is much lighter on our individual budgets.) But, some things last better than others and some show promoters do a much better job at providing us with usable amounts of food. That’s not to say that anyone has yet screwed us over on this tour, but, as with life (haha!), sometimes there’s an abundance, and other times you just have to get by with what you’re given. 

Live in Copenhagen.

 The trips in between cities are usual pretty low-key with this bunch. Most of us fill the time with watching movies on the iPad or reading books on the Nook. The SatNav, however, is a wonderful device that lets a bunch of green Americans travel Europe with a certain sense of knowing where we’re going (despite its occasional insistence that we make a right hand turn into a lake or something). And I’m still mystified by the notion that sprinter vans are illegal in the States: the roads are wider and more accommodating and everyone checks out the rear windows, anyway. How much better would our first North American tour have been with this much space! 

(Sorry… got distracted for a bit.)

So, anyway, depending on how much time you have to get to where you need to be (IE: the venue), the hours leading up to showtime can be very different. That being said, there is a very definite routine to how the shows themselves actually work. The band usually arrives at the venue in the midafternoon to load in. Once this is done and the equipment has been adequately set up, the sound techs commence their duty of getting microphones situated at all the right places. Then comes the sound check, which usually involves a line check (each individual mic getting dialed into the specific place in the mix that the sound engineer desires), and the band running through a handful of songs. The sound check is accomplished once both the band and the sound man are comfortable and confident with the way things sound and feel on the stage and on the floor.

Three Amigos.

 After this process, the band gets a respite of usually a few hours before the show starts. These hours always seem to me to fly by: I usually find myself thinking that I’ll have all kinds of time to do this, that, and the other thing in between sound check and showtime, and I never seem to accomplish very much of any of it. In this band, we usually fill the time with reading, dorking around online, talking to our families on Skype, or eating an actual meal (depending on how hungry we may or may not be). Sometimes, (as in my case before our show in Paris), we might try to wedge a quick nap in if we’re not feeling so great. But, then, it’s time to take the stage and all the world goes on hold for an hour and a half while we live the dream.

It’s been a great excitement to me that during this tour the stage has been a welcome escape from all the other stuff going on out in the world. No matter what I’ve been feeling or dealing with beforehand, for the last three weeks the stage has had a magical ability to pick me up and refresh my soul. Everything dissipates as I walk out to do my job, and the fans have made us all feel amazing at each and every show. Incidentally, I’ve just confirmed a suspicion that I’ve had for a while that I seem to play really well when I’m frustrated. Ah, the consequences of reading your e-mail ten minutes before you go on...

Lit up in Hamburg.

 The job is not over after the show is done, however (we are still very much in the process of ‘making it’). After a few minutes’ reprieve backstage, Josh and I get to commence breaking down the equipment we just set up a few hours earlier while Tyler does his best to interact with each and every fan that will hang around long enough to do so. Sometimes you simply can’t see everyone or anyone, for that matter, due to sickness or exhaustion or some other unforeseen circumstance. But we certainly try our hardest to sign every autograph and take every picture that the fans might want. Once all that’s done and the equipment’s been loaded back into the van, it’s back to the hotel for whatever rest we can manage to get our hands on.

And that’s pretty much it, as far as the job goes. We are constantly discovering, however, that there is more to this thing than simply playing music. We are forever and always on the lookout for lessons to learn about the craft of entertaining along with all the purely musical education that the road offers. No matter what any hipster artiste may claim, we feel that it’s important to give the fans a show: to let them in on the secret, as it were: to bring a smile to their face & let them join the party for a bit. Just standing there playing your instrument with no regard for what anyone in the audience thinks might have worked for Miles Davis’ egocentric mentalities, but for us music is a thing to rejoice over and share together. It’s a thing to smile about, even when the subject matter of a song is painful or heavy. The shared experience of singing a song with the audience or, in my case, hearing them clap to the quarter note pulse of my drum solo creates a kind of community, and what were human beings created for if not for community? So, we dress up for the fans and we bring them a show: Welcome to our little corner of the world. Hope you enjoy your stay.

Boom.Boom.Chick.

 The off-days have provided some great adventures on this tour, as well. Readers of this blog will probably already know that two of my favorite pursuits (outside of music) are history and travel, and guess what: Europe does a fantastic job of catering to both. I’ve found myself gazing at 600-year-old churches and mighty rivers that shaped the course of history and realizing that this is probably exactly how people feel when they first see Pike’s Peak, the mountainous overseer of my own hometown: what is fascinating and captivating to one is just another day at home to another. It’s a wild trip to look up at a cathedral and know that this building you’re standing in front of is twice as old as the country you came from in order to look at it. Pretty crazy stuff and right up my alley. It’s also been instructive to move around and learn about different cultures: different priorities, different systems of government, different tastes (Guinness in Dublin; Belgian waffles in Belgium; Haggas in Scotland; Bangers & Mash in London). There’s a whole litany of things we’ve noticed in our adventures over here. Per esempio:
-        Doors that swing inward in America pull outward in Europe, and vice versa.
-        Europe gives you options for toilet flushing: one button gives you the light #1 flush, while the other button gives you the heavier, all-in #2 flush.
-         Europe seems intent on making their all of shower heads removable and handheld.
-         Fast food tastes better (McDonald’s and Burger King are ubiquitous, it seems): the ingredients are fresher and taste prepared, not like they’ve been sitting under the heat lamp for six days.
-        Sound crews in Europe are noticeably more professional: if I remember correctly, every crew (save one) on this tour has mic’d my hihat & the top and bottom of my snare drum (usually considered a luxury in American clubs). Beyond that, the European crews are helpful: even going so far as to tear down my drumset for me one night.
-        There is a remarkable lack of obesity in Europe, as well. Whether it be from the better quality of food, the amount of it they don’t eat at each and every meal, or the fact that so many more of them are constantly walking instead of driving, Europeans seem much more properly proportioned than a lot of folks back home. But they smoke more. A lot more.
-         European lights take just a second to actually turn on once the switch is flipped. No idea why.
-         Europeans don’t seem too interested in alarm clocks. I think a grand total of two of our hotel rooms contained them and none of the backstage areas.
-         Some stereotypes hold true: the Europeans seem to have zero affinity for ice in their drinks, even in countries where ice is clearly not a rare commodity. The Swedes are noticeably tall, blonde, and beautiful. German efficiency is on display just about everywhere in their country. The French bake a killer pastry.
-        Thankfully (thankfully!), most every European we’ve run into has known English. What’s interesting is that many of them seem embarrassed by how they speak it while speaking it much more fluently and beautifully than most Americans. (It is always fun, however, when they come across a word they’re not precisely sure how to translate.)

In truth, this tour has taken me both to places I’ve always wanted to go and to a few I honestly never thought of seeing. As Jordan told me before one of our shows in Ireland: “Just think, man. Tonight, you’ll actually be able to say, ‘Goodnight, Dublin!’” What a trip. And then, last night, I found myself playing drums for 500 Swedes in Stockholm. I’ve never been that far north in all my life and I was there to do what I’ve loved to do since I was 13. Incredible.

Which is to say that this job has both its dreamlike and its very real, unglamorous aspects. There is always a certain amount of actual work to be done (most of which I’d rather not do), but there is also an almost mystical quality to it all: a surreal realization that something we started putting together 2 years ago in Tyler’s basement has turned into playing a concert for more than 1,000 fans in the capital of Germany. Or Antwerp. Or Amsterdam. Or Glasgow. Or London. 

So, I don’t know if this adequately answered anybody’s questions as to what our days are like. There are ups and downs to all of them and a load of work to be done. The great thing is the payoff: getting to see hundreds (if not thousands) of people appreciating your art and joining in the experience of it with you. I'm convinced that there really is no job like it in the world.  And we, this little band of brothers, are certainly not worthy of all that we’ve been given. I hope that I get to do if for the next long while. I would love to look back on this tour someday and think fondly of it as the first of many European jaunts. We’ll see…

9 comments:

  1. Thank you for this impressiv view behind the curtain. You all do a great job! Please, never give up living your dream!!! And thanks for an unforgettable and amazing show in Hamburg.

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  2. Why does the 'It is always fun, however, when they come across a word they’re not precisely sure how to translate.' reminds me of my mom trying to ask Cousin Greg for an 'elastiekje' ?! hahaha :D

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  3. Awesome blog Joel, I loved reading this. There is definitely more to this whole experience than just playing music. Still awesome that you're keeping up the good work.
    And still thanks for the hug in Amsterdam! You played amazing :)

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  4. You took me on your roller coaster called the musical, visual, and literary dream....You just took me personally to the Crew's show. Thank you so much for this....I applaud you greatly! Encore of more "shows" please...
    -Alexandra Bravo

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  5. What an amazing post. You're not only a fantastic drummer but also a great writer. Thank you for sharing this with us! And feel free to come back to Copenhagen :)

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  6. It was really nice reading this! Thanks for sharing! :D

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  7. Wow this is an amazing view behind the scene. Can't wait for tonight to see you on stage. Maybe we'll meet at the meet and greet too- or is it just Tyler? it would be amazing to meet the whole crew :)
    See you.

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  8. Reading this felt like I was watching all of you do these things - you are as great at writing as you are behind the drums. Some impressive solos in Stockholm! And an amazing show all in all! Thank you! Hope you come back soon, maybe to Finland or even the Baltic states, 'cause then I would be there, no matter what! :)
    - Always and always, the Crew's greatest fan, from Estonia:)

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  9. Well spake my dear friend.
    -Face :)

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