Alex G – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the singer songwriter, Alex G, share what she does before every show. You can check out her rituals, after the break.

I usually wake up later than I expect. We keep driving into different time zones, and by the time we go to bed after a show it’s so late (we are up all hours of the night playing Mafia and Super Smash Bros). The bunks on our bus are so dark, so I keep waking up thinking it’s like 9:30 in the morning and finding out it’s well after noon.

When I wake up, I usually like to have a slow morning, but you don’t really get any privacy on the bus. If it was up to me, I’d have space to read or relax and start my day off slow, but that’s just not practical on a bus of 11 people. What I do instead is research the best coffee places and a few of us make our way out to a good cup of coffee and some breakfast, and we take that time to just be together and relax.

It is really hard to have routines on the road, but I try to because it helps me feel centered in a space that’s very dynamic. The challenge for me is that I’m not only focused on a show–my music is a business, so there are a lot of other moving parts to worry about even on our days off. That being said, finding space for peace is one of the most important things to me. So… I guess that’s my routine. Finding space for peace. Depending on where we are and what resources we have at our disposal, that might look different to me from one day to the next, but one thing I know I need in a chaotic environment is room to slow down, take a breath, experience a little of the city I’m in, and center myself for the busy day ahead of me.

From load into the show, it’s usually pretty low-stress. Once we get the sound check done and I’m ready for the evening things are pretty still. I have to mentally prepare for the show in a way I can only do on my own. More than vocal stamina, I need emotional stamina. A lot of what I do in my shows is very vulnerable and requires me to be very present. It can be a challenge. So I take some quiet to get centered, and then I pray with my band and we play our show! Afterward, we have a debrief with the entire team so we can talk through what needs to be adjusted for the future and celebrate each other and our successes. Then we play games, and fall asleep on the bus to wake up in the next city and do it all over again.

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