Alex Kopp – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the producer, Alex Kopp, gives you his tips for being on tour. You can check out the feature, after the break.

1. Drink all of the water you can. We have this thing on the road where we take bottles of water and we chug them. Our Front of house guy kind of started it, But it helps gets your daily requirement in. So whenever anyone sees someone on the bus drinking a water. The chug one along side of the.

2.Stay Physically Active, Whether it’s working out, Stretching, doing yoga, Whatever works for you But physical activity is key to longevity. We spend so much time sleeping in weird spots ( Bus bunks, Airplane seats, Van Seats, Dressing room chairs/couches. Stretching every day is really good for counteracting this in your body. On the road we also have a rule, for every drink you want, you have to do 25 push-ups. So 25 Push ups = 1 Beer, ETC. This is a fun challenge to see everyone around throughout the day doing push-ups. You can tell who is looking to get rowdy for the night. Ha.

3.Personal Space. It’s usually a good idea to set aside some time every day for yourself. This could be working out, or Walking around a new city, or laying on a couch in a random room at the venue. Decompressing from the constant of people around you on tour is smart. A lot of bands and crews can fall apart over time for people simply getting sick of each other. Jokes become a big thing on tour but if you don’t take some time here and there away from all of that. It’s really easy for jokes and comments to turn into something more leading to a battle between two or more people.

4. Bring a bike or skateboard or whatever you can. In the past couple years, we started bringing a bunch of bikes on tour and I noticed what a difference it made for me and the enjoyment of the places I was getting to see. After years of touring and traveling to a lot of the same cities. I hadn’t seen much besides the backstage at venues and the inside of the bus. So now that we have some bicycles we get out of the couple block radius of the venue as much as possible. Which is really cool and gives you a whole new level of appreciation for the cities you are in.

5.Charge your shit: We all know how much social media, and emails and constant communication means to bands and artists these days. So charge your shit. Have some extra battery packs for your phone ETC. You don’t want to miss a good moment of something that could be shared. Also, you don’t want to be the one lost at 1 am with a dead phone trying to remember how to get back to the hotel, or bus. Also on the phone note. I think it’s good to keep a scan of your id on your phone somewhere for the times when you forget who you are. Ha.

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