ASTN – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the indietronica artist, ASTN, recommends advice for being a musician on the road. You can check out the tips, after the break.

I’ve actually only been on one tour so far in my career, but I feel like I’ve gathered some pretty useful tips for any artists who are looking to get on the road for the first time. To start off, I think the most important thing is to focus on building strong relationships with the people that you will be working and traveling with. I promise you that touring with people who you are close with is a thousand times better. The shows are obviously very important, but the memories and funny stories you will make along the way are just as crucial.

My next tip is to make sure you are taking care of your body. This is something that I completely took for granted and it really caught up to me midway through the tour. Eating right and being conscious of the amount of exercise you’re getting is key. Starting a few weeks before hitting the road can really help prepare you for what’s to come. It can be really difficult to eat “healthy” when you are visiting all these cool places, but the important thing is to just be conscious of it.

This one is more for the vocalists, but I guess it could apply to pretty much anyone: Be careful with how much you talk after performances, and more importantly how loudly you talk. I thoroughly enjoyed talking to people after the show but found myself straining my voice because I was having to talk over all the music and whatnot. Needless to say, I lost my voice halfway through the tour. Honey will be your best friend in cases like that… Luckily, it tastes quite good.

One of the biggest things I learned on my first run was the importance of having a co-performer or just someone else on stage with you. As an opener, it can sometimes be hard to get the crowd into the performance and if they aren’t giving you any energy, it’s very hard to find that energy yourself, which is why I think it’s great to have someone up there with you to feed off of. I know without a doubt that I’ll have someone on stage with me next time because it can be brutal. All in all, though, it was a great learning experience.

My last tip is something I wholeheartedly believe in… document. every. moment. Tour is amazing, but it can really fly by and everything can get all jumbled up. I think taking a video camera everywhere you go is a wonderful idea. Even a phone will suffice because it’s so cool to look back at those moments that may have flown by on the road. Also not to mention, video is king. Photos are great and all, but videos show so much more and give you way more detail to look back on.

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