Blake Cordeiro (Hit The Light’s Tour Manager) – TRICKS OF THE TRADE

In all of our other features, we highlight bands/artists; now we want to take you into the world of the people who work for a band on tour, their crew. For this feature, we teamed up with tour and merchandise manager, Blake Cordeiro. You can can find out more about Blake and advice he has for people interested in hitting the road (his “Trick of the Trade”), after the break.

Name:
Blake Cordeiro

Touring Resume:
Current – Hit The Lights – Tour Manager / Merchandise Manager (2014-Current)
Previous –
Phone Calls From Home – Tour Manager (2010-2011)
SelfMade Co. – Merchandise Manager (2013-2014)
Plug Your Holes – Merchandise Manager (2013-2014)

What positions have you held (i.e. Tour Manager, Front of House, etc.)?
Current – Tour Manager / Merchandise Manager
Previous – Tour Manager / Merchandise Manager / Assistant Tour Manager

Your first touring gig:
Who did you work for?
My first gig was right out of high school with an emerging band from Boston, MA – Phone Calls From Home.

How did you get the gig?
I was right out of high school working with local bands and I met the guitarist Jason through mutual friends. He gave me my first touring opportunity and over that year I became the band’s tour manager. Forever grateful for that band giving me the opportunity they did.

What was (is your continued) motivation for wanting to start working for tour bands?
At the end of the day what motivates me is watching the fans and seeing them escape from their everyday reality and knowing I played a role in making that day as stress-free and successful as possible. You become a family on tour and my best memories have been made on the road. The relationships I have made on tour really have helped make me into who I am today. Wouldn’t give those connections up for anything. Can’t wait to see where my touring career goes next.

While growing up were you involved in your local music scene? If so, how did you get involved?
I was very involved in my local music scene, working sound at shows and selling merch for my friend’s bands. I never expected to be able to tour all around the country and make this into a career.

If you could recommend one piece of advice (“trick of the trade”) to current or aspiring crew members, what would it be?
My advice to aspiring crew members is to work hard in your local scene. Help out your friends bands, work at your local venues, make connections with touring bands. You never know what could happen, take every opportunity you can. My trick of the trade isn’t anything crazy, I just plan and get as organized as possible before a tour to make sure my day today is as stress-free as possible. You never know what curve ball each day can throw at you.

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