Jupiter Winter – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the indie pop duo, Jupiter Winter, recommends advice for being a musician on the road. You can check out the tips, after the break.

While we have our project together, Jupiter Winter, we both tour with other artists as well. We both have numerous tips from our respective experiences that we would love to share.

Royce’s Tour Tips:
1. – Tour with an Aeropress. Coffee is important to us and the process of hand-grinding your bean of preference and setting the Aeropress upside down (to allow for longer steep time) has become a morning ritual of ours when we’re on the road. Maybe it’s made us a little boujee, but it’s a small thing that can make a big impact on our day and maintain some kind of familiarity and comfort when living the rinse & repeat lifestyle of day to day touring.

2. – Read MasterTour before asking your TM anything at all. Seriously. Not even, “Hey pal, how’s your day?”. You will be met with a knee-jerk reaction response of, “Didn’t you read the day sheet!?”. But, for real, a lot of hours are spent staring at a computer screen and an insurmountable amount of work go into making sure day to day life on tour is as pleasant and comfortable as possible and can be an incredibly frustrating job at times. Maybe borrow from Tip 1 and make your TM a coffee before you ask where the venue towels are…

3. – Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t have as much energy to write on the road as you thought you would. Touring is a great experience, but it can also be extremely tiring. You might be excited about the prospect of writing or producing on all your days off, but those days off can quickly turn into recovery days. That’s okay. Give yourself time to rest your mind and body and try to relieve yourself of some of the pressure and anxiety that you need to be constantly working 18+ hours a day to feel productive.

Lelia’s Tour Tips:
1. Packing Cubes. They are a game-changer. They keep everything nice and organized so that your suitcase doesn’t explode all over the sidewalk outside the venue when you’re looking for that one favorite shirt. I also like to bring a small day bag with the things I need into the venue. I keep my show clothes, toiletry bag, makeup, and whatever else you need to get ready for the show. This way you don’t have to haul in your entire suitcase every day to the tiny green room you’re sharing with 10 people. Your bandmates will thank you.

2. Sleep. As much as possible, whenever you can. Tour is exhausting and even if you’re on the cushiest gig ever your sleep isn’t going to be ideal. If you have the opportunity to rest, take it. It’s so easy to get sick on tour and sleep is the number one thing your body needs to fight off sickness. Not to mention if you’re a singer you already know that sleep is the best thing you can do to keep your voice healthy. Also, stock up on Zicam (Get the swab kind that you swish around your nose. They’ve saved me from getting full-blown sick more times than I can count) and wellness vitamins. Share with your band + crew.

3. Read the room and never complain about your job. Tour can be a SLOG. Resist the urge to complain about said slog. Call your friends and vent. We all need someone to talk to. Especially on tour, but bitching about things will never help the vibe or make things better. If you have a problem with someone or something confront them directly. Try and stay positive and be sensitive to other people’s moods and the vibe in the room. Sometimes being quiet is the best thing you can do. Check-in with your tour mates and ask how they’re doing, like how they’re really doing. We’ve all got to take care of each other out there and being sensitive and aware of others is so important on tour.

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