Midnight Mystery Club – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the electronic artist, Midnight Mystery Club, gives you his tips for being on tour. You can check out the feature, after the break.

1 – Say Thank you.
Roadies, Engineers, Load-in Crews, and craft services aren’t always making good money for the amount of time they spend on site. For many, it’s a choice they’ve made in order to be a part of something exciting or in a field they’re passionate about. Letting those people know you appreciate them can make their day. Thanking your team can go a long way in creating a positive atmosphere where everyone feels valued for their hard work and skills. No job, no matter how small, is not required within the bigger picture. There’s a lot of cleaning, organizing and heavy lifting that takes place well before you arrive and will continue long after your part is done. Without these valuable team members there would be no show. Many times those jobs only get noticed when mistakes are made so take some time to understand the hard work and skills required. You can gain an appreciation and perhaps humility for the level of skill required to do many of those jobs.

2 – Keep writing new songs.
Just because you’re on the road doesn’t mean you should stop working on new material. Practicing those same writing habits you developed while in the studio can make sure you won’t loose them. If you have an extra day in your schedule, book time in a studio to lay down some of those ideas. Some great hit records have been recorded while bands were on the road. You might be playing at your very best as a group, don’t let that cohesiveness go to waste. Creating new material can also help break up the monotony of performing the same songs while on tour. Even if you don’t end up using the new tracks, this can keep your creative processes sharp and allow for a smoother transition back into studio life once the tour ends.

3 – Surround yourself with old friends.
Life on the road can become surreal and disconnected. You can find you’re surrounded by new people who seem to approve of all of your actions and behavior. If you’re not careful, it can become a dangerous bubble that fuels dissatisfaction and self-absorption. Most people who you work with won’t feel comfortable being 100% honest with you and the advice that they will give is only going to be in regards to furthering your career. Make a conscious effort to have friends and/or family join you on the road. Having those people around, if only for a few days, can go a long way with keeping you grounded. Those who’ve known you well before this new part of your life can remind you of your goals while at the same time keep you in check. Having friends and family who care about you well beyond your artistic aspirations is invaluable. Especially if your career goes through rough periods and lacks motivation. Having your loved ones close by to lean on in those hard times can greatly encourage you to keep persevering.

4 – Stay healthy.
Watching someone perform tired, comes off as disinterested and unenthusiastic which results in the audience losing interest, respect, or even feeling ripped off. Staying healthy, eating right, keeping hydrated, and getting plenty of rest goes a long way in your performance and stamina. This goes double for singers. Sleep can be hard to find, make sure your crew and team know you need time to rest up before performances. Schedule rest into your day, even if you don’t sleep, just 30 minutes laying down and resting your eyes before a show can help keep you recharge. This also means staying away from vices that will dramatically alter your mood/mind. If you really desire to have a long career as a performer then you need to approach it as professionally as you would any other career. Pretending your job is also a reason to party is a direct route to be without either. Having a routine where you consistently get some quiet time, after sound check but before the show, can prepare you to be at your best. A small list of simple pre-show rituals will help get you into your performance mindset. For example; a cup of hot tea, vocal warm-ups followed by 20 minutes of vocal silence, then perhaps listening to some music that energizes you while mentally walking through the set list, can create a fast track to being consistently and fully prepared. Prayer can be a huge part to get and keep your mental and spiritual focus. Also, a prayer with the whole band and possibly a game or singing a song together to bring in some positive energy before taking the stage together can be helpful.

5 – Make new friends.
It’s easy to stay inside your bus and not venture out and make new friends. Not everyone feels outgoing all the time. Sometimes frustrations can cause you to want to withdraw altogether. Getting out of that bubble and going to meet fans, venue workers or just venturing around town can help your life feel a bit more normal. Ask questions of people you meet, find out more about them, where they are from, what are their aspirations? All of this can be a great source of new material, motivation, or just be a great reminder of how similar we are despite where in the world we come from. If you don’t enjoy meeting new people then you probably don’t enjoy traveling. And if you don’t enjoy traveling, you might want to rethink whether you really want to be a touring musician. There’s no shame in admitting you’re not cut out for it. Plenty of studio musicians found that to be their niche once they discovered tour life wasn’t suited for them. But if you do enjoy it, get out there. You never know who you’ll meet, the impact you might have on their life or the impact they might have on yours.

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