Tor Miller – PRESHOW RITUALS

In this Preshow Rituals segment, the alternative artist, Tor Miller, shares what he does before every show. You can check out his rituals, after the break.

For a very long time in my career, I went without any pre-show rituals. I would hang out with my friends and drink beers, shoot the shit, never too concerned about the show. Then I lost my voice towards the end of a set in … and it happened several times thereafter. I was panicked and knew I needed to change my habits. So I began taking vocal lessons in New York with Kenn Hicks, “Vocal Coach to the Stars.” I had pushed against the notion of warming up, considering it useless and that of a Pop Diva. However, I begrudgingly began the process of performing a 10-minute vocal warm-up, which completely changed my life. I start off much stronger, as a result, and I can now sing through my entire set with no breaks. I highly suggest finding a warm up that works for you. I know it ain’t that cool.

I like to walk around the venue and get to know the entire staff before a show. Since, at this point in my career, I always use the house sound tech, I want to feel comfortable with that person and talk beforehand, in case there are things I had concerns with during soundcheck. I like talking to security and monitor guys, as well as the merch person. I want to know that things will run smoothly so I don’t carry those worries with me onto the stage.

My last ritual, which is the most important, is isolating myself from everyone right before I go on. I would always be chatting to somebody before I walked on stage and as I’d sit down to play, I would realize, “Oh shit, I am in front of a lot of people right now and It’s show time.” I wouldn’t mentally prepare myself for the show and that really took me out of the performance. Those shows were always lacking a little extra spirit. So, now I sit in the dressing room alone, with nothing to distract me, I sit silently and just stare at the wall ahead and let the nerves of going onstage seep into my body. Now when I go on I have a nervous energy that lifts the spirit and feeling of the performance.

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