Mike Borchardt, frontman of Brooklyn DIY punk outfit Nihiloceros, is a stellar show-goer. He is always stage-side, taking photos and promoting every show happening that week on his band’s social media accounts. From the looks of Instagram, he has taken the transition from IRL gigs to virtual shows in stride, continuing to post live stream schedules and Insta-live screen shots.
Mike started what has become Brooklyn’s most supportive band in his hometown of Chicago. They were originally called Samantha, but changed their name to the much more Google-able Nihiloceros. The trash pop trio’s rhythm section is filled out by Alex Hoffman on bass and vocals, and German Sent on drums. They released a self-titled EP in 2017, and are putting the finishing touches on their follow-up EP in a socially distant manner. You can catch Mike of Nihiloceros doing a solo set this Tuesday, June 2nd on Radio Free Brooklyn’s Instagram at 8pm. We chatted with Mike about commuting during lock down, creative livestreaming, and being quarantined with band mates.
AF: Has Nihiloceros been able to get together or collaborate remotely during lockdown?
MB:Luckily Alex lives right downstairs so he and I have been able to work on music a bit. We’ve built a little recording booth in the basement for a few finishing touches on the new Nihiloceros record. I’m still taking the subway into Manhattan every day for work, and Alex’s wife is pregnant, so we’ve been trying to socially distance the “upstairs people” from the “downstairs people” as much as possible. I’m definitely the black sheep pariah of Nihiloceros Castle.
German has been quarantined with his family in New Jersey. I haven’t seen him since our last show the first week of March, but we’ve been talking through musical concepts we are excited to start exploring. German drove back into Brooklyn a couple times to go play drums in isolation at our rehearsal space. Alex and German are both in the middle of home construction projects, so they’ve also been swapping notes on demolition and rehab. German and I have been workshopping prototypes for new merch, including Nihiloceros soap and Nihiloceros Chia Pets.
AF: What are some of the things you’ve done to support bands and venues in lieu of not being able to go to shows?
MB: It’s been really important to us to stay involved with the scene as we all navigate this crisis together. I’ve written a handful of songs for some quarantine compilations (Dim Things, Shred City, NYC Musicians for NYC) all to raise money for Artist Relief Tree, Food Bank for NYC, etc. We’ve done a series of video sessions and livestreams for a lot of the venues like Our Wicked Lady and The Footlight to help them pay their staff and hopefully keep their doors open on the other side of this. Everyone should check out the work NIVA [National Independent Venue Association] is doing through #SaveOurStages to drum up congressional support and secure funding on a national scale for all these stages that make up our DIY tour circuits.
Alex and I are both lucky to still be working, so we’ve been buying merch and music from bands as much as possible. And also obviously we’ve been catching and sharing as many artists’ livestreams as possible. From a photography standpoint, those screenshots on the phone aren’t as fun, but they’re much easier to edit.
AF: Do you have any creative tips on screen shooting live streams? What’s your approach to live streaming like?
MB: I think we are all still trying to figure that out. I remember the first week of the lockdown, we played a couple shows on the Left Bank Magazine Virtual Music Fest, and we all spent a lot of time looking to see if we had hit the right button, if we were live, if people were watching, and asking viewers if everything sounded okay. In the weeks and months since, I think we started to figure things out. I believe Ilithios was the first I saw who just shut up and put on a great show. Since then, I’ve tried to make our livestreams be more like a real performance and less like my dad trying to use the internet.
We also always try and partner a livestream with an organization or label/blog/venue (BandsDoBK, Ms. Understood Records, Songwriters Salon, etc.) as a vehicle to raise money or awareness for something we care about. Gillian Visco (Shadow Monster) and I came up with a super fun weekly music hangout stream idea called #TagnSplit that’s been touring around the community for a few weeks now. We got some stuff we are working on with Bloodless Management, Street Wannabes, as well as some live podcasts in Staten Island and Philadelphia and St.Louis. And this Tuesday night 6/2, Nihiloceros is going live on Radio Free Brooklyn to play some songs and talk about ways we can all help out.
AF: You’re an essential worker and still commute to your job everyday. How has navigating the city been during this time and has the experience changed your perspective of New York City?
MB: Taking the subway into the city everyday amidst the pandemic has definitely been an experience I won’t soon forget. It’s been a constantly evolving situation that I’ve witnessed ranging from terrifying to extremely heartwarming. On one side there’s the Mad Max post-apocalyptic Manhattan streets and the homeless camp territory wars on the subways. But at the same time I see a heightened sense of care and humanity as we reach out and help one another, and as we take responsibility to safely share our limited social spaces. The other day, a stranger pulled over and got out of her car to give me her canvas bag and helped me gather my groceries that had fallen, broken eggs all over the sidewalk, and humus that rolled into the street. This pandemic has had a real polarizing effect, but it has reaffirmed my perspective of NYC and everything that defines it. Everything great and everything awful about this city will still be here after this crisis is over. And that’s kind of comforting to me. Though hopefully we carry forward a little more of the good than we do the awful.
AF: What do you think life in NYC as a musician will be like post-lockdown?
MB: I think humans have a short memory and an amazing ability to adapt and pivot. That can be both a good and bad thing. We are extremely resilient, but we often don’t learn from missteps and end up repeating the same mistakes. I think our communities will make some adjustments as we ease back into our new normal. I don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like. It might be a little while before moshing, crowd-surfing, and hugs make a huge comeback. People are itching to get back out into our creative outlets and social circles, but we are also justifiably apprehensive. It will just take time.
I hope we learn to appreciate what matters a little more, both in and out of music. Maybe we won’t feel the need to scramble all over each other all the time. Maybe we can slow down and enjoy the process a little more. This has been a unique opportunity to reset who we are as artists and who we are as people. It’s an opportunity to rebuild the community the way we want it built. I really hope we continue to build each other up and come to appreciate the journey rather than the destination.
AF: Is Nihiloceros planning to release any new music in 2020?
MB: That’s the million dollar question right now, and I really don’t know the answer. Our new record was almost finished before the pandemic hit. Alex and I had been in the studio writing and recording and it with Chris Gilroy, who drummed with us on the record before German joined the band. We are super proud of it, and were already extremely eager to release it. But as a band that defines themselves so heavily on their live show, it just doesn’t feel right to put it out there without the ability to play and tour on it properly. We’ve had to push both our Summer and Fall 2020 tour plans, so we may hold off on releasing it until we have a better idea of what the future of live music looks like.
I’ve been losing a lot of sleep over this the past few months. We still have to get Stephanie Gunther (Desert Sharks) and Gillian Visco (Shadow Monster) into the studio to do some vocals on a couple songs once it’s safe. Maybe we’ll release a song later this year, and release two records in 2021 since we’ve already started writing new songs.
RSVP HERE for Mike of Nihiloceros livestream on Radio Free Brooklyn’s Instagram 8pm Tuesday 6/2.
Ana Asnes Becker has been a staple in the Brooklyn music scene for quite some time now. Like many of our interviewees, Ana is quite Renaissance woman: beauty, brains, a big personality, and loads of talent. A few years ago, she left her job at The Wall Street Journal to pursue her music career full time. You have most likely heard Ana shredding up a storm with the vocals to match it on stage with garage stars Fruit & Flowers, or on their debut release Drug Tax. She has also whipped up some wicked guitar lines with post-punk heroes Big Bliss, dream poppers Holy Tunics, The Hum series, and in a few guest sets with Sharkmuffin. Ana is also an excellent illustrator and graphic designer. In the midst of all these projects, Ana picked up an additional role: adoring cat mom. And Ana just launched a new musical endeavor: CATTY.
AF: Please introduce us to your kitty!
AB: This is Bruce Squiggleman Kittowitz! He’s almost a year old, and super-affectionate. He’s a purr machine with a huge personality. He loves to snuggle, play fetch, steal human food, chase a laser, run the length of the apartment and back at full zoomy speed, and drink from the bathroom sink. Whenever Tim or I comes home he greets us at the door and meows at us until we give him hugs. He’s an excellent conversationalist. He sleeps next to my head every night. He’s Jewish, like his mom, and we’re looking forward to giving him a bar mitzvah when he turns 13 (which is around 2 in cat years).
Bruce with his namesake. All photos courtesy Ana Asnes Becker.
AF: Did Bruce choose you or did you choose him? How did he come to be a part of your family?
AB: Tim [of Big Bliss] and I went to an adoption event in Union Square, flirting with the idea of adopting a cat. It was set up like a green market, except instead of fruit and vegetable stands there were rows and rows of stands from different pet adoption agencies, each with kittens and/or puppies. It was an unseasonably balmy day in September, and the animals were in cramped cages, in close quarters, in a very noisy, hot, and stressful place, getting poked and prodded. Most of the cats were VERY grumpy, understandably so. We walked around and held our hands out to kitties to sniff to try to make friends, but most of them just wanted to be left alone. When we came over to Bruce’s cage and I held out my hand, he sauntered right over and put his little paw in my palm. And then he did the same with Tim. We fell in love right away. He was the chillest little dude, totally unbothered, with such a sweet temperament. Also, Tim’s all-time favorite superhero is Batman, and Bruce, then named “Midnight,” had “I am the night, I am Batman” on the back of his name tag. We took it as a sign. (And then after some deliberation renamed him Bruce after Bruce Wayne.)
AF: Did you have pets growing up?
AB: I had a golden retriever named Jessie at my dad’s house, and a cat named Herman at my mom’s house. I miss them both. Jessie was the best. Excitable and kind of dumb and just a big ol’ fuzzy love bucket. Herman was my homeboy. He was declawed in the front (before we adopted him) and he still managed to be quite a formidable hunter.
AF: When did you start playing music and what was your inspiration to start?
AB: I got my first guitar for an early 14th birthday present from my dad. He was a guitarist – never did it professionally but he was an incredible player. I was a freshman in high school, and he had just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. I wanted to learn to play so that I’d have something to connect me to him after he died. It worked. I also wanted to impress a boy. That part didn’t work.
Ana on the road with Big Bliss.
AF: What was your very first instrument?
AB: My first instrument, after recorder that is, was trombone. I got it for school band in 4th grade. Trombone was my first-pick instrument so I was super excited, but we quickly realized that my arms were too short to play it. So the school gave me a baritone… which is like a half-sized tuba. It was ridiculous. I swear they gave the smallest kid a huge instrument just for a laugh. I quit band as soon as I could.
AF: How did Fruit & Flowers come to be?
AB: Caroline and our original drummer Shaw came up with the name of the project and started jamming with the idea of starting a band. Caroline met our original rhythm guitarist Lyzi at a Sharkmuffin show and invited her to play. I was friends with Shaw, he’d seen my band City Mice so he knew I could play, and he invited me to come to a practice. The four of us got together as Fruit & Flowers and had to race to write and practice a set before our first show, which had already been booked, and was only a month away. After a few months Shaw went off to pursue career goals, and we were joined by the excellent Jose Berrio on drums. We’ve also recently added Claire Wardlaw on saxophone and synth. Fruit & Flowers owes so much to Sharkmuffin – you’ve helped us out so much along the way, and who knows what the band would’ve wound up like without you!
Fruit & Flowers rocking SXSW 2019 (Photo Credit: Natalie Kirch)
AF: I know Fruit & Flowers is a collaborative effort. Can you tell us about your writing process?
AB: Most of the time, songs start organically, from a riff or beat someone is playing in the practice space, and we build the songs from there. Lately I have also been bringing in some material that I’ve written on my own, and we’ve finished the songs up as a group.
AF: Can you tell us a little about your new project CATTY?
AB: Sure! It started by complete accident. Matt Sklar from Parrot Dream put together a band lottery on January 5th – an all-day endeavor wherein random bands were formed at noon by picking names out of a hat, and then everyone went off to write a couple of songs together, and then the bands regrouped to play a show that same night. I wound up in a group with Don Lavis, also from Parrot Dream, Manny Nomikos from Gracie Mansion, and Bryan Thornton from Holy Tunics. It was an EXTREMELY lucky match up. We enjoyed playing and writing together so much that we decided to keep it going!
AF: Is it safe to say you identify with cats as your spirit animal?
AB: Hmm, I think I’m personally more like a dog than like a cat, but I could be wrong about that. Maybe something like a coyote or fox (canine but with some cat-like qualities). Or a starling. Jose says llama, because I’ve recently become very attached to a stuffed animal llama that I made Tim buy me in Austin for $5. I named it Brimothy, Bruce + Timothy, because those are the boys I miss most.
AF: You are on the road with Fruit & Flowers right now. Any funny stories to share?
AB: We were just driving on the way from Austin to Santa Fe, and we saw a church van next to us. Caroline wondered aloud if maybe it was a band that had rented the church van, and we waved at them. Sure enough, a couple of minutes later, she got a phone call from her friend Sam: “Am I on acid, or are you driving next to a church van right now?” The van was not only holding a band, but a band of Caroline’s buds. That was pretty surreal. We haven’t been on tour long enough yet for the really ridiculous situations to start accumulating. Any day now!
AF: Any past tour escapades?
AB: Where do I even start?!?!
Fruit & Flowers pitstop in the deserts of the USA to pose with their tour bus Sylvia.
AF: Where can we catch you on the way back up from SXSW?
AB: Fruit & Flowers is heading to Treefort fest in Boise, Idaho, then doing a run down the west coast.
AF: If Bruce was a musician, what instrument would he play?
AB: Hmm, maybe the recorder, because he’s still a little kid in cat years.
AF: What genre of music do you think Bruce would write?
AB: Lullabies.
AF: What is your favorite song about (non-human) animals?
AB: “Blackbird,” by The Beatles. It’s usually my general favorite song, regardless of non-human associations.
AF: Have you ever written a song about (non-human) animals?
AB: I wrote a series of songs about Greco-Roman mythology, through the eyes of the women in the myths. Those involved a couple of odd transformations, monsters, and other non-human creatures. I think that’s about as close as I’ve gotten to writing a song about animals.
AF: What do you miss the most about Bruce when you are on tour?
AB: I miss his fuzzy fuzzy cuddly face and his little paws and his expressive meows and his fluffy belly and his sweet head nuzzles and scratchy kitty kisses and the way he hugs your hand if you pet him while he’s sleepy. When Tim or I are home he is like our shadow, always following us from room to room, next to us or under our feet. I miss that special Brucey brand of loving companionship.
AF: Does he have any favorite foods?
AB: Bruce’s favorite food is whatever Tim or I happen to be eating at any given moment.
AF: What is on the horizon for CATTY and Fruit & Flowers when you return from tour?
AB: Fruit & Flowers’ homecoming show is on 4/10 at Our Wicked Lady, with Veronica Bianqui and Miranda & the Beat. Catty is playing Sharkmuffin’s EP release show on 4/5 at Alphaville, with Gustaf and Haybaby, and we can’t wait!
Touring is eventful and exciting, but the days eventually begin to blend together. Venues and bands blur, and people’s names are the last thing that will stick in your mind. It’s best to appoint a member of the band to take photos and/or journal your time on the road, or even bring along a tour photographer just for that purpose! We chatted with tour photographer Steven Anselm, who takes amazing candids, about his advice for the aspiring tour photographer.
“If you are in this for wealth and fame, quit. Money and recognition won’t sustain you when, buzzing 4 AM on a dim highway between low-frequency towns you question the meaning of music and every decision you have ever made. They will not buy answers to doubts that wake you up with too little sleep, too few reassurances, and too many fights—late again, may or may not be a real problem; bad show, may or not be a real problem; new lover, may or may not be real.
You will be there as relationships fall apart and new ones form. And you will find new friends in ideas that have little to do with music but everything to do with that singular purpose: say something or at least be there. With ears ringing at the party that goes on so long you doubt you should stay, remember you are there to document as it dips into distress, climaxes at the after-party, and exhales heavy into the aftermath.
As for the practicalities of one day to the next: be decent, have empathy, get close, listen well, wear black, use earplugs, add keywords, read books, and know when to put the camera away. No one with a thought worth hearing cares about your photo machine.”
These photos are part of a series that began in 2016 documenting Brooklyn-based band Fruit & Flowers:
All Photos by Steven Anselm
More tips for documenting your tour experience…
Keep a tour diary: Long tours can feel monotonous since every day is similar to the last one. If you keep a record of your experiences it will break apart the trip and help you remember weird and interesting happenings in each city, potential contacts in various cities, and so forth.
Photos: You’ll be taking photos for Instagram anyway – might as well take more for your own private collection. Be sure to back them up somewhere as well.
Film/Physical Photos: If you’re feeling nostalgic it’s nice to bring a Polaroid or disposable camera. You can print out photos from your phone for relatively cheap at Walgreens and other drugstores. My bandmates like to make scrapbooks of photos taken throughout the year – it’s a great way to look back!
Recording your set: Some venues can record your sets from the board, and you can even bring your own camera to set up by the stage to film yourself. It’s really nice to have an archive of where you’ve been and how you played.
Chris and Amy Dickman of Jersey Shore Indie label Little Dickman Records have been taking good care of bands in Austin for five years now. Their unofficial events showcase badass touring bands from all over the country as well as the bands with releases on their label. We talked to them about how the festival has changed over the years, the challenges of being a promoter at SXSW and why they keep coming back.
AF: Tell us about your showcases and some of the bands you’re most excited to see this year.
LD: This year is our 5th year in Austin throwing unofficial SXSW Rock or Die showcases and we can’t believe it! We have two unofficial showcases and six bands we have worked with are OFFICIAL SXSW showcasing artists this year! That’s huge.
We are stoked for Wednesday 3/15, Hard Luck Lounge, nine bands, including Stuyedeyed, Grim Streaker, Pink Mexico, Ex-Girlfriends, Dentist, Gustaf, Old Lady, John Wesley Coleman III, and Shred Flinstone.
Saturday we are teaming up with our favorite friends over at CoolDad Music and Garden State Beardos to bring a killer Day party to Valhalla w/ The Gloomies, Dentist, Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires, BOYTOY, Kino Kimino, High Waisted, Sharkmuffin, Honduras & Fruit & Flowers.
AF: What’s your favorite food truck at SXSW?
LD: This is gonna sound very lazy, but every year I find one I like, and I either forget the name of it or I remember and when I come back the next year it’s in a totally different place (maybe ’cause its a food TRUCK?) so I don’t make it back. But at least we are finding a new one every year. Just a few I remember: Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ, Tapas Bravas, the killer breakfast taco truck that used to be on East 6th but now I can’t find….
AF: How did you get started booking showcases at SXSW? Why do you keep coming back?
LD: We just decided to go for it and take the chance. Even though no one really knew us yet, we didn’t care – we wanted to get out and be a part of something, so we said F-it and it paid off! We met many wonderful people down there. If we hadn’t started going our lives would be much different.
AF: What are your favorite and least favorite SXSW memories? Does it get easier or more difficult booking and taking care of so many bands each year at SXSW?
LD: My least favorite memory is showing up to a venue and them not having a sound system when we were told they had a top of the line system, so the fall out that happened after that wasn’t my fav.
A great memory was asking INVSN with Dennis Lyxzen of Refused to play and they showed up and put on a hell of a surprise show! Also, getting to meet the Mrs. Magician dudes. I think just getting to hang and see people we’ve worked with play great shows is the best feeling ever.
AF: How has the festival changed over the years and what would you like to see more or less of this year or in the future?
LD: The first year we were there it had HUGE acts – I think it was the year Lady Gaga, Kanye, etc. were there. I think it had gotten out of hand. There was also a bad accident that killed someone. Since then I have seen it become a little more more up-and-coming acts instead of trying to pack in the big names, which obviously feels better to us. It also gotten warmer each year….we will see what happens this year!
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Caro reads about her next tour date in Rolling Stone. Photo by Jose Berrio
While I was dancing around my middle school bedroom screaming into a hairbrush dreaming of my future rock stardom, I had no idea how many spreadsheets and e-mails I would have to send to make it happen. Even after you’ve spent hours in front of your laptop booking your tour, it’s not over yet. You may already be a rock star, but now it’s time to make sure the world (or at least the cities you’re touring to) know just how much of a rock star you are! It’s time for the insanely tedious task of tour press.
In college I was lucky enough to intern at Girlie Action and learn how to do basic press for my band Sharkmuffin to help us get off the ground, and I have also done some freelance PR for friends’ bands under the name Sugarmama Bk. It’s frustrating, time consuming, and lonely sending hundreds of emails into the black hole of the internet in hopes of getting even one response. When I hit a wall with my contacts and had some extra funds, Sharkmuffin was able to work with some amazing publicists like Melissa at Citybird PR, Jillian (now at Big Hassle) & Meijin (Rocker Stalker) at EIPR and Debbie at Girlie Action who have helped build the band’s reputation and get more people out to our shows over the years. Here are some of their thoughts on how to do tour promotion successfully.
“My advice is do your research. Find out who is writing about bands you enjoy/tour with/respect. Follow them on socials to get to know them even more – many of them will have their email address in their bio! Only use one platform to contact them, and email is always best. In your email, have as much information as possible without being too wordy. Make sure your subject line is informative. Do not follow up right away – give the writers/editors time to ingest the music. Don’t follow up too much. Silence might equal a pass. Most importantly, treasure/respect even the small blogs!” – Deb Pressman, Girlie Action
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Jillian Santella of Big Hassle Media
“I’d say that for a band going on the road, if you’re really looking to elevate and make an impact, hiring a publicist is really helpful. Numerous reasons, the most important one being that you want to be able to focus on the music! It can be so daunting to try to do it all, and often when you spread yourself too thin, everything starts to suffer, including your health. And we all know how hard – and important! – it is to stay healthy on the road. Also, we already have a lot of relationships and knowledge of the market.
If it’s a situation where working with a publicist isn’t in the cards, I think the most important thing is to bring your A-game to every opportunity. Treat everything, even an interview with a small local blog, like it’s the cover of Rolling Stone. Treat everyone like they’re Jimmy Fallon, every performance opp (local TV, online sessions, etc.) like it’s your late night debut. Be kind and gracious. Introduce yourself to absolutely everyone – bloggers, influencers, interns! Don’t believe the ‘nice guys finish last’ thing.
All in all, hustle. Take care of yourself, rock your ass off, make enough noise and people will start to pay attention. “ – Jillian Santella, Big Hassle Media
Sugar Mama Bk Tour Promotion Tips
DIY Tour Press
Research: Find all the newspapers, blogs, and zines in each city you’re heading to and find the writers that cover music that is similar to yours. Stalk them and find their e-mails (usually on the ‘contact’ page).
Press Kit: Consists of your band’s photo, bio, music/video links, social media links, tour dates. Check out this example of Sharkmuffin’s presser for handy reference!
Canned E-mail: Create a template e-mail pitch that has blank spaces for the writer’s name (“Hey ___”), the name of the publication you’re pitching to and the Date/Venue/City you’re playing in to fill in accordingly. Include a summarized version of your press kit in the body of the e-mail. Try to make these messages as personalized (and as brief) as possible. Writers and editors get hundreds of emails every day so do not be offended if they don’t respond!
Know what you’re pitching for. The types of coverage a blog will do can vary, but generally speaking they’ll fall into one of several categories…
Feature: One page or longer on the band, usually includes an interview and/or photo shoot, for which you’re responsible for setting up and making happen. Should pitch 3-4 weeks before show.
Profile: Longer than a paragraph about the artist, can include an interview/quote from the artist, also use as a preview for the show. Should pitch 2-3 weeks before the show.
Preview: More than one sentence about the artist that includes a listing for the show, usually with a photo. Previews can also be linked to features/profiles/mp3 or album reviews.
Reviews: A review of your last release or the release you’re touring around, alongside the date you’re playing in their city.
Live Reviews: A review of your live set – you can invite writers to your show and give them a guest list spot.
Local Radio: Same rules apply for research. You can pitch to have an interview or play an in-studio performance on their show, for them to talk about your show and give away tickets, or to just play one of your songs.
Timing
One month before your tour: Send an e-mail blast announcing your dates to give everyone a heads up. Sometimes you’ll get responses right away!
Personalized follow-ups start about a week later (3 weeks before your tour).
Guest Lists: Usually sent to the venue prior to the show for writers and/or photographers who are interested in doing a live review of your set. Try to also set up an interview with them. Aside from press, guest spots are generally reserved for family members or whoever your bandmate is trying to fuck.
Even if you’re not handling press entirely on your own, you can still be proactive about promotion. Here are some additional tips to keep in mind even if you’ve got help from a professional PR team.
Advancing Shows: Know your schedule (load in, set times, backline) and find out about the other bands playing so you can tag everyone. Make friends with the bands you’re sharing a bill with in advance and make sure they’re inviting their friends, since that will be the main draw you’ll have in a town you’ve never been before.
Social Media: Have your tour dates as easily accessible as possible. Put them on your website, Facebook, Twitter, and Bands in Town (or any other touring app). Make sure that there is a Facebook event for each show and a Facebook event that links all the other events for the entire tour. Promote each show on all your social outlets in advance.
Tour Poster: Is someone in your band a graphic designer? Have them or one of your artistic friends make a poster with all your dates. Print a limited amount on nice card stock to sell on the road and/or print paper ones with space at the bottom to write in the specific date of the specific show to mail to each venue so they can hang them up in the bathroom or window or wherever their regular patrons will see it.
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Poster by Jose Berrio of Fruit & Flowers
Be nice to your Publicist: If you have the privilege of a budget and can hire a publicist, understand that it’s a ton of work and be respectful and grateful for them. Try not to have crazy expectations. Especially for new bands on their first tour, appreciate every single person that will cover you no matter what the size of the outlet. Try not to get upset with your publicist; they love you and have the best intentions. Remember they’re dealing with the endless void of Internet media and are trying their absolute best for you and your career.
Promoting Press: Don’t forget to promote whatever press, regardless of how small, on all of your social media channels and thank every writer and blog and credit every photographer. Keep in touch! Gratitude really does make a difference.
Vanessa Silberman is nothing less than a super human. She has been on the road since January, totaling about ten tours solo, as a two piece with LA transplant via Madison drummer Dave Boson, and as a three piece (the Vanessa Silverman Band) featuring Reed Mullin of Corrosion of Conformity and musician/producer Mikel Ross. She’s also toured as a two piece with Jimmy Dias of San Francisco band The Love Dimension, featuring their friends and different musicians from around the country.
Silberman only took one week off to record a band in Chicago in February (she’s also an engineer/producer!) and also a few weeks off to write and do pre-production work. Of her 200 shows this year (including TV/radio/press ops), for 75 of them Silberman was on double duty playing drums for The Love Dimension and for a few of those shows she even played a third set backing Boston rocker Carissa Johnson.
Top 3 Cities: That’s hard!! Ok right now Los Angeles, Shreveport & Boston
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: Buckeys, Wawa, Cumberland Farms, Loves, Panera Bread, Chipotle
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
There are so so many crazy things that happen on tour… My top crazy story and positive outcome was probably when me and Jimmy played in El Paso and had to get to Fort Worth for a show the next night so we had to drive after the show. We were driving, I fell as sleep and at about 5am Jimmy woke me up and noticed something wrong with the van (it wasn’t going past 50 miles an hour). We ended up finding a mechanic a few hours away in the middle of Texas (praying the car would get there as we drove), slept a few hours til they opened and found out the whole engine needed to be replaced but they couldn’t get the engine ordered and received til four days later. There was no place to rent a car in the entire town! We couldn’t believe it. So we had no choice but to drive the van on the highway as slow as we could and pray we could get to the nearest town with a car rental, leave the van to be fixed and come back and get it. Amazingly we did and just barely made our Fort Worth show (we were supposed to open but instead closed the night!) and then played four other shows the next few days in Texas. We drove back East after the car was fixed and just made it to our Houston show. We never missed one show or had to cancel!
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
I love connecting with people, fans and other artists on a very intimate level when it’s smaller DIY shows. The connection is so direct. It’s also absolutely one of the most fulfilling things I have ever felt because I pretty much do everything myself (booking, driving, marketing, social media, performing, etc.) on my solo tours. When you do it alone, at least for me, I find a belief in my music, in what I do. I’m willing to drive any amount of miles and put in any amount of work to share that. I feel empowered and I hope other artists read this and know if they’re willing to put in the work they can tour too!
The least favorite thing is at times it’s a bit difficult to balance other things in your life – personal time, personal care and relationships – because the work load is unreal, especially if you are constantly touring. It’s such a particular lifestyle and most people aren’t willing to put in the work and you really notice it when you play with other artists around the country when you tour so much. But I’m so grateful and feel lucky every day that I can do this.
Vanessa Silberman Tour Tips
For bands who are just starting out, start with weekend runs around where you live. I recommend planning a tour three months in advance; if you’re gonna do your own press, announce shows four or five weeks in advance. For more info and touring tips, indieonthemove.com is a great touring database, and you can also check out my artist development label Adiamondheartproduction.com.
The Accidentals (MI)
187 shows
30 weeks
The Accidentals have averaged about 240 shows a year for the past 3 years, but even after chilling out a little bit they still are the second highest DIY touring band on this list! They’ve hit every state in the U.S. except Hawaii and Alaska, finding and developing their audiences where their music resonates the most. It takes a while to find where a new band’s biggest support will be and The Accidentals are touring smart by hitting the places who demand them the most!
Top 3 Cities: That’s a tough question. We have more than three. If we had to choose though, it’d be Denver, Grand Rapids, and Chicago. We kind of have homes away from home in those cities and people very organically support live music and turn out for our shows. They also have really great restaurants (the food is important to us). The venues in those cities feed us well! Phoenix, Albany, Ann Arbor, Seattle, Boston, Austin, Columbus, Fort Wayne would be in the top ten.
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: Every time we see a Sheetz, everyone in the van collectively cheers. They have decent sandwiches and coffee in the dead of night. As far as fast food is concerned, we try to avoid it. We let ourselves have ONE Taco Bell stop for the entire tour. One really great thing about our fans is that they know we are really trying to stay well on a 70 day tour so they’ll send us Panera gift cards and Whole Foods cards in the mail…so we’ve seen a lot of Panera and Whole Foods – thankful for that.
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
We have put 230,000 miles on Black Betty in the last three years. On the last tour she broke down 4 times and we lost our brand new trailer. The craziest breakdown was at the peak of Vail pass, an hour and half from Denver, at midnight. We stopped to cool down before heading down the mountain pass and the van computer shut down the vehicle completely due to overheating. We lost all the power (including the lights). There were semi-trucks flying by us 70mph and they couldn’t see us, because we were in a black van in the middle of the night with no lights. Luckily, we got ahold of a 24 foot bed tow truck, and the driver stuffed all 7 of us (band and crew) into the cab, with the van and trailer and all our gear on the bed and flew down the mountain at 85mph scaring the crap out of our tour manager in the bucket seat. We made it to Denver at 2:30am and then proceeded to drop the van at a GMC dealership to get fixed, only to be swarmed by police who thought we were stealing our own van! We finally made it to our host home an hour or so later. Thankfully, our “host mom” made us pizza and gave our manager tequila (at that point, she really needed it).
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
Touring is living in extremes all the time. The best part is definitely traveling the country, seeing amazing landscapes and meeting amazing people. It really allows us the opportunity to experience things we’d never get to do if we didn’t play music full time. Our least favorite things about touring are gas station bathrooms and missing time with people back home. We exist on the opposite schedule of everyone we love, and it can be really hard to maintain your relationships along with keeping yourself emotionally, physically and mentally healthy on and off the road. In the end, it’s really important to prioritize, balance, and manage your time wisely.
Here’s a comprehensive bullet list of things you’ll need to bring on tour and prepare ahead of time.
EZ Pass – so your van can fly through those tolls with no time to waste.
GPS – because we’re directionally challenged.
Hotel Chain Memberships – so you can get hotels for a discount or rack up points.
AAA Roadside – 8 breakdowns on the last tour. We’re on a first-name basis with them now.
Neck pillow
Podcasts – We recommend Song Exploder, RadioLab, 99% Invisible, and Meet the Composer.
Books – Start reading a book on the road and make sure you still have some chapters left of it when you get home. It builds consistency from one part of your life to the other.
Waze App – This app will show you what kind of construction work and traffic jams are along the route.
Expedia App – Adding up these points will get you flight/hotel discounts.
AirBNB – Homes away from home!
Trip Advisor – They always list the coolest restaurants.
Google Maps – Just in case your GPS stops being nice or you’re in Canada.
Water bottles – It’s good to have one that you can use over and over, but just in case you lose it, keep a 24 pack of extra waters in the van.
Protein bars
Some sort of multi-tool – Mine is one I got for $10 at a Cracker Barrel in Pennsylvania. It has a hammer on it!
Some general advice: Book your hotels before midnight. Advance your shows a week out. Check the venues’ websites to make sure your times are right, and to find out who was booked alongside you. Carve out some sight-seeing. Be honest with each other. Ask for what you need.
(Interview by Sav Buist)
The Coax (MN/NY)
116 Shows
18 Weeks
I met The Coax and their incredible purple velvet tour van this year at SXSW. They came to all the Little Dickman Records showcases, stayed on the ranch in Austin with us, and soon after they released a split 7″ with High Waisted on LDR and did another massive six week tour. These guys are the sweetest down-to-Earth dudes who will play slap the bag around a camp fire any day.
Top 3 Cities:We have been fortunate enough to have more cities that we enjoy playing than cities that we don’t. I think New York, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis are the big three for us, but we have met some of the most amazing people in unassuming towns like Lawrence, KS, Fayetteville, AR, Sioux Falls, SD, Saratoga Springs, NY, Springfield, MO, Denton, TX.
Favorite gas station and fast food chain:Wawa takes the cake on this one. The buffalo chicken mac and cheese has fueled us through quite a few night drives.
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
I feel like all of the (negative) crazy stuff happened to us in our first year of touring. We were a little more reckless then. Not so experienced on the road. I think it’s crazy how many awesome bands we got to see and become friends with this year. The number of towns we got to explore that we’ve never been to. The amount of burritos we ate. We saw the Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf of Mexico, and Lake Superior… twice! We went to five different Six Flags. We played right AFTER King Gizzard at Mohawk in ATX. Now, that’s fucking crazy.
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
The best thing about DIY touring is definitely the intimacy. It’s all about the hang. I feel like that is something that is missed on the bigger stage. The relationships you make with fans, promoters, and other bands doing it yourself are incredibly valuable and satisfying.
The worst thing about DIY touring is definitely being broke. That shit sucks.
The Coax Touring Tips
Work hard. Don’t give up. Make it happen. If it’s truly what you love to do then you will find a way. Sleep in the van. Get dirty. Make sacrifices. Make friends. Make rad music. Drink Hamms.
It’s no secret Fruit & Flowers are my buds. We went on tour together last February with my band Ex-Girlfriends, driving from Brooklyn to California in less than four days, touring up the West Coast and then driving straight from our final show in Seattle, WA to Austin, TX (I got off the bus is LA), only making one stop for the night at their drummer’s sister’s house in San Francisco. They’re the only band on this list that is also on Oh My Rockness’ Hardest Working Bands in NYC of 2017 list, which seems like an impossible feat.
Top 3 Cities: Ana Becker: Other than New York? I’d say Athens, GA, Toronto, and either Nashville or Chicago.
Jose Berrio: Austin is also really fun.
Caroline Yoder: Athens Certainly. Nashville has its moments. Chicago. Canada, at large.
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: AB: Favorite gas station chain is Love’s – one time I left my wallet in one, and they found it and mailed it back to me, everything still inside!
CY: Not a big fast food person. Does Waffle House count? Definitely Waffle House. We can usually make Subway or Taco Bell work in desperate measures. Gas stations in old towns are the best. Any gas station with coffee and a decent bathroom must not go unappreciated.
Lyzi Wakefield: Allsups has the best burritos.
JB: My favorite gas stations are always the smaller ones, usually surrounded by trees or old houses in the middle of nowhere. I particularly remember one in a tiny solitary town called Blakesburg, in Iowa. Great characters.
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
AB: I’m sure I’m forgetting many crazy moments, but the one that sticks out the most in my memory is when I made a cop shake my hand in the middle of the night in Oklahoma. I won’t get into the surrounding circumstances, but that was a REALLY close call.
LW: Night swimming in Athens. Driving from San Fran to Austin without rest.
JB: Somebody stole my backpack with a lot of stuff in it (including my passport) at a SXSW show. The next day a random woman messaged me on Facebook claiming she had found my passport. We set a meeting at a gas station on a highway near to where I was and I got it back.
Also, on our West Coast Tour the drummer of the other band we were touring with quit in the middle of the trip, so I had to fill in for the remaining shows. It was fun.
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
AB: I have so many favorite things. I love the feeling of freedom, and when it’s all going well, feeling like the band is a team and that together we can do anything. Something about seeing a road stretched out ahead is very inspiring in that way. I love playing music in a new city every night, the people you meet, and the special bonds you form that way. My least favorite thing is the significant strain on my mental health. It also makes me sad to be apart from my partner.
LW: Favorite: we do it by our own standards and terms. Seeing old friends across the country. Least favorite: it’s almost impossible to make $$.
JB: I like the uncertainty of not always knowing where you are going to sleep. That usually leads to meeting super nice people and seeing really cool places. Least favorite thing is, as Lyzi said, how hard it is to make money.
AB: Eat some vegetables occasionally and attempt to exercise. Keep journals. Read books in the van instead of messing around on facebook. Don’t freak out. Check the spreadsheet!!!
JB: If you have an analogue camera, make sure to check if it has batteries before you start taking photos. Last tour I shot four rolls that came out blank after developing. Also, as Ana said, keep journals. Make copies of important documents and put them in safe places (in case somebody steals your backpack).
CY: Go to a good grocery store and stock up on necessary food and beer. Keep extra pillows, batteries, tools and blankets handy. Change the oil on time. Have a decent stereo and listen to good podcasts and explore fresh music, new and old.
LW: Maintain a good attitude. Read. Take your space if you need it. Do your own thing now and again.
High Waisted
Over 100 Shows
10 Weeks
I was lucky enough to catch High Waisted and The Coax play their the final show of a six-week run together in Saratoga Springs, NY at a small jazz bar called One Caroline. The last day of tour can sometimes be the worst – everyone is exhausted, possibly sick of each other and eager to get home. Even if this were the case, it didn’t affect their fun, high-energy show one bit. They play 100% no matter what. This really comes as no surprise as they’ve been named the ‘Best Party Band’ by GQ and host an annual rock ‘n’ roll booze cruise in NYC that is highly recommended!
Top 3 Cities: We love Austin, D.C. and Chicago. But our favorite state is Ohio!
Favorite Gas Station & Fast Food Chain: I have an unhealthy love for Taco Bell and they have options for all dietary needs. Wawas are the best gas stations!
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
We were never late and managed to stay healthy and happy. But there were other memorable moments. We retired our first tour van after 350,000 miles, we watched the sunset sitting on top of a giant dune in white sands, we saw a man get arrested for assault in Texas, we spent two days in a double-wide trailer in Kentucky when our van broke down (thanks to the kindness of strangers), we went skinny dipping in the Pacific Ocean for my birthday, we survived getting hit by another car going 70 mph at dawn in Alabama and we drove through Death Valley in the summer with no AC.
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
My favorite thing is the faith we place in strangers all over the country. Tour is one big trust fall. Perhaps I’m jaded but the kindness and support we’re met with will never cease to amaze me. My least favorite thing about DIY touring is the lack of accountability. If a venue owner or promoter is a total sleazebag there’s not really a network in place to protect you or other bands from facing the same bad fortune.
High Waisted Tour Tips
Bring a cooler and grocery shop. Always have baby wipes and paper towels in the van. Use sites like Priceline to score cheap hotels after shows – bonus if you can book ones with pools and hot tubs. Always bring valuable gear in overnight or have someone sleep in the van. Don’t travel with drugs. Don’t drink and drive.
Pre-download movies and albums to your phone for dead zones. Make yourself read and write every day. Be kind to your bandmates even if you’re cranky – the group morale is always more important than your own. Put the group first and they’ll take care of you. Play every show at 100%, even if there’s only eight people watching – they still deserve your best performance. Treat tour like vacation; find fun things to sightsee in every town so your days are more than just time spent in bars. Take photos and keep a journal. Lastly, stay grateful and appreciative of your opportunity.
(Interview by Jessica Dye)
A Deer A Horse (NYC)
99 Shows Booked and 95 Played
(4 cancellations due to Hurricanes Irma and Harvey)
16 Weeks
I met A Deer A Horse in 2016 in Nashville during the peak of my mid-tour drunken meltdown triggered by leaving my tote bag with my wallet and everything else important to me inside of it at a gas station somewhere between Georgia and Tennessee (which was later sent to my mom’s house by a good samaritan). A Deer A Horse’s music is dark, sludgy and serious but by hanging out with them that night and the following day they helped to cheer me up and pull me out of that unhappy situation. Thanks guys!
Top 3 Cities: We have 4 because we’re too keen….
Austin, TX: it’s a great scene filled with close friends. The audiences are always massively supportive, and they really seem dedicated and attentive.
Chicago, IL: one of the best scenes in US with crazy spaces to play. You can definitely feel a unique scene when you’re there, which isn’t always the case in big cities.
Norfolk, VA: a hidden gem for us. The audiences are always amazing and supportive, and we’ve made a lot of good friends there since we played our first gig in town.
St. Louis, MO: STL feels like a city on fire. It’s a city that really comes together in hard times. The city is going through a lot of internal struggles, but when you’re there you feel like part of the scene, which feels like one big family.
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: For gas stations, Tim Horton’s in Canada is a rad hoser delicacy. For food, we normally buy groceries at Trader Joe’s or local markets/co-ops to save money and eat healthy. But we did drunkenly indulge, once or twice, in Taco Bell – except Dylan who was probably eating trail mix.
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
It was like the Forrest Gump/current events tour of 2017. We were on the West Coast for the wildfires, in Salem, Oregon for the solar eclipse, Texas for Hurricane Harvey, Florida for Hurricane Irma, and St. Louis for widespread protests against rampant police brutality/corruption.
We also camped at Saddlehorn Canyon at Colorado National Monument. It is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places we have ever been. We also got to swim in the most beautiful conditions at Pensacola Beach one day before Irma hit Florida. It was surreal – you would never have known a hurricane was looming just hours off the coast.
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
Our favorite is the research you get to do into all of the scenes around the country. You learn about so many bands/venues/cities you would never have known about otherwise and you make amazing friends.
Not including the excessive driving, our least favorite part is the sheer amount of work you have to do. You really have to do everything yourself and stay on top of people just to ensure every gig goes smoothly. It’s exhausting. It would be a dream to have a booking agent, but not having one will not stop us from setting up and going on the road.
A Deer A Horse Tour Tips
Do whatever you have to do stay healthy mentally and physically. Get a big cooler and buy groceries and avoid eating road/fast food. Get gym memberships (ours are with Planet Fitness) so you can work out (get those gains, bruh) and (ProTipAlert) utilize their *24 hour* shower services. Drink the booze in moderation or not at all most nights. And maybe most importantly, understand as a band that it’s important to have alone time on the road – take as much of it as you can, ideally outdoors, and you’ll love yourself and your bandmates more after doing it.
If you are at a place with your band where you want to start touring, start small. Do weekends and short 5-7 day regional tours in order to build a fanbase close to home. Slowly branch out to 2-3 week tours, a little further away each time. Do a lot of those so you get to know your own and your bandmates’ personal needs. If you have any personal issues, DO NOT let them fester. Talk about them immediately before you develop resentments!
Also, we have learned the hard way many times that the only way to get shit done is to do it yourself – this is where DIY really holds meaning. No one is going to book the tour for you. We no longer rely on anyone we don’t know very very well to set shows up for us. Since having this realization, booking has gone way more smoothly and we have had very few shows fall through.
The Big Drops
61 Shows
5 Weeks
Following the release of their debut album Time, Color, The Big Drops toured the U.S. and Canada, playing their fair share of hippie festivals, Sofar Sounds gigs, and duo sets. When I went to Canada to tour manage them, I was was quickly re-named tour ‘Mama-ger,’their drummer caught a bad cold and turned into ‘Baby Grandpa’ (poor Baby Grandma!) and an exceptionally friendly man driving an Ottawa mail truck hit the right side mirror off of my van. But I swear I had a great time…
Top 3 Cities: Savannah GA, Montreal Canada, Harrisonburg VA
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: Definitely Couche-Tard in Montreal. It’s a pretty off the chain, and has the best name of any gas station I’ve ever seen.
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
During MacRock Festival in Harrisonburg, we walked into a super smokey smoke machine basement bar to some sort of sexually charged jungle music, and saw the frontman wearing a hockey mask and revving a chainsaw. The show was immediately shut down as soon as we got there.
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
Being on tour is kind of like being on vacation. If you start working on your tour dates 3+ months in advance, you can typically just pick the cities you want to go to, and find a way to make a show happen there. Getting to experience new places via music is pretty awesome. If possible, try to set aside some time to enjoy the places you go!
Our least favorite thing about DIY touring is the amount of time and energy it takes to schedule, plan, and book all the dates yourself. You think, wouldn’t it be great if being in a band was all about being a musician?? But it is really rewarding to put together a good show, meet other cool bands and people who support your music.
The Big Drops Touring Tips
Tour is difficult for different people in different ways, so try to be extra considerate of your bandmates when on the road. Bring headphones, a book, something to keep you occupied while driving 5+ hours a day.
Getting sick on tour is no fun. Stay healthy! Don’t eat or drink too much garbage-y food. We usually bring a cooler packed with hummus, granola, nuts, apples, bananas, PB&J materials. Everyone in The Big Drops is pretty keen on eating raw garlic to keep us healthy and safe from estranged vampires.
Pack lightly, but bring extra socks. A small towel is useful for washing/ drying your face if you can’t take a shower. We also bring some essential oils like lavender or sage, so we emit a nice, pleasant odor.
(Interview by Greg & Vramshabouh)
Nihiloceros (NYC)
57 shows
4 weeks touring
Singer/guitarist Mike Borchardt of Nihiloceros is not only in one of the most hardworking touring bands, but is also the hardest working show-goer I’ve ever met. I see him at almost every show I attend, he takes 30+ photos of every band and then promptly uploads them to social media and tags everyone, helps promote shows when he can’t make them, and is super helpful in connecting touring musicians to other musicians/promoters/venues around the country when necessary. Thank you Mike, you’re awesome! This year his band transitioned from being Samantha (she’s dead) to Nihiloceros, released an EP, and in between being at every show possible in Brooklyn, also spent four weeks on the road.
Favorite Cities: Chicago IL, Philadelphia PA, Lawrence KS (and obviously Austin TX during SXSW)
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: Food in Canada it’s Tim Horton’s, in the U.S. it’s probably Taco Bell, though we seem to hit more Dunkin Donuts than anything else. For gas, it’s whatever is around right before we run outta gas. We do love those big truck stop gas stations that have fast food and big gift shops with silly souvenirs – great time to get out of the car and stretch your legs. I always make a point to stop at the Iowa80 outside of Des Moines and Mars Cheese Castle driving between Chicago and Milwaukee.
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
The craziest overall thing had to be our SAdpop tour in October where the 3 of us spent 2 weeks driving across the East Coast and Canada jammed into a Mini Cooper with all our stuff. That many miles stuck in a clown car will make everything crazy.
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
The hardest thing about any DIY tour is the actual booking of it yourself. We use all our vacation and sick days from work for touring, so we really gotta maximize our time. It takes a lot of time working with venues and bands, getting dates confirmed in a geographical route that makes sense to drive, while also trying to book it so you don’t end up with too many wasted days off.
The best part though is meeting new bands and making new fans, exploring new cities, being inspired by new people outside of NYC… and hopefully inspiring something in them as well.
Nihiloceros Touring Tips
If you can share a leg of your tour with another band that is more well known in the area, that can really help a lot with some of the logistics like routing, confirming venues and places to stay. That didn’t end up working out for us on this year’s tours, but we are sharing a stretch of shows in the U.S. and Canada with another band next year which we are pretty excited about.
Oftentimes tours take you across varying temperatures, so bring proper layers for the season, and that extra hoodie or jacket will be better suited on your body or in your lap than taking up wasted space in your bag. Get really good at packing your gear efficiently before you hit the road, and then it’ll be a breeze every night fitting everything in the car. Apart from that, drink way more water than you think you need to, bring plenty of Advil PM which will help you sleep when you do get a chance to crash, and will double assist for the aches that come with playing every night, lugging gear, sleeping on couches/floors, and being crammed in the car for long stretches of time.
(Interview by MikeBorchardt)
Giantology (Chicago)
50 Shows
12 Weeks
I mentioned Giantology in one of my first Check The Spreadsheet columns, because I was so impressed with how their bassist, Gina Davalle, basically just picked up the bass guitar and then decided to go on tour for three months without having any previous touring experience. I also love their space suits and weirdo glasses.
Top 3 Cities: Austin, Portland, and Atlanta
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: LOVES is my favorite gas station/truck stop. McDonald’s would definitely be our fast food chain of choice. McDonald’s was like our home in every city. We drank their coffee every morning and indulged in their free wifi.
What’s the craziest thing that happened to you on tour this year?
Honestly, I think the craziest thing is what did not happen. During 3 months on the road we never had any serious car troubles, or major set backs. I have heard so many touring horror stories, and being that this was my first tour I didn’t know what to expect. I was fully prepared for things to go awry and to get stranded somewhere in need of a mechanic. We were very lucky in that sense!
What is your most favorite and least favorite thing about DIY touring?
My favorite thing about DIY touring is meeting new people in every city, wether it be people at the shows or bands we played with, DIY touring would hardly be possible with out these people doing their part to keep their city’s music scene alive. We met a lot of great people, whom we now consider friends. I think the best thing about touring is getting to visit different cities, and getting to play shows every night.
My least favorite thing about DIY touring is the tole it took on me physically at times from eating too much fast food to sleeping in a van or on a floor every night, not getting quality sleep, it can leave you feeling pretty run down, and exhausted. Definitely, worth it though.
Giantology Tour Tips
Take care of yourself, sleep is so important. Get those hours in when you can!
Don’t drink too much before a show. It’s easy to drink a bit too fast when nervous. (i have learned this the hard way) It is a really shitty feeling to mess up during a show bc you got a little too drunk, but it’ll teach you your limits. Know your limits and stick to them.
Making friends and exchanging contact info with the bands you enjoy playing with is a great tool for booking future shows when looking to play in their city and vise versa. There are no booking agents or guarantees, DIY booking is all about reciprocity.
Do your research before buying a tour van! Take care of said tour van, for with out it, none of this is possible. Sign up for AAA, keep up with oil changes, etc. Always remember where you parked it, don’t stray too far away from it, or leave it unattended for very long.
Leave enough driving time in between shows to account for the unexpected, or spontaneous adventures.
Always play to your best ability even if you’re playing for only a couple of people.
Look out for your bandmates.
(Interview by Gina Davalle)
Ramonda Hammer (LA)
54 Shows
9 Weeks
Ramonda Hammer were the band that made me believe it was possible to book a tour from coast to coast yourself. I met them while playing in LA in 2016 with Sharkmuffin – we had flown out and rented a car to do our west coast tours a couple years in a row. It seems dumb, but when Ramonda Hammer came to play with us in Brooklyn and I realized had driven the whole way, I was inspired to do the same the next time we planned shows on the west coast!
Top 3 Cities: Los Angeles, Nashville, and Brooklyn
Favorite gas station and fast food chain: Favorite gas station is Kum & Go because we are all children and it’s always funny. Favorite fast food chain will be a band argument probably.
What is the craziest thing that happened on tour?
The GARMP saga!! We were getting ready for our September tour and there was gonna be a show with our homies in Nashville who run the amazing DIY record label Cold Lunch Recordings. They organized a rad house show for us, and at the show there was gonna be a stick and poke tattoo artist so we were stoked to partake in that. In the Facebook event page, the artist had asked people to comment what they were gonna get tattooed, and this one guy Jonathan (who we didn’t know at all) said he’d get any five letter word tattooed on his body. So our bassist Andy made up the word GARMP and was determined to have this random guy get GARMP tattooed on him. It turned into a crazy comment thread of people voting and Andy even made a campaign sign that read “GARMP FOR JONATHAN’S TATTOO 2017”. People were very confused. We thought it was hilarious. Flash forward to Nashville: we’re all anxiously waiting to meet Jonathan. We have no idea who he is. Randomly we see some tattooed bearded dude walking around the party with an actual baby in his arms and we think this is odd. Turns out that was Jonathan, who by the way we’ve just been calling GARMP the whole time because duh. Anyways we meet him, he gets his GARMP tattoo on his “gARMp-pit” (which is extra funny), and then I find out he’s from my hometown in Orange County and knows some of my friends. Super weird. Also, why did he have his baby at a basement kegger? Not sure. But at least he and Andy became best friends on the internet for a second and almost did karate in the garage together.
What is your favorite & least favorite thing about DIY touring?
My most favorite thing about DIY touring is all the love and support we encounter on our travels. It really surprises me and warms my heart every single time. People are so generous with giving us places to stay and making us food and making us feel welcomed. It’s so so so cool. My least favorite thing is being too cold or too hot and also when shows get cancelled.
Ramonda Hammer Touring Tips
Well, I would say plan for EVERYTHING that could go wrong to GO WRONG. That way when shit happens (and it always does), you’ll be prepared. We always bring jumper cables and a gas can and blankets to cover our gear with in the van, and we try to have a cushion of funds to pay for any unplanned hotel stays or van breakdowns. Also, don’t let your drummer and bass player conspire to trick you into watching the re-make of The Mummy with Tom Cruise.
(Interview by Devin Davis)
Note: This list was based on my own experiences with musicians I’ve met by living in Brooklyn and performing and touring for 21 weeks of 2017 with Sharkmuffin, Ex-Girlfriends & Kino Kimino. It is not definitive and I would love to hear from and about more bands that book their own tours and/or tour extensively in the U.S. & beyond. Feel free to contact me with your suggestions & stories at sugarmamabk@gmail.com.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
While there’s been many a jaded thinkpiece about the import of music critics (usually begging the question What are they good for?) and the ubiquity of year-end lists can feel shallow at times, we can’t stress enough the importance of what it means to share music among friends. It’s a huge part of developing our tastes early in life – everyone has that one super cool bestie who introduced you to your favorite band in middle school – and as we get older, if music remains a source of passion in our lives, it becomes something we bond over as new relationships form.
Here at Audiofemme, we think of our readers as friends, so we made a list too. It’s not definitive, it’s not authoritative, and it’s (hopefully) not pretentious – just a round-up of the albums and singles that soundtracked the year for our regular writers (and, of course, your editors). We hope it will result in discovery as one year becomes the next; perhaps that album you missed back in February will get you through this winter, here and now. Music exists on a continuum, and even though the releases were highlighting now all came out within a particular calendar year, we don’t have to put them aside as we turn the page. Stay tuned for more features over the next week recapping 2017, and in the meantime, take a listen to some of our most beloved tunes.
EDITOR LISTS
Annie White (Executive Director)
Top 10 Albums:
1) Zola Jesus – Okovi
2) the xx – I See You
3) Jlin – Black Oragami
4) King Krule – The OOZ
5) Perfume Genius – No Shape
6) Kelela – Take Me Apart
7) Julien Baker – Turn Out The Lights
8) Slowdive – Slowdive
9) SZA – Ctrl
10) Priests – Nothing Feels Natural Top 5 Singles:
1) Aimee Mann – “Goose Snow Cone”
2) Rostam – “Don’t Let It Get To You”
3) Lorde – “The Louvre”
4) Cardi B – “Bodak Yellow”
5) Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Deadly Valentine”
Lindsey Rhoades (Editor-in-Chief)
Top 10 Albums:
1) Mount Eerie – A Crow Looked at Me
2) The War on Drugs – A Deeper Understanding
3) Slowdive – Slowdive
4) Sophia Kennedy – Sophia Kennedy
5) SZA – Ctrl
6) Circuit des Yeux – Reaching for Indigo
7) Kelly Lee Owens – Kelly Lee Owens
8) Big Thief – Capacity
9) Havah – Contravveleno
10) sir Was – Digging a Tunnel Top 10 Singles:
1) Land of Talk – “Inner Lover”
2) Xiu Xiu – “Wondering”
3) The National – “Nobody Else Will Be There”
4) Jlin – “Holy Child”
5) Marika Hackman – “Boyfriend”
6) Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – “An Intention”
7) Wolf Parade – “Valley Boy”
8) Syd – “Body”
9) Perfume Genius – “Wreath”
10) Pixx – “Toes”
Top 5 Albums:
1) Happyness – Write In
2) Timber Timbre – Sincerely, Future Pollution
3) Aldous Harding – Party
4) Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
5) Perfume Genius – No Shape Top 3 Singles:
1) Aldous Harding – “Imagining My Man”
2) Blanck Mass – “Please”
3) Benjamin Clementine – “Phantom of Aleppoville”
Ashley Prillaman
Top 5 Albums:
1) Valerie June – The Order of Time
2) Portugal The Man – Woodstock
3) Kendrick Lamar – DAMN.
4) Big Thief – Capacity
5) SZA – Ctrl Top 3 Singles:
1) Valerie June – “Astral Plane”
2) Amber Mark – “Lose My Cool”
3) Big Thief – “Shark Smile”
Top 5 Albums:
1) Daniel Caesar – Freudian
2) Jamila Woods – HEAVN
3) Moses Sumney – Aromanticism
4) Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett – Lotta Sea Lice
5) Kevin Morby – City Music Top 3 Singles:
1) St. Vincent – “New York”
2) Snoh Aalegra – “Fool For You”
3) Cigarettes After Sex – “Sweet”
Elizabeth Wakefield
Top 5 Albums:
1) Bambara – Swarm
2) Angel Olsen – Phases
3) Bjork – Utopia
4) Surfbort – Bort 2 Death
5) Liars – TFCF Top 3 Singles:
1) Alexander F – “Swimmers”
2) Weeping Icon – “Jail Bilz”
3) Uni – “What’s the Problem?”
Top 5 Albums:
1) Francie Moon – So This is Life
2) The Big Drops – Time, Color
3) Angel Olsen – Phases
4) Lola Pistola – Curfew
5) Thelma & The Sleaze – Somebody’s Doin Somethin Top 3 Singles:
1) Bizarre Sharks – “Tremendous”
2) Ty Segall – “Black Magick”
3) Fruit & Flowers – “Out of Touch”
Jamila Aboushaca
Top 5 Albums:
1) ODESZA — A Moment Apart
2) Royal Blood — How Did We Get So Dark?
3) Cut Copy — Haiku From Zero
4) Khalid — American Teen
5) Lana Del Rey — Lust For Life Top 3 Singles:
1) Rostam Batmanglij — “Gwan”
2) Cut Copy — “Standing In The Middle Of The Field”
3) alt-J — “In Cold Blood”
Top 5 Albums:
1) Laura Marling – Semper Femina
2) Galantis – The Aviary
3) Robin Schulz – Uncovered
4) Sleigh Bells – Kid Kruschev
5) Björk – Utopia Top 3 Singles:
1) Marshmello ft. Khalid – “Silence”
2) Martin Garrix ft. Troye Sivan – “There for You”
3) Dua Lipa – “New Rules”
Mandy Brownholtz
Top 5 Albums:
1) Alvvays – Antisocialites
2) Waxahatchee – Out In The Storm
3) Future Islands – The Far Field
4) Priests – Nothing Feels Natural
5) King Woman – Created In The Image Of Suffering Top 3 Singles:
1) Alvvays – “NotMy Baby”
2) Yumi Zouma – “December”
3) Charly Bliss – “Glitter”
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Ex-Girlfriends tour routes by Tine Hill
After spending 21 weeks on tour in 2017 with four bands (playing in Sharkmuffin, Ex-Girlfriends, Kino Kimino and tour mama-gering for The Big Drops) in three different countries, here are my picks for the best promoters, collectives and venues that I’ve been lucky enough to experience in 2017 (in no particular order)…
Sharkmuffin played at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar in Brighton for the Great Escape Festival at about 3 in the morning. English psych rockers PINS kicked off the night and I couldn’t believe people were still around and excited that late. True to its name, the basement venue of Sticky Mike’s is reminiscent of sweaty ’70s LES punk venues, with a fence barricade between the stage and audience that everyone pushes and pulls on. At one point during our set an audience member coaxed me to jump over the barrier and crowd surf. I took the opportunity to do so, but was quickly dropped (don’t worry, I’m used to it) into a puddle of vomit.
Polly & Ollie, who organized the whole show, put us up in their flat that night, as well as for our return visit to Brighton – the final show of our U.K. tour. Every last Friday, they and a group of friends who “wanted to give themselves and other girls involved in music, art and promoting a more accessible platform in the music industry on their own terms” host BITCH CRAFT at Sticky Mike’s in an effort to create “a safe, friendly and equal environment for girls to come and enjoy themselves and promote what they’re good at,” including behind-the-scenes support.
Little Dickman Records (The Saint, Asbury Park Yacht Club, Asbury Hotel, ect.)
Asbury Park, NJ
Asbury Park, NJ is a small city by the sea, sandwiched between NYC and Philly. A decade ago, Asbury was a ghost town full of uninspiring classic rock cover bands, making it difficult to convince touring bands to pass through. Little Dickman Records, run by Chris and Amy Dickman, have changed all that with their intent to bring the coolest original touring rock bands to Asbury Park. One of their most memorable shows of the year was when Nashville country duo Birdcloud played at The Saint. “The place was packed and there was a real excitement in the air. Birdcloud came out in diapers and put on quite an amazing show. Probably one of the edgiest and dirtiest shows Asbury Park has seen since the night GG Alllin played Fastlane in ’91,” remembers Chris.
The Little Dickman team also presents shows at Asbury Park Yacht Club and at the Asbury Hotel – named Best New Hotel in 2016 in a USA Today Readers’ Poll. Fruit & Flowers played there with The Nude Party and High Waisted, two shows that LDR say they’re also most proud of this year. We also played the Little Dickman Records SXSW showcase in Austin, Texas, which included music from LDR artists The Off White, The Blind Shake, Thelma And The Sleaze, Pink Mexico, Dead Coast and more.
Fleetwood’s is a brand new rock ‘n’ roll chapel, vintage store, rock venue and bar run by a wonderful woman named Mary and her partner. She put together a great last minute show for Ex-Girlfriends in September and was also able to host A Deer A Horse after their Florida shows were canceled because of the Hurricane Irma. It’s a versatile and cozy space where we felt right at home.
“Fleetwood’s Rock-n-Roll Wedding Chapel and Vintage in Asheville, NC opened on August 23rd 2017. My partners and I had the opportunity to take over an old pawn shop that we transformed into a vintage store with a bar and a ‘quickie wedding chapel’ (where bands play). Since we’ve been open we’ve hosted over 50 bands from all over the country – mostly punk and rock-n-roll with a couple of old-time country events. We’ve also held two legal weddings (including same sex) and three drunken fake ones. The word has spread fast within the band scene and nearly every touring band is making plans to come back. I think that our unique space coupled with our true love and respect for indie musicians is what makes us so special. We try and create a welcoming environment to all who come through and make sure they are paid well and respected. We’ve run the gamut from unknown bands that have blown our minds to members of bigger groups like TVOTR and The Black Lips. We look forward to every band that plays because we live for Rock-n-Roll.” – Mary
Janeth Gonda of Made in Colombia Presents has run a DIY venue out of her incredible apartment with basement studio space and backyard since 2014. At Barranquilla, I’ve played anything from a horror movie screening/flea market/record release party to my own joint birthday party with Natalie of Sharkmuffin. She has hosted countless touring bands, Northside events, full moon gatherings and so much more. The event she is most proud of this year at Barranquilla was the BUST Pride Event with Haybaby, New Myths, Parrot Dream, Lost Boy ?, Espejismo (feat. Janeth herself!), See Through Dresses, Hot Curl & Street Rules.
“This year I’ve been super lucky to extend my platform beyond Barranquilla Studios by working with BUST Magazine. It’s so awesome to be able to bring so many amazing people together. I think I’m most stoked on my efforts to help create safer spaces for open discussions and to hopefully foster change. At my most recent event we combined music, crafting, and herbalism with politics and workshops such as how to heal after sexual trauma and consent. I think it’s essential to bring certain issues to light even when we’re just having a good time at a show. In order to create change we sort of have to shove it down people’s throats, raise our voices and let them know we are here.” – Janeth Gonda
We Can Do It Promotions (The Lock Tavern)
London, England
When Sharkmuffin toured the U.K. for the first time in May 2017 we had no idea what to expect. We feel so lucky to have met Kelly of We Can Do It Promotions who put together our amazing first show in London at The Lock Tavern that was way more well-attended and fun than any of us could have imagined. Founded in January 2016, their mission is to support “continuously improving but sometimes overlooked gender equality. In the music industry we are constantly met by male dominated line-ups and We Can Do It Promotions is here to support female and male musicians equally.” Their website includes interviews & photos of a lot of the shows they’ve promoted!
Muchmore’s is the last DIY venue of Williamsburg, Brooklyn owned by New Orleans born lawyer Andrew Muchmore. This year he had a major victory with a lawsuit that helped overturn the 89-year-old Cabaret Law, which prohibited dancing at venues that didn’t have a certain license. Muchmore’s current booking manager is Heather Cousins of Ex-Girlfriends and Side Bitch.
“One thing I love about being a booking manager and also a touring musician is that I get to help bands we’ve played with on the road. We recently had Blaha from Minneapolis; one of their members put us up while we were out there. Today we had Cult Flea Market Twisted Christmas edition which, yes, is a Flea Market for horror and weird cult stuff. It was put on with Mike Hunchback from Co-Op 87 Records (cool record store in Greenpoint). I picked up a Wanda Jackson Record and a weird novel about lust and blood with Cavewomen. I’ve made cocktail menus of women-fronted bands; you can get a Birdcloud or a Sharkmuffin.
We’ve had so many great shows lately, like Hank & Cupcakes from Georgia, and Ute Root from Australia. I love booking all kinds of stuff, from comedy to rock shows and burlesque. We even have a monthly wrestling comedy show! I can’t wait to do more with the art scene – especially comic book artists – and we’re hoping to finally get some rock ‘n’ roll DJs. All in all, being a booker is a rewarding experience even if it can be a little grueling sometimes.” – Heather Cousins
Super Dark Collective (One Caroline)
Saratoga Springs, NY
I was able to play at One Caroline in Saratoga Springs with Kino Kimino and also come back to see a show with The Big Drops, High Waisted and The Coax in November. One Caroline is your typical jazz bar with fancy cocktails and good American bistro styled food. But Super Dark Collective ironically hosts louder shows on Mondays and Thursdays. The block that One Caroline is on gets so crazy on the weekends with all its packed bars, cover bands and college student crowds, but One Caroline is the only place you can here a plethora of genres of rock music as well as interesting touring bands thanks to Super Dark Collective. They also run the independent record labels Super Dark Records and Lo-Fi Kabuki Records and book shows in the Capital Region area.
GNARBURGER Records
Los Angeles, CA
GNARBURGER is currently my favorite record store. The joint venture between Gnar Tapes and Burger Records opened their doors in 2015 and have let bands from all over play on their tight floor space ever since. Ex-Girlfriends and Fruit & Flowers played a day show here back in February, thankfully escaping the NYC winter to play music, drink beer, and shop for records & vintage clothes on a lovely afternoon.
Kind Turkey Records is a garage/punk/pop record label run by Bobby Hussy from The Hussy, whose roster includes Proud Parents, Digital Leather, and Nots among many others. Bobby also books amazing line-ups at Mickey’s Tavern every time we come through town. The venue has a few different velvety rooms, a pool table and great food (plus they have an option to feed bands)! Bobby also has put together Turkey Fest every fall for the past eight years.
Hi Tide
Brooklyn, NY
Hi Tide is a booking company formed by Ana Becker of Fruit & Flowers and Tim Race of Big Bliss (both of whom were recently named the #1 and #2 hardest working bands in NYC by Oh My Rockness).
“Tim and I started Hi Tide after we got back from a joint Big Bliss / Fruit & Flowers tour in March. We booked that tour together, and it was the least painful tour booking experience either of us had ever had. Most of us in DIY touring bands rely on friends in bands in other cities to help us book good shows in their towns. It makes a huge difference when people actually set up a show with care. So as long as we’ve each been in bands, we’ve done our best to return the favor when bands from other cities reach out to us. We figured we could do that part together too, so we stuck a logo on it and Hi Tide was born.”- Ana Becker
“The idea for Babes All Rock started on a Facebook thread. One of the organizers from Color Me Bushwick put out a call for recommendations of women musicians to play CMB. I tagged a ton of people, others chimed in, and it snowballed. A few people thought it’d be a great idea to make that into a fest of its own, and we got to work. Tim was 100% on board; booking diverse lineups has been a part of Hi Tide’s mission from the start. Also crucial to the fest’s organization were Gwynn Galitzer of Suffragette City, Amanda Jun, Rachel Rossen, Janeth Gonda, Josh Meyer & many others.” – Ana Becker
Every band who tours frequently has an unspoken member who doesn’t play on any records, yet is instrumental in reaching fans’ ears in far away places. I’m talking about the vehicle responsible for getting the band to their next show, and hopefully, the show after that. If you want to go on tour you have a few transportation options: renting a vehicle, borrowing a friend’s vehicle, or buying your own vehicle. I personally believe buying your own tour van is the best investment for a band whose intent is to tour often. I have found two semi-reliable used vehicles within my budget (less than $6000) that we have put 60,000 miles of touring in the past 3 years. There’s Patrick, a 1995 Dodge Caravan, and Abby “The Abyss,” a 2007 Ford 11-passenger Econoline E-150.
First, the important stuff: how does a band van get its name?
Sometimes it’s obvious. I found my first minivan at a mechanic in New Jersey for $1500. It was given to the mechanic because the owner had passed away. The previous owner’s address and name, Patrick, were still on the van key chain. There was a bottle of wine in the trunk and a little handwritten notebook of the dates of every oil change the van had ever gotten in the glove box.
The bottle of wine exploded in the trunk before I had a chance to open it and the radio/cassette tape player worked very erratically, leading us to believe that Patrick’s spirit was still with us. The van had relatively low millage for a 20+ year old vehicle (under 100,000) and the mechanic told us Patrick didn’t leave NJ much, so it made sense that his spirit would want to go on adventures with a three piece girl rock band.
Sometimes it takes a tour. The next vehicle I purchased was an 11 passenger Econoline in January 2017 for $5,500. Chris Yaniack from Little Dickman Records spotted it at a used car dealership in Asbury Park, NJ. Ex-Girlfriends did tri-state area gigs in the minivan, but it was a tight squeeze for 5 fully grown women. The first tour we did in the Econoline was a double Sharkmuffin/Ex-Girlfriends tour in March 2017 to SXSW and back, and naturally everyone’s belongings kept disappearing. For this reason, it was lovingly dubbed “The Abyss” or “Abby” for short.
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Inside of Sylvia (Photo by Jay Malone)
In February 2017, before we took Abby on the road, Ex-Girlfriends did a cross country tour with Brooklyn surf-noir babes Fruit & Flowers in their 1994 party bus turned band bus. We made it from Brooklyn to San Diego in four days with stops in Carborro, NC, Nashville TN, and Armallio, TX, then toured up the west coast to Seattle and after our last date together Fruit & Flowers drove it straight from Seattle, WA to Austin, TX for SXSW.
AF: How did Sylvia get her name? How did Sylvia get so much graffiti?
Ana: Sylvia got her name from her former owner, Dave Lotito, who sold her to us. The naming process kind of reminded me of my old pet cat, Herman (RIP). We adopted Herman thinking the name was goofy and we’d think of another one – “Hermes” was one suggestion that I liked. But at the end of the day, Herman was just a Herman. Nothing else really worked. Same went for Sylvia.
Sylvia got the graffiti over time – the first big piece got added in Chicago. 1-UP. After that, it was like the floodgates opened. Now there are layers on layers of graffiti pieces. The big 1-UP on the side is covered up now, but I liked that one a lot. The big skull with a watermelon hat that currently graces the side is my favorite piece to date. Caro says that piece is by Kool AD. It’s really pushed me to embrace transience. You can’t get attached to any of the art, because it may be gone tomorrow.
AF: What’s the craziest story involving Sylvia that has happened on tour?
Ana: The absolute craziest Sylvia experience we ever had wasn’t actually while we were on tour. We were coming back from a show in Manhattan, and giving a bunch of friends a ride back with us. Caroline was driving, and we realized we were dangerously low on gas as we approached the Williamsburg Bridge. “There’s always a reserve gallon, just go for it,” one of the acquaintances yelled from the back.
The rest of that story goes about as wildly wrong as you might imagine. I won’t go into the details because it’s mildly traumatic, but you can ask Micah or Bill from Grim Streaker. I’m sure they’d gladly relate the tale.
The craziest tour story is from when she broke down in Canada, two hours from the Michigan border. We had to cancel two shows, because Sylvia flatly refused to leave Canada. But it all worked out because we met our Canadian mom and dad who let us stay in their lovely home, in a serenely beautiful place, and took care of us. Tour angels for sure.
AF: What’s happens on a good bus day? What happens on a bad bus day? If you could change one thing about Sylvia what would it be?
Ana: On a good bus day, she carries us safely and comfortably from city to city. The bank seating is really nice because there’s room for the passengers to lay down and nap. Sylvia also gets a lot of compliments and admiration, and we wind up meeting and talking to a lot of rad people who are curious about the bus.
On a bad bus day she is very temperamental and expensive. My least favorite is when we have to cancel shows – I find that super upsetting. At least so far though she’s kept us safe, which I’m very grateful for. But I also have a $700 bill for repairs sitting on my credit card that I have no idea how the band is going to pay off.
AF: What advice do you have for bands looking into buying a tour van or bus?
Ana: First, I would say to have a clear idea of which band member(s) will take care of the vehicle, especially if you live in the city. It’s a pain to deal with. Caroline has really done the lion’s share of taking care of Sylvia, for which I am super grateful, considering I am somewhat clueless when it comes to cars.
I’m kind of a wet blanket on this one – I love Sylvia but I wish we had a vehicle that was more designed for this kind of long-distance use. Sylvia has had a ton of battery and electrical problems, and it seems like she always has to go to the shop for something or another. The repairs have really added up. I’m also not very knowledgeable about cars, so maybe that’s just the way it always is — but it doesn’t seem right.
I would make sure the gas mileage is good, and that AAA services the vehicle. We found out in one unfortunate moment that our bus is too big to be towed by regular AAA, and that’s left us in the lurch, and many hundreds of dollars lighter.
I would also recommend finding a really good auto shop that you trust. I think we’ve probably wasted a lot of time and money taking Sylvia to a sub-par shop for the first year or so that we had her.
I’d probably forego the fancy stuff, and prioritize a vehicle that will do what you need it to do— get you from point A to point B as reliably and safely as possible. Then maybe get someone awesome to spraypaint some badass art on it!
[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]Caroline lounging on the bus, Photo by Jose Berrio
Below are some practical tips for buying, driving, & taking care of your tour van:
Expect the Unexpected. The main disadvantage to buying a used van is that they are unpredictable and it can be expensive to fix them. But there’s something romantic about being stranded on the side of the road peering into the engine, possibly not making it to your next gig, right? No, of course it’s not. Get AAA and always have a van repair emergency fund or credit card!
Be reasonable. Gas efficiency and space are main concerns in choosing your vehicle. Ask yourself: how many band members and gear can you comfortably fit in the most fuel efficient & reliable vehicle? Three and four piece bands can generally squeeze into a mini-van, but if you have a crew (tour manager/merch person/roadie/friend craving adventure), consider purchasing a full-size van.
Buy a Cargo Carrier. Great for luggage, air beds, extra band merch and a perfect place to hide your weed.
Make at least 10 copies of that van key. One of my biggest tour breakdown triggers is when someone loses one of the only van keys. Make sure each band member has two copies of the key and keep two spares with reliable friends or family.
Get an EZ Pass. You save so much on tolls, especially around NYC. A lot of the bridges in NYC now have “cashless tolling” where they send you a bill in the mail if you don’t have an EZ Pass. These tickets can pile up and if you don’t respond they tack on $50 late fees to each ticket. If you have a few of these these bills & fines, once you register to EZ Pass, they will charge the tolls to your account and waive the late fees.
Avoid parking tickets & losing your vehicle. Parking restrictions can be confusing in bigger cities, and it is more common than you think to totally forget where you parked after your show. The easiest way to avoid this is to always take photos of the parking and street signs that are next to your vehicle and text the pictures to your band group chat. That way, everyone can be responsible and helpful keeping track of the tour van.
“Jesus Tap-Dancing Christ.” I’m sitting bar-side at Tutu’s and Ana Becker has confirmed, via Facebook messenger roughly 55 minutes after I got there, that 3/4ths of Fruit and Flowers are grabbing a table at Tina’s Place. The poor bartender has been listening to one of my patented anxiety rambles that, summarized, equated to “Where are they? I have so much paperwork to fill out when I get home.” But ok, wires get crossed, confusion was had when Tina’s and then Tutu’s were mentioned last night as a brunch option, it’s fine, it’s fine, it’s fine. I hastily pay for my coffee and burst into Tina’s three minutes later chanting about how fine it is.
Anyway, you know Fruit & Flowers, right? Well, I know Fruit & Flowers too. 3/4ths of them have also given ear to my anxiety rambles (anxambles?) at this point. I met bass babe Caroline Yoder at Pinkerton Wine Bar when I was ballpark 23 and had a lot more free time on my hands. Guitarists Ana and Lyzi Wakefield (who also writes for AudioFemme!) entered my life after I moved here proper, and drummer Jose Berrio Lesmes and I became Facebook friends recently, so yeah, we’re legally all blood kin.
If you somehow answered “No,” then A. Wow, seriously? and B. Here’s the deal: Fruit & Flowers is a busybusybusy band that relies on a heavenly trifecta of harmonies over mile-a-minute pulsating beats (the main exception being siren song “Turquoise”). Their debut EP Drug Tax is slated for release June 30th, and they’ve recently released a video for lead single “Out Of Touch.” It is gr8 with a capital 8, and I may have drunkenly described it as “Mary Kate and Ashley’s ‘I’d Rather Be Surfing’ video but if Lana Del Rey directed it.”
Sober I’m not sure if that’s accurate. Regardless, it’s a killer music vid, they’re a killer band, and we’re grabbing brunch together today, even if it kills me.
The Scene: Tina’s Place is a diner, guys. You know what a diner looks like by now. I don’t need to craft a whole monologue about that – we’re late enough as it is.
11:43 Caro and Ana order eggs and grits, Jose orders French toast with ham, I get a feta cheese omelette, and Lyzi… isn’t here yet and is either meeting us at the restaurant or at Pickthorn, where the gang is getting makeovers for the Color Me Bushwick Festival. Obviously I’m tagging along because free makeovers is the kind of pseudo-glam musician activity I love to lurk on. Not that the gang is so typically fancy.
“My hair is so funny because sometimes I wake up and I know it’s going to be a crazy rat’s nest,” Caroline says. “But sometimes I wake up and it’s like a whole new sculpture that I’ve never thought of.”
I’m always excited by Caroline’s hair, but when she mentions in passing that she did synchronized swimming, I’m more excited by the idea of Caroline in pink swimming cap decorated with plastic posies.
“Were you good at it?” I ask.
“I was pretty good at it. I’d have to do core strength training if I were to do it again,” she says.
“Does it involve like a lot of…lung stuff? Because you have to do heavy breathing because you’re upside down with the legs… ” I pretend my arms are little legs kicking, looking like a moron in the process.
“I always referred to it like doing a balance beam routine, holding your breath,” Caroline explains. We push up against the underside of the table with our palms flat. “If you put your hands on the bottom of the table and you try to lift the table, that’s the amount of repel you have on the water. So this is how you learn this – it’s called support scull.”
“Where did my contact lens go?” Ana asks in the midst of our swimming lesson.
11:58 Ana would kill to meet Paul McCartney, although it’s fair to assume any living Beatle would be a win.
“But if you see Ringo Starr you wouldn’t be that intimidated,” Jose says.
“To say hello?” Ana asks.
“Because he’s Ringo Starr,” I offer.
“He’s Ringo,” Ana confirms. “But I feel like he’d appreciate it more. I assume less people are like, ‘Oh my god, it’s Ringo!’ versus ‘Oh my god, it’s Paul.'”
“Like on the hierarchy of Beatles…” I start.
“There shouldn’t be a Beatles hierarchy, man,” Ana says. There shouldn’t be, but… “Even if you’re the least appreciated Beatle, you’re still a motherfucking Beatle.” Jose then mentions the uprooted would-be Beatle Pete Best.
“Yeah, that’s the least appreciated Beatle,” Ana says.
“I always feel like I’m the Pete Best of the band,” Jose says “Which is not like a bad thing, but…”
Ana and Caro chorus a series of disagreements and our food arrives.
12:10 Caroline asks what people usually talk about during these interviews, and I shrug. “Whatever makes you happy, pretty much. What makes you happy?”
Everyone thinks before Ana and Caroline sound off.
“Music makes me happy, eating makes me happy,” he says.
“We’re all simple creatures,” Ana says. (Caroline: HA) “New clothes make me happy.”
“I like really good books,” Caroline says. I ask her what she’s reading now, and as she briefly searches her bag Ana adds “going to a paper store” to the happy list and Jose sighs “Trader Joe’s banana yogurt.”
“I can tell you what makes me less than happy,” Ana says after a while. “If I look up the levels of hierarchy of organizational structures in the world any broader than our immediate friends and what we’re doing in the music scene, pretty much everything outside that is really depressing right now.”
“That’s true.” says Caroline.
Um. Help me out, bbs.
They mean all the current issues with healthcare, poverty, racism, global warming, “the sewing of the seeds of mistrust in media and journalism, that’s a real mindfuck for me,” Ana says.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about it and I feel like even though the whole thing with Trump absolutely sucks and it’s pretty surreal, it’s nothing new,” Jose says. “It feels like finally something represents what’s been wrong with this world and it’s country.”
“It put a spotlight on it…” I say, as the band goes on about the crumbling state of things for a few minutes, before I come back with “So that makes you unhappy?”
Caroline goes into it. “It is also weird to be like, ‘Oh, I’m so happy, the music is going so well, and then having someone be like…'”
“‘I lost my healthcare.'” Ana interjects.
“‘I’m fucking miserable, fuck you and your band,'” Caroline chimes back in.
“Something not that profound that makes me unhappy is that lately I like to drop off laundry because I prefer to leave it there and pick it up later, and they keep losing my socks,” Jose mentions, trying to offer some levity. It reminds Ana that she needs to pick up her laundry, too.
I am very grateful for this, but I send in my blanket anxamble on the state-of-the country. “I think that’s the struggle that a lot of us, especially in creative fields, have right now,” I say. “We feel fucking crazy for having fun and creating good art and doing the things we love to do. But with that sense of frivolity it’s like, ‘Should we be doing more to keep our world from falling apart?'”
“Well hopefully we keep it from falling apart just by living in it,” Caroline concludes.
Ana leaves to get her laundry. Caroline starts reading from Ramblings of a Wannabe Painter. “‘Criticism is our censorship…'”
12:40 Ana, Jose and I are walking to the salon, divulging tidbits and tales of their family life. Ana in particular has an amusing anecdote about her New York-bred grandfather and the way he rolled his eyes about bedbugs.
“He said that he remembered in Williamsburg, one of his few memories of his grandmother was staying over at her place and that she would have tar paper under the sheets to keep away the bedbugs and he remembered the way the tar paper sounded when he rolled over, that it crackled,” she says. “And I just love that, I love that seemingly insignificant memory handed down several generations to me, living in the same place.”
While we cut through the park Jose talks about his sister. Apparently she has a residency as a columnist for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. “They said she can write about anything she wants,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be art.” She recently penned a piece involving Marxist nuns.
I sigh at this statement like he told me Jordan Catalano was asking about me in Calc. They laugh. “Sorry, that’s like journalist porn.”
“Whatever… you… want,” Ana echoes.
1:32 “We’re just making it more of a haircut than just a blob on my head,” Lyzi says from her salon chair. She missed brunch because her phone died, and then she overslept, and it’s okay, it’s fine. I’m recap the first part of our interview, then deliver the same question I gave her bandmates: “So what makes you happy?”
“Well, I guess it varies,” she muses. “I feel like recording music in my room makes me happy.” She then backtracks – it doesn’t have to be in her room; recording music in general does the trick. She also lists cuddling with her tabby cat and going to the beach (she likes Fort Tilden, not a big fan of Coney Island) as harbingers of happiness.
After some chit-chat I realize I’m in the way of the beauty process. Ana is getting her hair washed next to us, Caro and Jose are on their respective mobile devices (they weren’t named one of Brooklyn’s hardest working bands for nothing) and I should get my own macbook and do the same.
I don’t have the same open schedule I did when I was ballpark 23, though I wish I did. No matter how long I hang out with musicians, I still end up being the one who leaves the interview to transcribe, to edit, to recount the stories of the scene while everyone else is living them. It’s getting clearer: I don’t have endless free time to lurk anymore.
But with Fruit & Flowers, I’ll always try to find some time to at least stop by. Whether it’s Tutu’s, whether it’s Tina’s. Even if it kills me.
Sit tight for Fruit & Flowers’ upcoming “Subway Surfer” music video and catch the Drug Tax record release party June 29th at Baby’s All Right.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Ticket Giveaways
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