Keychain – TOUR TIPS

In this Tour Tips segment, the nu metal band, Keychain, give you their tips for being on tour. You can check out the feature, after the break.

1. Plan your finances, so you don’t starve on the trip. Save up for contingencies (because they always come up). Apply for your tour visas like a year in advance. Book several opening bands in case some bail. Get your merch shipped to your first location, so you don’t have to travel with it or pay extra through customs/carry-on. Have a job ready for you when you get back from tour (if applicable). GET HEALTH/TRAVEL INSURANCE so you don’t get fucked in case you fall off the stage or get your ass kicked, or even if your gear gets stolen (that’s another type of insurance). Bring someone who does daily posts and films your whole tour so you can do a documentary/music video + montages in order to generate content. In this day and age, you need to out-perform and out release inferior competitors. Welcome to the Jungle. Have videos prepared to release while already on tour, and RIGHT when you get back so people are blown away by your work ethic.

2. That being said, have fun, because this is supposed to be the dream. Keep in mind some bands are around for 10 years before they can safely live from their earnings, or supplement them accordingly. The glorious dream you were sold when you grew up about being on-stage and becoming a rockstar has WAY more implications than it looks. It’ll cost you EVERYTHING around you; your love life, your career, your health and in many ways, your sanity. So buckle up and remember that Legends are never made overnight. It only seems that way when you find the right people (ie, management and labels, etc.) to boost you into the next sphere of ‘fame’. Also, don’t get discouraged, if you love the process, then persist. You could be just one show away from impressing the right person to hook you up with the streams of income and viewership your band needs. If you hate touring and feel disillusioned by what you thought the industry was, then I implore you to realize that our civilization isn’t perfect, no matter how you slice it and that parasites, predators and profiteers are in every industry, including the ones that get you paid faster than this one. I always like to remind myself that money is not the most valuable currency, it’s status. And status is situational, so if you love to be venerated, then set yourself up to be in the center of that praise. If you love to hear your own sick music in private, or just want people to hear your sounds and your message, then go for it!

3. I see it as a pilgrimage, not only to honor those who empowered me to survive the system I’m born into but also to pay it forward for the next generation. One day I’ll be old, my bones will become brittle, my muscles will stiffen and my loved ones will all be dead. But If I’ve managed to prove to myself that an honorable legacy can be well-earned, I will have succeeded in founding my name in the exact way I always wanted. No matter what ANY of the people around me might have said, because, by the time I persist past their prejudice, my courage will have liberated them from their chains as well, since the story of my success will inspire even the most densely chained off my close ones. I want everyone to realize that being taught to serve the machine can be unlearned, and I will prove it. The religion built around our economy and archaic political system shall fall – whether by becoming the military regime it seems destined to, or by gradually bonding with the will of the people for a longer lifespan of this miraculous civilization. You choose. I have.

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