Slothrust – TOUR TIPS

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

1. Eat Well –
Get yourself a salad! Don’t eat McDonald’s for every meal for a week straight. Avoid fast food in general. Veggies are your friend. Subway is a good place to get them on the side of the highway. Also, keep an eye out for small local spots hidden amongst the fast food chains. Pick the city(s) you want to grub out in hard, and eat extra healthy leading up to them. Try to avoid late night drunk gluttony. If you need that slice of pizza at 4am to ward off the spins, get one or two, not six… Kyle. Always try and have healthy snacks like granola bars or bananas in the van to avoid getting hangry and being forced to eat shit food on the side of the highway.

2. Don’t get too fucked up, too much –
Partying on the road is fun. Do it. Make friends with strangers, and when the time is right totally spend the night after the show doing shots until 4am. But don’t do it all the time. DO NOT GET SUPER WASTED BEFORE YOUR SET! Not a good look. It can be easy, when you’re hanging around the venue for 6 hours before you play staring at a case of beer, to have one drink, and then another, and then another. Before you know it you’re falling over, and playing the same song three times in a row. Good rule – Don’t start drinking until an hour or less before your set. Pace yourself! Generally speaking, try not to get super wasted at the venue. Yeah, you’re a band, but you do want to conduct yourself with at least a modicum of professionalism.

3. DRINK WATER –
DO IT. Drink more water than you think is possible or necessary. Chug that shit. If there are bottles available at the venue, try to snag some for the van for the night/next morning. Partying, loading, performing and therefore sweating all dehydrate you massively. If you ever notice that you kinda feel like shit for kinda no reason, drink a liter of water.

4. Have fun with band mates –
Tour is work, and your bandmates can start to feel like co-workers. Remember you all started as friends, so go do friend things together! Go to the movies, sit down and get a normal dinner at a restaurant, go bowling, stop at weird attractions on the side of the road, etc. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT – when you’re doing it – DO NOT TALK ABOUT WORK! Try to maintain a slight barrier between your professional and personal relationship with your bandmates. Put work into maintaining both. Don’t lose sight of what made you a band in the first place, friendship and a shared passion for music.

5. Give/Take Each Other Personal Space –
You and your bandmates are spending every day together for an extended period of time. Eventually, you’re going to get a little tired of each other, it’s just natural. When you can, get away and do something by yourself, even for only a couple of minutes. Take a walk, go grab a bite, hit the gym, read a book away from everyone, anything that gets you even a few solid minutes of alone time. Try to accept the quirks and particularities of your group and accommodate people’s needs as much as possible. Respect each other’s personal boundaries. Let someone in your band/crew no if you’re going off by yourself so no one thinks you got kidnapped or murdered in rural Wyoming.

Keep up with the band on Facebook!