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Potential to sub on a NorCal tour (long, as usual)

#61
Are you playing in Sonoma County (Petaluma, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa)?

I'll come check it if I'm unstructured.

In fact, I play in a psychedelic space rock band in the north bay area and we can open for you in Sonoma County.

Edit: just saw your post with tour stops. No Sonoma County dates... odd, but I say do it and have fun!
 
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#63
lildrgn said:
A musical acquaintance of mine reached out to me yesterday about the possibility of subbing for him on his band's upcoming 9 date Northern CA tour in July. Here are some of my thoughts, in no particular order.
  • Networking opportunity. This guy that called me is pretty connected in the Seattle scene. He's in several up-and-coming bands. The reason he can't do it is because one of the up-and-coming bands is touring Spain for the second time in a year. To be on his radar is a positive sign.
  • Never toured before. In all my years of playing, I have stayed local, except for three there-and-backs trip to Oregon (Portland and Eugene), and one time in Los Angeles. This would be my first "real" tour, though I only know dates and towns so far, nothing else (assuming it's by car/van, however).
  • I'm available. I'm in 2 bands now and neither has shows booked, but I will triple check to avoid any conflict drama. I am also unemployed, so there are no work obligations, but I would need a computer and internet access to continue to look for/apply for jobs.
  • The music is good, but not my typical thing. I love rock, pop/rock, yacht rock (duh), stuff like that. This band's music is described as "psychedelic rock," which I don't agree with. I hear a lot of indie country (lap steel, horns, twangy guitar), but I don't dislike it; it's not necessarily something I'd seek out to listen to. That said, I have it playing now and I don't hate it. Despite not immediately clicking with the music, it's hip and I can see the yoots loving it with their twirly moustaches, sleeve tattoos and stovepipe jeans.
  • I don't know any of the band members. Outside of my friend who contacted me (who I think is a sub for them himself), I don't know them. But, if he's vouching for them, I think they'd be cool. I'm pretty easy to get along with as well, but 10-12 days in a van would definitely affect things, I think.
  • Speaking of road trips, I love the idea of them, I'm not a huge fan of the reality of them. From the schedule I saw, it's starting in San Francisco on 7/1 and ending in Arcata, CA on 7/11, 9 shows in total.
  • Moneywise, I would love to make some, but I think I'd be happy to just break even as this is more about the experience and exposure than the money.
Anyway, I'm gonna reach out to the BL for more details, let's see what happens.
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If I was unemployed, like you. And my schedule was open, like you. And I had no family, like I take it you don't because you're seriously considering this. And I had the money to get by well enough on the road (because you won't make much of anything to live on). I would do it in a heartbeat.
 
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#68
When I was in my 20's I really wanted to tour. It didn't happen for me and the truth is that I probably wasn't ready to do it if the opportunity had come up. As we get older life becomes more complicated, and responsibilities grow. If I were in your shoes I'd go for it. The potential connections may be worth it even if the money isn't. Sometimes you have to take a chance, which I have done locally by taking last minute sub jobs that really worked out well. Succeeding with those sub jobs has led to more of the same and has put me in line for more varied opportunites.

With regard to touring; I did some limited touring in Arizona and Southern California when I was in my 30's. The experience was mostly positive, but be ready for any number of unusual situations that can arise. From agreeing where to eat, to band members getting car sick; in our case getting bus sick, to members wandering off at bathroom and fuel stops. Those wanderings can seriously affect your well planned time table. Some people can be incredibly irresponsable when it comes to their actions and behaviour negatively affecting the group. Finally, if you don't do it you'll miss out on an experience that may never come around again.

Thump on,

One_Dude
 
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#69
lildrgn said:
  • I am also unemployed, so there are no work obligations, but I would need a computer and internet access to continue to look for/apply for jobs.
  • The music is good, but not my typical thing. I love rock, pop/rock, yacht rock (duh), stuff like that. This band's music is described as "psychedelic rock," which I don't agree with. I hear a lot of indie country (lap steel, horns, twangy guitar), but I don't dislike it; it's not necessarily something I'd seek out to listen to. That said, I have it playing now and I don't hate it. Despite not immediately clicking with the music, it's hip and I can see the yoots loving it with their twirly moustaches, sleeve tattoos and stovepipe jeans.
  • I don't know any of the band members. Outside of my friend who contacted me (who I think is a sub for them himself), I don't know them. But, if he's vouching for them, I think they'd be cool. I'm pretty easy to get along with as well, but 10-12 days in a van would definitely affect things, I think.
  • Speaking of road trips, I love the idea of them, I'm not a huge fan of the reality of them. From the schedule I saw, it's starting in San Francisco on 7/1 and ending in Arcata, CA on 7/11, 9 shows in total.
  • Moneywise, I would love to make some, but I think I'd be happy to just break even as this is more about the experience and exposure than the money.
Anyway, I'm gonna reach out to the BL for more details, let's see what happens.
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What's the back story there?

Riis
 
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#73
Arcata, Eureka and Cayucos are all really small isolated beach towns, seems like odd tour stops but as someone else said, beautiful places to visit. Oakland and SF are next door to each other and Sacramento is an hour away so if they are back to back you'll have time on your hands. Since you're going to Los Angeles though you'll probably hit one or two going down and another coming back up. When it's closer and a for sure thing let us know the details, I would come out to SF or Oakland in support and meet a real live TBer on tour. I was involved with a west coast tour back in the day. Fun times and good memories.
 
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#76
That kind of thing actually seems kind of inviting if you have the ability to be away from home for the duration. New experience, a little diversity in your music, networking (as you mentioned) and a hell of an ego boost. That said there are a few things I'd want to know before agreeing:
1. How will the hang be? It's one thing to do a one off sub gig with jerk-offs, but to be on the road with them for a couple of weeks could be pure torture. You said you don't know them, but I'd make an effort to at least jam with them once before agreeing to something like this.
2. Have some concrete specifics of what your creature comforts will be while travelling. Hotel room covered? Single or shared room? Meals etc. We all have our things and as you stated, the reality of road trips is rarely as cool as the idea of them.
3. Backline. Are you having to drag your own gear around, or will there be backline provided at all your dates. IF dragging your own, how will that happen?

Your trip doesn't really cover a lot of real estate - the trip could easily be made directly in less than a day, so I can't imagine any crazy long days between stops.

Best of luck!
 
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#78
BGroovy said:
life is so much luck and you have to put yourself out there for that luck to collide with.
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Not really. The Definition of Luck - luck happens when preparation meets opportunity. Actual pure luck is incredibly rare, probably a small fraction of 1%. I believe strongly that we create our own luck, both good AND bad. "Why does stuff always happen to me?" Lack of preparation (and/or forethought) most likely.

skycruiser said:
I would probably take my own car and just follow the van. 10 days in a van with strangers sounds horrible.
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At $60/day ain't making any money doing that. Unless they're paying mileage which it doesn't sound like is gonna happen. For better or worse I'd immerse myself in the experience, always things to learn from it. I'd assume there will be some sort of contact (rehearsals?) before hitting the road to get some sort of feel of the other personalities involved. If they're that hard to relate to on a personal level I simply wouldn't expose myself to that, period. Especially for $60/day.

pbass2 said:
That's what inspired my earlier comment, that unless I misunderstand, the OP is a hobbyist/semi-pro, and given his current employment status, if it were me, I'd consider this pro sub work, and get paid accordingly. Go have the adventure, but work is work.
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Is $60 just what they offered or is that an equal cut? Agreed, you're coming in as a hired gun/semi-pro sub and are doing them something of a favor by taking this on and IMO it needs to be worth the effort. At a minimum you should be making the same money everyone else is and there's definitely an argument for being paid more as a hired gun. Yes the opportunity and experience has it's own value, I get that. But at a minimum you should be getting AT LEAST what the others get, money and amenity wise.
 
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#79
EdO. said:
Is $60 just what they offered or is that an equal cut? Agreed, you're coming in as a hired gun/semi-pro sub and are doing them something of a favor by taking this on and IMO it needs to be worth the effort. At a minimum you should be making the same money everyone else is and there's definitely an argument for being paid more as a hired gun. Yes the opportunity and experience has it's own value, I get that. But at a minimum you should be getting AT LEAST what the others get, money and amenity wise.
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I come at this from the perspective of someone who does music for a living, but yeah, this take right here. If this band isn't prepared to pay you at least what they're making, man, I dunno, red flags abound.
 
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#80
I have almost all my basses in gig bags - all of my gigs are around town - I sleep in my own bed after every gig. But..... I have one bass in an ATA rated hard case. I have that case just in case (yeah, there's word play there) someone someday comes to me and says "we're going on a van tour". I don't want to go on a world tour and not come home for 3 years, but a week or two in a van, doing a bunch of gigs? I'm in. I wouldn't care if it cost me money - I'd do it for the experience.

I may never get that chance, but you have that opportunity in front of you, staring at you. Go, and tell me (OK, us) about it.
 
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