Yeah, I'm a rock star. Hahaha. These days that's a pretty complicated thing to be, especially for those of us up-and-comers. I have a family, a full time job, and a pretty kick ass cover band, if I do say so myself. In order to even do a tour, all of this has to work out, which is a very difficult thing to pull off.
My family, wife and son, are the first ones that hear about it, and if the tour works financially for us, then it becomes possible. It's not easy to be away from them. That's probaby THE hardest part of touring. I've been away for almost half of my son's birthdays. At least this time I got to be home for his birthday, but I'm away for Halloween, which sucks. The wife and kid are very understanding, and hopefully my son will grow up knowing that you CAN follow your dreams, but he will know the reality of that as well.
Then comes work. If I can get the time off without getting myself fired, it also becomes possible. My boss is obviously incredibly cool. I'm good (this time).
Then comes the cover band, or I should say local band, (Samurai Cab Company) as we've been experimenting w/ some originals. The HoL tour is about 5 weeks, and we generally play twice a week with Samurai, so there's shows to shuffle around and re-book. Plus, promotional packages have to be made so we can get more shows booked while we're gone. Mission accomplished as of today.
Gear: I needed a bass to fly with that I won't be upset about checking under the airplane. Had to get that together out of a tough bass I had and spare parts from my studio/workshop. I didn't want to take my green Magbass, only because if I lost that one, that's the only one there is. Too valuable.
House of Lords sent 20 songs to learn about a month ago. HoL is known for a LOT of singing. There's tons and tons of backing vocals. Since I drive an hour (one way) to work, I get about 2 hours to practice about 5 days a week. I'd say this is an indispensable part of doing tours since I simply don't have spare time really at all. I've rehearsed the bass parts and worked out a really great bass sound, but the vocals tend to be a lot more demanding than the bass for HoL. Plus the drive really helps cement the song arrangements in my head.
I've emailed Wim, the European tour manager about other stuff, like strings, wirelesses. He helped me with a GHS string endorsement, and verified that my other gear will be fine for europe.
Stage clothes are always an issue when you live paycheck to paycheck...I have some bequeathed to me from Don Dokken last summer. My lovely wife agreed to tailor these. Since I just had my birthday, I have some extra $ for some stage stuff, but I research and research until I find exactly "it". Takes me awhile. Plus I'm indecisive. Great.
I started dieting about 2 months ago too, since a lot of people take photos on tour. So this mean it's time to call my friend Jerry Angelica for a pre-tour photo shoot, since I'm probably at my skinniest right now.
Worn out yet? hahaha. Wait until the HoL guitarist Robert Marcello shows up tomorrow, he's playing with his other band, Danger Danger, up in Springfield, MA while BJ Zampa (HoL, Samurai and Diamondback drummer) does a Diamondback gig somewhere in CT. I'm doing a Samurai gig in Middletown, CT tomorrow night too, so we're all playing in seperate places. Next week we'll all be getting together and rehearsing the HoL stuff.
Next week will be totally insane. There's 2 Samurai shows, 10/23 & 24, and there's a HoL send-off show at Daniel Street in Milford on 10/25. I imagine we'll be rehearsing during the week, while i'm still working and trying to hang with the family. Hahaha...still want to be a rockstar?
My family, wife and son, are the first ones that hear about it, and if the tour works financially for us, then it becomes possible. It's not easy to be away from them. That's probaby THE hardest part of touring. I've been away for almost half of my son's birthdays. At least this time I got to be home for his birthday, but I'm away for Halloween, which sucks. The wife and kid are very understanding, and hopefully my son will grow up knowing that you CAN follow your dreams, but he will know the reality of that as well.
Then comes work. If I can get the time off without getting myself fired, it also becomes possible. My boss is obviously incredibly cool. I'm good (this time).
Then comes the cover band, or I should say local band, (Samurai Cab Company) as we've been experimenting w/ some originals. The HoL tour is about 5 weeks, and we generally play twice a week with Samurai, so there's shows to shuffle around and re-book. Plus, promotional packages have to be made so we can get more shows booked while we're gone. Mission accomplished as of today.
Gear: I needed a bass to fly with that I won't be upset about checking under the airplane. Had to get that together out of a tough bass I had and spare parts from my studio/workshop. I didn't want to take my green Magbass, only because if I lost that one, that's the only one there is. Too valuable.
House of Lords sent 20 songs to learn about a month ago. HoL is known for a LOT of singing. There's tons and tons of backing vocals. Since I drive an hour (one way) to work, I get about 2 hours to practice about 5 days a week. I'd say this is an indispensable part of doing tours since I simply don't have spare time really at all. I've rehearsed the bass parts and worked out a really great bass sound, but the vocals tend to be a lot more demanding than the bass for HoL. Plus the drive really helps cement the song arrangements in my head.
I've emailed Wim, the European tour manager about other stuff, like strings, wirelesses. He helped me with a GHS string endorsement, and verified that my other gear will be fine for europe.
Stage clothes are always an issue when you live paycheck to paycheck...I have some bequeathed to me from Don Dokken last summer. My lovely wife agreed to tailor these. Since I just had my birthday, I have some extra $ for some stage stuff, but I research and research until I find exactly "it". Takes me awhile. Plus I'm indecisive. Great.
I started dieting about 2 months ago too, since a lot of people take photos on tour. So this mean it's time to call my friend Jerry Angelica for a pre-tour photo shoot, since I'm probably at my skinniest right now.
Worn out yet? hahaha. Wait until the HoL guitarist Robert Marcello shows up tomorrow, he's playing with his other band, Danger Danger, up in Springfield, MA while BJ Zampa (HoL, Samurai and Diamondback drummer) does a Diamondback gig somewhere in CT. I'm doing a Samurai gig in Middletown, CT tomorrow night too, so we're all playing in seperate places. Next week we'll all be getting together and rehearsing the HoL stuff.
Next week will be totally insane. There's 2 Samurai shows, 10/23 & 24, and there's a HoL send-off show at Daniel Street in Milford on 10/25. I imagine we'll be rehearsing during the week, while i'm still working and trying to hang with the family. Hahaha...still want to be a rockstar?
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