A New Life on the Road

Apparently, it’s been 10 months out of the year, “on the road”, according to John Butler’s guitar tech. I could barely believe it when I heard it said but it does make sense. We are currently on tour in Europe, 4 weeks in to a 6 week tour. I’ve already lost count of how many tours we’ve done but I know we’ve been around Australia a few times and spent around 8 weeks in the USA, so I guess it’s around 5 tours in total so far… ? The past year has been a real blur! So many incredible experiences! Sometimes I have moments, as I did this morning where I think to myself, “I have no idea where I am, I don’t know where we’re going and I could hardly say what day it is.” There’s a lot of detail to keep track of and sometimes, in order to simplify life, I find it easier to tune out a little and keep the amount of information I’m processing down to a minimum. Each day is completely different, the constant changing location needs to be balanced with some daily habits that are stable, constant and reliable. It’s also important for me to continue to find time for my own interests. Today, I managed to achieve my set of routines early so that I could find an hour or so to write something here. I thought I’d pop a few thoughts and insights down in this blog, to describe life on the road and how I’m coping with it. I’ve had to develop a daily schedule for myself in order to stay fit physically and mentally. I try to stay very strict with this routine so that I’m able to show up for work every day at my best. On my personal “to do” list each day is a long walk, stretching, a short physical workout, some French lessons, learning some chess tactics and vocal warmups with a guitar. I find maintaining all these on a daily basis is the best way to reduce stress, to stay focused and healthy.

It has been nice to receive a few inquiries regarding drum lessons and be reminded that I have this website. The irony does not rub off on me, having built this site for my business at home, only to put the business on hold directly afterwards, while I chase a new opportunity as a full time touring musician. This has been a major life changing experience for me, working with John for the past year was a totally unexpected change in direction. Life on the road, playing in one band and managing all the issues that come with it, has been an incredible experience so far. From an outside perspective, the touring life probably looks like it’s purely just “having a great time” but to be honest, It’s probably been one of the most stressful years of my life. The good kind of stress though, no regrets whatsoever! A lot of personal growth and learning.

So after breakfast this morning, I took a walk into town after learning that I’d arrived this morning in Bern, Switzerland. Having no idea what to expect, I was totally blown away by the town. With beautiful historical buildings, a bubbling community feel and festive celebrations, Bern is a richly cultured place, full of interesting architecture and history. Time is fairly limited each day, so I’m not able to learn to much about each place that I visit. So getting just a little taste of some strange new city is a fairly typical experience each day on the road. After an hour of walking around town, it was time to head back to venue to tick a few more things off the “to do list” for today. Depending on how my legs feel, my daily walks are usually 1 or 2 hours, just wandering aimlessly, listening to podcasts and exploring each city. It’s very pleasurable and really good stress relief.

Developing a stretching and physical exercise has been a crucial part of staying healthy while doing this job. I’ve just recovered from some pretty serious neck and arm pain I developed over the last tour. Pain can often be a confusing mix of stress related illness with physical injuries from playing music so intensely. Each set we play with John on the most recent tours has been 2.5 hours onstage, including 15 minutes he does his solo rendition of the instrumental piece “Ocean”. So despite the fact that I’m accustomed to long hours, playing music, it still takes its toll on my body. It’s essential for me that I stay strong and flexible, so after my walk through town this morning, I returned back to the venue, scouted out the best place to set myself up on the floor, to work on my body for an hour or so. I find this time so meditative and good for the soul. I take my time, stretching, praying and then doing an exercise routine that is not too intense but just enough to be a challenge to maintain on a daily basis. I’m really inspired, after weeks of consistent practice. I’ve been able to reduce pain, increase my flexibility and develop my overall strength and fitness. While I’m on tour, my aim is to be healthy and sober, so I think this exercise routine is an essential part of my daily rituals.

Usually after I’ve got the exercise out of the way, it’s around time to be on stage, ready for soundcheck. Funnily enough, this time of the day tends to be one of the most stressful moments of all. I have my own idiosyncratic traits that probably contribute to why it’s stressful for me but, nevertheless it is harder than one might think. Working together with the instrument techs, (the people who set up the instruments and assist us during each show), we have to make sure that all the instruments are in EXACTLY the correct position for a seamless show. The level of detail that goes into this, gets down to the most minuscule of changes, moving and tilting instruments by fractions of an inch. Then of course, I need to be well prepared for every song we are about to play, not just the parts, playing and singing but all the details, the settings of the electronic drums, the positions of the microphones, the various types of sticks that I use etc etc. During sound check is when we generally deal with any issues that are coming up in the band. Usually there will be some critical assessment of the most recent shows and then some work done, refining each song to get it as close to perfect as possible. Being a naturally obsessive kind of character, I had to train myself out of getting caught up on such details as a young adult as I found it was something unhealthy, so it’s been interesting having to embrace this kind of “perfectionist” approach once more, later in life. In this style of live performance, I guess, this attention to detail is just all part of the job, not just for me but everyone involved, including the techs, tour management, the people on the sound and lighting as well.

After sound check today, I found a moment to do half an hour of French language lessons. Excited about future travels back to Guinea, I’m really loving learning more French, which is spoken widely there. I’ve always loved learning languages and really good maintaining this as part of my daily routine.

We all sat down to have an early dinner shortly after soundcheck. Despite there being a few issues amongst the crew, I think everybody is doing an amazing job of getting along. There’s generally a great feeling of team work and camaraderie amongst John’s touring party. While we are on the road, we are often over 12 people all crammed in together, bunking together on one bus. We all must take a lot of care to be considerate of each others belongings, space and wellbeing. I think this aspect is one of the hardest parts to manage in this line of work but it’s good for the soul and has taught me a lot about myself.

Playing guitar and singing is certainly one of my favorite moments of the day. I usually try to do it directly before the show and directly after the show as well. I find it’s such a nice way to warm up and warm down my voice, as well as being a very relaxing and lovely way to get my mind in a good place. If I’ve done my walk, stretching and exercise, I always find this moment of the day, so special. Before the show, I try to put an hour aside to sit down and work on some melodic ideas, plucking the notes on guitar and singing them in order to become more cognizant what different intervals and scales sound like. Sometimes, I might also feel inspired to sing some original or cover songs to warm up and keep developing this.

SHOW TIME! Our show in Bern was totally awesome, in fact, most of the crew agreed it was definitely one of the highlights. It’s hard to say why. For us as a band, it’s always nice having the crowd closer to the stage. It’s a great feeling, seeing them up and close and feeling that connection. The band is sounding fantastic and I think we’re all really vibing together in a positive way. Myself, I had a great show. I feel I’m settling in to the repertoire really well now and giving it all I’ve got! Luckily the show was filmed, so it’s possible that it will be available for viewing somewhere at some stage. I generally don’t watch footage or look at any of the commentary about our shows. I try not to spend too much energy on these things, preferring to keep things simple, staying focused on my routines and staying healthy and enthusiastic on the job.

After the show, the band showers first while the crew pack up the stage. If I can, I try to find a quiet spot to wind down a little bit with my guitar again. It’s a really nice way to end the night before I retire to my bed on the bus.

After the crew has packed down, showered and boarded the bus, it’s usually time for us to move on to the next city. As the bus drives, everybody sleeps as well as they can. We generally arrive between 5am and 10am the next day and it’s time to start the whole daily routine over again. It’s a very challenging job but we love what we do. It’s great working with an amazing bunch of people and despite the difficulties, I think everyone is really grateful to be on the road. Despite the visits in each place being like a fleeting glimpse, it’s amazing to see so much of this big wide world.

Thanks for reading.

Michael