The Octopus Project

How do you choose venues?

The best way to pick venues is to just do as much research as possible.  Look at some of the clubs that your favorite bands are playing and try those - check out tour routings for bands that you'd imagine are on the same scale as you.  The best bets seem to me like the clubs that have a healthy mixture of bands bigger than us and people I've never heard of...which makes me think people actually come to this place, so they can book popular bands, but they're not so big that it's unrealistic for us.   If the club is booked on the night you want, more often than not, they�ll be able to recommend another place to try.  Friends are another great resource.  Most people in bands have friends, or friends of friends, who have gone on tour, and they�re usually excited to share their experiences.  We�re constantly getting emails from folks asking us about good places to play.

Have your tours been successful? What was your best experience on a tour and how did it come about?

Each of our tours have been increasingly successful, so that�s pretty exciting!  It took awhile for us to make money on tour, or even break even, but we've been lucky that our persistence has been rewarded with a slow but steady growth.

Our best experience on tour was probably playing at Coachella last year.  We were the first band to play on the second day, so we didn�t expect much.  But when we walked out on stage there were a couple thousand people waiting there to see us.  It was a pretty spectacular day.

What was your worst experience on a tour and how did it come about?

Our first tour was easily our hardest.  The first week went by with no problems.  There were barely any people at the shows, but we didn�t care because we were so excited to actually be out on the road.  The hard part didn�t come until we hit New York.  We had a night off, and were staying with friends, so we decided to go out to a show.  We parked our van outside the club, only to come back an hour later to find that our van had been stolen.  Luckily, our equipment was safe at our friend�s house, but our van was nowhere in sight.  When we went to the police about it they just laughed at us.  It was pretty miserable.  We decided to buy a new (used) van to make it to our remaining shows, figuring we had to get a new vehicle to at least get the equipment home, and things only got worse.  It�s a pretty long story, but the best details involve the previous owner of van #2 angrily speeding down a Manhattan street while I was dangling from an open passenger door, exhaust fumes leaking into the van and making us all sleepy/nauseous, and of course the van completely breaking down in Greensboro, NC on a three-day weekend.

We missed all of the second half of our tour but made it home safely.  We were pretty beaten down, but I think it made us stronger in the end.  I feel like we can conquer anything that touring might throw at us at this point!

If you were giving a brand new artist one piece of advice or one warning about touring/booking, what would it be?

Get an alarm for your van!  Also, tour as much as you possibly can.  Playing together under a wide variety of circumstances really helps everybody to figure out what the band's all about, what your strengths and weaknesses are.  And of course the sheer repetition is going to help you get tight musically, and getting up in front of so many different groups of people is going to help you find your audience a lot faster than waiting for them to come to you.  These are all benefits of touring a lot, but the main motivation is that - as long as you have a sense of adventure about it - it's really, really fun!

It's also important to not get totally discouraged when booking people turn you down for shows, or just flat out don�t return your calls.  It happens to everyone.  But I guarantee that the more you work at it, the more connections you�ll make, and the easier it will get.  Every little success can lead to taking things a step further the next time around.

Golden Bear

Do you have any tips for cutting costs on the road?

Plan on bringing some cheap food for everyone to eat (rather than eating at restaurants). Also, we plan on staying with friends and supporters along the way, rather than hotels.

If you were giving a brand new artist one piece of advice or one warning about touring/booking, what would it be?

At first, take anything you can get and be grateful for it. Once you start getting more offers, don't over do it and play every week just because you can. As much fun as it is, the crowd will be tiny or nonexistent.  We finally learned that we had to be a bit more choosey with shows as far as not playing ALL the time. But it is always hard to turn down shows because they are so fun, and I still have that sense of "take what you can get and be thankful." Also, if you're in it to make any money, get out now.

Anonymous Rock Band Member

How do you pick venues?

Wherever they want you, is where you play. BUT, if it�s going to make you look bad, as in bad representation of what you sound like or the show you do... as in, if there is no stage or if the venue has a speaker on a stick for a PA, with no lights, and astro turf on the stage... I�d reconsider. 

If the guarantee pay is low, or a door deal, and the gig will not do much for you in that market, might save some pain by walking on the gig.   Experience is the only reason for doing anything on the road, outside of any comfort zone, or professional outlook.  Experience can help a lot whether a good venue or bad venue.

Have your tours been successful? What was your best experience on a tour and how did it come about?

Did you break even? That�s a good tour. Seriously, if you sold a lot of merchandise, you�re not hungry, and nothing broke, that�s a good tour.
If you do any better than that on a tour, you have beaten the odds. 

Gas prices, hotels, sleeping on drunk fans� floors with pet hair and allergies to boot...the road is treacherous. You can�t be proud, you have to eat the sh** with the candy sometimes.  Pretty much in a nutshell...rock-n-roll don�t pay.

What was your worst experience on a tour and how did it come about?

Bus broken down on the Brooklyn Bridge. Had to load as much of our crap as we could into cabs holding up traffic.  Bus wouldn�t start in mid winter. We all had to get out and push the bus on ice. I was buzzed wearing no shoes, a lot of good I did. But, we got it started by doing that.
Had a bus blow a compressor in Tucson, stuck at a truck stop for three days, canceled dates, rented a mini van and a u-haul truck to get our sh** and ourselves back to Texas. Left the bus at a mechanic�s house.  Cost us 3 grand to have it towed back to Texas a year later.

Do you have any tips for cutting costs on the road?

Don�t eat, don�t sleep.  Stay with friends, or make friends, so you can stay at their house, but, they just want to party so, there is no sleep.
Stay sober so you can all drive a shift. Taco Bell is cheap.  You get sick of bread and cold cuts real quick, but, it can save the wallet for a few days.
Don�t run out of gas. Make sure you have good gear/truck/van.

DLay Music

How do you pick venues?

With love and care. No, really, we try to pick places that are receptive to our music as well as our fans. When starting out you'll play anywhere but it is my experience that that attitude often does more harm to your reputation than good. Don't settle but rather be selective.

What was your worst experience on a tour and how did it come about?

Note to self: if the sign on the door says "No Gang Activity Allowed" and you're a folk/indie rock band, you should probably load up and head on out.

Do you have any tips for cutting costs on the road?

Stay in hostels, couchsurfing.com, go somewhere where you know someone, go to soup kitchens for dinner (j/k). Pick the right venues and often you can get a discounted of complimentary hotel. Use ASCAP discounts.

If you were giving a brand new artist one piece of advice or one warning about touring/booking, what would it be?

BOOK THE RIGHT PLACES FOR YOUR MUSIC!!! This should be as important to you as playing. Right audience = great show, merch sales, etc. Wrong audience = beheading.