What happens on the road doesn’t necessarily have to stay on the road
(anymore).
When you're on tour with a band, it never gets boring - The Ramones
knew this and wrote a song about it. And whoever has sat at the bar
late at night with musicians, roadies, merch people and tour managers
has heard all these cool and crazy stories, good and bad experiences,
the fairy tales and legends of those whose job it is to be on or near
another stage each and every night.
These are stories about those people who sleep every night in another
bed, who have to drive thousands of kilometers and still have a sense
of humor.
But, these stories are like the plans for a world revolution: the
next morning everything has been forgotten. Only a small percentage
makes it into interviews and biographies - and we want to change this!
Our plan: We want your best, wildest, funniest, most tragic stories
from „on the road“ for our book. A book about Rock'n'Roll, with
stories from the road, from hotel rooms, off stage and out of the
backstage room. We want your story, regardless of whether you are a
musician, a roadie, a tour manager, a driver, a promoter, a booker a
label owner, a journalist, a sound guy, a hotel manager or a tour van
rental company rep.
We want your story - by email. Send it to touring@ox-fanzine.de. Or
go to www.touringisneverboring.com.
Here's some ideas to help you sort out your memories:
The worst thing that ever happened to you on tour
The worst food you got served
Your worst experiences with persistent fans
Technical troubles: broken strings, burning amps, electroshock from
microphones
Car trouble, breakdowns, accidents, planes almost crashing
Getting lost, missed trains and flights, lost and forgotten musicians
Alcohol and drugs: supply problems, overdoses, hangovers, raids and
busts
Weather problems: too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too much
rain, snow, ice, alone in the desert ...
Trouble with police, customs and other authorities
Groupies, male and female
Rip-offs, vanishing promoters, bad support/main bands, stupid
journalists
Terrible hotels, bad/great hosts, destroyed rooms, escapes from
hotels, fleas, rats, cockroaches ...
And and, of course, we want photos!
Just e-mail us whatever you think is interesting.
Also: We don't want to hear only bad things, we are also interested
in very nice experiences: grateful audiences in uncharted towns and
unlikely places; helpful people in cities you never have been to
before, amazing hospitality ...
But there’s a catch: We will not accept anonymous entries. Our book
is not the place to talk shit about people or to settle old scores.
Maybe it is better to omit details like names and places in case you
want to tell the story anyway - those you are talking about will
probably know who they are ...
What you get in return for your story? Fame and glory! And, isn't
that what Rock'n'Roll is all about? No, we will not pay you for your
story, but, of course, you will be listed with your name and your
occupation, and, once the book is published (first a German version,
later possibly an English version), we will have a special edition at
a special rate for all contributors.
Long live Rock’n’Roll!
Andrew Uhlemann, triggerfish.de
Joachim Hiller, ox-fanzine.de
