Lead singer of All That Remains @philthatremains I dare you to take his Themerchdude shirt or his Gun from him!
Sometimes a crew guy might look like a rockstar! This is my buddy Cheeta he is in the middle of the MuchMusic Video Awards doing his thing and showing some support to themerchdude!
Thanks Cheeta!
These last few months
It’s been a long tour almost 4 months touring with a great group of people. It been different to say the least. No drama just a bunch of pros (crew and band) trying to make a living. Many hours together doing the same thing in a different town with just enough time to maybe take a peak outside the venue and catch a few landmarks. By landmarks I mean finding where Starbucks, chipotle or a good quite place just to get away. You see while touring may seem glamours to many it’s just a bunch a people going from town to town in order to put on a show for the band’s fans. Fans that in most cases are awesome. Fans that in the last few months I got to see many times “Super fans” we call them. Saw many of them up to 15 times and every time they would come by merch and ask “How are you doing?” “Need anything?” Never once did any of these “Super fans” asked me for anything in return (a very rare thing these days) never once asking “can you get this signed for me?” I was also lucky enough to meet many of the family members of the crew and band (parents, wives, husbands, sisters, brothers etc) I even had the luck to have my wifey and son come out a few times to visit. Which reminded family is the reason most of us are out here. They’re the reason we can smile when we are having a bad day. They’re the ones that light up our day by just seeing their names on our caller ID.
Although touring keeps us away from them most of the year. We do become closer as a family. Maybe I’m just a lucky guy that has a solid family that understands, maybe I’m lucky to have a strong independent woman as a wife. Being away isn’t easy specially for our kids and love ones. But life probably wouldn’t be as solid as it is even though we are in a industry as unstable as touring.
Touring has a funny way to build or destroy a family specially when we let the perks of touring affect our jobs and personal lives. Something I have seen happen to many artist and crew guys. I’m glad to have done this tour because it was great to see the respect the crew and band had for everyone else’s family.
If every road family looked out for each others families the way this band and crew did. Touring would be easier for everyone. Because without respect for each others family touring would be full of lonely, single and bitter people!
Thank you band, thank you crew and thank you management for all the great things you did for me and my family. See you down the road!
I doubt this is something smart, but how do you deal with groupies (more-so bandwhores), or recommend people to deal with groupies? I had an all access pass the other night (I was solely there for the music), and I got a lot of shit from the girls backstage, and it seems to be a common occurrence that they're huge bitches towards me, though I don't do anything, besides listen to the music and go home. Should I just shake it off?
Look not every girl backstage is a groupie. Some are fans, some are contest winners and some might be family members or wives. You must be talking about a smaller band or maybe a band that has a young fan base because what you are explaining seems like they were a bit immature. Shake it off. Some girls have nothing to offer in life and all they want is to hook up with some band dude. So you enjoy your music, enjoy the backstage and don’t worry about those girls that all they do is open their mouth to either talk crap or get some.
The shirt of all shirts, sold by us at Warped Tour!
#theswellers #warpedtour
Great band, great merch idea. Go support this band! They are a class act with a small dose of smart ass!
The notorious homophobic design swipers over at Urban Outfitters liked my design I guess.
If you are interested in purchasing the way cooler one that I made, please visit my webstore!Also, reblog to spread the hate.
this is an example of what I’m talking about!
Stealing creativity
Musicians and artist work hard about getting their art out to the masses. They also have to worry about bands and other “artist” imitating everything about them. Yeah, yeah imitation is a form a flattering but boy how much flattering do we need?!
I see it with album covers as well you will find many albums that look quite the same. Merch that looks the same. It seem just too easy for anyone to take one bands/artist/painter/designer creativity and just make other believe its their own. Artist have to be vigilant about everything these days because there is always someone trying to cash in on their work!
spending time being angry…
…is a waste of time. i’ve come to realize that there are so many other great things to focus on.
Thank you kind Sr. Your post are always on point!
I know being signed to a label takes away the artists control to a certain extent and more sometimes but what about when a song of theirs is used in a movie? Do they get a say in if it is used? Do they get a royalty off of the DVDs sold or is it a one time cut?
AnonymousA band has say if their music is used or not. whom ever owns the catalog Of the music (the rights to it) Paul McCartney one time told Michael Jackson to buy rights of music years later Michael Jackson owned the Beatles catalog. Wish ended in a huge argument between them.
So bands can sign any deal they want as long as they are smart enough to keep the majority of the publishing. That is where the money is at! They can also sign with a label that lets them keep creative control. The problem is too many bands are so eager to sign deals and give everything away.
So I was at a show recently and there was a local band promoting themselves to the line. Their tour manager was having a conversation with some kids behind me and they asked him to point out some members of the band. He pointed at 2 guys sitting down in the shade and said that they were the bassist and lead singer and that they "aren't personal about promoting because they're shy". I thought it was odd that the tour manager was doing more hustling than the actual band. Thoughts?
AnonymousWell some bands are uncomfortable pushing their own product. It’s something some bands find hard to do when they are first starting off. It’s something they will get over soon. Hustling is just part of the business. Tour managers most of the time do the things bands can’t do or shouldn’t do. Example lets say a band is doing a meet and greet and no photos are allowed the band will very rarely say “No photos” they will more than likely say “it’s ok” the tour manager’s job is to do the dirty work while the bands job is to be a politician.
Hope that makes sense.
I'm going to be selling merch this summer for volunteer hours & I'm excited because A) I get to meet the bands, B) I get to go to the concert(s) for free but C) I get to give back to the wonderful festival that has been making so many people happy by helping out. So I was just wondering if you had any tips?
AnonymousYep,
1) Be nice but not to nice that people feel they can ask you for free stuff!
2) Have fun but not too much fun. (Drinking) Remember you are working.
3) Be approachable yet mean business.
4) Count and recount and when in doubt RECOUNT AGAIN!
5) Have shirts in bundles don’t roll them!
6) Tell fans what they want but don’t be pushy!
7) Smile but don’t be creepy!
8) Be efficient one person at the time (to start with) later on you can do 3 and 4 at a time.
9) When your day sucks its not the fans problem. But learn to play the “I will choke you in my mind game” it makes you laugh and your day will be better.
10) Keep your eye on the money and keep your money organized. Last but not lease merch is a hustle just don’t turn into a used car sales men/woman. The faster a fan picks a shirt the more sales you will make. So be helpful but not pushy.
Good luck!
