THE TOURING BAND feat. PERIPHERY
Part THREE – “The Touring Life”
The idea of hopping into a van and driving off from city to city to play in front of a few hundred sweat-glazed people could easily bring sparks (if not fireworks) into any young band’s eyes. It’s the dream to even just stand onstage, and send shivers down a person’s spine because of your music. But this won’t be your FastPass to fame and it’s anything but luxurious. Any band that’s even just considering the idea should accept that it’s not going to be easy and that you’re not gonna get treated well. Back in the day, Periphery would earn $100 a night as a band. As a band member, you’re not gonna make money off your guarantee when you’re first starting off. You have to strategize and build a cohesive thing for your CDs and merch—whatever you’re selling—for it to garnish recognition, heck to earn anything at all.
Communication is a huge thing. You need to prove to yourselves that you can be a unit, and that you can reach out to the crowd and convince them that you’re not just some band that would stick around after two shows. You have to be that band kids would love to set aside their schedules to see live. Don’t just do things half-assed. Do it because you love playing music and that you love being around other people. Be that talented troop of traveling troubadours anyone would be proud to be a fan of.
Being where Periphery is today, I asked Matt how they’re able to play the same songs every night and not get sick of it. He answered, “You do. You do get sick of it. The thing is, you have to know that getting into it, and you have to figure out what it is you connect about the music. You have to pay attention not to the fact that you’re playing the same song every night, but you have to pay attention to your surroundings. You’re in a new venue, there’s a new audience, there’s a new vibe, there’s new excitement in the room. If you focus on those things, then what you’re playing isn’t as mundane, because to the audience and with the sound of this new room you’re in, it’s gonna sound different, it’s gonna come off different. You have to be focused on that kind of stuff rather than be like, ‘Ugh! I can’t believe I have to play “Icarus Lives!” again for the thousandth time!’ I hate playing that song! I played it so many times, but we gotta play it because people love it. The thing I connect with when I play that song now is watching the audience go completely apeshit.”
There are some bands like Dream Theater that have two different setlists, and they would alternate every couple nights. “If a band knows their material very well and have enough material, they can totally do that! There’s no rule against it, but it does get boring.” Matt added. “You just have to know that that’s a part of it, and try to have fun. Some bands will jam between their songs as a way to keep it fresh every night. Protest the Hero has a frontman who is extremely talented at making people laugh. Every band should focus on their strengths in that regard. What are you good at? Do you guys jam all the time? Cool, you should jam in between your songs, or make sure there is live jams within the songs to make it fun every night. Do you have a comedic frontman? Cool, he should do comedy every night. It just depends. There’s just so many ways to approach it. I think it’s cool for bands to be more focused on their strengths so they can have a unique live show. I think Protest the Hero is a great example of that. They’re a perfect example of that.”
That’s it for THE TOURING BAND with Matt Halpern of Periphery. I’ll be featuring another band—or should I say singer for many bands—this coming March, so be sure to hit follow, and we shall all hang! See you in the moshpit!
Part ONE – “The Early Days”
Part TWO – “The Stages of Touring”
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