Vehicle/Trailer Rentals: Renting a vehicle for
long trips is insanely expensive. A three-
week trip in a minivan on Expedia was
costing at least $1,400. I’ve had friends
pay upwards of $2,500 for a similar length.
Listen, for the price of a few tours,
you can buy yourself a nice pre-2008
Dodge Grand Caravan with under 150,000
kms on it. I’m not a car guy, but I’ve had a
few of these vehicles and they are cheap,
super reliable, and fit a lot of gear.
“I think a lot of bands make the mis-
take of bringing too much gear or invest-
ing in a giant van right away,” Wood says. “I
think it was really beneficial for us to do a
couple of barebones but profitable tours
first, before adding anything like that.”
Renting a trailer is not very expen-
sive, but it is a pain. Hauling a trailer
through the mountains is terrible on your
gas. You can’t park it anywhere. They’re
easily stolen/broken into. Tour in the
smallest thing you possibly can and try to
avoid renting a trailer.
Food: We all know food is expensive. That’s
why most of us don’t eat out every night!
When you go on tour, you’ll end up eating
out almost every meal. With a four- or five-
piece band, this adds up quickly.
First off, always ask for meals from
the venue. If they serve food, it’s really the
least they can do.
Try going to the grocery store ev-
ery once in a while. A little fruit will not
ruin your punk image. The grocery store
often has cheap baking, bulk drinks, and
produce. Bring a little cooler with you to
stock up on these snacks.
If anyone is kind enough to give you
a rider, raid it. Take the extra food – they
bought it for you!
WHERE TO SPEND YOUR
MONEY
Everyone’s threshold for doing uncom-
fortable things to save money is different.
I’ve slept in some pretty uncomfortable
situations – dorm rooms, really dirty
houses, etc. We’ve agreed to avoid these
situations whenever possible.
“This is actually your life and you
have to find ways to enjoy it.” Wood advis-
es. “If you’re touring half of the year, you
need to find ways to feel like you’re living
a valuable life. We all learned how to do
Rubik’s Cubes on our last tour.”
If we sense that our sleep is going
46 • C A N A D I A N M U S I C I A N
to be terrible, we’ll often
take the option and buy
a cheap hotel. It’s usually
worth it.
“Yeah, we’ve been
in a situation where
you sleep on the floor
in Victoria and get
three hours of sleep,
and then go to play a
300-person show in
Vancouver the next
PIPE & HAT
’S TIM JON
day,” shares Wood.
ES
“That just makes
the whole experience
worse.”
We try to be frugal with food;
however, eating cheaply often means
eating poorly, especially on the road.
Lately, we’ve been spending a little more
(around $15/person) on a big, delicious
lunch/brunch everyday, and then avoid
eating until we get to the venue. Often,
this means we’re only buying one meal
per day, and it means our one meal gets
to be more delicious and healthy.
Finally, never skimp on van main-
tenance. I own the van we use, and the
peace of mind is worth every penny. Your
van will also last longer and you’ll end up
saving money over time.
THE DIFFERENCE A SHIRT
CAN MAKE
Everybody knows that selling merch
is important. Where many artists fail is
keeping track of that merch and under-
standing how to properly manage their
merch sales.
At music conferences, you’ll often
hear people tell you to “run your band like
a small business.” Another tired cliché, but
truly, when you are selling merch, you’re
basically setting up a small retail business.
Keeping careful track of your merch
has many benefits. You need to keep
inventory for taxes, track album sales for
grant reporting, and track merch sales so
that you stay on top of it.
“If the band isn’t tracking merch,
they’re not making money,” Jones says
bluntly. “If you’re making money, you
want to know how much and how to
split it up. If you’re keeping track of mer-
ch on a long tour, then you can plan for
running out of merch. Maybe set up a
drop shipment to wherever they’re going
to be.”
Ordering merch is always tough. You
have to put out a bunch of money and
you never really know if anyone will buy
it. Keeping track of merch will allow you to
refine your ordering strategy.
“It’s sort of trial and error, figuring
out what your audience likes and doesn’t
like,” Jones offers. “If you’re keeping track,
you can do short supply runs and find out
what you need to buy… right down to
specific sizes.”
Like budgeting, keeping track of mer-
ch doesn’t take much – just a little bit of
extra thought. Keep a little binder and fill
out a separate merch report for every gig.
Keep track of everything – models, colours,
and sizes. You’ll be glad you did and can
learn to be more efficient and effective
with your ordering based on that.
Keeping on Top of Finances Will Make
This More Fun
Honestly, doing all of this can be fun. Usu-
ally, it falls on one member to keep most
of it organized – someone with a head for
numbers.
Running your band like this makes it
into more of a job, which can be rewarding
and even enjoyable (believe it or not). It’s
exciting to realize that you’re steadily mak-
ing more money on a tour and exciting to
finally pay yourself something.
It’s also just more fun to tour when
things are well organized and thought out.
If you’re not worrying about the small stuff,
you get to focus on the big stuff – playing
a great show and making good connec-
tions and new friends.
Liam Duncan is musician and writer
based in Winnipeg, MB. He likes to
make music with his band The Middle
Coast. Check them out on Facebook.