A Day in the Life...of MeBlogging From New York,NY - 10.03.13
Hey there, one and all. Welcome to what will be the last of my weekly long musings for what could be a while. Life is about to hectic for me in just six days from now - as I alluded to a couple of weeks back - so I'll be trying to give shorter more concise and regular updates from then on the road. For now, though, I thought this would be a good topic to discuss this week - tour.
So I come to you today from my living room in NY. Layla is in the kitchen singing away to herself as she prepares her breakfast, which makes me smile, and I'm just in from the garage where I was hitting the treadmill hard. I was going to shower before I sat down to write this, but I decided that it would be far better to do it while the idea was fresh in my mind. I tend to come up with far better notions for blogs when I can let my mind wander like that. Hope you're all having a great Sunday as well, as always. Why am I telling you all this though? Well, if you're reading this, then you will be more than aware that I'm about to hit the road for the first time in a long time, leaving this all behind for what will be a relatively short tour of just some 3 weeks or so. It still makes me think though, and I'm sure I'm going to miss all of this. The chance to relax with my tea each morning, the sound of my wife to be singing as she goes about her daily routine, it's all going to be hard to go without even for just 17 days. However, it's important to me to get the chance to get out there and see my fans, play my music to a wide number of people, and see more of the world again. So, in one way I'm sad, but in another I'm very excited. That's why I thought it would be cool to give you guys another insight into the industry. You see us up there each night playing our hearts out, but some people might not see what happens between shows, and I think a little day in the life of a touring artist could be good. I'm going to show you how an average show day goes on tour, and I'll be casting my mind back to the days of tour buses and arenas, rather than luxuries like stadia and hotels. So sit back and enjoy.
Alright, so most of your probably already realise that I'm not the same as most touring artists, and I'm not ashamed of that. It shines through from the very start of the day, though, when I'm out on the road. Although I go to bed late at night, I'm not a big sleeper. I normally sleep with my headphones on, playing some music, and I tend to rise at like 9AM or so. Mornings are normally the second most hectic part of the day for me. I like the bus to be tidy - someone has to after all - so the morning will include cleaning up beer cans, cigarettes, bottles, puke, lead singers, drummers, anything. People tend to get wild in the confines of the bus, and it would be a strange morning if I didn't have to haul someone from the floor into their bunk. Singers in support bands who are newer tend to be the most common. They kind of look to prove a point and show that they are worthy, but most of them don't realise just how badly they lose drinking contests against Scott, and pass out around 2 or 3AM - we leave them to sleep there. It's for the best not to move people in that state. Once I've cleaned and disinfected the place - I know, it's more Martha than Rod Stewart - I get to making myself my daily cup of black tea and kick back on the sofa to watch some DVDs. This is my peaceful time. I've been touring for more than a decade, and I have literally never seen anyone else awake at this time of the morning. I'm quite happy with that though. Most people say time alone is the hardest thing to come by and the biggest thing they miss when they tour, but it's never been a problem for me. The benefits of sobriety huh? Haha.
By the time the rest of the guys get up, it's normally about mid-day, sometimes later depending on what sort of night they've all enjoyed the previous evening. Scott will normally be the first to surface, followed by various other members of our band and some of the support acts. I like this part of my day, largely because the look on all their faces when they come out of the back room is somewhere between death and hell, and I can't help but chuckle at the oxymoron of their emotions compared to the fun they were having before they collapsed. Everyone knows, though, thankfully, that they have to eat for some strength, and this is where Mark the housewife's next task will come in. I usually start cooking a raft of bacon and sausage at like 11AM to make sure I can have mine before the cast of the Walking Dead come out to choke their own down. It's not uncommon for the inexperienced to puke into a sink at this time....and then my work comes back again. This is also where the fun starts again. Scott has worked pout after a decade and a half on the road that the only cure to a hangover is to force a Jagermeister and a beer down as quickly as possible. Others don't fare so well with the hair of the dog treatment.
The time after breakfast is probably one of the most relaxing times for most of the guys. The bus is normally still travelling at that time. Our gear will have arrived at the evening's venue, which gives us peace of mind, but we are still a couple hours away ordinarily, so no one can really go anywhere. Some guys use this as their alone time, chilling in their bunk with their diaries and their music, or calling their partners back home. I've actually never previously been in a relationship while on tour...so I've yet to see how I'll handle that. For most though, this is the time to come together and discuss the night before. We might discuss the show, the crowd, the number of fans outside, and of course, some of them will discuss the girls, the groupies and the partying. Common phrases at this time will begin: "Hey dude...how about when you...." or "Did you see the tits on that girl in the front..?" I prefer chat about the actual show though. This is the time when bands will also get out the guitars as well. Writing new music while you are living and breathing the band is the easiest thing ever. Good tip for young bands there. Sadly, this will be the most common period of the day for some poor blonde girl to come stumbling from the back...confused, hungover, yet pleased that she screwed a rock star. Back in those days, Scott was bad at showing groupies off the bus after he slept with them, so they tended to end up coming with us, which meant they had to find their own way home the next day. I don't think he's proud of that trait. He never was.
Arrival at the venue normally comes at like 3.30 or 4 if we're lucky. Any later and it can be a bit of a struggle to get ready on time. Any earlier and you tend to get bored. I like to get out the bus at that time for some fresh air and to get away from the smell of puke. You might expect me to complain about being mobbed by fans as soon as I step of the bus, but I won't. I love meeting fans and signing their stuff. To see that I make a difference to people like that and to see their faces light up to meet me really makes my day. Besides, if someone has waited four hours in the rain to get a photograph with me, then it's the very least I can do. I love all my fans. Some of the presents....not so much. One girl once gave me a painting she made...which had Scott and I...well let's just say if the painting was true, neither of us would have ended up with such beautiful women. Things like that creep me out a little, but I still love my fans. I'll hang with them for around ten minutes or so, before I get into the venue for the first time. From there, for me, it's show time. I like to get onto the stage, look at the empty arena, and envisage it full. Before smoking bans, I'd sit on the stage and have a cigarette as I visualised the show. That's an important part of my ritual. It settles the nerves. The good thing about arenas is the dressing rooms are good as well. We can have a shower, and I always do. Feeling shitty on tour suits a lot of people. They like the smell for some reason...something to do with authenticity. I don't buy into that though, haha.
The sound checks will come next. Scott will always arrive moments beforehand. We're always last to sound check, as I've never played as a support act in Blood of Wecz, and he'll always come swanning in just when I'm starting to worry. He tells me that it takes him 45 mins to get from the bus to the venue because he has to talk to all the fans. I believe him. I said I love the fans, but Scott is on a whole different level. That guy laps up the attention, sure, but every little hand shake, every shriek from an excited fan, every single photo and every smile means the world to him. I've never known another person so involved with the fans, and especially not someone from such a big band. When we hit the stage, we get to play for the first time that day, and we normally have some fun at this point. We play one of our own songs, then we have a little bit of a mess around, playing the Power Rangers theme tune, some 80s crap and then a few pop songs. I often get asked why we do that, but it's simple - fun, nothing else. We love being in this band, and getting to mess around with your comrades is one of the highlights of the day.
As much as we have fun on the stage though at sound check, the second we leave that arena it becomes all about focus. We return to our dressing room as a band and then we have to prepare. Fun Blood of Wecz fact for you - we have never written a set list in our lives until after the sound check. We change it every night, and we write it as a group, making decisions together. I then tend to get nervous, while Scott starts to get pumped. I drink tea and smoke a lot before I hit the stage, while Scott works out - we all have our own preparations, but I know which is healthier. We ask not to be disturbed at this point, just the way we are. We like out Earl Grey and push ups to be done in peace, and we need to focus. I might occasionally nip out to side stage and watch a support act or two, see how the crowd is warming up, but then it'll be back to privacy. Five minutes from stage time, we then have our traditional huddle. It's a pep talk, a call to arms and a sense of brotherhood. It really gets me pumped at this time to have our huddle. Afterwards, we'll hear the roar from the arena that means the stage lights have gone down and it's time. Scott and I always have our bro hug, and then I lift my guitar and it's show time.
The walk from dressing room to stage is the most nervous thing ever. I've experienced weak legs, feeling sick, everything as I get closer and hear our intro music. That moment when I hit the bottom of the stairs and I hear the crowd chant our name, it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, even to this day, and as I ascend them and walk out into my place, the cheer that greets me always fills me with joy. Then, before I know it, I look to the side of the stage, and I see Scott stood there, waiting. I give him the nod and as he bounds out to the centre mic, honestly, the sound that comes from those crowds is something that will live with me forever. He works a crowd like no one on earth and they love him for it. When we hit the first chord...it's go time. I'm not here to talk about the show though, that's been done a million times. Just know that it's the most special time of the day in those magical two hours.
Getting off the stage, Scott is always still pumped. I've lost count of the number of times he asks me to hit him in the chest. It's all adrenaline of course. We tend to spend this time just talking about the show, where we nailed it and where we fucked up, but mostly, my brother just bounds around the room looking delighted with himself. We spend the next hour or so meeting competition winners, which is always a cool thing, especially after the show because the fans are ten times as excited, and so are we. Scott loves meeting the fans again, and he is on fire with them after the show. I'll have a cup of tea and a cig at this point - I know...I know, I'm boring, and then after a while we head back to the bus to hook up with the other bands and reminisce a little, although in reality, there are very few discussions about the actual shows in the hours after it. People tend to get drunk very quickly, lack of hydration from sweating on stage I guess, and it turns into a big party. This is where I spend the largest part of my night making sure everything is cool. I'll throw people off the bus who aren't supposed to be there - I say throw...I ask them to leave - and I generally mediate. In the days we had Alex, that involved stopping Scott and him from fighting, afterwards it was just making sure that arguments in some bands doesn't escalate. It happens. People spend months together, and they're going to disagree and occasionally come to blows when alcohol and drugs are involved. But it's my job to make sure no one gets hurt. I'm like everyone's mom...but I don't mind at all. It's a role I'm happy to take. All that remains from there is to sit and wait for everyone to either go to bed or to fall down on the floor. Once everything is silent...or people are off to their bunks getting laid, I'm happy that everyone is safe and I can get some sleep. I'll normally retire at like 5AM, giving me a few hours before it's time to start again. Sure it's a stress, but you know what? I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.
So there you have it; a day in the life of a touring Mark Talley. I'm about to start it all again from next weekend in the UK with the Harlots, Aimee Rose, arcades and PURE, and I'm already looking forward to it. Writing this has just got me pumped up even more. I want to take this chance to thank all of my fans in the UK as well. You guys bought tickets so fast that the whole tour sold out in just 23 hours. That is sensational and I love you all for that. I'll see you all very very soon. For now, I'm off to spend my Sunday with my gorgeous wife to be. Hope you all have a fantastic Sunday.
Mark 