Part 1 – No Treble

Tour Diary 2024

We keep passing through these small but sporadically blinding storms on the road. The weather has been relentless and unforgiving, constantly elbowing us in the side while tying our shoelaces together. It feels like a lazy hop, skip and jump to start this diary with such a wrought metaphor but, there it is. Rain smattering sideways against this haunted rental van, faint hazard blinkers arhythmically pulse all around us like fireflies while we all collectively squint to maintain vision and wait it out. We’re somewhere in western Ohio. We’ve had a hellish day so far and it’s only day three.

If you’re new to us, my name is Peat and I’m in the band You Bred Raptors? from NYC. That’s WITH a question mark. I have to delineate because there is some asshole that’s been using our band name for the better part of 10 years without a question mark. We’ve asked him nicely to stop, sent a not-so-nice lawyerly cease and desist letters and even contemplated changing our name to make it all go away. It wouldn’t be a big deal if his music was digestible. The fact is, it is not. And it’s cost us gigs in the past. But, like the LLC we started, and this rental vehicle for the duration of the tour… we are stuck with it.

We are a three piece instrumental outfit from NYC. I play 8 string bass, Tara plays electric cello and Danny plays drums. The band has been around for over 14 years, with 5 full length albums and been hard touring since 2015. Since this is a bass-centric demographic, I should mention I’m probably designated in the love it or hate it category for the low-end thumpers out there. I play a custom 8 string bass from Conklin. I began playing 8 string in 2005 and was officially endorsed in 2012. The tuning is low F# to a high F string (tuned to an E). I have a few great pedal sponsorships including MojoHand FX, Cusack Music, Rougarou Pedals and Templeboards. I’m a nerd about pedals but like my bass playing, not a purist about it. I am self taught, can’t sight-read music and am not a big fan of jazz. If you absolutely loathe any bass with more than four strings, or playing with a pic, or bass playing that isn’t reminiscent of a Jazz or P-Bass, I have some bad news for you…

The last diary I did for No Treble was in 2021 when Danny had just joined the band. We had let a band member go and needed Danny to learn an entire set, play a big show at City Winery and then go on a four day run, all in under a week’s notice. The fog of Covid was still thick at the time for touring bands. It was so uncertain and we encountered a decimated landscape. Half of the venues we had relied on and built relationships with had shuttered their doors. The rest were acquired by parasites like Live Nation or were under new banners of management altogether if they somehow staved off being bought out. Bookers moved on and shows went more underground. Backlogs of postponed shows had priority and getting a confirmed gig was anything but certain. We had to start all over again in a lot of our tested markets. Ironically, we had also been signed to a booking agency, a first for us. But, behind the scenes, my job as the primary booker hadn’t changed. We were low on the totem pole and list of priorities for agents. A show here or there, a good guarantee for a mid week show, a festival contact or a place to crash was all that I could boast from our tenure in that world. No matter how hard we hustled and grinded, we were being outshined by younger bands with better social numbers, more streams, more gimmicks and were, thus, easier sells. Or maybe they were just better.

Touring is by far my biggest love in this industry. For all the bullshit involved, there’s nothing comparable to the rewarding feeling of winning over new people with your craft. And when your band acts like a well-oiled machine in the process, it’s something to marvel at. It’s no easy feat and it’s not something I take lightly. I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished. And I struggle immensely with how to feel content with that. I hear advice from all angles about how to rebrand, revitalize and rejuvenate this old dog. We try. We genuinely do. The amount of skills bands now have to learn just to stay barely relevant is staggering. Do you know how to shoot, edit, produce and promote videos? Because, that’s 90% of the job now. Don’t know how to draw or do graphic design? Tough titties. Make your own flyers. But don’t use AI! That’s stealing. Be funny. Be creative but not TOO creative that you alienate an audience. Be sarcastic but not self deprecating. Be confident but not cocky. This is the Barbie speech but for anyone creating musical media. Producing daily forgettable content is now more important than creating an album. And it sometimes feels that your hard fought fans could give a fuck about the rest. You’re selling a brand. And algorithms don’t shine on everyone. Either adapt or move out of the way. I feel immensely guilty for not doing enough and have to hide the fatigue to present a positive sheen to the project.

Now that I’ve motivated you with this locker room pep talk, I’m going to get on with the tour diary. It’s going to be a very honest assessment on what it takes for an unsigned, indie band to tour the United States (and beyond). Ups, downs, diagonals… wherever it takes us. We are the working poor, have no nepo baby connections and all make music for a living in one way or another outside of touring. Tara is in two orchestras and has a business booking string bands at weddings. I teach guitar, bass and juggling while bartending part time. Danny is in roughly four thousand bands and is an amazing drum teacher. We aren’t fucking around.

Tour Launch and Night 1: Skid Row Garage – York, PA

This entire tour was built on one anchor show. That is the only show booked by our agent on this run. A weed festival in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. You know that part of the country you forget exists outside of election cycles? Up near Winnipeg? Yeah… up there. The idea was to use it as a pivot point on tour and book up there and back. For that distance, we needed at least a week up and a week back. We settled on a 16 date run with two days off. I got to work months ago laying ground work and finding a rough route. The last few tours have been with established bands using us as support. This is the ideal. Let them decide the route and deal with the venues and promoters. It’s stressful pitching yourself and fighting to get onto to these shows but once you’re on, you just worry about promotion and showing up. Your band needs to get a good amount of people to show up to justify whatever (usually small) support budget is allotted. Let me tell you though… it’s fucking BLISS to have those dates lined up ahead of time, knowing there’s another band that’s doing the heavy lifting and being professional about it. Sadly, plans for that this time around didn’t work out so this run would be all on our own. Outside of a few dates on the back end with a friend’s band from Pittsburgh (as a joint venture), we’d be tasked with finding venues, getting holds, confirming local bands, solidifying the hold, working out payment and 100% of the promotional aspects for at least 13-14 dates.

York, PA was actually the last booked, and only three days from launch. We had a very decent show lined up in Maryland at a reputable vinyl shop/venue to start us out. The pay was going to be $600, with food and lodging for two hours of performance time. The route was good too so I was quite pleased with that small cushion to start. Mid July we get an email saying the venue accidentally double booked and the other band didn’t want to share the bill (understandable) so our show was canceled or postponed or whatever. We contemplated starting a day late but the drive from NYC to Pittsburgh is at least 7 hours and that’s a lot for a first day. Through a ton of research and finding a friend’s band playing in York, PA and asking to be squeezed on last minute proved to be successful. It would split up the drive. They were excited and all the other bands were cool with it too. You never want to be ‘that band’ that looks unprofessional and does everything last minute. But, cancellations happen, shows drop, local bands bail, private parties offer more money and steal your slot. Fuck artists, right?

Our van situation is a depressing one. We finally bought a van last year, after years of rentals just driving us into the red on every tour. We found a cheap, used van that needed work. We got it checked out and bought it for 2k. It had a lot of miles but no major problems on its medical chart but if it could last a couple years, it would be worth it. We put another 2k into fixing it up and felt proud of our first big LLC purchase. Then, the problems with it started coming at us 2 fast 2 furious. We had a tyre blow at 80mph on the highway on our way to a festival in North Carolina. We traded slots and made it, replaced all the tyres the next day. The van door then stopped working and was seemingly stuck open at a festival outside of Pittsburgh last Fall. We somehow got it closed but were instructed we couldn’t open it again. Then the alignment of the van started giving us issues. That was a bridge too far. Van doors not opening is inconvenient as hell but it’s not an immediate safety issue the way that staying straight on a two lane highway is. Tyres would go flat rapidly and then the engine just stopped turning over. We surrendered the plates before this run so we wouldn’t have to re-up on the $600 insurance. It’s a huge letdown. We might be able to sell it for scraps but otherwise, it’s a wash. At least 7k down the hole and now we have to rent a van for tour. Rentals cost half of that on average for 3 weeks. We couldn’t find a van to borrow and have too much equipment for a small SUV. We’d be headlining for most of these dates so we had to bring our own amps and drumkit for those nights.

Long story short (too late), we found a cheaper rental that said unlimited mileage. Everything looked on the up and up. The contract didn’t state anything untoward so we picked it up. It took 90 minutes to get and we had a bad feeling from the jump. We had no choice but to press on. Traffic leaving NYC is always a nightmare, especially on a Friday.

Everything just took so long packing up. We made sure we had our passports as one of the stops would be in Canada on this run. We hit one snag after another and finally arrived at the venue during the first band. We were familiar with the venue so were comfortable with a quick line check for our shortened set.

The show itself was full of fun, sloppy punk rock bands. There was a good all-ages crowd, with a few kids running around decked out in full punk and goth regalia. We were definitely the odd band out, as far as sonic sensibilities go. But the crowd gave us a hell of an energy boost. The sound was a little garbled and crass on stage but that’s to be expected. Tara uses in-ear monitors for her cello and Danny and I were using backline from other bands because we had gotten there so late. The band before us was made up of middle aged punk rock dads for their first show. It was really impressive to see what years of playing live will do to someone. Maybe it would be us in another decade. It might have been their first show with a new project but they just felt and looked comfortable up there. We chatted after the show. The guitarist and I commiserated about what it feels like to lose a band member and songwriting partner. It’s an inevitability unless you’ve signed some blood oath on a rural fork in the road in Mississippi. I’ve had my share with this band and they still sting to this day. Whether it’s amicable or not, they were a branch in this many-ringed tree. It’s a part of the history of the band, good or bad. And losing a limb leaves a void.

Ironically, I feel like this band right now has the perfect lineup. We’ve burned a ton of prairie fires to finally germinate into a new season. Tara and I went legit and made this into a LLC in 2021 with a trademark and attorney. We’ve never had a drummer as gifted and suited for the band as Danny. He brings as much talent as he does positive energy into the great touring unknown. When the inevitable hiccups happen, it’s so important to have someone on your side. You don’t want someone kicking you in the dick when a show ends up being a bust. I don’t see myself trying to recreate this anymore. I’ve started over too many times.

Merch sales were light and being on a five band bill meant a small cut of the door. We were put on very late as a favor so I can’t complain. I am just weary of the incredible financial hole we are already nipple-deep in. Our credit card is near maxed out and we’re just starting on our Illiad here.

Night 2: The Smiling Moose – Pittsburgh, PA

Pittsburgh has always been hit and miss for us. After a slew of very successful shows when we first started touring, we encountered radical swings since. Almost all of our tried and tested venues have been shut down or rebranded. We played to a minimal crowd at a beautiful winery two months ago. This time around we’d be playing at the Smiling Moose to a completely different demographic. I had been to this venue almost exactly 20 years ago when I had just turned 21. I saw a band called Whiskey, Shit and Vomit and they sounded exactly like you’d think. My college friends and I almost got into a fight with a drunk skinhead outside and it was one of those ‘you had to be there’ nights. I had always wanted to play there since that infamous night. Last year, we had a show fall through in Pittsburgh and ended up playing at this LBGT Human Rights and Prison Reform collective house venue called Owl Hollow. It was in a sketchy part of town and we did not have high hopes when we pulled in. But, It ended up being a banger show on a beautiful night, playing outside to some very socially conscious crust punks. We gave each other proverbial friendship bracelets and that crew ended up setting up and playing this show with us.

The whole night would be ‘animal’ themed bands. You Bred Raptors?, Elkhound, King Blue Heron and Nowhere Wolves. GET IT? Each band was wildly different. Everyone was really kind. And I’m glad for that last part. Because after lugging our gear up a monster staircase and agreeing to let everyone use our bass and drum backline, I realize that my speaker cable for my amp has decided to vanish. We must have lost it somewhere on the last run because we haven’t had to use it for the last three shows. Everyone there had combo amps and thus, no need for a speaker cable. The sound guy didn’t have one on site and the guitar store directly across the street had decided to close early that day. Losing shit on tour is an inevitability but losing your shit is a choice. You strategize and figure it out. We ended up going direct in without a bass amp and none of the bands could care any less about that. The monitors were decent enough to make it work, though less than ideal. The second band, King Blue Heron really stuck with me. They had some beautiful three part harmonies between the guitarist, bassist and drummer. It was dreamy indie music with an edge to it and some haunting vocals.

The turnout was really low, which is unfortunate for a Saturday in one of the biggest cities in the state. But, there’s at least three other venues on this strip within walking distance. The show was promoted and everyone did their job. It was just a lackluster showing. We left with very little money and ended up crashing at a friend’s house in Millvale, a nearby suburb. Hotels will be a luxury on this tour. We’ll have to get creative for some of these new cities. We have a tent with us and are only mildly afraid to use it. People saw this pursuit as romantic when I was in my 20’s. Dusting couches, dirty floors and any spare beds we could find. We’d wake up and shake it all off. But now I’ve just entered my 40’s without much change. Is it sad at this point? Why do I feel shame for expressing frustration about that? I don’t want to be a downer and not to be a cliche but social media is full of inauthenticity. I feel reticent expressing this dubiousness. I suppose I could use this diary to be a reflection tool or apply these tricks I’ve learned in therapy. I hope I’m at least finding other like minded musicians that have felt the same doubt in their own pursuits. That’s quite a festering and pestering feeling to me too. When do you admit something isn’t working and give up? When do you correct the course and try something completely different? And when is something supposed to work out with all the hard work? When do I get to give the speech that we stuck to our guns and believed in ourselves and it finally paid off? And when do we get to play that tour with a guarantee every night and a decent hotel to lay our head?

Day 3: Day Off

Sundays are usually designated days off on our tour. Unless a positively awesome show comes along without much risk, we usually opt to recoup and make a travel day out of it. We aren’t religious at all but if it helps, you can believe we go to Mass all day and remember to keep the Sabbath holy. We’d be heading toward Detroit so it was decided to stop in Cleveland for a night. We have a show here at the tail end of this run but Tara lived here for ten years so we hoped to link up with her old friends and make a night out of it. Our day was derailed while we were at Guitar Center picking up drumsticks and a speaker cable. Goddamnit… we always end up at fucking Guitar Center on every tour even when we promise we won’t. And just to further illustrate the point, nothing good happens there. We got an automated text from our rental agency that they’ve detected that we crossed into Ohio and that while it was ‘permitted’, it was out of their unlimited mileage zone. Okayyyy? What does that mean, you ask? Well, it means that we were getting royally boned by some fine print that wasn’t in our original contract. Apparently, they have certain states you can’t enter without paying hefty fines and some states if you enter, the police will be called and a warrant will be issued for your arrest for vehicle theft. This is the first we are hearing of this and are obviously concerned. None of the states we are going to are in the 5 Star GTA zone, but even if ONE of the states are in the other list, you’ll be charged the full amount (per day for all days) as a penalty on top of your rental. That’s another $800 they took out on our credit card. Which, coincidentally, was our entire credit cushion.

So, I’m using whatever small platform I have, and wielding my best Karen voice, and calling myself a BASS INFLUENCER to scare this company into giving us a refund. Drivo Rent A Car can literally felch a dead walrus’s bloated asshole until they get waterboarded and choked with Exxon oil, microplastics and fermented mermaid piss. It’s a scammy, predatory, piece of shit company and we’ve been on the phone all day with dropped calls, and given the runaround by non-existent customer service. Sigh.

Anyway, this will be a persistent issue on tour. We are trying to cancel our credit card before more fraudulent charges appear and are in for an awkward interaction when we do return the van. FUN! I’ll film it for content.

We arrived at the hotel, kind of beaten down. Tara and I are on the hook for this money alone. We had just spent the last year paying down debt and now we are right back to where we started. We need these shows to work out. All of our favors have been exhausted. This band used to be more flush with cash, performing in the NYC subways as part of the MUNY Program (Music Under New York). I miss it immensely but it’s a different beast now. No one owns a CD player anymore so the 30-40 cds we would sell per night just don’t happen. People take photos and rarely leave a cash tip. It was hard to justify that much work for so little pay. We adapted to a more social media centric model. We got a Patreon account and that’s a monster amount of work for a handful of dedicated fans. More work and somehow less money. Thanks, Capitalism!

Tara lit up with joy at her idea to take us to Happy Dog, a divey 70s style bar/venue that served hot dogs with a ridiculous amount of toppings. We had a hold there to play a show on a previous run and ended up being rerouted. For those that don’t know, a hold is what it sounds like; you ask the venue to hold the night for you while you gather local bands for the bill to join you. Then, you get a confirmation, if all lines up. Sometimes, the hold doesn’t last and you have to pivot.

It was odd showing up to a venue at around load in time, as a full band but not planning to play a show. We ordered our hot dogs and listened to Indian rock and roll tunes from the 60’s. Just then, a band started piling in for a later show. We guessed what genre they played based on their gear. Sunn and Orange amps, Hughes and Kettner head, mismatched drum shells and pedalboards without cases… Hmm, we guessed thrash metal or punk rock. After some research, we found it was three hardcore bands. That’s a combination of our guesses so we all got half credit. I looked for info on the show and in true hardcore fashion, it was very difficult to find. I finally found that the touring band was from NYC and lived right in Danny’s neighborhood. Almost zero social media presence (by design) and self pressed cassette tapes for merch. I wanted to talk to them and introduce ourselves. I rarely get to talk about this very big part of my life to other people that also do it. Due to the transient nature of it all, we are passing ships. If you’re lucky, you share a night or two together and then splinter off into different tentacled routes. I felt comradery for them as they sat at the counter asking each other if food was included in whatever email agreement they had with the night’s booker. The venue was filling up nicely an hour before showtime. I could feel some depression setting in that we weren’t on this bill. Here we were, a full band, with equipment ready, willing and able to perform anywhere, including a hot dog bar, and we weren’t included. The show isn’t about us though. I’m hoping it was a banger for them. Sundays usually aren’t, but this one looked promising. This tour band didn’t have a website. I was strangely so jealous. Through some sleuthing, I found their next show was in two days in New Orleans. That’s a brutal drive. If you’re reading this, Godspeed and keep it up. We’re a dying breed.

We would have stayed for the show but we had a date with the hotel pool. It was the whole point of splurging for that. It might be the last hotel stay on this trip with this unexpected highway robbery from the rental agency. It was a much needed morale boost, swimming and getting in the hot tub, letting the day get soaked away, hoping for better news tomorrow. Tara and I stayed up arranging two songs we are performing on the last night of this tour at a video game festival in Baltimore. Danny slept on a slowly deflating air mattress that we’ll have to replace at some point. The fun and expenses never end on tour. Praying to my atheist God that we get surprised at some of these iffy shows coming up. It’s never too late to go back to school to learn to become an actuary.

Day 4: Windsor, ON – Phog Lounge

We had a creeping feeling that we would not be able to take this rental van into Canada. Windsor, Ontario is literally blocks across the border. But, that wouldn’t matter to our diarrhea poopskin rental agency, Drivo Rent a Car. We called from a different number, (since our account number had been flagged at this point) and asked a representative if we could HYPOTHETICALLY take my imaginary family across the border to look at Niagara Falls. They said it would be another $400 fee. I wanted to stuff this person in a barrel and send them over a waterfall. I just want to reiterate, this was NOWHERE in anything that we signed and we’ve never had a problem with it before, in ten years of touring. We trekked Canada through Mexico many times and it’s either by the mile or not. We discussed canceling the gig altogether. The venue has always been good to us, but no way they would be paying enough money to cover our international fines. We were slated to stay with a friend that night outside to Detroit. I made a fated phone call asking a huge fucking favor.

Greg was a fan of my previous band, This Place is Haunted. He saw us performing at a video game festival probably over 15 years ago and has followed us since. He very kind and sympathetic to our situation. He had a small SUV and agreed to take us across the border. He was planning on coming anyway but we have now added harboring known fugitives to the night’s itinerary. We spent the next half hour paring down our equipment and merch and loading in like sardines to this vehicle. We would be playing before their open mic night. That doesn’t sound glamorous but it’s a really popular night there. The band hadn’t performed there since 2018 so I was more than happy the owner remembered us and offered to move some stuff around for us. The show would be free but they usually always throw us something for our efforts. There was a crew that showed up early and took a seat as we were setting up. I didn’t find out till later that they had seen us play there 6 years ago and were there specifically for us. Huh… I assumed they were just early to get the best slots on the open mic sign up sheet.

Our start time was fluid but we didn’t want to overstay our welcome. The temptation to keep waiting until a crowd is there is futile. You just have to play sometimes and hope people trickle in. The place filled up nicely and the crowd seemed to really enjoy it. The energy was quite low but the band played well. We did about an hour and then said goodbye before striking the stage. We then saw a house drum kit and bass amp being hauled up from the basement. Fucking hell… that would have been useful to know a few hours ago.

We strolled around Windsor with Greg after the show on the hunt for some poutine. It was finally a beautiful night and we got to see Detroit from the other side. We had barely dipped into this country and felt like such tourists spending only a few hours there. But, it’s truly the moments I live for on the road. That sounds like a Bob Segar lyric but hear me out… There is constant stress and pressure and seemingly the only thing that will always crack that for me are times our band feels like a unit, when morale is high and we’re living in the moment. Tara and I have had to deal with some truly negative, shitty people whilst touring. The show wasn’t amazing but it’s all positive vibes at the moment. Tomorrow is another day and will bring it’s own strain of bullshit to combat. But, for tonight, I’m happy.