Do you mind just introducing your name and your band, and maybe just talking a bit about your band:

 

Sure, so my name is Alex Holycross. I'm in a band called The Native Howl from, we say Detroit Michigan, but we are actually from a very small remote town called Leonard Michigan with a population of less than 500 people, and we play a style of music called thrash grass which is a combination of thrash metal and bluegrass and all four of us guys had different musical backgrounds but we all had a joint inspiration for bands like Metallica and Pantera and you know Alice in Chains, all the bands all the kids in their late 15’s, 16’s, late teens grow up listening to. And we found this thrash grass that really worked and it was a way of introducing our country roots into what I already played, which was thrash metal and metal and we have been a band for over a decade now. We have been touring for almost that long, definitely since 2016, and I think we have played 46 states of the US, multiple times. Not just one-offs. So many cities and states I can't even remember some of them

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 Can you please walk me through a typical day of a Native Howl tour:

 

Sure. It's a lot of driving and it's not a lot of sleep. And there's different levels of touring. There's like, the top upper level. Like Gwar is traveling in a tour bus. So their style, versus Nekrogoblikon, which drives what is called a bandwagon, which is the halfway point between a tour bus and your standard express band. And then you have our level, which has a nice safe dependable band, and a nice safe dependable trailer. Then you have the level down, which we were at the past couple of years till things started going back up, of like vans that could explode like a ticking time bomb at any second, or like wheels flying off. I guess being at the level we were at, your typical day is like pulling your weary head up off your pillow at a hotel room, after sleeping 3/4 hours. Waking up, pillaging the breakfast lobby of the hotel for everything they have ever had. And drinking 2 gallons of coffee. Then getting in the vehicle and driving to the next city. Sometimes you get lucky and it can consist of a half hour drive, or those ever so rare moments where you are in the town. Usually you have a drive ahead of you, six hours to the next town. Then, this is where it gets to different levels and the different scheduling there is depending on where you are in the timeslot. For instance, how about we use the Gwar tour for our basis, so I can quit yapping. So the Gwar tour was 4 bands, right, headliner was gwar. Second to last, third, was Goatwhore. Second slot was Nekrogoblikon. And then Native Howl was first of four. And forgive me if I'm saying stuff about music that you already know, I don't mean for it to be patronizing just walking it through but like so the way that soundchecks go is that the soundcheck goes in reverse order usually. So Gwar, the headliner has to get there the earliest in the day and they'll get into the city at like 10am and they'll check like 10-3, then Goatwhore has to be there by 3 to soundcheck, then Nekro has to be there by 4 to soundcheck, then we, lucky for us don't have to get there till the latest in the day, because its in reverse order right. Which usually works out well because the closer a band is the the headlining spot of the tour, they will usually have better travel accommodations. For instance, Gwar, they have a driver and a bus. So they are asleep the entire night in the bus and then they wake up magically and wonderfully in the next town and it's time for soundcheck. As for us, we don't have to sleep in a bus, you know we get to do the hotel thing which is fine when you are staying in nice hotels, but it kills your sleep. It breaks into your sleep. So typically, get up at around 8am, let's say drink 2 gallons of coffee, then drive in the vehicle for 5-6 hours. Show up for soundcheck, show up for load in at lets say 3pm. And then lets say soundcheck is at 4pm, and then you soundcheck from 4-5pm and then lets say there's a break from 5pm-7pm for getting your mind ready, warming up, stretching, meditating, preparing for the show and the work to come, and then 7pm The Native Howl plays their half hour set, 7-7:30. Then, 7:30. We are done, we take our gear off the stage, next band starts and we slowly start to pack up and usually go and talk to fans at the merch stand and thats like you know we pop in and out depending on how we are feeling but I like to say hi to fans, people want to talk to us, it makes them happy, and it makes me happy too. So, after the set go talk to fans, and then talk to fans a little bit more, pack a little bit up. And then you hang around until the very end of the show. And then when Gwar is done at midnight, pack the entire trailer up because when the headliner is done you are free to really pack the van and trailer up completely, and head out and then say your farewells. You settle up as they say, our tour manager goes and gets the dough, and we clear out and then drive probably 2-3 hours that night from midnight to 3am, get to the hotel. And do it all over again for 6 weeks straight. So far and so forth into oblivion. That would be a typical day. 

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What major fluctuations regarding your mental health have you experienced in touring? 

 

You have to love this to do it because it is hard on you, it is hard to be away from your family, if you have, like two of my bandmates are married, you know, and my banjo has a beautiful 2 year old daughter Junie. So his touring is difficult, and it's straining. And it's straining for someone like me who you know thrives on peace and quiet in the forest of Leonard, Michigan to go on tour like this its very chaotic and it can feel manic at times and you have to do, this is a very white girl way to put it, but the self care thing is true. If you don't take care of yourself on the road it will swallow you whole. You have to, there's so much pressure to party, to drink booze. And I do not drink but that's part of the pressure too is being someone who doesn't drink, or struggles with it, there's a lot of pressure on the road to do that among with a bunch of stuff that I don't have interest in doing or rather have interest in doing but should not and don't, as far as drugs and alcohol go. There's so many aspects to it in the substance abuse to the manic depressive state you can get while being on the road, you have to take care of yourself and you have to learn what your body and your soul and your spirit and mind need out there. For many people it's meditation, for me it's exercises and checking in with my bandmates. I will say one thing as far as bandmates go, one thing that really helps the old touring mechanism is, I think my banjo player said this in an interview in the past, but he basically just said, because people ask us for advice about bands and Jake just said like make a band with your best friends, because its easier. That's what we did, like these guys are my brothers and I've known them all since I was 15 and Im 32, so that's over half my life now. When you have bandmates that you trust, aren't doing weird shit and you know you can trust with your life and your soul and all that, it makes things easier. And you kind of function like one emorphis entity, where if someone is lagging you pick up the slack, or in a lot of cases when I am lagging, because I've got my own bats in the belfreeze, as they used to say, my own issues, when i'm lagging or im feeling down my guys kind of know to silently pick up the slack, give me space. If it's not a familial thing I don't think it works.

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 Is music your primary source of income?

 

Primary, yea. 

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What financial concerns do you have on tour, if any of course?

 

I mean there's definitely concerns and it's tour to tour, and it's all in balance with profit against cost. Obviously transportation costs, logistics, lodging, food. I don't see how the concerns for myself don't change much on the road vs at home. Now that is going to differ from someone like my banjo player who is married with a child. It all depends on the projected success of the tour. Most of the profit accrued on the tour is from selling merchandise so it is easier to get the profit you are going to take home. It is hard to think ahead, to estimate, what you are going to make until you are out there for a couple of days seeing the attendance numbers, and how many people do we see projected buying this much merchandise, vs if there's 1,000 people here or 5,000 people here. So obviously your financial concerns on tour are going to be the same as they are at home. Paying the bills, and making sure you are fed and comfortable and safe. And putting away what you need and it doesnt change on the road then it is at home. Just create a budget and try to stick to it, and stay within your means as things grow, build or progress.