Please tell me a bit about yourself and your current touring bands:

 

My name’s Chris Wiseman, I’m 29 years old and have been a part of my two groups Currents and Shadow of Intent since 2014. Each band started with very limited activity and have started taking more and more time each year.

 

Please walk me through a typical day on tour:

 

Usually we will wake up just outside of the city we play in, depending how far the drive. Ideally I like to start the day at Planet Fitness, and then arrive at the venue sometime between 12pm and 3pm. The next steps vary depending on tour but lunch is usually involved. Between 3pm and 6pm all the gear is loaded and setup and the doors to the show can open. I like to try to get extra work done or some guitar practice in before playing. After the performance is done we load the gear back up and have dinner. By around midnight the drive to the next city starts and the process repeats.

 

Since you've just come off a European tour, what differences are there in touring outside of the country? Are there any larger mental burdens knowing you're so far away from home:

 

Language barriers can be a little bit of a burden to deal with on certain days, and I’m not as confident I can find certain amenities as quickly as I could at home. Otherwise with the right people with me I never feel too overwhelmed.

 

Is music your primary source of income?

 

Every stream of income I have is related to music in some way, so definitely. 

 

What are some concerns when looking at touring through a financial aspect?

 

I can condense this to four points

1. Touring is not a realistic or sustainable thing to do 12 months out of the year like most jobs since it requires leaving home. Therefore, maximizing it for the months you do leave is important when finances are a concern.

2. Like with any company, projections are possible, but they can be difficult to narrow down. Unexpected costs can come up but on the other hand higher sales numbers happen as well. 

3. Touring revenue can continue to scale higher and higher as long as attendance, ticket price, and merchandise sales continue to have a higher demand. At the start for most groups, for instance 2017 and prior for us, opening a tour was more like an unpaid internship that college students would do. The revenue and costs would cancel out but the networking and experience were valuable for developing and continuing the career.

4. Figuring out the best places to reinvest and add costs back in is tricky. Providing the best live production experience, most comfortable travel arrangements, and most helpful crew are all things that get added in over time, but the added costs do affect the end profit of each tour. Deciding  when they are needed can be very different per artist.