Aspiring rock stars take note: Life on the road isn't all standing ovations, nubile fans and morning mimosas ordered from room service. Unless your name is Mick Jagger, touring usually means living out of a suitcase, sleeping on a bus and hanging with the same cranky characters day and night. But the rewards must be well worth the struggles -- because who is on the road more than musicians?
"Few people travel more than musicians, and on such a tight budget," attests Spin magazine assistant editor Sarah Lewitinn, who often turns to musician friends for travel tips. "I've been all over the world, but when it comes to small cities in North America, I'm lost. Musicians have been to every one of them. . .and they've rocked them all."
Indeed, along with the detritus of tossed panties and shattered myths, touring musicians also accumulate tons of practical travel know-how, experience from which we all can benefit. Trust me, during my years as a pop culture and entertainment journalist in Montreal, San Francisco and New York, I've interviewed countless musicians, and the conversation inevitably turns to the ups and downs of life on the road. As an incorrigible traveller myself, I'm often been mesmerized by the epic quality of many of their tales, and have developed the habit of sneaking travel questions into my music interviews -- for practical, advice-seeking purposes, of course.
So while some of these tips might be best suited to those with the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, most apply to any traveller coping with essential concerns from surviving long hauls without killing your band mates (or your kids), getting upgraded or navigating a new city. Here's what the stars, both emerging and established, have to say:
On packing right
"Underpack," says rock star Dave Navarro, former guitarist of Jane's Addiction and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Already notorious for his MTV reality show 'Til Death Do Us Part, co-starring wife Carmen Electra, Navarro has a tell-all book, Don't Try This at Home, that hit stores last month. "Pack first, close it up, then go back and take out stuff you're not going to use."
As many travellers have learned, packing light is the key to travelling right. Spin's Lewitinn learned the following from Matt Devine, frontman of Chicago glam-rockers Kill Hannah. "The only thing you need to bring with you when you travel is a toothbrush, a jacket, eyeliner, wallet and passport. Anything else will weigh you down."
With laundry not a scheduled pit stop, some musicians purchase new unmentionables on the road. "Sometimes it's easier to buy new socks as opposed to carrying around dirty ones and pissing off your travel mates," explains Nick Zinner, guitarist of Grammy-nominated post-punk trio the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. "And keep your dirty clothes in a sealed plastic bag."
Jaime Tambour, drummer of quirky Montreal pop band the Unicorns, concurs. "I got in the habit of constantly buying cheap white T-shirts, underwear and socks, which might not be ecologically sound, but sometimes you go a month without getting the opportunity to do laundry."
Of course, musicians who are also parents have different luggage priorities. "We take a lot longer packing now," says Grammy-winning pop star Nelly Furtado, who travels with her baby daughter. "If you forget something of your own, who cares, but you don't want to forget anything of your daughter's, 'cause she needs all her stuff!"
On star treatment
"Use your connections," says singer Sam Herlihy of Brit up-and-comers Hope of the States, whose emotional debut The Lost Riots was released last month in North America. "My best friend's girlfriend is an air hostess, but [without her help] I usually travel 'cattle class.' "
British DJ Ben Watt, also one-half of pop duo Everything But the Girl, suggests feigning back injury at check-in. "It can sometimes get you an upgrade into a larger seat."
According to Darren Beckett, drummer of Brooklyn indie rockers Ambulance LTD, the secret to snagging nice hotel rooms on the cheap is a name-your-own price website called priceline.com. "It works for us," he says. "We stay at really nice places for less than people spend to stay in [crappy hotels]."
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