The ups and downs of touring

Just so you don’t think it’s all fun and games, I decided to touch on a subject that often gets forgotten about. When you are on tour with a band, there are a lot of highs along the way. Playing in front of a large crowd, when it all is going well can be unbelievable adrenaline hit. And hanging around at the festivals or venues talking to the audience after the show is great. But to climb up on a such a high, sooner or later you need to come down.

It’s those moments alone in a hotel room, thousands of kilometres away from home and your loved ones, when you start to feel different kind of isolation. This is absolutely fine in a short tours, but in my experience when you have been on the road for longer than two weeks, it really starts to get to you. It is hard to explain as I am sure many of you are thinking traveling is fun, playing music is fun, so suck it up. And when do.

According to The Guardian there as been research done on musicians touring and “A recent study by charity Help Musicians UK found that over 60% of musicians have suffered from depression or other psychological issues, with touring an issue for 71% of respondents.” And this really comes down to balance. As I said the highs can be incredible high, so the emotional drop is massive. It is in these moments where you need to keep and eye on your self, and relay on your band mates for emotional support. And if you are a touring musician in a band, keep an eye on your fellow musicians as well.

Some of you know I recently knocked the drink on the head, and I just finished my first sober tour. I can say in the past having few beers was a way to escape some of those emotions, but for me without the drink it al feels bit more manageable. But having said that, I am not here to tell anyone else that they should not enjoy drinks, while on tour. I did it for years.

But also there are few other things you can do to make it bit easier for your self. I found I the past that sometimes touring life can ave an effect on your diet. It’s hard to get in all the vital nutrition and minerals when you are eating on the go. But good multivitamin goes a long way. Also try to keep your sugar levels at reasonable level. Not eating for hours and then stuffing your self with something with high sugar content will make your brain peak and crash again. And try to get at least six hours of sleep, eight would be ideal.

As I said touring life can be a lot of fun, but that fun can come to a quick stop if you don’t take care of you self and your band mates. Keep your head high while on the road 🙂

J.P.

P.S. Read the part two of this post HERE 

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get EIGHT of his songs for free go HERE