How did you get into the music business?
I got into this business when I was still very young. My dad DJ'd parties so I was always around music and when I was 16 I joined a local band from Seattle and from that met a band called This Providence who needed a Merch guy. After my band had broken up I thought why not, so I came on as their Merch person and a few months later got prompted to tour manager.
Do you enjoy touring?
I do enjoy touring a lot. Since I have been touring for so long (6 years) it becomes routine and looses a lot of its flash. As I continue I feel Niels constantly having to tell myself that this is a great opportunity and I am getting paid to travel, see the world, drink beer, and listen to music.
Have you ever had to negotiate with another tour member? How did you deal with the situation?
Especially in my job I am always in contact with other tour manager, managers, agents, clubs, pretty much everyone. I always have to negotiate with people on things and it is something you have to be careful about doing because you can't just be like "my way or the highway" and you have to be very professional about it. There is a lot of compromising that comes with it wither it be about where we are allowed to put our equipment to how much I get paid, etc.
Have you ever gotten into a sticky situation on tour? How did you work through it?
I have gotten on countless sticky situations and you just have to be able to think on your feet and fix whatever the problem is. As you go through more and more situations you start to learn from your mistakes and make sure that they don't keep happening. One example is while I was on tour with Nick 13 we had a hotel room very close to the venue but they randomly choose to give up our reservation so I had to find another hotel last minute for us to use.
Have you ever worked with people who used negative emotions during discussions? How did you turn their frown upside down?
I will be the first to say that a lot of musicians seem like they are bi-polar. One little thing can set them off and make them bummed out or pissed off and the way I try to handle it is calmly try to find the good in the situation and reassure them of that. Sometimes it works and other it doesn't. But if you keep a good attitude then at least they won't bring you down with the ship.
Do you have any advice to give people who want to work in the music industry?
My biggest price of advice is to never give up and always keep trying. Plan on having no money for a while (usually a very long while). This is a very tough business to make it in and you won't ever get anywhere sitting around and thinking things will just come to you. You have to stay motivated and keep your goals within reach, but don't make goals that are unrealistic. Even making really stupid little goals and then once you achibe those move on to another one a little further out of reach until you reach the top of your list.
Anything else you would like to add?
Thanks for letting me do this! I wish I were able to do more of these sort of things.
Thank you for your time Sean!!!
Photo courtsey of Sean Porter
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