Become a Band Roadie

Band roadies, sometimes referred to as concert technicians, are the people who accompany a band or musical act on the road and fulfill a required role on the crew. Band roadies serve as an integral part of a band's performance and have titles like band manager, stage hand, instrument technician, sound mixer, and lighting specialist. Being a band roadie doesn't always have a defined career path and takes time and dedication. With the right knowledge, experience, and networking, becoming a band roadie is an attainable dream.

Steps

Developing Your Skills

  1. Find practical interests that you can use on tour. Do independent research on lighting, instruments, and sound and stage production. Find a niche that interests you the most and expand your knowledge around it. You can work on a variety of aspects of the performance including things like wardrobe, makeup, stylist, rigger, security, manager, lighting technician, or sound mixer.[1]
    • Take your current interests or hobbies and try to translate that into a job that you can do on tour.
    • Think about experiences in the past that could help you work on a tour. For instance, if you worked as a stagehand for a school play then you already have a basic understanding of lighting and sound.
    • If you're good at negotiating with people and keep on a strict and organized schedule, you may want to become a band manager.
    • Read up on the most commonly used equipment and learn how to operate it because it will give you an advantage over your competitors.
  2. Consider a formal education at a college or university. While a bachelor's degree isn't a requirement to becoming a band roadie, getting a formal education may be beneficial and could give you the skills that would make you desirable to have on the road. Look for colleges that have music, sound, or stage production majors and consider pursuing a bachelor's degree.
    • Many crew members now have their formal education in a field that relates to touring with a band, such as a degree in sound-production or music.[2]
    • Some of the best colleges for sound and music production include, Academy of Art University, the Peabody Institute, and Full Sail University.[3]
    • Concentrate on electives that will give you the skills you'll need on the road, like lighting or rigging.
  3. Go to live music shows and meet people in the scene. Try to become friends with as many people as you can who are interested in music. Search for show dates and times near you and attend your local venues regularly. Seek out those that are actively in a band or who work as a band roadie themselves. Ask them questions about their experiences on the road and how they got into touring.
    • Make it a point to be outgoing and introduce yourself to everyone.
    • You can say something like, "Hey, so I heard Death Rattle toured a couple months ago? What was that like? I always wanted to tour the country."
  4. Do research on the live music industry. Get a better understanding what it takes to tour and the music industry in general.[1] Read autobiographies or watch interviews of people who have toured and internalize their experiences. Understand the good and bad about touring and realize that it's not always a fantasy. Often while you tour you must endure crowded buses, long trips, and get very little sleep. You may find out through your research that living the band roadie life is not for you.
    • Popular books that deal with touring include, "A Journey Through America with the "Rolling Stones"," "Diary of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Star," and "Billion dollar baby: A provocative young journalist chronicles his adventures on tour as a performing member of The Alice Cooper Rock-and-Roll Band."[4]
    • Make sure that you read industry reports to see what's trending to help you make your decision.[5]

Gaining Experience

  1. Volunteer your time. Volunteer opportunities to get experience being a band roadie may not be as difficult to find as you may think. While getting a job on the road with no experience is unlikely to happen, it's possible that you could volunteer at other places that will give you the similar experience. Go to local theaters and talk directly with staff. Inquire if you could volunteer your time and work on the job. They may be more convinced if you have some level of prior experience.
    • Many music camps are also looking for volunteers to perform basic roadie tasks like breaking down lighting equipment and fixing and operating sound equipment for the camp.[6]
    • You can say something like, "Hey, my name's Garrett. I was wondering if you guys needed any volunteers or help setting up or breaking down for bands. I'm looking to get into being a crew member and I need to get some experience first."
  2. Work backstage for your high school or college theater. Working backstage for a musical performance in your school will give you the practical experience to help a band during a performance. Register to become part of the stage crew. Take opportunities to work on the stage crew and learn everything that you can. The more versatile you are, the more likely that you can eventually land a position working with a band that tours.
    • On stage crew you can learn things like sound prep, lighting, makeup, and managing.[7]
  3. Reach out to local bands. Many tour roadies begin their career with a local band.[8] Smaller bands may not always have the money to pay roadies, so they are less likely to expect you to have a lot of experience. If you do well and have good chemistry with the band, they may want to take you with them when they go on tour.
    • Even if they don't end up going on tour, you'll still get valuable experience that you can use as leverage when looking for a paid job.
  4. Inform the creatives of technical limitations. If you get a job in sound or lighting, it's possible that the group you're working for will request something that's unsafe or not technically or financially feasible. In these cases, it's best to be as transparent as you can with them. Part of your job is being able to find solutions to complex problems or issues, but the other part of your job is to be a knowledgeable, reliable, and safe
    • Instead of saying that it can't be done, try to come up with a compromise or solution that can satisfy the producers or performers.
    • For instance, you can say something like "A suspended dragon probably won't be possible on the schedule we are trying to keep, but I've thought of a solution. Instead of having a physical dragon, we can do a projection of a dragon behind you to simulate it."

Getting the Job

  1. Apply to gigs at music venues or stadiums. Sometimes stadiums or music venues will put out job ads for a large event that they are having. Having this experience may open the doors for you to apply to future positions if you do well. Visit popular job boards like Craigslist and Indeed and search for tour roadie or crew member jobs. Alternatively, you can look up positions at local theaters like production assistant or stage crew and get experience with a local theater.
    • Jobs that are available at venues or stadiums include janitorial staff, lighting and sound engineers, event planners, security, set up and break down crews, ticket cashiers, and food staff.[9]
    • Sometimes when venues need general help they won't require any previous experience.
    • Look for venues that need help as soon as possible as they will be more likely to hire someone with no experience.
  2. Search for job openings on roading-specific job boards. There are several roadie specific job boards that contain listings for jobs related to roadies. Sometimes these websites will require you to create an account before you can view open positions.[10] Make sure that you have an updated resume and choose jobs that meet your level of experience.
    • Some of the most popular roadie specific job boards include, Roadiejobs.com and Crewspace.com.
  3. Reach out to your favorite bands to see if they need help. Try to find the contact information of your favorite band on their website, or look for the manager's information and contact them to see if they need any help on the road. Long hours and intense travel mean that many people can't live the roadie lifestyle. For this reason, you may be able to get a job on the road with your favorite band even if it seems unrealistic.
    • You can search for band's contact information using popular search engines, however many times response rates are low.[11]
    • Try reaching out to the band or crew manager via social media to see if there are any job openings.
  4. Use your networking connections to get a job. Talk to friends that are involved in the music industry and ask them if they know of any jobs that are available in the field. If you know bar or venue owners, they may be able to make an exception for you and provide you a job with no experience. If you went for your formal education, past teachers or mentors could also point you in the right direction.
    • You can say something like, "I'm having a hard time finding a job. Do you know of anyone that needs a good lighting person right now?"
  5. Set up your own crew and do contract work. Once you have the proper experience in the field that you enjoy, try to develop a team of crew members. Select people that have experience and knowledge in places that you don't. Many people are looking for lighting, sound, or visual technicians and will regularly contract work out to them.[12]
    • Create a business page and a website so that venues and bands can reach out to you.
    • Network with existing contacts to see if there's anyone that's in search of your skills. Once you get a couple of jobs under your belt, see if your prior customers can refer you to other businesses that need your services.
    • If you have a reliable and knowledgeable crew, it will be easy to take on projects that require a lot of different types of work.
    • You may also want to obtain a business license for your crew.
    • Since you won't always be on tour, you'll need to be able to supplement your tour work with work that you can do while you're off-tour.
    • The more jobs you get as a freelancer the more reputable your work will become.

Related Articles

  • Get Band Gigs and Shows for Your Band
  • Be a Band Manager
  • Get Your Band Signed
  • Find a Place for Band Practice
  • Be a Band Promoter

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://livemusicbusiness.com/crew-resources/5-steps-to-getting-roadie-jobs-working-with-bands-on-tour/
  2. ↑ http://www.wsj.com/articles/roadies-unlikely-survivors-in-the-music-business-1426780184
  3. ↑ http://musicschoolcentral.com/top-10-colleges-for-music-production/
  4. ↑ https://everyrecordtellsastory.com/the-top-50-greatest-music-books-part-1/
  5. ↑ http://www.mintel.com/press-centre/leisure/music-concerts-and-festivals-market-is-star-performer-in-the-uk-leisure-industry-as-sales-grow-by-45-in-5-years
  6. ↑ http://girlsrockrochester.org/volunteer/
  7. ↑ https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/theatre/crewtypes
  8. ↑ https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/advice/planning/jobprofiles/Pages/roadie.aspx
  9. ↑ http://www.jobmonkey.com/eventjobs/venues/
  10. ↑ http://crewspace.com/jobs/
  11. ↑ https://www.looktothestars.org/how_to_contact_celebrities
  12. ↑ https://www.productionhub.com/crew-leads

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