If you think an early meeting two time zones away is tough business travel, try sharing a van with four dudes for weeks on end. Such is life for some of the most dogged business travelers, though they are rarely recognized as such — rock ‘n’ roll bands.
Tim Harrington, lead singer for New York City-based art-punk-pop band Les Savy Fav, has logged countless miles in 14 years of touring, which has been a necessity for his brand of business.
“Touring is how you sell records, make money and have people know you,” Harrington said in a phone interview. “When I hear a band say, ‘Why aren’t we famous yet?’ there’s one answer — you haven’t toured enough.”
Les Savy Fav is about to hit the road again to support its sixth record, “Root for Ruin,” which was released in August.
Q:
Do you think of yourself as a business traveler?
A:
Oh, yeah. It’s completely misunderstood. People are like, “Do you bring your girlfriend and wife and kids on tour? Sounds awesome!” You have to remind them that there isn’t much awesome about showing up at a bar at 4 in the afternoon, leaving at 3 in the morning, then at 11 a.m. going to the next town.
Q:
One common gripe among business travelers is that there’s no time to be a tourist. Is that the same for you guys?
A:
Definitely. The band has played in Paris a bunch of times, but we’ve never seen any of the sights earlier than midnight or later than 5 a.m. We’ve been to the Eiffel Tower at 4:30 a.m. a few times, though.
Q:
Tell me about the mechanics of your travel.
A:
We’ve done maybe 12 to 18 full U.S. tours, a lot of them totally by van. Now we’ll do a regional thing — do the East Coast, fly to Chicago to do Chicago, Minneapolis and Milwaukee, then fly west and do the same thing. We all have families and can’t afford to fly everywhere we go, but it’s better than it was.
Q:
Do bands compare travel stories?
A:
Business travel is a big topic among bands backstage at festivals: worst driver, worst flights, whose gear has been most destroyed, who has played the farthest out.
Q:
What’s the hardest part of your business travel?
A:
Traveling with a band is really difficult. You’re logistically attached to these people. You’re in an unfamiliar city, and if one guy goes out drinking and can’t remember where the hotel room is, it can very much influence whether you make the next show or not. Everything from where you’re going to eat to where you stop for the bathroom is a communal decision among five people.
Do you have ideas or suggestions about business travel? Write to Josh Noel at
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