What I've learned from touring - one year later.

Well, I came across this little gem a couple days ago and it got me thinking...



It's our tour video from last Winter's disasterous outing wth Priestess and Early Man. The video is totally stupid and overall embarassing (but still kinda funny?), but that's beside the point.

After watching this video, it's easy for me to see how Naam has grown as a band in terms of touring even over the last year. We've gotten smarter and more efficient on how we live and travel on the road. There's always a set of basic guidelines and principles to follow, but making your own mistakes and new dicoveries along the way really helps strengthen you as a band. None of these will be groundbreaking, but you'll learn to not take things for granted and hold onto the small luxuries that you'll encounter. You'll especially learn to never underestimate the power of common sense.

Here's a few things that come to mind...

Hygiene. To the best of my knowledge there is no 'not showering' contest, so I'm pretty sure there's no prize for who can smell the worst. Being filthy sucks on tour. Take a fucking shower when you have the opportunity. If you stay at someone's house after the show, chances are they'll offer a shower, or at least say yes if you ask nicely. If you go home with some drunk girl, jump in her shower. Maybe she'll even jump in with you.

Another strong point of the shower argument (not that there actually needs to be...) is that it may be the only 30 minutes each day that you actually have ALONE. Like it or not, you see your band mates a solid 24 hours a day. You're in the van with them. Then you're at the venue with them. Then you're partying with them. And then you'll probably end up sleeping in the same room with them. Use your showering time to meditate and relax, and enjoy a few minutes by yourself. This should also include masturbation. Seriously. You'll be far less crazy. Just don't use up all the hot water, and don't ever fuck with the guy in the shower.

If nothing else, use some aerosol deodorant or some Old Spice. Think of it as a basic common courtesy to your band mates. Leave the stinking to the crust punks. That's what they're good at.

Priceline.com. No shit. This website is a real lifesaver. I've always been a proponent of saving as much money as possible on tour. This generally meant looking for someone to stay with that you meet at the show, or with someone you already know in whatever city you're playing. If you do find a place, you risk sleeping in cat hair or other torturous allegeric or less-than ideal sleeping conditions. There are also times when there's just no one to stay with. Then it's time to drive to find that cheap Motel 6 thirty miles out of town at 3 AM. And when that fails, there's sleeping in the van. DONE with that shit. It's time to live smarter and sleep better.

William Shatner, bless your heart.



Awesome hotel rooms and suites for $50 and under. Yes, please. We stayed in palaces on this tour when we had the extra cash to throw on a room. Good sleep and a good shower are always worth the price, especially on tour. Treat yourself when you can, and remember to bring some righteous sleeping gear (sleeping bag, blanket, pillow, air mattress) of your own. There's even an application for most any smart phone so that you can actually bid on and book your room from your phone. Chances are someone in the band has a fancypants phone, so there you go. The Priestess guys preached Priceline to us for over a year, and we finally listened. Thanks, dudes.

Vitamins and Nutrition. Load up on vitamins before you leave and take them every day. I take a daily concoction of Vitamin C, B-12, B-6, Flax Oil, Multivitamins, and Ginko Biloba after every breakfast when I'm on the road. It's always hard to eat well on tour, but taking vitamins helps you to feel less shitty. No ones wants to be sick on tour, so be smart and prepare. Don't eat bullshit fast food, and remember Subway is always a good last resort. Also a good idea to carry a sack of apples and oranges in the van, and drink coffee to keep you regular. A good shit is worth a million bucks.

Stretching. Especially if you drive. Take the time to do this daily and you'll feel much better, and you'll certainly play better.

Discount cards. Collect discount cards from every store you go to along the way. Because saving money kicks ass when you don't have much to spend. Keep them on a keyring in the van and remember to use them.

Drink water. Lots of it. Because beer is not water. Take as much from the venue as you possibly can.

Piss Bottles. Vitamin Water bottles work best. No one wants to stop every 45 minutes so someone can piss. Just dispose of them properly when you're done. Don't leave them in the van, dick.

Never tour in Winter. Ever. It will never be worth it. You'll lose money and be cold, miserable, and fucking pissed the entire time.

Hope this was helpful, or at least entertaining. More to come.

John/Naam

'Mosh Potatoes' now available!

Howdy folks.

Our buddy Steve Seabury has done it! 'Mosh Potatoes' is now out in stores. What is 'Mosh Potatoes'? It's a badass cookbook compiled with recipes of many metal greats. And us... Steve was kind enough to ask us for a recipe, so you'll now be able to attempt to re-create Naam's pecan pie. Oh yeah, Zakk Wylde and Lemmy are also in there. No big deal.



Check it out! Big props to Steve. Very cool, man. You can get it on Amazon, and pretty much any book store.

Buy 'Mosh Potatoes' here, dude.

John/Naam

 

Howdy

Hey there folks.

This here's the Naam blog. We'll be periodically updating this with goings-on and what-nots, including tour updates, general news, new merch, and plenty of weirdo ramblings.

Thanks for coming by.

John/Naam