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| In 2018 we've actually been on a world tour. |
Honestly if there was one continent on this planet that I have never thought I would ever visit in my life it'd most probably been Australia, not just because it's just so far away from Central Europe but also from what I knew before (Crocodile Dundee - means close to nothing at all) it wasn't even very interesting for me tbh. Well I am sorry to say, but I thought there's basically just a kind of desert, haha, and ... Yes, how silly and wrong was I?!
So in 2017 I came in contact with this guy Anthony in Australia, sort of a friend of a friend in my Facebook, where at that time I had around one thousand "friends". Honestly, at times I really like to interact with people but soon it became more kind of a burden, especially when someone thought it would be funny trying to mess up my private life. Anyway, thanks to this friend's friend it became possible to think about playing in Australia.
And from what I can tell, the guys who had just firmed under the name YOUR MATE BOOKING seemed to take things very serious and probably even more professional than us in SBE who despite all that travelling and playing abroad in a way still were just three dudes from Weissensee - if you know what I mean. Let's just say that at some point I thought it was rather ridiculous to pretend sth I was not. A fancy dressed "rock star"-personality couldn't be farther off tracks.
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| Carrying this in hand-luggage wasn't the best idea. Rather annoying after few hours of sleep ... |
So we got things going for SBE's first Australia tour, and I even went through some awkward nuisances ;) like making promotion videos or Skype interviews, which I don't really enjoy because I think I always look as silly as I am. SBE really could have "made it bigger" I guess if we all knew better how to "sell ourselves" - well I don't know, sometimes it bothers me, many other times not. The music business is full of wannabes anyway. In the end we could not complain.
And then this tour happened! After almost two days of plane travel I had the funniest cramps in my ass and our drummer Thomas got a little sick with his stomach but played all the shows like - well, like a professional. And to my own surprise not were almost all shows sold out but Australia and also New Zealand turned out to be quite fascinating countries with some of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen. And of course after such a successful tour there were talks of repeating it, and Anthony had even come up with exciting news about adding shows in Japan, but then: 2020 happened ...
In hindsight I feel honestly blessed for having had such amazing opportunities and of course I worked for all this. I've never just sat in a corner waiting for some label guy or whoever to reach out for me. And of course it was also a matter of meeting the right person at the right time and taking chances as they presented themselves to us. There could have been more gigs but it also wasn't always easy to inspire my bandmates who had their day jobs and things going on.
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| My little 'Luvbug' had a bit of a heavy case as well. Not pictured is my synth bag and clothing, because boring. |
I still think that where there is a will there is always a possibility, and much to my own surprise SBE really was a popular group with gig requests from anywhere in the world. Still you gotta put things in perspective, in small scenes you can't expect that touring will always pay you a lot of money. In some cases these tours paid for travel expenses and a little extra, sometimes we spent much more than we earned at all (well, every time USA), but things have happened and wouldn't have happened if everyone insisted in earning sth. The bigger problem was time management. When you get older, especially when with kids, time becomes such a rare thing ... and then, you gotta feed 'em.
So I have no solution for anything, but as long as music isn't valued much more than it is now in times of almost being sth that too many people get used to consume for free, it will be even more difficult to really do "crazy things" like we did. I guess. Think also that until the end, these tours have been vacation from work for two guys in our little trio, and not everyone is made to live an independent freelance life, ... although it's very much possible. It needs a lot of self-discipline and you'll have long droughts ... yet, money can't be everything.
Sometimes I could still get a bit jealous when I see how easy other bands may have it but probably it's all an illusion. There's always problems - or compromise to find - and at one time you gotta make a brave decision if you want such a life, the rock star stuff ;) Well, at least right now I have understood what I want from my "career" as a musician which is to create music in the first place. Mostly I just miss to visit some of those "exotic places", but then now I live in an exotic place ;) so I really can't complain. And really, life's there to be lived!
SBE OZ & NZ 2018
16/09/2018 Adelaide, Crown & Anchor
15/09/2018 Melbourne, The Bendigo
14/09/2018 Geelong, Barwon Club
13/09/2018 Melbourne, The Bendigo
11/09/2018 Wellington, Valhalla
10/09/2018 Auckland, Whammy Bar
09/09/2018 Sydney, Leadbelly
08/09/2018 Brisbane, Crowbar
07/09/2018 Perth, The Amplifier
