Time keeping and logistics
Lesson time: (0min 0sec)
Sister Bliss explains why timekeeping is non-negotiable on tour, from tachograph limits on the band bus to catching the ferry to Europe.
Course preview
This lesson is part of the course Studio to Stage: How Faithless Created Their Live Sound
Watch a preview of the full course below.
Lesson transcript:
Importance of Timekeeping in Music Tours
With the best will in the world, you might be a big organization like we were , eight people in the band, eight crew or more.
Being on Time is Paramount
- Travel Conditions: People need to be on time because you're often traveling on a bus. The bus drivers travel on something called a tachograph, and they're only allowed a certain amount of hours on the road.
- Catch the Ferry: If you're late, you mess up the timings. You might be getting a ferry over to Europe from the UK. You need to catch that ferry because if you don't, the bus driver will run out of hours, and there's a knock-on effect. You might not get to your gig on time.
Communication is Key
Everybody being aware that timekeeping is important is just paramount to being able to do the shows without stress.
- Mobile Phones: Everyone should have a mobile phone. Everyone should be able to stay in touch.
- Personal Experience: I was in a band with someone who refused to have a mobile phone, and it caused absolutely no end of stress trying to find this individual when it was soundcheck time. "Oh, my God, where's so-and-so? They're not on stage!"
Avoiding Extra Stress
You just don't want to create extra stress for anyone in the band or your tour managers who are trying to move large amounts of people and gear from one place to the next.
- Getting Off the Bus: If you're traveling on a bus and it stops, you must inform someone , preferably the driver or your bandmates , that you're getting off the bus. For example, we had an occasion where we stopped for fuel in the middle of the night when everybody was asleep. A percussionist got off, went to the toilet, and didn't tell anyone.
A Lesson Learned
- The bus driver drove off, unaware that this guy wasn't on the bus. We didn't realize until we got to a completely different country that he wasn't at soundcheck. "Where is he? Is he in his bunk?" We thought he was just asleep.
- He was literally in his pajamas with no phone and no money in a different country across the border. A promoter had to send a car to get to him because everyone was trying to figure out where he could have gone. The bus driver remembered that he stopped for fuel in Switzerland, and we realized we were now in France.
Miscommunication and Its Effects
We also had another occasion where another member of the band got on the wrong tour bus to go to Glastonbury.
- Itinerary Importance: There was a particular street that tour buses used to congregate, and this person got the hours wrong. They thought it was 10 AM instead of 10 PM and hadn't read their itinerary properly.
- Understanding the Itinerary: Make sure everyone understands what's on it when they're given it and that they read it, because that itinerary tells you where you have to be and when.
Final Thoughts
You can't have a show if the band is not on the bus and going to the same destination at the same time. It may sound completely obvious, but it actually happened to us.
- Personal Experience: It was absolutely crazy wondering where this person was. Turns out she was already at Glastonbury, but with a completely different band. They said, "Oh, yeah, we're going to Glastonbury too," so she just stayed on that bus and didn't think to let anybody know.
Yes, things can go wrong, but remember , the show must go on!
About the instructor
'Sister Bliss never stopped writing music. She's an accomplished composer for film and TV, a club DJ, and an advocate for the creative industries'. Billboard One of the most successful British dance music artists of the past 25 years, Ayalah Bentovim AKA Sister Bliss is the musical force behind Faithless. Together with iconic front man Maxi Jazz and producer Rollo Armstrong, she formed Faithless: one of the most successful electronic acts of their generation, with a career spanning more than two decades that included 8 albums (3 at number 1) and six top 10 singles. To date, Faithless have sold in excess of 15 million records worldwide and have played live to millions across the world, headlining festivals, stadiums and arenas. The band have collaborated with artists such as Jazzie B, Boy George, Cat Power and Dido, never conforming and moving effortlessly across an eclectic range of genres. Over a 25-year career that took her from the underground UK club scene to sold-out arena shows and festival headline slots around the globe, Sister Bliss has become one of British dance music's longest-standing and most influential female electronic artists. She comes off the back of releasing Faithless' first studio album in ten years, the highly anticipated 'All Blessed' - Faithless' love letter to electronic music that presents them at their very best. The album reached number 6 in the charts and the singles, along with their premiere remixes, garnered extensive support across BBC Radio 1, Radio 2 and BBC 6 as well as Kiss FM and Capital. A classically trained multi-instrumentalist, she has also scored numerous TV, film and theatre productions. Credits include 2012's film Knife Fight starring Rob Lowe and directed by two-time Oscar winner Bill Guttentag, commissions for Sex & The City 2, Chasing Amy, Danny Boyle's The Beach, A Life Less Ordinary, acclaimed British film The Hide, Crossing The Line and the BAFTA-winning TV dramas Life Begins (ITV) and The Poison Tree (ITV). For theatre, Bliss has written music for The Black Album and The Emperor Jones at The National Theatre in London, as well as composing an original piece for the London Sinfonietta, which was performed at Fuse Festival, UK. She recently had a lead role in major prime time BBC1 show 'This is My Song', mentoring the contributors and producing their final recordings. She released a new collaborative album with Rollo and Dido in 2019 under the moniker 'R PLUS' - 'The Last Summer', following a jam-packed summer of festival headline DJ sets throughout the world including sets at Bestival, Exit Festival, Glastonbury, Creamfields, Ibiza and beyond. Her hugely successful weekly radio show and podcast 'Sister Bliss in Session' is syndicated to over 100 stations and 43 countries worldwide. She recently guest presented Gilles Peterson's acclaimed show on BBC 6 Music and regularly stands in for Ana Matronic on the Dance Devotion show on BBC Radio 2. She has also presented a 5-part series on Bauer Media's Scala Radio station joining the dots between classical and electronic music, which won the Bronze prize at the New York Festival Radio Awards, competing against 30 countries. She currently teaches at Tileyard Studios' Masters MA course, including modules on songwriting, production and writing to commercial brief, and mentors individual Masters students - the same hands-on knowledge she shares in Studio to Stage, breaking down exactly how Faithless turned their records into a stadium-filling live show. read more