Better Than The Van's Founders, Scott Miller & Todd Hansen
Have you ever played a show to ten people somewhere in the hostile uncivilized territories of the midwest, slept in this very same van, freezing your ass off, curled up somewhere between an amp and a herniated disc?
Better Than the Van co-founder Todd Hansen has. He's also slept in worse places on tour. “My first or second tour, we landed in a machine shop sleeping on concrete in the middle of Arkansas," Hansen admits. “I think we had an eight hour drive the next day, too. Brutal."
One of the pitafalls of being a broke, independent band attempting to tour is the plethora of nights spent in the not-so-cushy position described above. (It's very similar to the fetal position, actually.)
Because even the seediest flip flop-house hotel will eat away at precious gas, food and booze money, most musicians prefer the tried 'n' true blue method of stumbling, in a drunken stupor, into the van for a night's rest. It's just cheaper that way, and plus, if you say something like, “Hey guys, I could really use a hot shower. I haven't applied my pore-reducing facial mask for over 2 days now. Maybe we can get a hotel for the night," you will officially be deemed a wussy for the rest of the tour, if not the rest of your life.
Hansen and co-founder Scott Miller had enough of these experiences to realize that there had to be a better way to tour for cheap. “At some point contacting complete strangers over the internet for a floor to sleep on sounds like a good idea," says Hansen. That's where Better Than The Van comes in.
A combination of social networking platform and personals page, Better Than the Van lets bands announce that they're in the market for couch space, and enables them to find the fans offering it.
In and of itself, this is a great idea, but Hansen points out that it's also grown into something else. “A lot of bands manage to find shows and grow their fanbase because of the personal connections they make through the site," says Hansen. “Even if they can't land a place to stay, a lot of hosts offer up solid info about their scene or city."
Better Than the Van is free to join, so you've got no excuse not to sign up. But if fans aren't throwing themselves at you with places to stay right away, maybe you should try changing something about how you tour. Consider the following three tips Hansen gave us:
- Pick a couple routes that you know you can do a few times a year. Repetition is key to building a fan base. Driving from the Midwest to the West Coast once a year doesn't really do much.
- Hang out by your merch table and talk to people before and after the show. Be available, even if there's only 20 people at the show. Personally connecting with people can go a long way.
- Do some publicity 3-4 weeks before you go out. Hit up dailies, weeklies, bloggers, tweeters, college radio stations in the cities your going to play to let them know you're coming. Getting a little press, blog posts, Tweets can really help. If you don't have time, save up a little cash and hire someone to do it. I'd suggest War Room PR. It's only $35 a show for tour publicity.
