Jim Romeo first began booking tours in 1990 as an assistant in an agency that booked some of the 90's biggest alternative acts like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr , Liz Phair, and The Lemonheads. Jim later started his own agency — Ground Control Touring — and relocated to Carrboro, NC (just outside of Chapel Hill). Today, Ground Control represents some of the biggest names in indie rock and pop, including Belle & Sebastian, Grizzly Bear, Neutral Milk Hotel, Sleater-Kinney, Bright Eyes, Superchunk, She & Him, and Kurt Vile.
What is the best way to begin planning a tour? What elements does a band need to consider?
Ground Control Touring’s Jim Romeo
A tour is generally planned around an album release, but not always. Typically a tour would start a little after the release date and initially start with larger cities first. Since this is usually the start of the band’s touring cycle, it is a good idea for the band to pace themselves a bit, as they will likely be looking to tour worldwide. In other words, if you’ve never toured before, or haven’t toured in awhile, you don’t want to get into touring with a month-long string of dates across the country. Start slow with a few out-of-town weekend runs and work your way up.
How does a band make money on tour? Should an artist be willing to lose money for the sake of touring?
When bands are first starting out it is hard to make money, there’s no way around that. So at the earlier stages, touring is more about promoting their music (and themselves) and trying not to lose too much. Keeping costs down is key. Staying at friends’ houses, touring with less gear to avoid renting a van, bringing merchandise to sell, doing a lot of free (or cheap) social media promotion for each show, etc.
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