Part Two: How They Got In and Why They'll Never Leave

Music

Part Two: How They Got In and Why They'll Never Leave

This story is part of a week-long series covering my three days behind the scenes at John Mellencamp’s Rural Electrification Tour.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- People are quick to tell you that working "behind the music" is short on glamour and long on hard labor. Then they’ll turn around and tell you that it’s the best job they’ve ever had. The allure of life on the road is multifaceted: the excitement, the adrenaline, the lack of external commitment. Plus, there’s the money.

Harry Sandler
Tour Manager

Hometown:
Brooklyn
Age: 55
Years in Biz: 35
Number of Tattoos: 2
Packs a Day: 0
Fave Road Food:
Oatmeal
Fave Road Clothing:
Gym shorts
Best Set Song:
"Your Life Is Now"
Job in Brief:
Off the wall
Salaries working for a rock tour tend to be significantly higher than those for a 9-to-5 job. "Essentially, you're compensated for not being home," says Harry Sandler, tour manager for John Mellencamp. In addition, there's often a "per diem," or daily stipend that employees are allotted on top of a salary.

The life of a roadie also is peppered with small luxuries usually only afforded movie stars and models. For instance, the band and crew employ "runners" at each venue: gophers whose sole purpose is to say "yes." Runners might spend the day stuffing tickets into envelopes, tracking down a precise brand of beer or just sitting around patiently awaiting instruction.

The music business, Harry says, "is like college. It’s a continual childhood, where you live in a protected environment. You don’t have to meet anyone you don’t want to meet. When you get home, it takes about a month to slow down. Where’s my runner? My limo? Room service?

"Basically, it’s not the real world, and someone else is paying for your room."

Jesse Sandler
Assistant Production Manager

Hometown: New York City
Age: 25
Years in Biz:
1 month
Number of Tattoos: 0
Packs a Day: 0
Fave Road Food:
Snack food
Fave Road Clothing:
Shorts
Best Set Song:
"Authority Song"
Job in Brief:
Unorganized order
Getting In
Of course, as with almost any prized profession, who you know does help. But sometimes, dumb luck helps just as much. "I pretty much got into the business by osmosis," says Harry. "I was in San Francisco in ’64, which was all about music. Eventually, it turned into a job."

Sandler’s son Jesse joined his first tour as a paid employee in April of this year. "I don’t mind people knowing I got the job through my dad," he says. "It just puts that much more pressure on me to look good and make him look good."

Kelly Shaunessy, assistant tour manager, became part of the Mellencamp staff through years of hard work and related experience. "I spent almost six years at Farm Aid, where I coordinated bands for the annual concert." Since Mellencamp cofounded the charity event with Willie Nelson and Neil Young, Harry got to know Kelly and came looking for her when the Rural Electrification tour was green-lighted.

Dave Bruster
Stage Manager/Guitar Tech

Hometown: Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Age: 37
Years in Biz: 18
Number of Tattoos:
0
Packs a Day:
2, on a good day
Fave Road Clothing:
Rain suit
Best Set Song:
"Paper In Fire"
Job in Brief:
Make them look good

For Dave Bruster, a career in music was less of a decision than an obligation. "I was born and raised in Nashville, where you don’t have a choice," he explains. "I couldn’t play, so I started doing this." Dave is the tour's stage manager as well as one of its guitar techs, which, as he describes it, "is 18 hours a day of making sure the band looks and sounds perfect." In the off-season, Dave produces music videos.

Day-to-Day
Twenty-eight people work behind the scenes on a daily basis to pull off the Rural Electrification’s 44 shows. You’ve got your management: people coordinating promotion, accounting, tickets, hotels and travel; the technical gurus: experts tuning drums and guitars, calibrating lights and rigging overhead equipment, and a handful of random task-fillers.

Kelly Shaunessy
Assistant Tour Manager

Hometown: Somerville, Mass.
Age: 27
Years in Biz: 6
Number of Tattoos: 0
Packs a Day:
Knockin' on 2
Fave Road Food:
Altoids
Fave Road Clothing:
Bus slippers
Best Set Song:
"Check It Out"
Job in Brief:
Controlled chaos
There’s two wardrobe people (doesn’t Mellencamp just wear jeans and a T-shirt, you ask? Well, think about all the laundry that needs to be done), three bus drivers, four truck drivers, two security guards, a carpenter and a cook.

The crew gets to each location up to 14 hours in advance to prepare for the performance. The management staff usually stays behind to work on ticketing issues and planning. On days "off" (i.e. no concert that night), work still needs to be done. A movie or dinner out is a rare treat.

Road Life: Can Relationships Survive?
A striking percentage of the Mellencamp crew are either single, divorced or in the throes of a breakup. An even higher percentage agree that relationships are next to impossible. "Essentially, you can be on the road 365 days of the year if you want," Harry says. "The ones who have their wives and kids with them can do it. But anyone who does this for the first time will suffer."

Jesse, without the 35 years his father has seen, believes that a relationship can survive if you want it to. "It’s an individual thing," he says. "You need to really be committed to making it work."

Dave disagrees. "Relationships out here always end up in separation or divorce. Almost everyone you talk to will be in some stage of that story: 'Yes, I’m married, but it’s not working out, I’m divorced ....'"

"There’s something about this job," Harry continues, "and something about the sort of person who wants the 'thrill' of the road. Relationships don’t work out, but I think there’s something underlying the relationship to begin with."

Bill Mayes
Guitar Tech

Hometown: Indy
Age: 34
Years in Biz: 15
Number of Tattoos:
6
Packs a Day: 0
Fave Road Food:
Popsicles
Fave Road Clothing:
None
Best Set Song:
"Eden Is Burning"
Job in Brief:
Hectic
Adrenaline, Friends and Freedom
Though road life can certainly wreak havoc on relationships, the upside is pretty powerful. Of course, there are the financial benefits -- but man cannot live on perks alone. Another lure of working the music world is the adrenaline rush it offers. "There’s that moment when it all clicks," Dave says with emotion. "You can feel it. You say to yourself, 'So I just worked 22 hours and it paid off.' Every day there’s a moment like that when you remember why you’re doing this in the first place."

For Bill Mayes, a guitar tech who’s been in the business for 15 years, the freedom of life on the road is key. "You have more independence than in a typical job," he explains. "You’re good as long as you get your part done."

For those early in their roadie lives, traveling and meeting new people are also huge draws. Jesse says: "I love the lifestyle. Now I have a friend in every city. I could never have a 9-to-5 job again."

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Rock 'n' Road
Part One: I'm With the Band
Part Two: How They Got In and Why They’ll Never Leave
Part Three: What's It Really Like on the Bus?
Part Four: Interview With Mellencamp Keyboardist Moe Z MD
Part Five: The Photographic Evidence

Questions? Write me!

Want more info on my fateful encounter with John Mellencamp? Read Rock 'n' Road Part One.

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WildWeb - Rock'n'Road | June 17, 1999

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