June / July 2019

 

1/ Name?

Christian Ustarroz

 

2/ Hometown?

Los Angeles, CA

 

3/ Currently Reside?

Los Angeles, CA

 

4/ Role?

TM / Stage ? Tech

 

5/ Years on the road?

5

 

6/ First band you ever worked for?

Fenix TX

 

7/ Any mentors in the industry worth mentioning?

Yogi, By far the most solid if not the most solid guy I've ever met touring

 

8/ Favourite US venue?

Palladium Worcester, MA

 

9/ Favourite US Bar or Restaurant?

Ye Rustic Inn!

 

10/ When and where was your first OS tour?

2016 with Unwritten Law

 

11/ Favourite OS country to tour?

Brisbane because the Lone Pine Sanctuary and the killer burger joint next to the Zoo

 

12/ Favorite OS venue?

Fowlers Live in Adelaide, R.I.P

 

13/ Favourite OS Bar or Restaurant?

Anywhere that has steak w/peppercorn sauce, chips and Tooheys or VB. Extra sauce!

 

14/ Last three bands you have toured with?

With Confidence

Runaway Kids

Unwritten Law

 

15/ What three tools are the most important to your role?

Gaff tape, tuner, more gaff tape

 

16/ What are the three things you can’t leave for tour without?

Laptop, sandals, baby wipes

 

17/ What’s your drink of choice after the truck is packed?

Chocolate milk or beer

 

18/ Who’s the most played artist on your iPod?

Growing up always Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana and Silversun Pickups. Currently too many its Throphy Eyes, Fever 333, Julia Micheals, Ruby fields, Beartooth. Just all over the place

 

19/ What’s your favorite band / album of all time?

Nirvana, Nevermind

 

20/ What’s your favorite book / Podcast ?

Book: Child called it / Podcast: Howard Stern or Gary Vee

 

21/ Any great websites out there for people to check out?

Try not to spend time online / Live in real life

 

22/ What do you do when you are not on the road?

Lead at Event Production Company, Stage / Lighting / Sound builds

Also do construction builds and recording studios

 

23/ Words of Wisdom?

Be a good person and nice to every new person you meet on the road. Don’t be a dick!

Also, if you hot bag make sure its double bagged

 

24/ You can contact me on?

IG: @custarroz

 

Tech for Strung Out, restringing Chris Aiken's Mr. Sparkle bass

Bandwagon driver for Strung Out Vans warped tour 2017

 

 

 

March / April 2019 

 

1/ Name?

 Elisha Boland 

 

2/ Hometown?

South Sydney, NSW

 

3/ Currently Reside?

Melbourne, VIC 

 

4/ Role?

Touring Road Merchandise Manager

 

5/ Years on the road?

Been on and off for 11 years but full time for 2 years now 

 

6/ First band you ever worked for?

Cant nail it down but would be either In Hearts Wake, Bermuda or The Bride.

 

7/ Favorite AUS venue?

Toss up between the Opera House in Sydney for the views or The Forum + The Corner in Melb for the humans / vibe 

 

8/ Favorite AUS Bar or Restaurant?

Crowbar on tour or B.East / The Alderman off 

 

9/ When and where was your first OS tour?

Europe / UK winter 2017 with Northlane 

 

10/ Favorite OS country to tour?

Germany for sure 

 

11/ Favorite OS venue?

I recently loved Olympia in Paris. Leaving the venue during the day is important for sanity so the proximity to cool shit was 10/10.

 

12/ Favorite OS Bar or Restaurant?

Lucky dog in Williamsburg. Bury me with the bar dogs and pickle backs 

 

13/ Last three bands you have toured with?

Parkway Drive, Gang of Youths and currently with Tash Sultana 

 

14/ What three tools are the most important to your role?

T pins, a desirable personality and patience  

 

15/ What are the three things you can’t leave for tour without?

Peli kit, clean underwear and my laptop 

 

16/ What’s your drink of choice after the truck is packed?

Hendricks gin, tonic + lime please  

 

17/ Who’s the most played artist on your iPod?

Last few months Don Broco and Everytime I Die has been getting very thrashed

 

18/ What’s your favorite band / album of all time?

Too hard to narrow down but - The Flatliners back catalogue, Wilhelm Scream - Mute Print, The Gaslight Anthem - Handwritten, Defeater - Letters Home, The Neighbourhood - I Love You, OWTH - Home 

 

19/ What’s your favorite book / Podcast ?

I try and read a book a tour so last one I knocked off was The Tattooist of Auschwitz. Podcast-wise i go back and forth between Anxious and Angry + Casefile 

 

20/ Any great websites out there for people to check out?

Google 

 

21/ What do you do when you are not on the road?

Try and have some semblance of a normal life - sleep, coffees, beach, spend time with my forever patient and understanding boyfriend + mates

 

22/ Words of Wisdom?

We’re pretty lucky at the end of the day to be able to do a job that takes us all over the world so I try to check myself and be grateful for it all. Even if it’s 3am on a tour bus leaving the UK and Granville has an acoustic guitar again

 

ALSO - chicks can be roadies too 

 

23/ You can contact me on?

elishaboland@icloud.com for business or @elishaboland for shinfo

 

One of my absolute favourite displays and runs with Parkway Aus tour 2018. And a very tired Boland after 4 back to back monster shows.

Walking around Paris on a day off on the most recent PWD Euro run 2019. My sanity was restored after walking the streets with the crew and getting out of the bus / venue loop.

Nuremberg in Germany during the Northlane Euro run 2017 - Left the venue with the angels in Ocean Grove to explore and ended up finding a lot of places that served as points of interest to WW2.

Day one on Warped Tour 2018 for In Hearts Wake in California. Before all the eye bags and bad tan lines took over.

Out the front of The Triffid in 2015 with In Hearts Wake quickly learning the importance of getting your gear to the truck on time. Turns out Fishy COULDNT strap 2 merch boards to the back of a 3 tonne.

 

January / February 2019

Sophie Kirov

 

Perth, WA

 

Brunswick Heads, NSW

 

Owner of Badlands Group: entertainment visa and tour service provider

 

5/ Years on the road? 

8

 

6/ First band you ever worked for? 

Kimbra

 

Going to gigs at the local Bruns pub is always a treat, but if I’m working I do love a show at the Forum in Melbourne.

 

8/ Favourite AUS Bar or Restaurant? 

The Napier Hotel in Melbourne is always a great spot for a cold beer and a hearty meal.

 

9/ When and where was your first OS tour? 

Flight Facilities in Asia.

 

As unimaginative as it may be, I really do love touring through the US. From the truly picturesque drives through area likes Montana, Utah and Wyoming, to the early hours at a Truck Stop, and the world of Instacart, Amazon Prime and every-restaurant delivery app under the sun – it’s always a great time.

 

The Fillmore in San Francisco. It’s a beautiful venue with an epic history, and the load in with the forklift/steel cage combo is good for a laugh.

 

Dino’s for a cold Bud and a quesadilla or Rolf & Daughters for a fancy dinner, both in Nashville.

 I’ve really gone in on the US here, so I should probably throw some love Europe’s way. I’ve had a blast at some of the campgrounds we parked the bus at, which I highly recommend instead of heading straight to into the city if you have a day off or travel day. They’re relatively inexpensive, and you can lie in the grass, go for a bike ride, have a bbq, and all that jazz.

Flight Facilities, K.Flay and Golden Features.

 

My phone, laptop and a notebook.  

 

Power Bank (portable charger) with extra USB leads, pedialyte or hydralite sachets and ArmaForce.

 

A little bourbon on the rocks is generally welcomed.

 

This month I’m listening to a lot of country, like Kacey Musgraves and Nathan Rateliff.

 

Oh yikes! Alt-J – An Awesome Wave, Paul Simon – Graceland, Cat Power – Sun, Bonobo – Black Sands, Neil Young – Harvest, J.J. Cale – Naturally… ok I’ll stop.

 

Listen to the Henry Rollins interview on the Joe Rogan experience. He’s the best. 

 

I’m going to cheat here and recommend a couple of apps instead. Rain Parrot, Headspace, Tabata and Dropbox.

 

The motto for Bruns is ‘simple pleasures’ which defines me to a T. Swimming, fishing, adventuring, reading and trialing my new obsession with pickling.

 

Try to have fun and drink more water.

 Oh and if you’re a photographer reading this, buy a black t-shirt.

 

 @sophiekirov or sophie@badlandsgroup.com

 

Making solid use of a day off in Colorado with a hike up to St Marys Glacier (*Not in picture but had the best vegetarian meal in Denver at City o’ City)