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Be A Tech! (part 1)

" Drum tech and Guitar tech" ... They both sound a bit more special than "Roadie"  and the image of Simian-like males with tattoos and exposed butt cracks that the word is most often connotated with, don't you think?
 The life of a modern day Tech with a touring band has much to offer it and is a successful career pursuit for many in the music industry throughout Australia and overseas. The calling can prove to be a wonderful way to see the world and lead to higher ranking positions such as Tour and Production manager. The following is a brief ‘how to’ into the world of TECHDOM, whether it be drums, keys, bass and of course, guitars.
 
Offer your services free to your favourite local and touring bands. In this age of the internet it's very easy to get in touch with them directly or through their management. It helps if you have a skill as a musician already, but nothing beats genuine enthusiasts over jaded professionals. Just helping lug amps and drum kits will make you popular with any band on the road. I met the band I first tech'd for when I was a member of the support band at a local gig. I offered my services free just to help carry their gear around and found myself more than welcome and at the end of the evening they asked for my details.

A few months later I got a call to be their drum tech on a 4 week national tour... helping to set up a bands drums and learning how to tune them properly is a dark but well rewarded art! This followed with calls for help at larger gigs within my home city and ended as touring tech on another national tour that took me all around Australia including regional areas. On this tour they trained me in the skills of a basic guitar tech... The crème of techs.
 
So what does a Guitar Tech do? They are responsible for EVERYTHING to do with the touring guitarists equipment; from maintenance and service of amps and effect pedals, re-stringing and tuning of guitars, lugging of all amps and guitars and the exciting but often fraught and ego plummeting role of leaping out as an unloved intruder onto a packed stage and fixing a broken guitar/string. The faces of a thousand punters will greet you with cold indifference... Can you handle that?

You may need to get drinks too, fetch lost mobiles or bring towels to mop sweat, girlfriends/boyfriends backstage past steroid raging security, roll cigarettes or anything else that needs rolling in fact! You will spend up to 14 hours a day in beer and sweat soaked venues, often living like a bat but subjected to bright lights and intermittent bursts of harsh noise, some errant tinnitus inducing feedback will put you on your ass or make you ill... I have seen it happen. But for all the grime and sweat, late nights and headaches, there is so much to recommend of the life of a tech. To train for a guitar tech... Pull apart guitars and practice stringing every possible type of guitar you can find... Until then, stay tuned for the next instalment.

Tom Coleridge