"TOUR SMART" March 21, 2009

Drummer Martin Atkins spent the 1980s and 90s performing and touring the world in such bands as Public Image Ltd., Killing Joke, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and his own band Pigface — bands that have both packed stadiums and struggled to fill the tiniest of clubs. Through all of that, he's seen firsthand the pitfalls awaiting all naive rockers and he has come to know the basic rules that apply to all touring musicians.
In his recent book, Tour: Smart, and its companion DVD, Atkins has compiled his experiences to create a valuable resource for any aspiring touring musician or band. Atkins is now touring the country himself, telling bands all the things they don't tell themselves.
Atkins teaches the business of touring at Columbia College in Chicago, and says that it's through touring that bands can find and develop their audience, often one album and one person at a time. In the book, he also included pieces from agents, stage techs, sound guys, people in bands and managers.
Atkins says the logistical strategies for building an audience in cities across the country is explored and explained in Tour: Smart. Bands, he explains, have to think of themselves as small businesses. And to be entrepreneurial, they have to take responsibility for themselves.

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