Tour Talk

Here we go again but not on our own this time, this week we’re joined by Per Wiberg. Current keyboard extraordinaire for Spiritual Beggars, rocking bass player for Kamchtka as well as being one of the Opeth alumni. 

I have to open this week with quite an embarrassing admission to Per and that leads us to discuss how the landscape of the music industry has changed since illegal downloading reared it’s head in the late 90’s

We discuss Per’s last touring experience before the pandemic hit, which just happened to be driving around Sweden in the snow with Nate, this takes us on to how friendships you make from short intense bursts  of time with people on tour can lead to life long, enduring friendships. 

We learn how European summer festival is essentially a adult day care centre for rock bands and what it’s like spending the summer bouncing around festivals, that includes seeing famous people all queuing up for lunch together, the etiquette around approaching artists your a fan of backstage and how its sometimes necessary to charter a plane to get from show to show.

We bust out my cup of random questions towards the end and all in all have an extremely insightful and very fun chat with an awesome guy who’s spent his life on the road!

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

Hello and welcome to episode number 17 of tour talk, this week you’re stuck with just Nate and myself however we’re here to entertain you by getting deep into the gritty topic of Ego within the music industry. Drawing from personal experiences of handling our own ego’s at times as well as what we’ve encountered whilst being on the road. 

We also discuss our different approaches to instigating our creative processes and how different times of day can really impact that, which leads us into cultural variances around the world and our preferences of how different countries approach putting on shows.

The episode kicks off by discussing our experiences of how to get a foothold in the music industry we had to over commit ourselves working a regular jobs and then utilising whatever spare time we had around that to facilitate our passion. I think it’s a trial that the majority of artists in all fields go through and eventually allows you to reach a point where all you have to focus on is your art… 

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

Hello and welcome to Tour Talk’s coming of age party, this is Episode # 16… and this week is an extra special one for me as I’ve managed to coerce my former bands mates from Hell To Pay to come on the show and discuss what life was really like being in a band with me. 

It was genuinely awesome catching up with the guys, we had a lot of great times together traversing the country and it was really nice being reminded of some of those stories. 

Of course being a young, unsigned band with no guidance disaster was never far away so there’s plenty of funny stories coming your way good and bad! 

Sadly the band never quite achieved what we all hoped it would and I really appreciate the guys discussing that honestly and openly here on the show… we learned so many lessons not just as musicians but as human beings on our little journey and if there’s any young muse’s or bands listening to this then please learn from some of our mistakes!

The best thing about doing this episode for me is that we’re all still able to chat like we’re in the van together on the way to a show. If you ever get the chance to be in a band then take it, it was  one the greatest experiences of all our lives.  

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

Come on in for Ep #15 of Tour Talk…  and this week we have the fantastic Deborah Bond as our guest. Deborah is an amazing solo artist in her own right as well as touring and recording with legendary UK funk / soul band Incognito for the past 6 years. She’s also recently been working with Nate on material for his first solo album…more on that during the show. 

 Oh and she also has a degree in journalism and hosted her own weekly radio show so hopefully we haven’t embarrassed ourselves too much here!

We discuss the dark art of live streaming performances during lockdown, what it’s been like handling the tech that goes with it and how it feels trying to connect to an audience via a stream… all of which inevitably segue into the guys views on being a performer and having to deal with the relentless demand for content from social media. And how people can manipulate your innocent content to create fan pages dedicated to your feet. I shit you not.  

Eventually we do get round to discussing life on tour and the guys look ahead and tell us what they think it’s going to be like working together on the road… and how rare it is finding personalities that you really enjoy travelling and playing music with.We also get the flip side of that and hear from Deborah and Nate of what it can be like working with artists you admire who unfortunately don’t live up to what you were expecting. 

There’s also an amazing insight into song writing, producing and arranging and it’s fascinating to hear both Deborah and Nate describe their different approaches to this. 

Deborah has an amazing personality and that shines through throughout the podcast, it’s doesn’t take a a genius to work out we had a lot of fun shooting this!

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

We're giving you a little break from all the guest related content this week as our hosts dive into their favourite gigs... one's they played or worked at as well as shows they've attended as fans. 

We talk conga lines, being invited to jam on stage with one of your favourite bands, late night forrest festivals in Greece (including Nate giving us some of his best Greek), crowds setting of flares mid show, crowd surfing at your first ever metal show and a whole lot more!

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

Hello and welcome back to Tour Talk. This week we caught up with Matt Ward from Mason Hill… now this was probably an incredibly inopportune time for Matt as we spoke the evening before the bands debut album was about to chart! However he very graciously gave us his time and Mason Hill smashed their way in to the UK’s official Top 20 so good times all round. 

We cover first ever touring experiences and if they lived up to the guys preconceptions including Nate’s 3 touring essentials… turns out fresh socks are super important. Matt helps us continue our conversation / education on the business side of the music industry, some of t    he mistakes the band have learned from along the way and how that’s helped them reach the great position they’re in now. 

We also get into what its like handling the press, including some hilarious, poorly written reviews the guys have been subject too along the way oh and we talk about my favourite ever rock band related news article… that did indeed feature Mason Hill.

Finally we find out what it can be like when you bump into your musical hero’s and idols backstage at festivals and shows… avoid interrupting games of table tennis wherever possible!

Mason Hill are out on tour relentlessly from September this year so make sure you go and check them out, they are an awesome band! 

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

Welcome to episode 12 of Tour Talk. I’m not quite sure how we’ve managed but this week we’re chatting with Charlie Benante of Thrash Metal legends Anthrax! 

Charlie was kind enough to give us an hour of his time so as you’d expect we used that hour to ask one of the best rock and metal drummers of all time predominantly about his love for playing guitar and his thoughts on the current state of hip hop and country music - 

We find out how Charlie put his free time to good use during the lockdown to eventually put together his new album ‘Silver Linings’ that saw him collaborate with an immense list of musicians including members of Anthrax, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, Skid Row, Run DMC Butcher Babies, Volbeat, Living Colour  and many more!

Of course we get into some discussions about touring including Charlie’s experiences of touring with Iron Maiden and travelling South America on their plane Ed Force One. We cover the weirdest things we’ve all ever eaten on the road   , and we take a look back on Anthrax’s seminal tour with Public Enemy, which saw the first time those genres were fused together in a major touring setting. 

Charlie’s passion for music in all forms is clearly evident throughout the episode so this is one I’m sure everyone will enjoy! 

Oh - I'm aware that referring to the George Floyd murder and Rodney King beating as 'things' is undermining the serious of both incidents. I'm still new to this and learning ✌️

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

Welcome to the latest instalment of Tour Talk - if ever you needed a deeper understanding of why we’re all crazy enough to go on tour together then this is the episode for you. 

We’re joined by Tobbe Strandvick from Swedish band Camchatka and I’m sure it’s clear to everybody listening that the 3 of us had a great time sharing some tight and border line unpleasant  spaces together on tour. 

Tobbe is not only an incredible drummer but he’s the very definition of what we refer to as a ‘Good Tourist.’ He was an absolute pleasure to be on the road with and I think the fact that we look back with great fondness on some fairly unglamorous situations is      testament to why we love doing what we do. He gives us an amazing insight into taking his positivity into every situation on road as well as how easy it is for one person to affect the vibe on tour and bring the whole mood down. 

 We find out what it was like learning to tour in Sweden as opposed to the UK & the States, the origins of floor pizza, the correct way to listen to Meshuggah, the variances of playing in the studio compared to playing live, developing relationships with others bands

I had so much fun shooting this episode with the guys and I think it gives a great insight to the kind of friendships you make while out touring. 

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

The brain trust here at TT HQ felt the best way to celebrate reaching 1000+ views / streams and making it to our landmark 10th Episode was to give you all a little something - turns out the only gift we've got is more episodes so here... try this one on for size.

A little while back Dario and Nate sat down and talked through their story of experiencing lockdown on the front line, while in the middle of a tour together. It ended up being an immensely difficult time for Nate especially...  Shows were cancelled. Nate lost his mentor, had no income, no way to get home and no where to stay. It turned out to be a really incredible story that forged the path toward his solo career and all the developments since and we both felt that telling you guys about our experiences during that time would provide some insight for you guys about us and why we love doing what we do. 

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton

Roll up! Roll up! 

It’s Episode #09 time and we’re delighted to have Danny Vaughn from Tyketto, Snakeoil & Harmony as our guest this week ! He takes us through the etiquette of being a headline act and an opening band based around his experiences of opening for Iron Maiden and Status Quo… sometimes wires can get crossed and Tour Managers can become very angry, very quickly. 

We get Danny’s must haves for travelling on a tour bus and multiple stories of how he’s nearly died on one… as a result we get into all the different ways he’s toured and how he prefers travelling now. 

We also get his take on the dangers of flying a beloved instrument around the world, how social media has changed life as a musician, utilising the Pandemic as an opportunity to restructure his career and his reasoning why some American musicians like himself have chosen to make the move and live in Europe. 

New episodes go live every Monday so be sure to follow / subscribe / to Tourtalkpod at a safe and socially respectable distance on the Socials!

Please join us over on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/tourtalkpod for all the good extra stuff.
Hosted by Dario Nikzad & Nate Bergman
All the hard work is done by Rob Anderton