Becoming a Roadie

There's a lot to think about regarding becoming a roadie. Firstly, should you make it a full time career, you'll end up spending a lot of time away from home. Long trips, long tours and long hours. If that's not a sacrifice you're willing to make, read no further. Secondly, you'll need to specialise. "Roadie" is a surprisingly vague term - you need to specialise. Think about what areas you can help the band with, or what skills you can learn, roadie roles include lighting, stage design, instrument technicalities, security and even just being able to lift heavy items.

Learn. Musicians, promotions and production companies wont always look at formal qualifications (hey, it's the music industry) but it does no harm to go and do a course in your chosen area. Even if it doesn't necessarily get you jobs, knowledge is power, and if a band hires you for a gig and you can dazzle them with your skills, they're sure to hire you again.

Start at the bottom. Not that you'll have a choice, but when it's time to start out, I'm afraid the only place is at the bottom of the ladder, volunteer your services for some local bands, build a relationship with local venues and offer your services for any gigs they may organise. The more you get out there, even if it is for free, the more people you will meet, leading me to the next point...

Network. Meet people. It's all about who you know. Talk to everyone in the industry you possibly can, any of them could hear about a job and think of you, plus it never hurts to know people. One of them might give you your break.

Search for jobs. Some bands may even advertise on their own site, but there are a few sites out there where you can create a profile and showcase your skills, roadiejobs.com is an example of one. Jobs are advertised there, be there to snap them up.

Be proactive. Even with profiles on those sites, and a big web presence, jobs may not come to you. Approach people, call the management of bands, or their promoters and the people organising their tour. Offer your services, ask if you can send them your CV or resume. The worst they can say is no. Pick up the phone.

Persevere. As advice goes, this is pretty generic, but it's common for a reason, things will get in the way, and as with any career, it wont fall into place easily. If you want it bad enough, stick at it, you'll get your break eventually.

Once you have your job, keep your momentum going. You may well be working on a self-employed or contract basis, and you'll want to make sure you have a steady flow of jobs. Make your contacts while you're working, use it as an opportunity to take a step up on the networking ladder. If you are self employed, you might not want to stop doing all of the steps listed above just because you have a job, it'll help to still be getting your name out in the hope that one day you're so in demand you'll have a steady flow of jobs! It doesn't hurt to keep learning too, as I said before, knowledge is power!

Happy roadie-ing!