Greg Rekus talks about the importance of touring!
Is it a need for you to tour regularly? Yes, definitely! There are some artists who have had success and tour very little if any at all. Some people just get lucky, but by far the most successful artists, especially today have got there from grinding it out on the road. Some people can’t stand it but I love it! It makes me feel so free and alive. Time seems to move different on the road also. Being home I usually get into a routine of work eat sleep etc and week seem to fly by. On the road, you are meeting so many new people and places everyday seems like a weeks worth of adventures. I’m on the road approximately 6 or 7 months a year. May seem like a lot but it usually only like 150 shows a year. Imagine you only worked 150 days a year. That’s more then half the year days off so it’s actually pretty manageable. During that time, I’m able to hit almost every places I’ve been playing in norther America twice with the exception of the southern states. Europe I can get there once a year and no guarantee I get to play everywhere every time. A lot of time, I feel like I’m just tip of the iceberg in terms of being a touring artists and wish I could just be everywhere all the time. Focusing on your tours, what's the favorite place you've been at so far? That's a hard one. Every place is unique and what's special about one place might not make it better then what's special about another places. I think about all the good times and friends I've made in the States and how much I love it there. Europe is amazing! I've got to tour it 10 times and i still haven't seen ever a fraction of what there is to see. Again, the friends I have over there are the best! Canada has so many great places to play and I've been touring it since day one. It's just too hard to pick one. Everywhere I go, I can't wait to go back and anywhere I have made a friend or played a fun show is my favorite place. I know that you plan on working on a new album at the end of this year. Do you already have some songs ready? Yes and no. I have kinda the outline of 5 songs that I think are really good. I probably throw away 2/3 of everything I write so it takes a while to come up with new songs. I also like to give a few years between albums so that I have a chance to expand my horizons a bit more and then new album sounds like I've grown a bit more. My goal over the next 8 months is to write a song a month that I want on the next album and then i should have 13 shows ready to go. This time around the lyrics are the part that are not coming as easy. A few songs I feel I have written about 4 sets of lyrics by now and I keep changing them and changing them. Saying that however, the other night, I was at my space and I had a great idea for a new songs and I was really happy with they lyrics. But I felt the melody and chords I came up with were kinda bland... But I am really excited about what I got so far and the direction the album is taking. Do you already know if this album is going to follow the lines of ‘Sibling Cities’. Or will you try to offer something completely different? It's not far from where I left off with ‘Sibling Cities’, my last record, but kinda an upgrade. I feel the songs I got are also really catchy and I think could end up being a fun sing along live when I get to that point in 2020. So far, I don't have anything really fast on the album but I never wanna force anything with my writing. I rarely plan to write a certain song. It just pops out when i'm at my space or sometimes in the car or working or something. It's a neat feeling. Almost like the song is just being beamed into my head! The last words are for you. If you have a message for your fans, here’s your chance! Thank you thank you thank you! So many people have called me DIY or the hardest working dude non stop touring etc etc. I would be nothing if it wasn't for all my friends and fellow musicians who helped me get this far. And keep me inspired to keep touring and writing and making everyday the most amazing day of my life! I think it's time we leave DIY and change it to DIT. Do It Together. Iit's going to be tough to be home for most of this year just working and writing, but it's a necessary step to make 2020 the best year ever. All the more reason to write a great album that I care sharing with everyone who hold the same passions and who has been an amazing friend to me!
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