Public high schools are not known as music meccas, let alone venues for entire tours.  THE ROCK YOUR SCHOOL TOUR featuring unsigned Los Angeles-based LETTERS BURNING, offers nearly two months worth of exception to this rule. 

It’s a respectable time on the road by any standard, but exclusively playing high schools raises questions, and may seem a bit foreign to those so used to the norm. But for Letters Burning, who have already completed a 40-day Hot Topic in-store tour and played high schools previously, it’s clear this rock quartet take a different approach to “normal” touring.

Brand loyalty, or in this case, band loyalty, seems to be a major driving point. Some bands seek fans of a developing age range that are rapidly identifying and defining their musical tastes. This is something frontman TAL MIR first realized on their Hot Topic tour. So why take it to the schools? They target the same audience for two major distinctions: more kids and less sound restrictions. The band believe it’s a worthy cause—one that will create long-lasting fan connections through word of mouth and future support. All four members spoke of their experiences growing up learning music in the classroom, and now it’s something they hope to give back. 

On any given stop of the tour, Mir says they’re bombarded with questions from curious young musicians, and the band happily dish out answers. With the long-publicized struggle to keep a musical presence in our schools (remember those star-studded VH1 Save the Music commercials?), the intentions are as good as they get.

“We realized that there actually was a way to create tours that didn’t require new fans to pay for shows, by working out mutually beneficial methods to whoever was excited enough to get involved,” said Mir. “Our teenage fans truly love music and really appreciate us allowing them to experience our music without them having to worry about expensive tickets. We started playing high schools in southern California with the same objective, reaching a massive audience and giving them direct and intimate exposure to our band and knowing that if they became new fans it would be completely worth it. After playing over 50 different schools we knew that our idea was working and it was time to take it to a new level.”

The financial tolls of operating a band are immense, and that’s even before touring costs are factored in. Recording, mixing, mastering, artwork, photography, pressing—it all adds up quickly, and before you know it, a few thousand dollars are history. Getting it back (or at least making a valiant effort) is crucial to a band’s continued ability to create and survive. 

Embarking on a free tour with this debt in hand would seemingly dig any band deeper into the red. Unlike “normal” touring, where door and merch sales support bands, high school performances work in nearly an opposite manner. That’s something Letters Burning learned the hard way. “We tested out this tour idea last year, playing many high schools, but didn’t have the resources at the time to really do it up big, like we envisioned it,” explains guitarist GABE KUBANDA. 

It’s not a popular game plan in an environment where even big-name artists are admitting their struggle to get by financially. Modern obstacles stand in the way of making a profit regardless of a band’s size. New releases are regularly downloaded free of charge with the ease of a Google search, and for career musicians it’s a scary fact of life. Until you can download a T-shirt, merch sales remain the life force of bands; money needed to recoup costs is like oxygen to breathe in the grand scheme of things. Unfortunately, on top of not getting paid to play at a high school, it’s difficult to push merch for traditional rates. Most students simply don’t carry the cash with them you’d anticipate at the clubs. 

“We noticed it was tough to sell $15 T-shirts to 14-year-olds who didn’t have more than $6 in their pockets,” says drummer JOE GIORGI. “We were giving away signed posters of ourselves to winners of the contests we held during the show, and realized we could be selling them afterward to those who didn’t win. We thought of custom, inexpensive items that are cheap for us to make, cheap to sell, and easy and inexpensive for the kids to buy and feel like they are a special part of what we are doing.” 

Downsizing the prices by selling products like rubber bracelets and keychain lanyards grew out of necessity.With financial hurdles high and show income nearly nonexistent, what’s the loophole that Letters Burning have found to make it sustainable? Scholarships for bands from brand—or, in other words: sponsorship. Both AP and California-based clothing company YMI Jeanswear jumped on board to help. “We are so glad that both YMI Jeans and Alternative Press really ‘got’ the concept and helped us realize this vision to its full potential,” says Kubanda.

Mir continues, “We really wanted to stand behind our intentions of creating a truly free tour for our fans, and wanted to be able to offer really great giveaways so the only logical step was selecting a young, fun and innovative brand to come on board that we knew our audience would enjoy. We couldn’t really do so many shows in such a short amount of time without YMI behind us. Besides the fact that they immediately understood what we trying to do and truly believed in it, we were impressed by how many great ideas and tools they had to offer.”

Actually making all of this go down can be a challenge. First of all, there’s no one working the door (it’s free) or opening the show (there’s not enough time in the school day). “Most of the school’s lunch areas are outside in California, so we usually set up on a stage out in the quad or lunch area. If it rains, we’ll set up in the auditorium,” says Kubanda. During lunch period, students from grades 9-12 converge to participate, interact and join in the performance. It’s the best time to reach nearly everyone’s attention, while at the same time not interfering with classes. 

The band design their sets with an aim to entertain. “It so happens to be that it is the young fans that get it and the young fans that connect to our music on a different level,” says Mir. Essentially, for 30 minutes, lunchtime is transformed into a miniature one-act version of the Warped Tour. There are free souvenirs being handed out, sponsor tents to explore and prizes to be won from contests. The festival atmosphere demands a work ethic similar to what goes into a traditional tour. “We arrive at every show with our trailer packed to the top with all the gear necessary to put on a great sounding show,” says Giorgi. “All we need is an outlet with electricity flowing through it and we are good to go. Each of us sets up our own gear, but we assign duties to each member to help with the PA and merch tent.”