The Art Of Boredom

Greetings loyal Altpress readers! It's your old friend Josh presenting my first blog to you from beautiful Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; home to the legendary Philly Cheesesteak, the Liberty Bell, and the birthplace of Will "The Fresh Prince" Smith. Aside from these national treasures, the "City of Brotherly Love" is also the location of The Electric Factory, the venue from which I am typing this "web log" you are currently reading. So let's get to the topic of my entry today: Tour Boredom.

I'll begin by describing a typical day in the touring life of Josh Gilbert. First, I wake to my phone alarm, promptly at the crack of around 1 p.m. and throw on some dirty clothes. I'll then brush my teeth, chug a bottle of water, and walk inside to check out the venue we're playing. After that, I'll most likely walk aimlessly around the venue/bus area saying hello to tourmates until I've come to the dreadful conclusion that……I have nothing to do for the next 8 hours of my life.

We've all been there. Sometimes this kind of freedom is a lot to handle. The options are endless. But fret not! I have a assembled a list of suitable activities/time killers that can quell even the deepest of boredom; on tour or not!

1. Sports/Athletic — Many find that engaging in sports or sports-related games can ease the effects of boredom. This can also serve as an icebreaker for new tourmates you may not be acquainted with yet, and provide exercise in an environment where physical activities rarely take place outside of the live show. Wiffleball, badminton, footraces, and arm wrestling are all excellent choices.

2. The internet — Most of you will already be familiar with this one…you're doing it right now! The internet, though not an athletic hobby, is definitely a great way to occupy loads of time. Whether through social networking, racking Wikipedia's database for the newest conspiracy theories, or checking out the newest "Charlie Bit Me" autotune remix on YouTube, the bottom line is that the internet, or worldwide web as some would call it, is always growing so you'll never run out of ways to waste time here!

3.Creative Exploits — Being a musician on tour, I obviously have some interest in creating music, as I hope any touring musician would. One way I choose to spend a lot of my time is a mobile recording set up. For less than 500 bucks, anyone with a laptop computer can get a DAW or "Digital Audio Workstation" such as Pro Tools LE or Logic along with an interface like an Mbox, and have a fully functioning demo studio. All of the preproduction for our newest album, The Powerless Rise, was done this way.

4.Exploring — Last but not least. Sometimes while on tour it's easy to fall into a cycle of waking up, playing the show, and going to sleep, all while never leaving the bus or venue. To me, the spice of being on tour is the perspective that comes from venturing out and checking out the cities you are in. Even if you're not in a city full of tourist attractions like New York City or Chicago, exploring it may reveal something awesome, or it could totally suck and remind you of why you love where you live. One of my favorite parts of exploring is checking out the local food and beer. For example, tonight in Philly you know I'm gonna hit a fatty cheesesteak from Geno's!

So there you have it! Next time you're feeling a little overwhelmed by the sheer amount of choices you have in the face of boredom, feel free to refer back to my article. This is Josh Gilbert, signing out from The Electric Factory. See you at Cool Tour 2010!