Perfect weather and late spring wanderlust means only one thing: it’s time for a road trip.
For most people, this happens maybe once or twice a year at most. For touring musicians, this is a way of life – where all belongings, daily necessities and creative juices are crammed into a van and schlepped from city to city.

Survival on the road is tough; so we asked five touring bands of all shapes and sizes about their go-to gear, favorite podcasts and more.

Klangstof (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Merging their Dutch and Norwegian origins, Klangstof is the literal combination of cultures with “klang” being the Norwegian word for “reverb,” and “stof” being the Dutch word for “dust.” Now based in Amsterdam, the group recently played their first Coachella set, electrifying the stage with their signature brand of moody and textured minimalism. With only one album under their belts, the band is quickly becoming the next great indie-electro hit to come out of Europe.

Best recording gear and apps for the road:
Motu 8m, Ableton, DM1, Voice Memos

Top 3 podcasts:
2 Dope Queens, This American Life, Reply All

Any rider requests?
IPAs, snacks and one clean and one dirty towel.

Most used apps while traveling:
Google Maps, Pocketcasts, Tinder, Spotify and Instagram of course.

Favorite road tunes:
Our tour manager Robert. Music-wise; O.T. Genasis – Cut It ft. Young Dolph.

Snapchat or Instagram?
IG (Instagram) for lyf, boo.

 

Urban Cone (Stockholm, Sweden)

The Swedes have always excelled in the realm of pop and generally tend to stay ahead of the musical curve. Urban Cone is no exception. The Swedish four-piece perfectly melds indie pop, R&B, funk and everything in between. The group has released two albums and is currently working on a third.

Best recording gear and apps for the road:
We rarely record while on tour, but we all have our laptops with us just in case.

Top 3 podcasts:
S-Town, Gitarrzombien (The guitar Zombie), Värvet.

Any rider requests?
Coconut water, beers, a surprise.

Most used apps while traveling:
Quizkampen (a Swedish quiz game), Netflix, iMessage.

Favorite road tunes:
The Blaze, Arcade Fire, Oskar Linnros.

Snapchat or Instagram?
Snapchat

 

Making Movies (Kansas City, MO)

Although the band was born in Kansas City, their sound is anything but Midwest. While members hail from Venezuela, Mexico and the US, their common experiences evoke the Mayan phrase “In Lak’Ech Ala K’In,” which translates to “I am another you, you are another me.” Combining Afro-Latin rhythms, lyrics in both English and Spanish as well as psychedelia — think Os Mutantes — Making Movies has created a sound all their own. The band has released two albums, their latest being 2013’s A La Deriva, produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos.

Best recording gear and apps for the road:
We use everything from a simple mobile pro-tools setup, Garageband on an iPad and iPhone and sometimes just use voice memo to jot down new song ideas.

Top 3 podcasts:
I listen to Marc Maron WTF, Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History, and my brother loves NPR’s Serial podcast.

Any rider requests?
We like to have good nutrition, fresh vegetables and fruit and also a nice Tequila helps get into the right mood.

Most used apps while traveling:
Yelp is a lifesaver for finding food in the middle of nowhere and so is Waze when navigating big city traffic.

Favorite road tunes:
I’ve been on a Soundgarden binge since Cornell’s passing. The band listens to a surprising amount of hip hop — Chance the Rapper, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean and J. Cole make the van playlist as often as anything else.

Snapchat or Instagram?
Neither! I kind of hate social media. We should all read more books and snap less.

 

Kite Base (London, UK)

Kite Base is made up of dual bassists Kendra Frost and Ayşe Hassan, who with their matching instruments have created something that feels guttural yet minimalist, gritty yet sleek. Because bass comprises both lead and rhythm, their music feels right at home as both a rock record for the stage and a house album for a rave. The two are currently in the middle of their June tour through the UK.

Best recording gear and apps for the road:
Kendra: For jotting down ideas quickly, I use Voice Memos on my iPhone and Garageband as these are perfect for sketches. I have an iRig adapter to get vocals and my bass into Garageband if needs be also. At that point of inspiration, it’s all about the speed of getting an idea down. For fleshing out these ideas and building them into songs, I use Reason by Propellerhead on my MacBook Pro and a Motu Ultralite MK3 soundcard. It’s a super portable setup — we deliberately tried to build Kite Base that way. I then translate the beats onto ‘Alan’- our beloved DSI Tempest which is named after Mr. Turing. The Tempest is where I get most creative with the sounds, once the song has been structured in a DAW. That workflow fits the bill for me!
Ayşe: For recording: Motu ultralite/laptop and bass on voice memos.

Top 3 podcasts:
Kendra: 1. Hour of Goon: an awesome Podcast hosted by two of our all time favourite bass players: Fred Sablan and Jeordie White (AKA Twiggy Ramirez). Bass duos rule! 2. Talkhouse – in particular anything curated by Elia Einhorn. Talkhouse hosts fantastic interviews with a whole range of artists and set an exceedingly high benchmark for top quality music journalism.
Ayşe: 3. BBC radio 3 – Composer of the week. As a way of trying to experience something I may not have heard before.

Any rider requests?
Ayşe: I’m pretty low key as I hate wasting stuff, my essentials are Yorkshire Tea Bags / Fruit / Kettle, although I normally bring my own. I need these things for my sanity.

Most used apps while traveling:
Ayşe: Sonos/ Runtastic/music app.

Favorite road tunes:
Ayşe: A difficult one to narrow down, but at the second a lot of Vince Staples / Beak> / Uniform (NYC band) and John Coltrane for flying.
Kendra: I love listening to anything that compliments the landscape outside the tour bus window! Yo-yo Ma, The Cinematic Orchestra, Sky, also soundtracks. I’m a massive fan of Clint Mansell and Angelo Badalamenti. They are two of my go-to faves.

Snapchat or Instagram?
Kendra: Instagram, all the way. I studied photography, so it’s nice to have an instant platform for it and an excuse to take more snaps!

 

Palehound (Boston, MA)

Palehound is the project of guitarist and lead vocalist Ellen Kempner, who with her 2017 LP A Place I’ll Always Go, has become a lead player in the resurgence of breezy lo-fi 90s’ grunge. Tinged with sparkly riffs, hypnotic production and a wry lyricism, Palehound provides the perfect soundtrack to your lazy summer days.

Best recording gear and apps for the road:
Just the voice memo app on the iPhone! I only use it to hum ideas because I really don’t have time for anything else!

Top 3 podcasts:
This is hard… podcasts are definitely my favorite thing to listen to while driving. Been loving Mystery Show, Sooo Many White Guys, and Up and Vanished.

Any rider requests?
Gummy Bears! Bread and Cheese! Basically anything we can take with us to eat in the car! Also my drummer needs a can of Coke every night.

Most used apps while traveling:
Google Maps has saved our asses. Not really any need to use anything else. That and Hotels.com when we’re in a pinch and need a cheap motel.

Favorite road tunes:
Recently we’ve been listening to a lot of Noname, Jay Som, and Big Thief.

Snapchat or Instagram?
Instagram. I always forget about Snapchat and really only use it to take selfies for my partner when we’re on tour.