Chris Milnes is a Principal Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Music (Songwriting) and BA (Hons) Music (Popular) courses. He is a session musician, tour manager, producer, and songwriter and works with acts like Hollow Coves, Bored at My Grandma's House, and Ocie Elliot.
Chris has been touring the world relentlessly in different capacities over the last seven years and has built a successful portfolio career.
We had a chat with Chris about balancing both roles. He shared his experiences on the road and offered some valuable insights and advice for anyone considering either career path.
Hi Chris - Where did your musical interests start?
I think I’ve always been really interested in music to be honest. Growing up I looked up to my grandad a lot (still do!) and he’s a big music fan and played a bit of guitar, so I think he was a pretty big role model in that sense - he taught me a few Beatles songs and some Ray Charles and Little Richard and then it kind of spiralled from there.
Can you tell us about how you got into being a tour musician and tour managing?
Musician wise that was kind of what I’d always wanted to do. I’d always wanted to travel and see new places and hadn’t really done any, so I really wanted to get into travelling with music. I’d played in a few small bands with projects of my own and toured the UK a bit with them, but then I just gradually got asked to help out in other bands in a few different roles. I did a lot of FoH sound for a while but then I just have a habit of ending up in the bands! Tour managing happened completely by accident and it’s still wild to me that I’ve become a “legit” tour manager. It all happened because I booked some really nice restaurants on a tour in 2018 for us, and then everyone was like, “hmm - if Chris can book a restaurant can he book a tour?” Turns out I could.
What’s the toughest part about being both a touring musician and a tour manager?
I think fatigue is a pretty big part of it. I’m really protective of the bands and crews that I TM so I want to look after everyone as much as possible at all times - which is think is probably common for a TM - but some days when you’re cooking food for everyone and doing a few loads of laundry and doing the driving/ getting the bus parked etc and then you also have to soundcheck and play a show, it really does get tiring.
It can be a bit inconvenient too when something needs sorting whilst you’re on stage performing, but luckily most of the time the crews I’m touring with are all really capable and switched on so we can cover for each other.
How do you manage to stay on top of your performance while handling tour logistics?
Preparation is probably key here. I spend way longer prepping tours than most other TMs and I’ve always got tonnes and tonnes of notes on things. I think because I’m aware I’ll have performances to do I try and get almost everything I can done before the tour starts, so I’ll be really on top of advancing before I go away, as I don’t get the usual production office time that most other tour managers get.
I think separate states of mind help too where possible - like I can kind of be in “performance mode” or “TM mode”. Luckily my main gig, Hollow Coves, is really well rehearsed now so the show is very seamless, but with other projects there is a bit more of a transition and sometimes my role switching does feel a bit clunky in my own head.
What’s your process for learning new material quickly as a session musician?
Pretty much just listening to be honest. I’ll listen endlessly to stuff I need to learn, and every year my Spotify Wrapped just ends up being projects I play in or have done FoH for or something like that. If I’m on super limited time and playing to a backing track sometimes I’ll put cues in like “chorus, 1,2,3,4” or at the start I’ll have “Song title in G minor” etc so I’m as reassured as I can be - but yeah just listening is the main one!
How do you handle the exhaustion of long tours and travel?
I’m weirdly a bit averse to it now? I think I’ve done so many stupid exhausting things in my life that it just feels like normality now. In 2018/ 2019 I was teaching 4 days a week and doing tours simultaneously so I’d have like a Tuesday night show in Brighton and then after it I’d drive home to Leeds, teach all day and then drive to a Newcastle show or whatever, so that really preps you for exhaustion haha. Nowadays I’m pretty great at sleeping on planes and I’m not too bad with jet lag. I think the key thing is is you can find someone to tour with who you absolutely adore spending time with and chatting to, that can sometimes be the energy boost you need, and just making each other laugh will get you through the day even after 2 hours sleep on a bumpy ferry.
What’s one thing people don’t realise about organising a tour?
Oh there are so many. I think the big one is probably show costs though. When I’m organising shows I’ll ask for a pre-breakdown from the promoter of how all the budget is going to be spent and then I’ll meticulously go through it and work out where we can save cash or where things are being spent unnecessarily. It’s incredibly boring stuff but financials are so tight nowadays that often it’s the difference between profit and loss.
How do you prepare for a show both mentally and physically?
Few stretches, couple of high kicks, and then get the band to stand in arms and recite the following:
“there are good ships, and there are wood ships, and there are ships that sail the seven seas, but the best ships, are friendships, and long may they be”.
Preparation complete.
What’s the most difficult situation you’ve had to resolve on the road?
There are literally so many to choose between. We’ve turned up at hotels that we’d booked and paid for that won’t give us a room at 3am in the middle of nowhere. We’ve been detained at the American border for smuggling in some grapes by accident. We’ve sang Ben Howard songs during a German police interview. We’ve had people break into the van, tour bus crashes, allergic reactions, support acts cancelling on the day etc. You end up in so many stupid situations all the time that it’s kind of impossible to pick the most difficult, but any situation where one of my friends is actively having a bad time is probably the one I find the most difficult. I think sometimes you just have to do your best to be there for people and be as considerate as you can, but a tour isn’t always the easiest environment for it, and it can play on your mind a lot when you feel like you’re not doing enough to help.
How do you balance time for your personal life while constantly being on the move?
Yeah this one is tricky, I think most of my friends would argue that I don’t have anywhere near enough of a personal life. I definitely do my best to keep in touch with people as much as I can, and as a result my WhatsApp is pretty chaotic a lot of the time, but I think this is one I could probably improve upon.
What’s one unexpected challenge that comes with managing a tour?
Maybe things constantly changing? That can be very tough to make on the fly adjustments. Or possibly how much people will look at you and expect you to know.
“Chris where is the washing machine?” “Chris what’s for lunch” “What’s the wifi?”
You really can’t have enough information so you just get used to advancing all sorts of questions with venues and promoters so you’re prepped for everything.
What advice would you give to someone starting out as a touring musician or tour manager?
Be as kind as you can always, never get angry. Buy people coffees, check in on everyone and give lots of hugs and head tickles.
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