Spinner

Rock Plaza Central Quit Touring

Chris Eaton, Rock Plaza CentralEver since Rock Plaza Central 2006 album 'Are We Not Horses' exploded, the Toronto band has followed the typical indie career trajectory -- sign to a prominent local label and develop from domestic cult favourite into major international touring band. But Rock Plaza Central have never been a typical indie band. Starting this Saturday, the seven-piece sci-fi folk collective will prove it... by quitting touring entirely.

"I'm not totally ruling anything out, but I'm not very happy when I'm on the road," songwriter Chris Eaton explains to Spinner. "I'm the kind of person that's obsessive about doing things and getting them done and getting away from that for more than a week kind of stresses me out."

Already planning to take time off from touring in anticipation of his soon-to-be-born first child, Eaton decided to stretch the break indefinitely.

"It's not an easy decision because I love meeting people and I love playing for people, but the problem with touring is that it's not just playing live. You go and do an hour of performing every day, but then it feels like the other 23 hours are just being wasted. The one-hour show is a high that is unparalleled, but I've realized that the eight hours of work that I'm able to get done when I'm at home is more important than that one-hour high."

Still, this is a very risky decision. Without much support from radio play or licensing, touring is a major source of revenue for the band. "It's a silly situation that the music industry has gotten into," says Eaton. "Things like free downloading have devalued the idea of the CD being worth anything. The way the situation is these days, the only way to make any money is by touring. But if you hate touring then it's a real problem."

According to Eaton, who is also a published novelist, this strange model is unique to the music industry. "In no other art form do you make something solely for the purpose of being able to go do something else," he argues. "In visual arts, no one spends all their time painting gorgeous works of art just to be able to go around and tour them from gallery to gallery. It kind of goes and does itself."

This puts pressure on the artist to create a spectacular live performance, something that comes easier to some than to others. "It's two very different things doing live shows and making CDs," says Eaton. "There are bands who make good records and there are bands who play good live and they're not necessarily the same thing. My personal opinion is that they shouldn't have to be. If they don't play good live then don't go see them live."

"There should be other ways for artists to support themselves."

Now it's up to the band to try to figure out how.

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Nicole Bauberger

Hey there Mr. Eaton,

I completely respect your decision - but as a visual artist who paints and tours her work, I must disagree with your example.

Alas, a career in any art form seldom just goes and does itself, it seems to me.

That being said, there's no one right way to do it. There are as many ways as there are artists. Some become academics, some get day jobs, some figure out other ways to market their work, etc etc...

I hope you find the one that's best for you. For me, it's kind of an ongoing process of finding it.

I'm a huge fan who's never seen you folks live, but I think "Are we not horses" is the best album in the world. Kim Barlow gave it to me. I've just ordered your next one.

All the best, Nicole
www.nicolebauberger.com

January 23 2010 at 4:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Nicole Bauberger's comment
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