Today we’d like to introduce you to Julian Tallman-Rogantini.
Julian, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
My first tour was an eye-opening experience. It was a seemingly outlandish idea that turned into understanding a completely different side of live music. Every night was a new crowd, and every day was a new adventure. I could do that forever.
By our third tour, we had been through numerous different vehicle problems, whether it be just finding one to use, or mechanical or registration issues, it was over and over and over again, problem after problem. We ended up renting a van from a band we were friends with. It just furthered my frustration with vehicles.
I had been working on cars since I got my license, so I offered to take the cash that was going to be the rental rate, purchase parts for the vehicle, and do the installation for free. They declined. They proceeded to use the money on things that were ultimately wasteful without knowledge of the total function of the car. Things like alignments while the suspension bushings and ball joints and tie rods are completely shot – no matter how hard you try to align these parts, they will not stay straight. Things like that just frustrated me. It’s bad enough when someone doesn’t know how to change their oil or a spare tire, but to just get suckered by a mechanic blatantly like that, infuriating.
Nobody wants to deal with that. On top of it, renting a van is at minimum about $100/day, and with mpg’s as low as 12, the expenses and complications of just the transit portion of touring can cascade on a band trying to just get out of their hometown for a week or two. It shouldn’t be this bad.
So I got this idea in my head that whenever I had the ability to, I would purchase my own van, maintain it myself, operate the vehicle on tour, be more affordable than a rental company, save on fuel, and provide every other accessory job I can within my power. That’s essentially the foundation of the company today.
Has it been a smooth road?
Well, it took about five years before the idea became a reality, and definitely completely by chance and not by planning. I had the opportunity and ran with it. I didn’t know if I would ever see it again. The amount of money to purchase a reliable van, insurance and maintenance can be astounding.
Seed aside, it took almost a year after that to have a consistent schedule. I think I did about three or four small tours within the first year. A total of maybe four weeks. I stayed at my part-time job while scheduling tours out. After that, there was a period where I was booked from March 2019-December 2019. I left my part-time job and toured the whole year. 144 days total in 2019 on tour.
Most of my touring groups have been super easy to work with, and there have been only one or two that have had really rough moments. One tour didn’t have their finances accessible during the tour, so there was a lot of shuffling digital currencies around the band to get it into the gas tank. The band leader also broke their phone early in the tour which made things a bit more of a struggle. Another tour was just a sprint to the east coast for four days and back. We drove home from NYC in about 58 hours. Stopped only for one night, because it was below freezing, and snowing, and dark. We drove between a tornado storm in the south and a snowstorm in the north. When we woke up after that one night of sleep, we realized we actually drove through the edge of the tornado storm while cutting through Nebraska. That was probably the most notable terrifying moment. I was actually afraid for everyone’s life at a point, not necessarily out of immediate danger, but of impending danger due to the conditions around us.
I also had a band basically cut ties and use my photos without permissions or credit a few times. Had to sick the copyright police on them. Don’t feel bad about it, but it felt weird. It wasn’t a situation I expected to be in. (I offer free photos to clients as long as they credit, with a three-strikes rule). They used my photo to promote a tour they canceled on me with no credit. So… that was fun.
And I guess there’s the emotional struggle? There’ve been a few points where I go back-to-back on multiple tours and I don’t see home for a month, and then I get a day or two home, and then im back out on the road. It’s a different life. Very freeing, but simultaneously you’re always on retainer 24/7 for your crew when you’re out. Whatever they need, you get or do your best to find a solution. It’s kinda like being a butler for weeks and weeks on end, with rotating groups to serve. I don’t really ever “clock out,” I just go on break for the night.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the TallmanSmallvan story. Tell us more about the business.
TallmanSmallvan is a package deal. You get a van, a chauffeur, a photographer, general technician, a roadie, a merch hand, and a friend for your travels. I get you to your next location, safely and on time, I help you load your gear and merch in, I shoot photos during your set, help you load your gear back out, and drive you to where you need to sleep, and generally right before I go to sleep I start uploading my photos and get them turned around overnight, so you get something to post on social media within 24 hours. I don’t really know anyone else who does this. I think the closest competition I have would be Bandago, but they’re more expensive to rent, less fuel-efficient, and you don’t get the extra person on your crew to help you with everything.
I’m just proud of the whole thing. I’m proud I can provide this service, under retail value, at an average of 25mpgs, and produce free photos for you every night, which I think is crucial on tour where every night is a new show.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
Ah, the age old question.
I think we’re going to see more virtual events, whether it be inside already existing platforms or new ones. I bet VR will make a jump in accessibility in that timeframe.
I also bet you’re going to see more hybridized bands, utilizing more and more digital production in their live sets. We’re already seeing the big live production happening, but with more and more digital instruments being available, more and more midi controllers, more and more computing languages and power, it’s going to change. Look at how much the electronic side of the music industry has changed since the 606 came out.
I hope touring stays a thing. I think live music will always have a place. It’s hard to recreate that environment, even inside a Deadmau5 Minecraft live stream (lol).
Pricing:
- Current Rate is $0.25/mile + fuel
- fuel economy is 25mpg, gas on the west coast averages $3/gal, while as you go east it can be as low as $2/gal
- Round trip to Seattle and Back is about 2,300 miles = (2300mi)($0.25) + (2300mi)/(25mpg) x (3/gal) = ($575) + ($276)
Contact Info:
- Phone: 8189171958
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @tallmansmallvan
- Facebook: @tallmansmallvan
Image Credit:
Julian Tallman-Rogantini – @TallmanSmallvan /@jtrdrums, Ariana Brooke – @Ariana.Brooke.Music
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