ROCK on the ROAD
When Particles Collide blasts its own path
Living the dream doesn't translate to mainstream success. An 18-year-old Panamanian pitcher playing for a single-A ballclub in Missoula, Mont., could be considered to be living the dream. The same could be said of the understudy to Elphaba in a tour production of “Wicked” in Erie, Pa. So yes, the rock duo When Particles Collide is living the dream. And it can be a grind. A year ago, singer/guitarist Sasha Alcott took a leave of absence from teaching chemistry at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire to go on the road. Indefinitely.
With drummer (and husband) Chris Viner, Alcott spent her first year of full-time touring performing 220 times — mostly club gigs and house concerts, but also radio appearances and guest spots on podcasts. Other than their 2014 Ram ProMaster 2500 van, they have no home.
“The toughest thing for me is not having, as Virginia Woolf would say, a room of my own,” Alcott said, ahead of the band's Thursday date at Atwood's. “I miss being alone in a room for hours. A room where I can read, play guitar, draw, think, be still. That being said, we're learning how to splurge for an Airbnb during days off so I can write.
“We also have an incredible network of friends and families who open their homes to us, and I'm learning how to be at home no matter where I am,” she added.
In the first year, the pair spent 347 days on the road (and the remaining 18 at their parents' houses in Maine). Viner says there is little down time between booking shows, finding bands to fill bills, updating email lists, filming videos, making Facebook events, designing and mailing merch, doing laundry, driving and playing music.
“We have taken a few days off in Amarillo, Texas, and Brooktondale, N.Y., to do some writing,” he said. “There have been some days we have off that Sasha will lock herself in a room and just write, write, write.”
Powered only by Alcott and Viner, When Particles Collide makes punk rock spiked with dashes of metal, pop and '90s alternative. It's the kind of sound that plays in Peoria, Pittsburgh and Portland (Maine and Oregon). The duo plans to keep bringing the rock to those towns and more. In January, Alcott had to tell Phillips Exeter if she planned to return for the 2018-19 school year. She does not.
“It became clear to me, after about three months of full-time touring, I was not going back to the classroom,” she said. “Paying my bills by playing music and getting rid of 95 percent of my possessions cracked something open in my brain and I was able to conquer some serious fears. All of a sudden, I thought, `I don't have to teach, I can make the life I want, or at least a version of that life.' ”
Both Alcott and Viner have plenty of advice for couples on the road, including setting up an operating budget and picking the right vehicle and outfitting it properly. But sometimes the most obvious wisdom is the best.
“Above all, remember you love each other,” Viner said. “It's really not that hard if you love the other person. Oh, make sure to take showers and brush your teeth.”