Following a healthy lifestyle can be difficult for musicians on road
It’s tough enough for most people to exercise from the comfort of their homes let alone managing a workout schedule from hotels on the road. November 7-12 will be the 14th Annual Indie Week in Toronto Music Conference, which will include the second annual health and wellness day. In a Q&A interview, event coordinator Darryl Hurs talks about his role and shares information about health and wellness day to enhance awareness and encourage healthy living for musicians traveling on the road or suffering from addictions.
Here is our Q&A:
Q: What do you like most about your role as Event Coordinator of the 14th annual Indie Week Toronto Music Conference?
A: It's varied really, from being able to meet young musicians from all over the world and seeing their passion and knowing that you have had a small part in their story. Also meeting some really cool people on the industry side has been a great journey. Having dinner with John Densmore from The Doors and hearing stories of Jim Morrison is a pretty unique experience, for example.
Q: Why is it important to hold this event and what will be some of the topics of discussion this year?
A: Last year we had a panel on health and wellness with musicians, which had a great response. This year we decided to build it out to a full day and the support within the industry has been great. We've partnered with the Over the Bridge and the Unison Benevolent Fund to present the day and have a great list of speakers, including Chuck Randall (tour manager for Alice in Chains / The Cult). It’s a very important topic as we have seen some recent incidents that have unfortunately taken some of our friends away form us. The music business is a difficult one to navigate and there are many opportunities to make the wrong decision, we hope to help raise some awareness and give information that may help someone.
Q: What was the feedback last year and what do you hope to achieve?
A: The feedback was eye opening. Ace Piva, who ran the panel last year, received many personal messages of people opening up their stories and showing the need for this area.
Q: What do people expect to get out of Indie Week?
A: It's always a week to discover new acts. It's meant to be a club-hopping adventure with some surprises. This year we have a great group of acts from Brazil - Scalene who just played Rock in Rio with Aerosmith. Def Leppard, and Fallout Boy for one. We are also hosting Canadian indie rock standout Rusty at The Mod Club on Fri Nov 10. I'm looking forward to that one as I was a big fan of the band.
I believe we are one of the first to bring awareness to health and wellness in the music business in this manner. We talked about it for the last 12 months and are very happy to be producing a day that focuses on musicians taking care of themselves and giving some light on the subject where individuals can feel safe to look for help. We’ve seen a lot this year in terms of loss within the community. It would be great to help in any way possible.
This year’s festival is the biggest to date and I would say - without sounding like a typical promoter - the best one yet. The lineups are great and our speaker list for the conference is top notch. We have more showcases this year than ever before and more opportunities for bands to meet industry.
For the health and wellness day, some topics will be covered on diet, mental health and yoga. www.runwithit.ca Twitter@christineruns Instagram runwithit_christineblanchette Youtube – Run With It