Episode 12 : Frank Fanelli (Emmure, Black Veil Brides, Andy Black, Pennywise, J.I.D, Vans Warped Tour)
We Are The Road Crew PodcastShow Notes
This week Stephen is joined by Frank Fanelli, who has not only been a professional Tour Manager and Merchandiser for over 14 years but is the co-founder of For The Nomads, a fundraiser focused on helping the touring music industry crews who are laid off of work as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As well as giving us a unique insight into how he started the fundraiser, Frank talks us through his early years in music, his career as a musician, and how he came to land his very first Tour Manager role with Bam Margera. Since then he's gone on to work with the likes of Emmure, Black Veil Brides, Andy Black, Pennywise, Hatebreed, and more recently a diversion in the genre to artists such as J.I.D, Earthgang, and Yelawolf. Also Frank gives us a fascinating insight into his five experiences of working Vans Warped Tour and all the highs and lows which came with working on such an iconic touring festival. We are proud to be partnering this season with our friends over at Signature Brew who have been brewing music-inspired beers and supporting live music since 2011. Their award-winning core beers include the Nightliner coffee porter, which shares its name with sleeper busses used by touring bands across the world. There's the equivalent of a shot of espresso in every can – definitely a beer to keep you going throughout the podcast! Thanks for listening, give us a review if you like what you hear and please Subscribe & Follow the 'We Are The Road Crew Podcast' over on Facebook & Twitter using the Handle/Tag @RoadCrewPod #RoadCrewPod
More from We Are The Road Crew Podcast
Today (Nov 19th) marks the 7th Anniversary of the horrific bus crash which claimed the lives of two people and changed the lives of The Ghost Inside and their crew forever. In this exclusive episode, Stephen talks to Tim Irons, a crew member who was onboard the bus that fateful day. Tim talks about his love for music and following band’s such as Bleeding Through & Let Live that frequented the local California music scene growing up. As his friendship groups and connections expanded, Tim’s enthusiasm and passion led him to embrace the opportunity to work with The Ghost Inside over several touring cycles, until his career came to a stop the morning of November 19th 2015 when the band's tour bus collided head on with a tractor trailer on U.S. Highway 180, just outside El Paso, Texas. Tragically both drivers died at the scene, but the ten people on the bus that day survived albeit with life changing mental and physical injuries. Tim recollects that day in great detail and tells Stephen about how his own life has changed since.
In this episode, Stephen talks to George Davison, a Tour Manager with over 25 years experience in the industry. George shares his early beginnings working with Nottingham metal legends Earthtone 9, before going on to work with a host of Welsh bands including Funeral For A Friend, Bullet For My Valentine, and most notably Lostprophets, overseeing their meteoric rise from a small town in Wales to global stardom. It's no secret how the Lostprophets train imploded in a way nobody in or around the band including George would ever envisage but George's career continued going from strength to strength with him looking after Swedish rock band Ghost in arena's throughout the world, as well as successful stints with Mastodon and Of Mice & Men.
In this latest episode, Stephen talks to Simon JP Thomas, an Award-winning Front of House Sound Engineer with over 30 years experience in the industry. Detailing his career journey to date, Simon recalls his early experiences working with the likes of BB King, Gary Numan, Echo and the Bunnymen and Moby. By 2017 Simon had earnt his place as Front of House Engineer on US pop superstar Ariana Grande's Dangerous Woman World Tour. After a string of dates across North America the tour arrived at the Manchester Arena, UK on May 22nd and was enjoyed by over 14,000 avid pop fans, many of them families and children. At the very end of the show when the audience were making their way out, a bomb exploded just outside of the arena killing 22 people and injuring over 1000. Simon talks to Stephen about some of his memories of that appalling attack whilst also detailing his superb work in bringing together artists for the One Love Concert which occurred just two weeks later and highlighted the strength and resilience of the people of Manchester.
Surprise! We’re back! After what has been a horrendous year for Live Music and the super talented Crews and Technicians who look after your favorite bands, artists, and musicians, it’s a pleasure to bring you this very special episode of the podcast featuring the legendary John McMurtrie, a hugely talented British Music Photographer who has carved out a professional career photographing the biggest bands and musicians in the world for Metal Hammer and Kerrang magazines whilst contributing to Rolling Stone in the US and Q Magazine in the UK. As well as discussing his career to date working with bands like Deftones, Avenged Sevenfold, Ghost and BabyMetal, John gives us an insight into his work as Official Photographer for Iron Maiden and his experiences touring the world aboard Ed Force One, the bands own Boeing 757.
We promised you an amazing end to this season of the podcast and we have delivered it, by bringing you a unique, open, and intimate conversation with Chad Zaemisch, who, for over 16 years has been the Guitar Tech for James Hetfield of Metallica. Undoubtedly one of the biggest rock bands in the world, Chad is responsible for James's signature guitar tone and everything you hear from his amps when Metallica grace the biggest and best stages in the world. Chad also goes back in his career and talks to us about how he started in the industry with alt-rock band The Breeders, and then his time looking after the guitars of Courtney Love and Hole. We are delighted to have had the support this season of our good friends over at Signature Brew who have been brewing music-inspired beers and supporting live music since 2011. Thank You for all your support this season. Please Subscribe & Follow the 'We Are The Road Crew Podcast' over on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, leave us a little review, and be the first to hear about the launch of SEASON THREE! Coming Soon! #RoadCrewPod