In this first episode of Touring 2.0 documentary / web series we follow Shore Leave, a group of cruise ship musicians who play punk rock incognito at each tourist port their boat docks at, culminating in a recording session at The Blasting Room. Featuring interviews with Bill Stevenson (BLCK FLAG / DESCENDENTS / ONLY CRIME / ALL), Russ Rankin (GOOD RIDDANCE / ONLY CRIME), Yotam Ben Horin (USELESS ID), Steve Terreberry (STEVIE T), and more! The first episode is hosted by For The Love of Punk and is streaming free on YouTube right now!
It opens with elder punk rock statesmen Bill Stevenson (of BLACK FLAG / DESCENDENTS fame) declaring punk rock can never die. Touring 2.0 is a new free DIY web-series chronicling how touring musicians from all genres are getting by in the digital age. The first episode follows Shore Leave, a group of cruise ship musicians who play punk rock at port wherever the tourists they entertain on the ship are headed… only they have to wear masks and remain incognito the whole time to avoid any litigation from the cruise line talent agency that books their day jobs.
The episode culminates with a behind the scenes look at a recording session in the legendary Blasting Room, the studio that produced tons of music from the 90’s punk scene and is owned and operated by Bill Stevenson himself; the directors capture a garage band producing an album in only 3 days for a few thousand dollars in stark contrast to the most famous (and expensive) Kickstarter campaign of all. “You can really make a record in a day or a year” Andrew Berlin, another engineer states, “Take that Amanda Palmer!”
Scattered throughout the episode are interviews with other notable rockers, such as Russ Rankin (Good Riddance/Only Crime), Yotam Ben Horin (of Israel’s premiere punk export Useless ID), and comedian Steve Terreberry (or Stevie T as he’s known to his half-a-million loyal YouTube subscribers) discussing how the internet has changed the cultural landscape of music scenes.
