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Kitsch is Sam Every-Baker, Jake Lipiec and Evan Torrente, and this is an open-source archive of everything we do.
How to Do a Music Trip on a Budget
We can only speak from our experience, as there are surely many ways of doing this. Here are some suggestions, with the hope that you’d be able to replicate them, or that they inspire ideas of your own.
Book an AirBnB. Aim for the off-season to get some of the savings that might come with that. It’s also sometimes more interesting to make music when you’re not only secluded geographically, but weather-wise too. No one wants to go for a walk when there’s a storm on (love you Storm Arwen Nov ’21).
Try and go somewhere you’ve never been before, like the next county over or the other side of the country. Somewhere different to what you’re used to is a good shout. We like being next to a body of water, given that there is very little of that in London, but you do you.
Try and limit to no more than 6 hours of travel time each way, that way you can make the most of the days you’re travelling on (good for setting up and packing down).
The car ride can also be part of the fun, for playlisting. We like to show each other songs and albums - can you believe Sam Baker had never heard ‘The Black Parade’?
Pick somewhere you can fairly reliably pick up groceries. Ideally on the way in. Think about meals you make that your homies don’t know you make. Rely on classic ingredients that you don’t have to go out of your way to buy or bring with you. No one wants Lemon Ponzu sauce spilling over in the back of the car (take our word on that one).
Groups of 3-4 is the right number, we reckon. Maybe you’ve all worked together before, maybe you haven’t. Maybe bring someone you haven’t heard from in a while. Or maybe, a music-making member of your chosen family would benefit from getting out somewhere for a little bit. Either way, your most important metric here is vibe. Protect the vibe with your life and it will be good to you.
Exercise in the mornings can get the juices flowing. Some of you don’t train enough and some of you smoke too many cigarettes, you will probably all be equally slow. That being said, it builds character. Fun tip - swimming in the cold is a great way to figure out which one of you is a weenie.
Wifi is good, but maybe try to limit screen time. Use a notepad and pen instead. Focus!
In regards to equipment, the world is really yours to build. Ideally, you want enough to record basic ideas and jam. But you do you, everyone makes music completely differently and maybe you would have a better time with some CDJs and drum machines, get freaky. If you’ve got a new little gadget that you’re dying to use, bring it. If you’ve got an Oud, bring it. Anything that might be inspiring, or help bring new vibes.
This is our rough set up:
Guitars (acoustic/electric/bass), small guitar amp, drum kit (not a massive one, kick-snare-hats) - enough to record with, not so much that someone's got a floor tom on their lap the whole journey. Monitors, laptop, interface, microphones (a nicer vocal one is an idea, and then a few general-use ones for drums etc - SM58s should be fine). Obviously, the cables for all this shit.
In terms of bringing songs along, it’s completely up to you. We like to have a few undercooked but promising ideas, at least something to start on. Hopefully, the creative excitement of being away with your friends will help you write something new, which has definitely happened. If you’re planning on tracking something a little more developed, make sure the lyrics are done. No one wants to wait for you to write verse 2.
These trips have been some of the most important music-making experiences of our lives. We’ve always left with something completely unique, impossible to replicate. We feel this is owed to where we were, at that specific time in our lives, with the people we were with.
If you do it wisely, you can feasibly make a trip like this for somewhere around £200 a head. Obviously, if you don’t have someone in your group with a car, it’ll be a little harder. But other modes of transport are available!
Happy music-making!
Kitsch
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