Becoming a roadie might not sound like everyone's cup of tea, but if you want to get in to gigs for free and watch from the side of the stage while pretending you know how to tune guitars, then why not give it a go! The way into the roadie world is fairly ad-hoc and down to a mixture of luck and the ability to play up any experiences you have. There are agencies that provide 'music production' teams and this is an obvious way to get roadie work, the other is through word of mouth.

My aim was to garter a little experience at my local indie club and try and meet as many people as possible, hopefully guaranteeing me a place on some highly successful tour. I'd always looked at roadies scampering around on stage, laying out cables and putting towels in the right places. You get venue staff who think they're roadies and then proper veteran guys who've travelled all over the world with the Rolling Stones and now just want to help out the current 'it' band on their UK tours.

Roadies end up with a startling amount of access to the music industry and its star protagonists. Only a roadie can call the lead singer a rude name and proceed to drink the band's beer and only a roadie can waltz in and out of a dressing room as much as he or she likes. Most roadies either stay with a band for a long time or disappear every five minutes because they can't tolerate the band's attitude. Roadies can be rebels, leaders and father-figures. In short, they can be everything to all men.

My first night as a volunteer at my local club involved me standing on stage staring at the lights and wondering what I was doing. I reassuringly fastened down wires with black tape and made sure any cans and bottles got hurled back into the audience. By the time the band had come on there wasn't much to do, every now and then I'd move a guitar lead or hurl a can, but other than that it was fairly easy. Everybody agreed I'd done well and I was back next week for a remotely famous band's appearance.

This seemed to me to be the crucial part of a roadie's career, getting to know the famous band and getting on tour. Most new bands are always up for a bit of extra help, either in terms of crew or management. There isn't money being thrown around, but resources are usually quite plentiful on these early tours because record companies like to protect new talent. By the time The Dukes of Mowbray had finished their set I'd got chatting to the drummer, told him I'd been a roadie for the Who and been signed up for their European Tour.

Now a lot of people will tell you that being a roadie isn't that easy and it isn't. I've cut the odd gig that I got thrown out of and summarised my quick ladder to stardom in a rather concise manner. But what you have to remember about the music industry is that it's full of hangers on. The people you see falling out of parties with bands are just like you, they're lost, bored and wanting to look famous. So the only tip I offer: hang on.


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