Just over a month ago, Slander kicked off the Gud Vibrations Tour in Urbana, IL. The Californian duo was accompanied by several of their close friends, including fellow producer NGHTMRE. What was this power-trio’s goal? To give back to their close-knit and loyal fan base, many of whom had never had a chance to see Scott, Derek, or Tyler outside of a major festival.
Needless to say, the goal was met, as thousands of fans flocked to their local nightclubs to see Slander and NGHTMRE go back-to-back. More than 20 shows later, we stopped by to talk to Derek and Scott of Slander in Baltimore, Richmond, and Philadelphia. With just a handful of shows left, the Gud Vibrations team highlighted one message to their fans in our conversations with them:
“Thank you for always giving us the energy to do this. If you aren’t there, then what we’re doing is nothing.”
Both artists specifically mentioned several of the tour’s stops that happen to fall on a weekday during college exams, making it especially difficult for their fans to get their taste of Gud Vibrations: “To all the kids that come out to a show in your town that’s on a Monday, and I know you have work the next day, or have a project due because its finals week – it means a lot to all of us. Even if it wasn’t the craziest, most sold-out show you’ve ever been to. You were there, and you brought the energy, and that’s fucking awesome.“
“especially the shows that we had on any of the really off, WEIRD nights – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I really appreciate them coming to those shows. Doing those in the middle of the week are one of the reasons we’re able to do a bus tour. If we didn’t have those shows then traveling around would be way less efficient.”
While a 2-month road-trip featuring more than 30 parties might seem like a dream vacation, the Gud Vibration bus tour has been a lot of very hard work for everyone involved. It’s challenging for the artists to make sure that each event meets the top-shelf expectations. Believe it or not, touring isn’t all about afterparties and getting wasted. For the first month of Gud Vibrations, Scott and Derek would end a performance at one location, and immediately start getting ready for the next show: “Usually I do preparation for the next night right after the show ends, while it’s still fresh. I come back on the bus and just think in my head about what might need a new transition or a new drop. I just did that every night for the first 21 shows. Now it’s pretty on-point.” The support team essentially works around the clock to prepare for shows, break down a venue, or provide transportation, and the producers feel significant wear-and-tear of tour life:
“Tyler [NGHTMRE] is not in this interview right now because he has a 102 fever, a hurt back, and a broken finger. It’s hard to go to a doctor when you don’t get to the place until 5 PM and all the doctors are closed. The only way we were able to fix his back was we had a doctor literally come to the venue, setup the little thing behind the L.E.D. wall, and cracked his back inside the venue, then he was OK to play. It’s kind of hard for us to get medical resources because nothing is ever open when we’re awake.”
The Gud Vibrations tour is entering its final week, so what’s next for Slander? Scott and Derek plan on staying local to Los Angeles in January and February, focusing on studio work and production. Make sure you stay tuned to their social media pages for the latest productions from both Slander and NGHTMRE: Slander|SC, Slander|FB, NGHTMRE|SC, NGHTMRE|FB