Backstage with Crew Nation: Collective Soul

Rock band Collective Soul, much like the rest of the touring industry, has felt the effects of the COVD-19 pandemic. They had to cancel April headlining dates and postpone their summer tour with Better Than Ezra. And lest you forget, it’s not just the band and the fans feeling this—it’s the crew, too—most of whom are thought of as family. So it’s time to check in with those behind the scenes wizards.
In this episode of Backstage with Crew Nation, Collective Soul frontman Ed Roland catches up with their production manager Fern Alvarez, Jr. and their tour manager Jim Runge. They talk about how they came together, all those gritty details they handle to make up the spectacular live show you know and love, and what they hope the future will look like. Watch
Backstage with Crew Nation: Collective Soul
Ed Roland: "Without the crew, we're nothing. They're the ones that make us look good, they're the ones that make us sound good. They want the best out of us, as we want the best out of them. Jim Runge is our tour manager. He allows us to be boys and he's also capable of making us be very professional at the  same time. Fern, or as we like to call "Fernando,” is our front of house. I always say I can have a great night on stage, but if you have a bad sound man, I'm gonna sound like (beep). I can have a bad night with Fern, but he makes me sound great. With Fern and Jim coming in, I feel like I've known them my whole life. We don't even consider them crew, they're our friends. We talk on the phone all the time, check in. It's a family more than it is anything.”
Fern Alvarez, Jr.: "Yeah, the road family. I came on just to do three shows and here we are. I think it's now going on our third year with these guys and really loving it."
Jim Runge: "I got a call from my friend, asked if I was interested in doing some fill-in dates with these guys and as of the first of the year, I kinda came on full-time and I'm loving it. I feel lucky to be here.”
Ed: "Everybody enjoys each other's company. That's what makes it so special. It's like a band of brothers."
Jim: "We're a lean, mean team. We're all 12, 13 people leading middle class lives, supporting families. We're smaller than most, but we're all busy throughout the day. Backstage, Fern will handle the production side."
Fern: "That includes me being the middle person between the venue when it comes to labor, anything that has to do with production, such as staging, and then I'm also the front of house engineer. So I mix the audio for the audience”
Jim: "I handle the business and the backstage stuff. Getting to the tour, I handle logistics, A-to-B, and what time we leave and all that. And some of that I work with Fern on. Basically anything that Fern doesn't do show-wise, I handle it, and so between the two of us, we pretty much handle the whole thing."
On Crew Nation support and returning to the road:
Jim: "Our crews are vulnerable in the sense that if we're off the road, there's nothing there for us. So it's nice to see that Live Nation through Crew Nation is recognizing that and helping with that. It's appreciated."
Fern: "I'm here at home with my wife. She's been working out of the house. We've both been holding up pretty damn well under these circumstances. There are a lot of people out there that are hurting, emotionally, so I think it's important that we have organizations like this, that people can go to in order to get an outlet or an ear. I do miss these guys. The road is special. It's something that we all wanna get back to. The fans want it, and we want it probably twice as much. But we'll be out there sooner than later, I will say that."
Jim: "I think that first night is gonna be a lot of catching up and a lot of emotion because it'll be the first time we've really seen each other for a while and had time with each other and then going into the first show which will be a totally different emotion of this is we do, now we're doing our jobs, and then get to do it for the fans. I think it's gonna be definitely an emotional time with a lot of laughing and probably crying, for that matter. It hasn't been an easy run, we're not through it yet.”

Check on Collective Soul’s tour dates here.
To find out more about Crew Nation, visit the official site here.
Karma Police - Please Share:

Most played songs

Last updated: 29 Mar 2024, 11:54 Etc/UTC