admin You just do the break and repair method. You tear it down and build it back up. At 51, it doesn’t build back up as quick as it used to. And if you tear it down, you might put yourself out of commission for days. So you can’t tear it down the way you used to tear it down. It’s funny because we’re all still guys that enjoy wine, and we still enjoy some late nights. But it’s not as much wine; it’s not as late of a night. And you’re very conscious of your knees, and your hip, and ankles because we’re so jumpy, we’re still running, we’re still doing all these things (onstage). So we’re just, I think, more conscious of taking care of ourselves.
I think I was the last person in the band to quit smoking. We all used to be chain smokers. I’m going to be honest, I haven’t quit smoking. But I’m a one cigarette a day guy now. Everybody else is into yoga, fitness, no drinking, no smoking. I’ve known these guys for 30 years and we’ve all watched (over) each other. I remember when Paul (Doucette) looked at me and he’s like, “Hey, you’re not smoking.” I was like, “Yeah, I’m trying not to smoke.” He’s like, “Oh yeah, good for you.” It’s a good thing that we don’t have any enablers in this camp.
Rob, I find it interesting that you’re the last smoker in the band and you’re the vocalist.
I know! It’s not good.
How do you maintain your voice throughout a tour on top of all the other pressures?
This tour, immediately what I did differently was sleep. I’ve done more runners—which means you walk off the stage, you go straight from the show right to your bus. It’s a wind down because you’ve got to imagine at nine o’clock at night, you have to be the most alive that you’ve ever been. So your schedule, your circadian rhythm is a little bit different.
So even when my wife was out on the road with me. At 11 o’clock, if I do a runner, I go straight to the bus. I’m like, panting, I’m still sweaty, there’s an hour of comedown. Comedown usually means I’ll have a glass of wine. I’ll just sit down and just chill out and talk.
But (I’m trying to do) less talking, more sleeping. The thing about being the vocalist is that people don’t realize that singing is better for your voice than talking. So the more that you talk it’s worse than your voice—and actually whispering is worse. It’s the worst thing you can do for your voice because it uses those muscles in the wrong way.
So on this tour, more than any other tour, I’ve been doing runners. Straight to the stage, straight to the bus, stand up for an hour or so, and then get some sleep. I’ve started sounding better than I’ve ever sounded and that’s become its own drug. So now I get on stage and it feels so good to sound crystal clear, and I’m like, “Ooh, I’m done. I’m going to go back to the bus, I’m going to get some sleep. I’m going to be ready for this.” Because I love how that feels to really be present and good at what I’m doing.
