It’s always when you have some off time on tour that you realise how far removed from reality the touring life of a musician is. What other job can you wake up at the crack of noon and all you have to worry about is “will I get to the toilet in time?” Then it’s a matter of finding something to eat, showering and then play a show. You’re expected to drink and party, hang with rockstars and every now and then do something stupid…like get a schwenken tattoo across your belly for instance.

But on an off day, or in our case for this tour about a week, what do you do?

Wake up at the crack of noon, check.

Get to the toilet in time, check.

Find something to eat…is Pringles and milk a good breakfast?

Play a show.

Well, that doesn’t work on an off day. So we’ve had to occupy ourselves for most of the day with something. Most of the time we have been writing new songs for a new album. This is a fun job but it’s hard to have spontaneous creativity when you actually schedule it into your day. That being said, the songs are literally pouring out! So Dre and I have decided to do a 6km run around the village that we’re staying in. The morning after when we could barely walk, we decided that maybe there would be an easier way to stay in shape. Like drinking! Drinking is a sport isn’t it?

We have also been able to do some really cool stuff while here in Switzerland. For the last two nights we have cooked sausages over an open fire next to the Aare River, and then sat around another fire on top of castle ruins down the road. It’s usually at these moments, albeit with a little liquid enhancements that we realise, this really is a cool way to spend your life. There is always something breathtaking around the corner, something that locals take for granted but completely blows us away.

I should go back a few shows though!

We had 2 days off in Berlin a few weeks back and after getting Mustafa’s kebab at Mehringdam station….twice, we hooked up with the Royal Republic’s tour manager Ole for some time in his mates recording studio.

We pull up to this massive, gothic brick structure and learn that it used to be one of Europe’s biggest breweries.

Danger, danger!

We had a few songs that were half written but we ended up recording a Mexican-inspired song that we had wrote back home. It was really fun to record without any pressure and to really go mental with some crazy sounds and things we wouldn’t usually do. Plus we got to hang with a really great friend of the band in one of our favourite cities. Hell yeah!

Then it was off to Osnabruck, Germany to play the Maiwoche Festival. Thanks to German traffic and thousands of bloody road works we finally got to the massive street festival and played an awesome show.

There would’ve been close to 1,000 people all digging the music and we love the big stages! What a show!

We made the trek back to the Netherlands to play a tiny but super cool venue called the Little Devil in Tilburg. I remember way back to our very first Euro tour in 2009 when we were hounding these guys to put on a Tracer show and although it was so small it did feel like a small triumph!

Bands such as Goijra and Volbeat have all played there in the past!

The best part however was our schwenken fanclub who made an Australian flag with Schwenken on it and held it up proudly half way through Louder Than This. It totally took us by surprise but it was absolutely schwenk!

Next up was two shows in one day. A Tracer first!

First up was Afterdauwpop, a small festival but that was ok.

The organisers made the day with great food and a really comfy backstage area.

The show, to be honest, was a bit of a downer because of some douche bags in the crowd throwing stuff at other people that wanted to watch the band. But, hey, we can’t all be cool I guess.

The show after, however was freaking rad! It was in the smaller venue of the Luxor but it was cram packed with noisy Dutchies who made the show unforgettable. The stage was like playing in a sardine can, the room was incredibly hot and sticky and the sound was loud…perfect on all accounts!

Again the organisers were great and the chef was brilliant. We’ll be back for sure!

We had one day to recuperate after the two-shows (which left us knackered) so we decided to visit Burgers Zoo. We had also acquired the Schwenken flag and I may have used it as a cape for the whole day yelling out “I’m Australia man! How’s it goin?”

The Dutch families in the zoo didn’t seem that impressed but I could see their kids having a bit of a giggle at the hairy Aussies with beer imitating the monkeys.

More photos from that day are all up on the Tracer Facebook page!

Last show in Netherlands was a big festival called EgoPop in Egchel. We aren’t very well known in these parts but there was a massive stage and about 1,000 people so we let rip with an hour of our best. Crowd turned and we had an awesome night on stage.

The crew ended up buying almost all our t-shirts and we got to hang out after the show with some locals, watch some bands and have a few quiet frothies.

We definitely have to say thanks to the beautiful bed and breakfast that we stayed in, De Kamphoeve. We ate so much at the breakfast they put on we could hardly fit into the van!

That just about brings us up to date with going’s on of Tracer on the road. Stay in tune for more babblings on the next edition.

As always, cheers and beers, Mike.