The Road Crew: Not Everyone Can Be A Rock Star

Posted on July 17, 2009 by Nay

Shoved literally backstage by the celebrity of bands they work alongside, roadies aren’t usually heroes. And that’s the point exactly, says Tommie Kelly, 32 year-old creator of the Road Crew Comic.
“I was a full-time touring roadie for the guts of ten years and worked as a sound engineer to pay the bills. Since I left school I’d spent my life trying to be a rock star. So I turned out alright despite the teachers’ predictions! Over the years I  was in a fair few bands and recorded a number of critically-ignored albums. We never got anywhere but looking back, it was all worth it. Great times, great fun and bitter feuds…what more could you want?
Then about two years ago I decided that I didn’t want to do it anymore. I tell you, there is no money in an originals band and the late nights, unhealthy service station food and the van smell all became too much. I quit.

“Now I draw comics to pay the mortgage. Roadies are the unsung heroes of the music industry and I felt I needed to tell their story. I wanted to do a comic that a, I would like to read and b, I actually knew something about. Most webcomics are loosely based on the Penny Arcade model of two guys sitting round talking about computer games and I  knew I didn’t want to do that. But I also didn’t want to do a comic about being in a band. That’s been done too.
I’m still playing in a band these days but the arse has fallen out of the live scene. Bands that were gigging four nights a week are down to one or none a week. It’s sad, the News keeps telling me that it’s gonna get worse but not to worry, before it does we’re all gonna die of Swine Flu.
So it’s all good. I do well. I draw comics, do commissions and do some design here and there. Road Crew takes up most of the morning and the afternoon is taken up with commissions. It’s a good balance. Every day I get to work on something new and different. It keeps it fresh. I’m doing well and I shower more often. Life is good.”

Spanning from March 2008, the story of Jim Soundman unfolded in daily instalments on www.roadcrewcomic.com. Like a particularly rockin’ Robin Hood aided and abetted by his (Brother John) sidekick Matt and Eric the roadie intern, Jim followed the band Broken Watch on the road, which led to encounters with the Devil (she’s very rich and famous), God (also famous but not as rich), won the hallowed prize of the Golden Kick Drum Mic and crossed the River of Groupies, finishing on a Series One whodunnit cliffhanger. With baited breath readers now await the unmasking of an elusive murderer…similarly, how has Tommie seen his talents develop beyond the web?
“A collection of the first 100 or so strips is available to buy on the website at the minute, along with Save A Roadie tees. I’ve also printed up different collections for various comic conventions I’ve attended so there are a few Road Crew Comics knocking about.”

“At the minute I have a few projects going, a short comic story with Andy Winters and a horror/fantasy comic coming out in November which I am currently working on with writer DJay Singh. I also have a new webcomic coming out towards the end of the year which I am very silently excited about. The thing I’m most excited about is that all of Season One is going to be collected together in a book! I’ve reformatted and resized all the strips into a manga-sized digest. It’s gonna be about 225 pages long and will also be out in November, in time for the Dublin Comic Convention.
Webcomics have been a way of life for about 4 years now, before Road Crew was THE END which was a more serious, long form, end-of-the-world type-thing. I may go back to that at some stage. There is something good in the story but I don’t have the ability to pull it off at this time.

“As for Season Two, the next big story involves a space station and an empty cargo bay. Can you guess what’s gonna happen yet?”

Considering the many twists and turns of the Road Crew’s story so far, guessing what comes next seems impossible. They ride the nightmare of sex, drugs and rock’n'roll, licking the stretchmarks of Fate, coming up against every shady inhabitant of the musical netherworld. It’s all too bawdy and raunchy for words, so pictures do the job of filling in the roadies’ colourful exploits and the balance struck is curious, a finely-tuned blend of humour and truth. On one hand, Jim’s an ambiguous fella you might meet in town any night while alternately the candid, subtle details observed assure you there has to be insider knowledge of the music scene at work here.

They ride the nightmare of sex, drugs and rock’n'roll, licking the stretchmarks of Fate.

“Road Crew is all true apart from the parts that aren’t. The characters aren’t based on individuals, more the overall world of touring bands. Real-life Road Crew is more funny and disturbing than the comic version. I have heard and been involved in so many insane situations over the years touring round the country that it’s not right. The things that go on on our roads in the wee hours…!
Jim’s not ever going to be what would be considered a good or caring boyfriend. Sex is a massive part of the whole Sex, Drugs and Rock’n'Roll story, to be honest I think it’s a tad understated in the comic compared to reality. A lot of webcomics stay away from adult or mature themes, very few have nudity. Not that Road Crew is porn or anything close but I wanted to acknowledge what really happens on the road.
I think, so far I have successfully struck a good balance. There are a lot of insider jokes but not enough to stop non-musical folk from understanding or enjoying it. Sometimes I’ll geek out and reference something that I know only a few select people will ‘get’ but I don’t want to do that too often and alienate readers who wouldn’t know an SM58 from a D112.

“Besides, my intention with Road Crew was always to have good characters and not rely on the settings or the themes. I mean, if you had Jim, Matt and Eric as Firemen, I can’t imagine them sounding much different – they just wouldn’t be good firemen! Having said that, the vast majority of my readers don’t read many webcomics. Most of them are musicians, studio engineers, roadies or wannabe rock stars. I think they’re attracted to the topic rather than the fact that it’s a comic.
Most of my readers are from America followed by Scandinavia, with Ireland coming in somewhere around mid-table. Because we now live in a global village it’s important to make sure everyone’s included, so I never say exactly where Road Crew’s set. It could be anywhere. Although they do drive on the right side of the road.”

Print is dead, Web is the future.

In this way, Road Crew’s musical references avoid the obscurity of local scenes, choosing an artful twist of contemporary rock history for a more accessible graphic commentary than say, other notable Irish music satirists Eyebrowy. Does this help Tommie spread his work further across the web? The comic realm seems a highly competitive arena and so far independent Irish artists haven’t seen an awful lot of success.
“There are quite a few Irish comics going about but only a handful of webcomics. I predict that that’ll change over the next few years. Print is dead, Web is the future, this is probably the first time I’m on the ball in my life. It is tough to compete but at the same time 99% of the net is utter, utter rubbish, so if you do anything of merit it naturally sticks out. I think Road Crew is lucky in that it can cross the borders of the music/art scene, there’s interest from both sides.”

“Check out the Comic Cast Podcast, [celebrating its 1st birthday tonight!] which is all about Irish comics. Irish guys like Phil Barret, Patrick Lynch, and Paddy Brown do some amazing stuff. The amount of comic talent in this country is serious. Flatmates by Meave Clancy is another great Irish comic, Looseville by Alan Moloney is class too. I am sure there are others I am forgetting…Declan Shalvey is brilliant and you should check out his 28 Days Later comic when it’s released soon. He’s done Frankenstein and is currently working on a Sweeney Todd book too.”

One RC strip by Tommie, ‘Noir‘, paid homage to Sin City creator Frank Miller and Pop/Rock culture peppers the Road Crew stories with regular appearances from entertainment industry icons. Clearly inspired by strong, original work, you can tell multimedia input helps the culmination of creative output.

The amount of comic talent in this country is serious.

“Frank has done some amazing things over the years. Print-wise, my absolute favourite comic is Cerebus by Dave Sim, a 6000 page masterpiece and I love all of Alan Moore‘s work. Web-wise I read PvP, chainsawsuit and a host of others. Anything to distract me from actually getting down to work!
Film-wise…Ice Age 3D is just mind-blowing…every film should be in 3D, they have the process down perfect at this stage!
I recently saw Twilight and want to say, what an utter crock of shite. It’s been a long time since I endured something quite that bad, although I did also turn off the Golden Compass movie after about 20 minutes! Great book, shite film.
I listen to a lot of old-timer radio, stuff like Sherlock Holmes and The Shadow. Night Beat is another great.
And book-wise, I read alot of self-help/motivation stuff. Though I’m reading Neil Gaiman‘s fictious American Gods at the minute which is good…not great, but good.”

Artistically, Road Crew usually appears in the classic comicstrip style of three panels. The illustrations spare intricate detail in favour of straightforward composition and it’s worth noting that as a fully-digital comic, cleaner presentation and text make an easy task of skipping through hundreds of strips.
Yet despite computers, the creative process of comics is more spontaneous than that of the plain writer. As Road Crew progresses day-by-day, Tommie is quick to reflect changes in his mood…or Jim’s.
“Day-to-day developments only happen when I sit down to actually do them, although I know the overall plot. I have several key points throughout the story and just work round them. Things do change though, Jim sometimes protests and the story can go another way. I know it’s time to get to the end when I start getting bored. If I’m bored then I can only guess the readers are too.

“One strip takes up to about 3-4 hours from start to finish. I do everything digitally these days so there’s no time wasted scanning artwork, running out of ink or whatever. It still takes a while…I am very easily distracted and recently got hooked on Twitter, much like the rest of the world, I guess….”

Jim Soundman’s tweets would be something, all right…after all, what’s a sound engineer’s most-used saying?
“I’M NOT THE FUCKING DJ!”

www.roadcrewcomic.com

The Comic Crew birthday bash takes place tonight July 17th at Twisted Pepper, Middle Abbey St, D1. On the bill: live comedy, music from Hoovers&Sledgehammers, also DJ sets from Super Extra Bonus Party and Chris Judge. Admission free before 11pm!

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