Wayne Shovlin

Drum Tech / Stage Manager

CHANGEOVER: Tell me a little bit about who you are, what you do and how you got into the industry.

Wayne Shovlin: I’m Wayne Shovlin and I live in Tampa, Florida and I got into the industry thirty-five years ago. I was living in Pennsylvania and working local concerts. It was the 80’s. I worked Guns N’ Roses, Whitesnake and when I worked with Mötley Crüe on the Girls, Girls, Girls tour, that's when I met some connections. I met Tommy [Lee’s] drum tech and got to work with Tommy a little bit on that tour. From there, that's where it all started and, for the last 30 years, I've been working with bands and touring. I drum tech, I go out and tour as a stage manager, I'm a lighting tech - especially when I'm home in Tampa and I’m not on tour. I work for about ten local companies here doing events and concerts doing all the lighting. I'm a stage manager every year on 70000 Tons of Metal, which is a metal cruise. I've been doing that since the beginning of the cruise, which first started about eight years ago. Every year, I do all the backline for Monsters of Rock Cruise, the YES Cruise, the Moody Blues Cruise. One of the companies I work for out of Tampa, Backline Super Stars, is who I work for when I go out and do all those cruises and do all the back line for the bands. Other than that I do lighting stuff here when I'm not on tour, such as events, big weddings, anything like that. They'll hire me to do all their lighting. I do a little bit of everything.

You're basically a jack of all trades. Which of those jobs is the most challenging and which is the most fun?

The most fun for me is drum tech’ing. I've been a drummer my whole life. I've been in bands my whole life. I know what drummers need because I needed it when I was out on the road playing, so that's the most fun. The most challenging is stage managing. That job entails constantly putting out fires. You're just putting out one fire after another. That's basically a stage manager. 

For someone who is unfamiliar with what a drum tech is, break it down in laymen’s terms. What does that job entail?

An average day would be that you wake up on the bus in a new city and load-in. There's usually local hands there to help unload the trucks. My job as a drum tech is to get the drums all set up, tuned, new heads if needed and then soundcheck. I do the sound check so the sound guy can set all the levels and then the band comes out. While the band is on stage doing the show, I'm right behind the drummer watching for anything that could possibly go wrong. Again, if you see a fire pop up, you put it out so he can keep on playing and doing his job. Then after the show, tear down the drums, pack them away in their cases, load them on the truck, take a shower, get on the bus, wake up the next morning and do it all again.

How did COVID-19 affect your job in the industry? 

Back in March, my calendar was full for the rest of the year with tours and cruises. When COVID hit, my calendar got erased. Every one of the cruises I was supposed to do got canceled. The tours got canceled and so it just went instantly to no work and no money. It’s been eight months of nothing. 

What have you been doing in the meantime since the pandemic shut everything down? 

This was the first time they have allowed W-9 contractors to collect unemployment so that helped a little. I also got some funds here and there from Live Nation and industry companies but, mostly, a lot of people that I know in the industry just moved on and started doing other things. I know guys that are bagging groceries and a lot of us, including myself, are doing some construction. Luckily, I have friends in the construction industry so I am able to keep busy and keep some money coming in. Within the last couple of weeks our industry seems to be picking back up again. There's no tours really happening yet, but a lot of people are finding creative ways to do concerts, with drive-ins and things like that. In the last few weeks, I've been working a lot of virtual events. A band will play in a room with just a few of us and some cameramen so fans can watch it online.

What do you miss most about touring?

When I'm out on tour, it's my normal. That's all I've done for 30 years and this is the longest I've been home ever. I average about 250 days a year on the road and usually when we get home from tour, we don't know what to do with ourselves. If we're home for a couple of weeks, or a month until the next tour, we really don't know what to do with ourselves. Now it's been eight months so it's a whole new way of living for those of us who tour for a living. 

What do you feel is the future of the industry?

I think it will somewhat get back to normal. I don't know if there will ever be a time in our future when they're going to pack thirty thousand people into an arena again. I don't know if that will ever happen, but a lot of concerts now are doing social distancing theaters with seats. They're not selling all the seats so, obviously, everyone is making a lot less money doing it that way. I hope that's not the future. I hope to pack arenas again. I'd love to see that but I guess they need to find a vaccine for this virus. 

What do you feel is some of the best advice you've ever received?

If you've been doing it for 30 years, don't think you know it all because a guy who has only been doing it a couple of years can have advice, better ways, and vice versa. I think we can all learn from each other. Every time I go out I learn something new. Stay humble. The best advice in everyday life for me is just always be happy. No matter what the situation, I make the best of it. If you have to do something you don't really like to do, make it fun and enjoy every day.