On the road with Tina Sandwich

“I don’t know if you’ll have heard of this place, but most of us actually met in a place called Aberdeen,” says Tilly O’Connor, aka Tina Sandwich, into the microphone. A packed back room on the Rue Blanche, just two doors down from the famous Moulin Rouge, responds with some tentative cheers. Two people come up to her after the show: they have been to Aberdeen, can she believe it?

For two weeks, O’Connor and her band have been touring Europe. Exploring cities, sleeping in vans, and meeting people along the way, they have taken part in a form of cultural exchange that is unique, tender, and always fuelled by music. I got the chance to sit down with O'Connor and speak to her about her experience of planning, executing, and living through a kind of experience that seems sometimes reserved for the super rich.

“We got asked to do it – the same way you get asked to do any show, really,” says O'Connor about how the tour came about. Seven shows in total, with nights off in between: Utrecht, Rotterdam, Paris, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and Düsseldorf. Not only a lengthy, but an expensive undertaking. She mentions the financial uncertainty that was present from the very start. “There was probably a bit of uncertainty. Do you really wanna do it? It’s going to cost a lot of money. But the rewards could be worth it.

Pinball and photo booths to pass the time before the gig. Photo: Miriam Schlüter

“It became clear very early on that we would need to do a fundraiser type thing,” reflects O’Connor. On tour in support of London rockers LEAP, the majority of any profits would go to them. While headlining bands, able to potentially profit from or cover costs with ticket sales, can have a much easier time organising tours, the expenses pile up much quicker when you’re playing as a support act mostly benefiting from the exposure to new audiences rather than financial reward. Having to ensure that each band member was able to take a two week holiday at the same time was only the first hurdle. Flights, ferries, van hire, board and lodging for five people (plus the occasional friend who decided to tag along) quickly added up. 

“The van was probably the biggest all-in expense, but that was mostly covered by the bingo night,” explains O’Connor. A bingo night at Nice N Sleazy to help fundraise and celebrate the release of their For the World EP was only one way the band tried to pull in money to make the dream of touring Europe a reality. An unconventional sort of evening at the Glasgow hotspot, the night felt almost like a celebration of community. 

“We had a lot of favours and love pooled in from all our friends in the scene, donating prizes and stuff like that. That was really lovely,” reminisces O'Connor. The bar was packed, filled with friends and fans alike excited to contribute. Topping the night off with an intimate live set, a sense of vulnerability shone through that seems typical for a band who know how to make a crowd dance but don’t shy away from discussing delicate, political and emotional matters in their music either. That exact mixture of fun and tenderness, of seriousness and silliness, translated effortlessly to audiences all across Europe. 

Setting up for the gig. Photo: Miriam Schlüter.

“We found a bit of a language barrier with chat between songs. Maybe even just accents,” says O’Connor when asked about the experience of playing to crowds of non-native English speakers. But while understanding each other in a literal sense was sometimes difficult, there seemed to be an inherent level of understanding carried via the music, as evidenced by the fruitful merch sales and post-gig conversations the band experienced. As fulfilling as those exchanges were, there was some pressure attached to them as well: “We’re riding on our coattails a little bit, needing to sell T-shirts every night to get to the next city pretty much,” O’Connor explains. 

For her as the frontwoman, trying to make the tour happen has also been a huge personal sacrifice. “For the past six months, all my spare money has gone on getting Airbnbs.” There is no such thing as a work/life balance when it comes to touring: it is something your heart and soul has to go into in order to make it happen.

O’Connor also reflects on having to be in charge of the organisational side of things. “I found it quite stressful as well, I was always worried about the rest of the band not liking it. Will they not like this Airbnb or will they not like this choice I made about going to this city or something like that. So I found that super stressful, the weight of everyone’s opinions.” 

Right before the show. Photo: Miriam Schlüter.

But somehow, everything seemed to fall into place for them: each band member seems to be elated, glowing with how joyous the experience has been for them. “Everything I was stressed about, everything I was frightened of hasn’t happened. It’s really been a dream.” 

The band, operating for the last two-and-a-half years between Aberdeen and Glasgow, are used to having to organise things between the five of them, taking into account people’s various schedules and responsibilities. At this point, they’re a well-oiled machine, on and off the stage. “I feel like we’ve sort of formed a hive mind now,” O’Connor reflects. “We’re just delirious with the giggles all the time.”

When asked if she thinks the organisational and financial effort that went into the tour was worth it, she points out that worth is something that’s hard to define. “It’s great to just have lots of fun with your friends and see lots of cities you wouldn’t necessarily get to see. That’s so worth it,” she says. But the artistic fulfilment they have gained from the experience is worth mentioning, too. “I’ve enjoyed meeting everyone and chatting after the show and it just didn’t feel draining in any way – I wish I was doing it again tonight. It felt very recharging, reaffirming almost?

Stewart and Calvin giving it their all. Photo: Miriam Schlüter.

"Those Düsseldorf shows at the end were the best of the run and having so many kind people come up after to chat about how much fun they had kinda made us all feel like, ‘hell yeah, we should be doing this’.” At the end of the day, while hometown crowds provide a sense of loyalty and familiarity that can be comforting for local bands trying to define their sense of self, heading out into uncharted waters is an experience that O’Connor would recommend to any band – if only for the excellent European hospitality that Tina Sandwich experienced along the way! 

We end our chat by asking what advice O'Connor would give to any Scottish bands trying to tour internationally? “Just do it!” she says. “Big advice: stay out in the countryside and not in the city. You can’t really party after the shows all night but I think that’s probably done us good. We had really gorgeous places to stay, lots of peace and quiet. And yeah, you don’t have to worry about paying for parking and your van being broken into. It’s not super rock’n’roll but I think it’s the way to do it. And then you have the odd night, like your day off, where you can go a little crazy. That would be my advice: don’t go too hard every night, get a good sleep. Prioritise sleep. And be nice to the venue staff and they’ll be nice to you.”

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For the World was released on 8 Aug
Tina Sandwich play in support of Parliamo at Beat Generator Live!, Dundee, 29 Dec with headline shows planned in the new year in London (19 Feb) and Edinburgh (26 Feb)