Band needs a place to crash? Better Than The Van can help
Couch surfing 2.0
Todd Hansen (right), with Better Than The Van co-founder Scott Miller
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For many touring bands, it can mean the difference between coming home flat broke and, well, slightly less broke: How do you find a place to stay without blowing your meager earnings on a motel, but also avoid shacking up with the enthusiastic but off-putting new fan you met at the merch table or spending yet another night in your increasingly fetid tour-mobile? Locally based website Better Than The Van has the answer: a social network that allows traveling bands to find people willing to put them up for a night and vice versa. Founder Todd Hansen—the man behind Drummer Hunter, which does the same thing for bands seeking a rhythm section (read our interview with Hansen about that)—drew from his own experiences on the road and created an online community that, to date, has several hundred registered musicians and fans swapping couches and guest-list spots all across the country. Decider spoke with Hansen about what he’s learned in the website’s year-plus of operation, as well as why he’s not responsible for any casual sex or accidental manslaughter that might ensue.
Decider: What was your own worst experience with finding a place to crash after a show?
Todd Hansen: In Fayetteville, Ark., in 1999, we played at a club that looked like an aircraft hangar. The guy that put us up had us stay in his dad’s machine shed, which had a cement floor, and we were surrounded by plastic injection molding equipment. Non-air conditioned, mind you.
D: And yet on Better Than The Van, there doesn’t seem to be a box for “air conditioning.” Or for whether your place has plastic molding equipment.
TH: [Laughs.] Yeah, we just try to cover the basics. Some people on the site have pointed out that allergies are a big thing, so that should probably be on there, now that I think about it—whether you’ve got dogs or cats or whatever. But we just try to give people a rough idea, and then they figure it out one on one.
D: Do you find that the website is more popular with people looking for a place to stay than those offering a place to stay?
TH: We’re actually split almost down the middle—and that always changes because people come back from tour and change their status. It stays pretty balanced, but yes, it probably weighs heavier on the side of bands.
D: Have you been surprised by the number of people who actually are willing to offer up their places?
TH: Yes and no. I’m happy with the response so far. There are a lot of people on there who are really heavily involved in the music scene, and I think it’s pretty normal for them to help out bands. If you’re looking to do music as a career, it’s not a bad place to be to meet a ton of people.
D: Do you hear much feedback on the success of your hook ups?
TH: I do, actually. I get a good chunk of "thank you" e-mails from bands, and I get e-mails from hosts who have never done this before asking how you put up a band—which I think is hilarious.
D: What do you tell them?
TH: I usually just say that it’s more routine for them than it is for you. It’s kind of like a first date: They show up at your door, you find out what they want to do. Most often they just want to sit down, check their e-mail, maybe find out where the bars are, do some laundry… If you give them a fresh towel and tell them where to put their stuff, they’re usually good to go. Most of them have been driving eight to 10 hours, so they probably just want to rest—unless they want to throw down some beers and get rowdy. That can happen too.
D: The site gives you a range of house “moods” to choose from, from “tea and polite conversation” to “keg stands, anarchy, and bail bonds.” Does that last one mean anything goes?
TH: Those moods were a suggestion from my friend Eric [Dalke], who plays in A Faulty Chromosome. “Keg stands and anarchy,” I guess that could be anything. For some people it’s having a few cocktails; for other people it’s pounding a few cases of beer and setting a Dumpster on fire. I hold no responsibility for anything that happens! That’s in the terms of service.
D: Your website explicitly says it’s not about groupies. Could you maybe add an option for groupies?
TH: No. [Laughs.] They can go on Craigslist.
D: Explain how you ensure that you’re not helping band-stalking serial killers trap their next prey.
TH: We just rely on the community to police itself with the guest books, and for people to use their judgment. We also provide links to people’s MySpace and Facebook pages so they can check them out. And it’s a double-blind contact situation, so if people don’t feel comfortable, they can always bail. I haven’t heard any bad stories yet.
D: Well, but if you send a band to their certain death, you’re not going to hear any feedback.
TH: That’s a very valid point.
