Tina Farris reflects on over 20 years of tour managing The Roots, D'Angelo, and more
Tina Farris has been twiddling her thumbs during the pandemic.
Now that concerts have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, the tour manager has been forced to stay put — a foreign concept for someone whose profession is built on traveling. The down time, however, has given her a chance to reflect on her decades-long career and focus on new projects.
Farris with Robert Glasper.
Though Farris comes from music royalty — Harvey Fuqua, one of the most influential forces behind Motown, is her grandfather — she landed her first gig as a tour manager almost by accident. When The Roots performed a show at her alma mater, she was in the front row, rocking out on the air bass so hard, she caught their eye. From there, she became friends with the hip hop group and followed them to their shows around the world. Eventually, they asked her to be their tour manager. She had no experience.
“I learned my tour managing skills by hook or crook,” she said. “It wasn't because there was a book on tour management.”
Since then, she’s become a pro at juggling the details and logistics behind a show, and has managed tours for Chris Rock, Lil Wayne, Anderson .Paak, Nicki Minaj, and more. With every artist Farris works with, she takes the time to understand their needs.
“I treat them like human beings, is what I do,” she said. “I think it's incredible that somebody can get on stage and think they're good enough that a bunch of people would want to come and listen to them. That's incredible to me, the confidence.”
We chatted with Farris about how different aspects of her life — from learning how to play the bass guitar to hanging out with her grandfather at the Motown studio to using her clinical psychology expertise — have all played a role in her career.
What is your earliest memory of listening to music?
My earliest memory is probably when I was five years old. My two uncles were in their own band — one played bass, one played guitar very well. They had me sit on the drums and press while they played. We’d play The Clash and the song was maybe "I Forgot The Law."
How did you go from playing the drums with your ucles to getting your start in the music industry?
My grandfather, Harvey Fuqua, was a producer for Motown. He brought Marvin Gaye to Motown and was always working with the band Sylvester.
I would only visit my grandfather when he was on tour or in the studios. That's the type of guy he was, just on the road. I used to visit him when he was out with Smokey Robinson and I'd hang out with the runners or whomever was around when I was 13 at the time. All of these experiences were the seeds of, “Okay, this is how a show runs.” I can say that in hindsight, but at the time, I had no inkling that I was going to be a tour manager at all. I was just hanging out with my grandfather.
I've always been an avid music fan. I started playing bass in the fifth grade through high school. I gave it up in college because I was just too cool to do that, like a fool, but I am notorious for singing the bass line of any song. That's my favorite instrument and that's my favorite part of the song. If your song doesn't have a good bass line, I probably don't fuck with it.
In college, someone introduced me to The Roots. I was drawn to their type of music and that lane of hip hop, so when they came to UCLA, my alma mater, I was there in the front row, playing air bass. I knew everything. I befriended them from there, probably in '94.
Every time they came to LA, I was their runner. Then I started hanging out with them on the road when I graduated. Afterwards, I went to grad school and became a teacher. I had those teaching periods off, so I would go take a hop by myself to meet them out on the road, wherever they were.
I went and saw The Roots in Paris, hung out a little bit more, came back, and decided to follow them again in the summer. Then I hung out with them a lot more, making my own way.
I didn't ride on their bus — I took trains and just met them there, which is how I built up the courage to do a lot of traveling on my own. By the end of that summer in '99, they hired me.
How did you make that transition from being a teacher to taking up an offer to tour manage The Roots?
I was at a crossroads, being a teacher. I wanted to do more. I was ready to move to Compton and become a superintendent to affect real change, but then this opportunity for The Roots came up. Since I was at that crossroads, I decided to go with the more fun route.
What are your usual responsibilities as a tour manager?
Being very logistically sound. Often people say “babysitter,” which, you know, it is, but it's pretty demeaning to say that about humans. You're a mother, a father, a therapist, a personal assistant. You guide people from home to the stage.
Behind the scenes at Chris Rock’s tour.
These people have chosen to make their money off of being on stage. You’ve got to do everything in your power to get them there.
You’ve mentioned in interviews that you use your clinical psychology background when managing a tour. How does that come in handy?
The reason why clinical psychology works for me is because I studied systems management. Systems are like a family. When working with a band, I try to make sure that each part of the band functions, so that I can get the desired outcome, which is to get everyone on the stage, so that we can get a check, get paid, pay our rent, and pay for our children.
If this guy's a dick and this guy gets on his nerves in this way, I break them up. I put them on certain buses, or put them in certain dressing rooms. I make sure he has the food he needs, so that it won't irritate him because irritated artists can prevent them from having a good show. And that's what we're all here for — the good show — so we can get the check. I use clinical psychology in that way.
Of course, you're a human being and you have all of your issues, the way we all have our issues. I wonder what an artist's stage fright is, what gets him aggravated. And instead of cutting that out, and doing what a lot of the industry does, which is, “You gotta do it this way or no way,” I'm like, “Okay, let's see how we can work with that, so that we can get you on stage for your desired outcome.” I take that extra step.
What are some challenges you’ve encountered on tour as a tour manager?
The usual. Sexism, racism, missed flights, dirty hotel rooms.
I once left my passport on my hotel bedside table in Finland. We were planning to take a private plane from Finland to Stockholm to catch a commercial flight to go to Amsterdam. Then the following day, we were going to go from Amsterdam to San Francisco.
I got on the private plane, leaving my passport. We get to Stockholm and when it's time for us to go through customs, I don't have my passport and I can't go through customs. I asked the promoter from Finland to go with the band to Amsterdam — I'd meet them later. There weren’t a lot of flights from Finland to Stockholm in 2002 or 2003, it turns out, so I had to stay in Stockholm until my passport arrived. But not only did I have a show that night in Amsterdam, I also had another show in the next 15 hours after that in San Francisco because we were opening for 311, if you can imagine.
I stayed in Stockholm at this hotel we always stayed at, and cried and cried. I thought, “How did you do this? This is your job and you fucked it up! And what are the guys gonna do without you in Amsterdam?” They did fine, but by the time my passport came, I was gonna miss that show.
On that trip, I learned to keep my passport in my wallet and that there was such a thing called freight delivery. I got the hotel and the promoter from Finland to take my passport on a freight flight in Finland to Stockholm and I went to Stockholm Arlanda Airport’s freight division to pick it up. I got on a plane and met them in San Francisco. Do you hear me? Not in Amsterdam! And I made it to the next show.
When you first started tour managing, did you have someone as a mentor? Or were you just thrown in?
Back when I started, I was thrown in. But when Questlove started working with D'Angelo, I met Alan Leeds, who was the tour manager for James Brown in Parliament-Funkadelic and Prince. He had Raphael Saadiq and Maxwell and D'Angelo. We had the same music tastes, so I went on tour with him, and was the merch chick and Questlove's assistant.
He showed me day sheets and different things that tour managers use now that I never used before, so if there was a mentor, I would say it's Alan Leeds. If you look him up and you do a 12 Songs on that guy? Whoo!
You’ve been working with The Roots for 21 years. How has your relationship changed with the group?
We are all growing. We're about to celebrate Questlove's 50th birthday. Everybody has kids. I'm Auntie Tina. The oldest is frickin’ 22. It's sweet. It's a family.
I really protect that relationship and it's a part of who I am. I don't have other friends. I have some, but most of them are The Roots.
Farris and Questlove.
You’re also working on a film called “Thirteen Cents.” Could you tell me about this project?
"Thirteen Cents" is a book that I optioned by an author named K. Sello Duiker, who was an award-winning writer from South Africa and tragically ended his own life. The book moved me to read all of his writings. It’s a post apartheid story that we haven’t seen, and I was compelled to option it and develop it.
Have you been able to work on the project during the pandemic?
Yes, lots. I've been able to sit still and focus. I’ve definitely been actualizing my pivot into television and film development production, so I'm not mad at COVID. I am thankful for the change that the universe has required of us. That's how hard I've been working for 21 years — I never had a moment to sit and work on myself and so I am happy for the opportunities this time to do so.
The pandemic has really changed concert experiences and touring though. What do you think the future of touring will look like?
Smaller, which is welcome. I think we're getting so big and spending so much money on tickets. America is greedy and ticket prices are so high. We’re spending money on lights and production. And while a spectacle is good and fun, I like the idea of artists having to perform now without all the bells and whistles.
It sucks for vendors though. They've built their lives and careers on the movement of the industry. To that, it's gonna be a little bit difficult.
It’s been hard witnessing independent venues closing because of the pandemic while stadiums are still able to hold out.
Stadiums holding out tells you how much the motherfuckers made. COVID has definitely not been great for greed. And it kind of seems like that was the point, right?
What do you think about livestream shows right now?
I think they're paying my bills, so I'm very happy for them.
Even though tours have been postponed indefinitely, thinking back, was there ever a moment during a tour with an artist or even a specific show where you felt like everything was falling into place?
Probably the first night of Lil Wayne’s America's Most Wanted tour. I thought, “Wow, this is dope.” Black artists in the stadium with a black crew and a black manager. It was black on black on black.
I thought, “This is what I want to do. This is where I want to be. This is where I want to elevate.”
Here are Tina Farris’ 12 songs.
I heard this song in Miami early in my career at a party J-Dilla was spinning. I was with my girl Rachel Kaadzi Ghansa and our homie Tayyib Smith. It was one of the first DJ gigs Questlove ever did. It’s the most perfect song in every way. It moves my spirit and makes my body move no matter where I am when I hear it.
This is my happy song. It gets me pumped up and going. Lady Alma’s voice is perfection.
I was introduced to the Do You Want More?!!!??! album in college at UCLA. Thus became my full love of hip hop. I mean, I liked NWA, Ice Cube, DJ Quik… I’m a Westside girl. What’s not to love? But The Roots literally changed my life. The bass on this song carried me away. Theirs is a true musicianship.
Go ahead and play and video yourself when the chorus rolls out. I bet we are all doing the same dance. It’s the best best best turn up EVER.
Dirty Mind was such a badass album. I snuck to listen to it and I’d do it all over again. Loved that album. Changed my musical taste forever and has made me the snob that I am.
I was raised an only child until I met my siblings when I was 20, so I spent A LOT of time by myself. I would play “Conductor” where I was, of course, the conductor bringing in the arrangements of some of my favorite songs by Prince or The Police or my favorite Aretha Franklin. That game turned into “Background Singer,” where I covered all of the background arrangements of my favorites, Rufus & Chaka Khan and the Queen Aretha Franklin. I know EVERY background arrangement.
I always wonder what they were doing in the studio. It sounds like SUCH A PARTY — like Anthony Jackson (bass player) was KILLING it. Makes me smile and dance every time it’s on.
I sorta kinda had a crush on Stewart Copeland AND Sting. In fact, for one tour with The Roots, I was the guest bassist on their rendition of “Roxanne.” Little known fact, I am shy and have severe stage fright. For all my bravado, I am such a punk. In fact, I was tour managing for Fergie when she opened for The Police on the Australian leg of their tour. Fergie kept making up stuff for me to do to go ask them about their set. God bless her attempted matchmaking. I failed, to say the least.
All my boys! Favorite musicians. Pino Palladino, Questlove, James Poyser. Whenever the three of them get together… it’s magic.
BUT…
…is a tough rival. North Sea Jazz Festival… tears. Come on! This is too hard to choose from.
Yeah, I said it. Fight me. Oakland Coliseum on L’il Wayne and Young Money’s America’s Most Wanted tour. Rick Ross was the opener and he brought out Too $hort. The concrete coliseum was LITERALLY jumping up and down to “Blow the Whistle.” It’s an all-time great moment. I should have been backstage, but… I mean, Too $hort was there. What’reyagonnado?
I like the whole album, front to back. My standout, though, is “These Walls” because as a bass lover, I love anything by Thundercat.
I mean, I pretty much like the same people every generation. Does this make me a one-trick pony or a snob? Not sure, but I enjoy the ride.
. . .
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Listen to Tina Farris’ 12 songs below.
Photos courtesy of Tina Farris.