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Interview with Lindsey Keen of NowOnTour/On The Road
By: Patrick Steven Patterson
 Admittedly rather shocked when I
heard that someone I
know - especially someone I work closely with - was
auditioning for a Reality TV show, I deemed it necessary to
get the full story. Lindsey Keen, a music business Middle
Tennessee State University graduate, band manager and
current NowOnTour staff writer was about to hit the road for
SpikeTV and Lava/Atlantic Records' new series,On The
Road, a Road Rules meets Bands
On The Run meets The Apprentice
fiasco.
Luckily for NowOnTour we were able to sit down with Ms.
Keen and get conversational at her going-away
party.
NowOnTour: So how did you find out about this
show?
Lindsey: It all started with a lowly advertisement in the
Nashville Scene. I was just glancing through
and happened to notice it. I ended up making it to the
interview stage, getting a call back, got on camera, got a
phone interview with the casting directors in California and
New York and was cast as one of eight people to challenge
themselves to win an A&R Executive position with Atlantic
Records (hosted by SpikeTV, being that it is a reality show).
And I'll just be rolling around the Unites States from here to
California in one month for none other than Sugar
Ray.
So, you said that you saw this in the
Scene? It was just some small ad in the back?
What were you looking for a job or something?
Yeah, exactly (laughs). I was thumbing through the
classifieds and I went, "hmmmm." It said basically, "If you
love music then come audition for this."
How long ago did you see the ad and find out about
this?
Wow, maybe three weeks ago, max. It's blown up in three
weeks.
Do they have a name for the show? When is it
going to air, the fall?
Yeah, it's called On The Road. Yeah, the fall.
That's what they're shooting for right now...that's what it said
in our contracts.
Did you have to sign your life away or something?
Yeah, my likeness is theirs. Pretty much, if ever I want to
make a Lindsey doll, I can't.
How many people are participating?
I'm one of eight. But I consider myself pretty lucky only
because I was one of 3,000 to try out for it.
Is it half guys and half girls?
I'm hoping that it'll be five guys and three girls (laughs). But
we'll see. I'm on the other side of the tour bus this time -
I'm gonna have my own band babes.
Is (Sugar Ray's) Mark McGrath single?
I sure hope so.
The last thing that could be classified "Reality TV" I
think I saw was the first Real World. Is
On The Road like that?
It's a game. It's like that and The Apprentice
together. It's SpikeTV, which is MTV, VH1, the whole Viacom
thing. So it’s a spin off of all the reality shows combined,
however no one is going to get, "You're Fired." Everyone has
to hang on until the end. So pretty much, at the end, you're
gonna have one person jumping for joy and the rest of the
people pissing and moaning. However, I will
not be the crying one (laughs)!
So do they film everything except the bathroom?
No, no, no. That was one section of the contract that I
thought was quite interesting is that it's 24/7. So pretty much
I think I'll have to change in the sheets.
So what are you doing? Are you just a runner for
whores and crack for Sugar Ray?
No, it's everything, promotion, marketing, production,
management.
I can see how this is going to work. One day the
'mission' will be to go to every record store in town and put
up tour posters and that kind of thing, and whoever does the
best wins that segment.
Exactly, one day I might be tour manager, the next day I
might be a foot runner.
Do you have an idea of the Ray's tour rider, what
kind of things you'd be running for?
No, but I'm hoping there's going to be Skittles. Skittles are
my thing. I'm sure there will be some energy drink sponsor
like Red Bull or that new drink, Rock Star. But, you know,
Skittles are what I'm shooting for.
Are you getting paid at all for the month? I'm sure
the room and board is paid for. And do you get a tour bus or
are you following behind in a Kia or something?
Food is provided, but it's tour food, so you never know what
you're going to get. Another reason I'm hoping their rider is
good at this point. We also get a per diem, which I'm calling
"The Alcohol Budget," because that's what It's going to be
for. We get our own tour bus. From what I understand, it's a
twelve-man bus. Eight bunks for us, and room for all the
camera crew and equipment.
Have you met any of the other people?
No, I haven't, and I have no clue what they're like. In fact, I
believe I'm meeting them all tomorrow night. I hope it's not
like [a sappy MTV American mish-mash] of people. Here's
our lesbian, here's our Black man, here's our wild Latina girl.
They said that they only picked the best people, but then
again, it is Spike TV, so I'm thinking the more breasts the
better.
Which one are you, the hot Latina girl, or the Black
man, or...
I think I'm the petite woman with small boobs.
Is there a 'guaranteed airing' in the contract. I
mean, what if the show sucks, are they going to cancel it
before it airs?
Man, don't say that to me! I don't know. I think that the idea
is great. There are so many people out there that love
music, and the combination of reality with music - a behind
the scenes look at music - there are some people who will
be interested in seeing exactly what it's like on the road, so I
predict that it's going to air.
The prize, the A&R gig with Atlantic, what does that
entail?
Well, the winner will be stationed in Burbank [CA] and have
a A&R position, scouting for bands, which suits me just fine,
because that's what I do anyway. But maybe now I can get
credit, well, I always get credit, but maybe this time I can
get really good money for it.
But aren't you afraid of looking like an idiot half the
time - that is the sole reason that I wouldn't want to be on
TV ever?
I know, I know. I'm afraid that I might goof up and I might
say something...or I might just get hammered,
drunk. But, I won't be "that girl." That's what I'm shooting
for. I don't want to be "that girl.” You know the girl. But I
know that editing is a twisted game. They can just change
things. I'm confident that if I just act like myself, what have
I got to lose.
Editor's Note: On The Road
aired weekly on SpikeTV, Fall 2004.
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