How To Pack Like A Rock Star by Shaun Huberts
Shaun Huberts is a busy man. Somewhere in between touring with Tegan and Sara and playing in the evolving Vancouver band, Rococode, he found the time to pen an entire book. That’s drive! His music and writing seems to come from a place of absolute passion…and I can tell you this…Shaun is hella passionate about packing.
Upon receiving How To Pack Like A Rock Star, I paged through it over a pint in a bar on a busy afternoon. I was surprised at how many people approached me regarding the book in my hands. Evidently, the cover and title draw people in. In fact, one man said to me “Cool, that’s a great name for a book…what is it about?”
The title is not some clever take on life. It’s not a fiction book about groupies. It’s not a tale about love on the road within a tour van. It is literally all about packing. And it’s legit. From the third page in, the table of contents (aka the setlist), it is apparent that Huberts is not messing around. He takes his space efficiency VERY SERIOUSLY. Anyone traveling or going on tour should pick up this book, as you will learn something. The little tricks throughout the book are valuable and will assist any vagabond (musician or otherwise) in hitting the road with ease.
I, myself, am a bit of a transient. I tend to travel light and with my thumb…therefore it’s very important to me not to have unnecessary things weighing me down. Proper packing is essential and I can vouch for a lot of Shaun’s methods. As soon as I hit the section titled “Tetris Anyone?”, I was in! I live and die by the Tetris method, not only for packing a suitcase, but also for loading a dishwasher and packing all of your worldly possessions into a moving van (or the back of a Honda Civic for that matter).
Amongst the solid advice there are helpful step-by-step pictures for packing each garment. From jeans to shoes to undies…and beyond! Aside from the pack example photos there are some wonderful pictures of the bands and artists that contributed to the book including Tegan and Sara, Dallas Green, Owen Pallet, Vince Vaccaro, and Chris Walla. Shaun had help from a handful of wonderful photographers making this book as pleasant to glance through as it is to read. The pictures taken by Rob Campbell are amazing.
Some of the quotes and quips from various musicians throughout the book are priceless. My favorite one liners come from Britt Daniel of Spoon, verifying my speculation that he is one dark and funny man. Example: “What in god’s good name is a wolf sweater?”. Awesome.
How To Pack Like A Rock Star is essentially the perfect coffee table book. Great for passing between tour vans or sitting on a shelf in a dank basement band room. I never thought I’d be excited to pack but after ripping through this book a few times, I am eager to find a reason to take a trip. Not solely to get outta the city, but also to put my new packing skills into effect. Pick up the book and follow my lead.
Pack lighter.
Rock harder.
-Jamie Woodward
How To Pack Like A Rock Star website
