Martin Atkins knows many of the secrets of life, especially band life. He's played in Public Image Ltd, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, Killing Joke and more. These days, after a life of touring nightmares and general music business foolery, he writes and teaches about music in Chicago and he's distilled his knowledge of life into bits of wisdom. Like how the French cooking idea of mise en place — putting things in place — will make your band's tour and your musical life, or even non-musical life, less bumpy.

If you want even more Martin Atkins wisdom, he's written a book called Band:Smart that compiles advice from industry professionals and his own career. If you want to get in on the action early, you can buy an uncorrected pre-release of the book and submit any mistakes you find for the chance to win a t-shirt.


Produced by Martin Atkins. Engineered /recorded by Brad Pack. Foley effects by Gabriel Labrador. Recorded at The Mattress Factory.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit NPR.

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