Bands' Best Friend.

Attention musicians!  Why you lot keep getting robbed and what you can do about it. 

Over the last few years we have seen a heap of stories about you musicians getting your gear stolen.  From small touring bands to well known acts including recently DZ Deathrays and Kingswood.

WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO YOU!?
Simply, your kit is expensive, portable, common and easy to sell off. You might think your precious tele or SG is a “one of a kind” but you will find at least one expensive “unique” guitar in every pawn store in Australia. There are 3,000 Fender items in Australia for sale on just one online sales site right now.  Unfortunately, a thief grabbing a guitar or a laptop is assured of a quick buck with low risk.

The other reason is that you musicians leave your gear in easy to spot and easy to rob places. Unattended music studios,  the inside of your wagon where it can all be seen through the window or in your homes with low security. Thieves know this. You are bunch of sitting ducks. 
 
WHAT TO DO?
Thieves need to be in and out  fast and want their life of crime to be low risk. Anything you can do to slow a thief down and increase their risk of being caught makes it much more likely they will give your place a miss.

Here are some top tips:

​BANDS BEST FRIEND... get a dog!  There is nothing more random than a dog for thieves. It might bite, it might lick them but it will probably make a lot of noise either way.  Thieves will generally give houses with dogs a miss. Thieves are pricks but even they love dogs and don’t want to hurt them. They saw John Wick too.   You can adopt a pound dog or even foster one for a while between tours. There are 100s of dogs in every city that are facing euthanasia and need a home right now!. But they are a commitment of course so don’t forget to look after it better than you treat your drummer.  Put a “beware of the dog” sign up even if you have an extremely placid and fat Labrador. (Cats, god love em, don’t give a crap about thieves). Remember also that dogs also are great for mental health and will just love every single one of your tracks. 5/5 banger woof!

LOCK UP!! It is the sad fact that most robberies are from houses that just have the doors open or very poor locks.   Lock your gear in its case. Lock the case and your laptop in your cupboard or a big foot locker. Lock your own room and its windows.  Lock the house. Make sure the doors to the outside of the house are double deadlocked.  Make sure the locks work. For example, many sliding doors which lock from the inside can be easily jigged open. Put an iron bar in the runner or install an additional lock.    

Keep it locked!   A lot of robberies occur when residents are at home and when it is more likely doors and windows will be unlocked. Thieves will just quietly pay a quick visit to your lounge room whilst you are all asleep/passed out or whilst everyone is in the back yard having a party.    

Get an alarm. They are not expensive. They can be operated by your phone. Put up security stickers. 

Visibility!! Thieves are less likely to try to break into a house where they might be seen. Install sensor lights at the front and rear. Cut back shrubs from window. Install visible security camera. 

Make friends with your neighbours!  You will be noisy bastards so it’s best to be on good terms with them anyway!  Offer to mow the lawn of the elderly couple next door and they might keep an eye on your place when you are out.  Plus its just nice and very good karma. 

Just use your common sense.  Don’t have your front curtains open so that people can see your expensive gear from the street.  If you get a new bit of gear don’t leave the unpacked box out on the street in front of your house.  Lock away tools in your backyard or garden sheds as they are often used by burglars to gain entry.  If you are all off on tour, get a house sitter. 

Get insurance.  Sometimes thieves will be determined and despite your religious adherence to all of our top tips, will just steal your stuff regardless  whilst your dog watches. Here are a few things to do to lessen the pain. 

• Use GPS trackers. You can by small trackers now for low cost. Chuck one in your guitar case or stick on to your laptop, so if gets stolen you can track it down. Most items will end up with thieves in your neighbourhood.  Call the police.
• Take photographs of all your gear and make an inventory including cost, make, model.  Engrave your name on gear as well. This will help track it down and you can prove the item is yours if it ends up in someone else’s possession.
• Back up your computer religiously on the cloud OR keep your backup hard drive somewhere separate.  Horrid to hear Kingswood lost recordings in their recent robbery!
• Get insurance. Yea we hate to pay the man as well but its nice to get money to replace your gear, particularly if you rely on it for your living.   Our friends at GYROstream have done the work for you and have a range of preferred insurers who have bespoke policies for musicians. Check them out at https://www.gyrostream.com/

This fatherly advice is brought to you by Big Nath  nath@lennoxgroove.com