Britt Boyce is the current head of merchandising for the critically acclaimed, North Carolina-based band Rainbow Kitten Surprise and manager for Philly’s own Slomo Sapiens. We wanted to profile her to start off this series because she’s climbed her way up through the scene from the very bottom and has proven that hard work, as well as wearing as many industry hats as you can, are the most rewarding ways to find an in with the artists you love. This series is focused on women in music whose roles are sometimes under-appreciated and make up only 30% of the music industry as a whole. We hope that these features shed light on some incredible female forces behind Philly’s scene and beyond.

Take us back to the very beginning. What was your first introduction to the music industry?

Britt: I basically got into all of this because of photography. That was my one true love. As early as I can remember as a kid, my mom always had disposable cameras in the house. She’d give me some and I’d take them to school because I always wanted to capture my friends. I wanted to get moments. And then eventually later on, like junior, senior year, people started forming bands so there would be local shows. I’d bring my disposable cameras, shoot the show, get them developed at Rite-Aid, put the pictures onto CDs, and then all of a sudden those photos were bands’ default pictures on MySpace. That was the start of social media to the point that it is today. It’s huge now, but in those days to see “Photo by Britt Boyce” on MySpace sparked something in me. So I was like, “Hmm. Maybe I do want to do this for the long term.” So I went to Antonelli Institute and got an associates degree in photography. They also offered business classes, so if I wanted to start my own thing I’d have the knowledge to do so. After graduation I traveled a lot. I went to a million shows and I met people. My photos got published in Alternative Press around the same time I met Craig Mabbitt from Escape the Fate. We became friends and maybe saw each other once a year, but they would use my photos. And - to make a very long story short - his side project needed a merch person, so I kind of lied and said that I knew how to do it. I told him I’d do it for per diems, which at the time was $10 a day, and that I’d also do photography. So I just completely lied to him. And if Craig ever reads this - I’m sorry. I did not know how to do merch. I didn’t know anything, really. I knew that was a job that I wanted to do in the future so I could tour. Touring was a dream of mine, but photography was my number one. I didn’t want to become a merchandise manager or a tour manager or any of that. It was: photographer. I wanted to be published. I wanted to work in either fashion or music and I wanted my work to be in magazines. I didn’t really stay that route just because of money, and merch just took me from there.

How did you get involved with Warped Tour?

Britt: I was going as a fan for as long as I can remember. Since like 2006, 2007. Just to see all of the Equal Vision bands, that was the scene that I loved. Getting involved with Warped was a dream. I did a tour with Dead Rabbits, which was Craig Mabbitt’s side project. We did that in the summer of 2014, and then Escape the Fate got offered to Warped Tour in 2015. So I'd transitioned from doing Craig’s side project to doing merch for Escape the Fate, and that’s how I got on Warped Tour that year. That was a wreck because still a year later I didn’t know what I was doing. Oh my god. If I could go back, the hot mess that I was of a merch person. It was rough. But I had to teach myself. The band is not there to teach me, I had to figure it out alone. And working for smaller bands back in that time - it was a party. Every day was a party, and if I wanted to do things right I had to figure it out. So it was definitely a learning curve, going from “I just want to be a photographer,” to “now I’m on tour with bands selling T-shirts and making them the money that’s going to get them to the next show.”

Bre: Emily just told me that you did merch, and that made me laugh because when I was a freshman in college in 2015, the head of my music industries major asked us what we wanted to do and I told him that I wanted to be a merch person. And he laughed at me in front of the entire major and said “that’s not a career, that’s just a job.” So I was like, “Okay… but that’s what I really love.” I love talking to people, I love business. I volunteered to do merch for Winter Jam since I was like eleven and I loved it. There’s just something about getting to know people and keeping tabs and doing business in a way people will remember. I remember being so offended that he could say that wasn’t a career.

Britt: That sucks to hear, but it also makes sense because if I think back on the people who inspired me to keep going, it’s been women who have kept me in this job. There have been times when I wanted to quit and just throw everything out the window because it can just be so emotionally draining. Everything that I have done, and everyone who’s inspired me for the most part, has been because of the women I’ve met in this industry. When I was seventeen and going to Warped Tour, I was street teaming. Like, same thing as you, volunteering. “I just have to pass out stickers and then I get to go to this show for free? Cool.” There was this girl named Shelly who was working for the Equal Vision merch tent, and I remember working a few shows with her. She was very transparent. So if I asked her a question, she was willing to give me advice. Whereas I feel like a lot of men in the industry back then were very protective of their jobs and they didn’t want to talk to some “little girl” about their jobs because it was just a pipe dream and this is a pretty male-dominated industry. Luckily, that is changing drastically in my opinion.

Have you ever experienced any kind of discrimination in the photo pit or at a venue because you’re a woman working in such a male-saturated industry?

Britt: There have just been little stints when I was tour managing a group and trying to get backstage and the security was like, “You can’t go back there!” And I was like, “Come on! I have my credentials right here.” I always have everything on me, I do things the right way. At the merch table there are fans who are like, “So who are you dating in the band?” In more recent times, someone came up to me at the merch table and asked if I was Kurt Vile’s wife. “Who are you to him?” What do you mean, “Who am I to him?” I’m his employee. But I try to just realize that older men in the crowd just don’t understand that women can be doing this. Compared to what a lot of other women have gone through I think I’ve had it pretty good, and I think it just depends on how you carry yourself.

Have you ever felt that because you do have some attention on you that there’s pressure to fit a certain role? How has that impacted you doing your job?

Britt: The thing is - I’m the first person representing the band that fans get to see. So I think if I were to show up at the merch table like I just rolled out of bed, that kind of sucks. Even if I’m not feeling good or I’m not feeling pretty, that’s really not fair to the band because you wouldn't go to any other job like that. I’m talking to people and answering questions and putting on a smile regardless of my mood, because on tour you never know what your mood will be. It can be very high one day and very low the next. You have to keep the same demeanor regardless of what you’re feeling. That’s the only time I feel like I have to fit a certain mold, because the merch person should be welcoming at all times to properly interact with the fans, but that’s hard on bad mental health days. With that being said, I do pretty well at being the same person on tour that I would be at home, and that just has to do with being comfortable with who you’re working with.

Have you ever experienced any kind of power struggle while tour managing bands that are made up of only men?

Britt: Oh yeah. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a power struggle but I have had issues with getting the band to listen to me and just know that I’m on their side. If I’m asking them to wake up a little earlier so we can make load-in on time, that’s not me being the “mean mom,” I’m just trying to make sure we’re on time. Or if a runner wasn’t able to find a certain beer that you wanted tonight, I’m sorry but this is all we can make happen. I think being a female tour manager can be a little harder because sometimes bands do want to argue more. They’re like, “Well why didn’t this or that happen,” but when I see men that have tour managed and have been for a lot longer than I have, it’s easier for the band to be like, “Okay. We get it. You’re just doing your job.” I also know that I come off very nice and I don’t want to disappoint people. I don’t want to be mean in any way, but if I am trying to be stern about making something happen, maybe it’s harder for me to get the point across that it’s for the betterment of the band and it’s not me trying to make anyone have a bad day. So I wouldn't say it’s a power struggle. It’s just hard to get bands to listen to me.

When you were younger, where did you think your career would be? Where are you now? What do you hope to accomplish in the future?

Britt: When I was younger I definitely thought that I’d be in New York doing photography for a fashion magazine. I always wanted to tour, though. I just didn’t want to do it as a merch manager or a tour manager. I always wanted to be a tour photographer, but I came to the realization that it just doesn’t make you enough money. So now I’m pretty much full time with Rainbow Kitten Surprise working as their merch manager.

Bre: I can’t believe I haven’t met you before. I’ve been to like four shows and I’ve bought merch.

Britt: I’m sure we did and we just didn’t know it! With RKS, I was just awed by what touring could really turn into. They had a semi-truck, two tour buses for the band and crew, so many people operating this well-oiled machine, and I’m just a particle of it. It really opened my eyes to see that I’d almost let go of all of that, which is crazy, because now with RKS there’s no going back in my eyes. Working with them is the best and I’m lucky that I still get to contribute to that while being home. But another goal of mine has always been to be an artist manager, and it’s something that I knew could be my end goal in touring but I didn’t really know how to get there. I still don’t really know, but I’m figuring it out. Slomo Sapiens is one that I’m currently managing, and their singer Ceallaigh and I bartended together at Cook and Shaker. One day he’d posted a story that said, “We’re booking a tour for Slomo Sapiens, where should we play?” And I messaged him and said I could help them book because I have contacts through the east coast. So we got drinks one day and talked about it and he was like, “Do you wanna just do it? Do you want to manage us?” and I said yes. I want to take managing further and start making myself and the bands money, so that would be my goal. To start managing for real, but I still want to be with RKS for as long as I can. I think if I’m lucky and play my cards right then there’s room for promotion there too.

Bre: I just saw a tweet the other day that said, “If anyone needs to hear this: If you’re ever given an opportunity, even if you don’t fully believe in yourself, say yes.” I feel like you especially, you can do it. I have full faith that you can manage these bands. I think the industry is so relative to everyone’s experiences, but it’s still kind of all the same. Nobody knows what they’re doing until they do it. You have to be able to wear all of the hats until you can get to where you want to go.

Britt: I’ve been thinking about that a lot lately. I really have worked my way up from nothing. From being a 23 year old kid who lied to get herself on a tour to being 30 and trying to tackle managing. I think it’s cool because I have worked my way up and I have played as many roles as I can. Managers always get a bad rep, too, and I never liked that. I’d always hear the bands talk about how their manager doesn’t do anything. They’re not responsive, etc. I’ve seen that side of it, but I’ve also seen the total opposite. RKS’s manager is one of my favorite people on earth. He’s someone I look up to, and this is because he’s someone who worked from the bottom up. I still have the fire to push bands and want to get them seen and heard. So I think it’s something that I could navigate. A lot of people don’t realize how great this city is for music. One thing I’ve missed from touring is like all of Slomo Sapiens’ friends. The Dawn Drapes, Sixteen Jackies, Lady HD, Party Muscles, all of these great people. Everyone who plays Johnny Brenda’s and KFN and Ortlieb's brings solid crowds. It’s amazing. But. We’re lacking management. We’re lacking PR. We’re lacking all of that. There are a few companies but there’s not much.

How have you learned to say no in your career?

Britt: It took me a long time. A lot of it has to do with money. Now, there’s a rate that I won’t ever go under. I say no to the low offers now, whereas when I was younger and just starting, I’d say yes to everything. There’s such a strong power in saying no because then the person is like, “Oh. She must have other stuff going on. She must have bigger projects. She must be worth more.” It took me years to realize that. I probably didn’t start saying no until maybe 2017. But it’s important to say no. You have to evaluate the situation and determine whether or not it’s a job that will make you happy. That’s such a big thing in music. If the people you’re working with and the job itself doesn't make you happy, you have to move on. There will always be more opportunities, so don’t stay in something that makes you miserable. I’ve done it and it’s so hard. You’re not with the people you love. You’re essentially with strangers who become your family after like a month, which is nice, but it’s not the people who are in your everyday life like your family and friends who are there and making you feel loved. So you have to know that it’s a job you’re definitely going to love and that you’ll be paid right. The money is there in the music industry. A lot of people don’t know it, but it’s there. You just have to find it and it takes a while to find it, so saying no is good in my opinion.

If you could give your past self advice, what would you say? Is there anything you wish you’d done differently?

Britt: In the beginning I think I just wanted to fit in with the bands I was working for and just be a part of the party, but that’s extremely dangerous. I would have told myself to understand that there’s a difference between being the band’s friend and being their employee. That line is so thin, and once you cross it things get hard. If I get close with the band and their manager tells them they have to lower my pay or I can’t do a European tour or something because it’s not in their budget, I’m going to get upset at the band because I thought they were my friends. You can’t look at it that way, and that’s another lesson that took me years. It’s good to be buddy-buddy, but not too much. You want to be friends with who you work with of course, but the friendlier you are, the easier you can get offended. You have to have thick skin to work in this business as I’m sure you both know, because it will knock you down. You just have to get up.

Have you ever had an experience where someone has knocked you down but then you realized you actually benefited from the situation? How do you take difficult experiences and grow from them?

Britt: There have definitely been times where I felt like I got knocked down. Whether it be because a crew member suddenly quit and I needed to find a replacement, a tour bus or van broke down, or arguments over money with a promoter. But none of those situations ever felt like a personal attack, they were just strength tests in my opinion. I would say that one of the most difficult things I have ever overcome was a 20 show stretch on Warped Tour in 2018. 20 consecutive days selling merch from morning till night in every weather situation you can imagine. During those 3 weeks without a day off, we were entering the south, which is a nightmare in the summer - constant storms, tents blowing away, merch getting ruined, and to top it off, one of those nights while driving to the next city I woke up to our Bandwagon swaying as if we were flying off the road. I remember thinking to myself "oh my god, am I about to die right now?" when we finally stopped. I jumped out of my bunk and ran outside with my TM and saw that our trailer had just flown off the bus. The metal hitch completely busted, and I never saw anything like that. I ended up having to take an uber with my merch, tent and everything, to the festival grounds. We were about 40 mins away luckily, and I was only an hour late. But its times like those where I look back and have no idea how I made it out alive. The misconception most of the time is that the role of doing merch is very easy and fun, but man, when I look back on that I'm just proud of my strength and determination to get it done no matter what and I think people have noticed that about me.

What do you think makes for a really great tour team? What stands out to you right now, especially about the RKS crew?

Britt: When I was brought into this I was just all ears, eyes straight ahead, and willing to take it all in. That crew hasn’t seen many transitions. It’s just a well-oiled machine like I said. They do their job together, everyone communicates well. I rarely hear arguments. It’s people from all different backgrounds. Our lighting guy Max works with lasers and makes the whole stage look incredible. The sound check is always done very articulately and on time. It’s a great atmosphere and we just have fun. On an RKS tour, load in starts at 9 am and we’re not done until 1 am. Everybody’s just working throughout the day but we have fun at the end of it. I love my friend Ariel for bringing me into it. It still doesn’t make sense. But I remember the first time I ever even saw them, I was like “Who the heck is Rainbow Kitten Surprise? Is this like a Japanese screamo band?” But Ariel was like, “They’re good. Just listen.” I got to the show and was blown away. I didn’t even want to leave.

Bre: It’s so nice to hear that they’re actually all genuinely nice people. I went through a huge low in my concert photography career. I had the oldest camera, my photos didn’t look as good as other people, I didn’t have a portfolio. I had to work my way up and RKS was one of the first shows I shot after I decided to give things another try. Charlie responded to my stories and asked me to send them the photos. Derek followed me. It’s just the little things like that. To have someone genuinely respond to my work is huge to me. Follows might seem silly, but it can be that little push someone needs. That kind of like “I’m so thrilled to be seen” moment.

Emily: No it’s so true. Follows are such a morale boost. I hold a few bands in pretty high esteem in that sense as well. I’ve worked with Anthony Green a few times and he’s just a genuine guy. One of the coolest and nicest artists I’ve ever met, and he responded to my writeups about him with such kindness and appreciation that I never would have expected from someone with the level of fame that he has. Any form of positive feedback from someone you admire can be instrumental to your career. I started a tiny blog when I was a sophomore in college just so I could get free tickets to things but eventually the artists I was doing free press for really liked it and it’s so rewarding.

Britt: Going back to how I started - I was so obsessed with Chiodos, I had a problem. And this is embarrassing, you’re getting such an embarrassing story but it’s fine. I had a friend who found Jason Hale’s AIM screen name on his LiveJournal and dared me to message him. And I did. Mind you, I’m in high school, and he was just talking to me about what homework I had. He was the first person to give me a photo pass. I hope he’s out there playing guitar somewhere in the world. He fell off the face of the earth after Chiodos was done. If I could sit him down as an adult and thank him, I would. I was just a kid. I just wanted to take pictures of his band and have him post them on his MySpace, and he did. That meant so much to me. Those conversations that I had as a kid really made me want to tour.

Bre: Kindness makes such a difference. It’s a huge turnoff to interact with someone professionally who isn’t nice to you. There was a guy who told my friend and I that we were “a good hang,” and if you wanted to make it in the industry, you had to be a good hang. You have to be able to chill but get your job done at the same time. It sucks trying to interact with someone who seems to hold themselves above you. It’s such a connection-based industry, too, so there’s no reason to be anything but nice ever.

Britt: It’s just like any other job. You need to respect the people that you work with and there will be fights, but at the end of the day you just have to treat people well.

Emily: I respect the bigger local bands who respect us because they still remember the time when we were all just starting out. They remember what it was like to do everything for free and they see that we’re serious and that we work hard. They remember asking people for help, and I think that even if you are a local band, or even if you blow up, you’re never too big to pay things forward. You’re never too big to show some journalist who’s just starting out the same kindness that you were shown when you were just booking garage gigs.

Britt: Exactly, and I’ll remember the people who helped me when I was first starting out for the rest of my life. And any time that I’ve had the means to help pay that forward, whether it be putting fans on the guest list or giving girls a photo pass if they want to shoot, I’ll do. I remember there was a time when I was at a mall in a Vans store or something, and some kid saw my RKS fanny pack and they were like, “Oh man, I get out of work soon but the show is sold out,” and I was just like, “No, no, I’ll make sure you get in.” Just trying to pay it forward in little ways because I had those people backing me up when I was their age. I think it’s more rewarding to help people. I’m never not going to give someone advice. I’m an open book and if anyone wants to know how I did anything, I’ll tell them. It doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you, but if I can help you at all, what’s the harm in it?

Bre: My full-circle moment was the first time I ever got into concert photography was when I shot Creation Festival. I tried to get a photo pass but they would just never answer me. So I went to this six-day long fest in the blazing heat and I camped myself out by the stage from 8 am until 8 pm every day so I’d have that spot and I shot everything from the crowd. That’s how I got my first portfolio, and then that’s how I got into bigger concerts. Two years later I applied for Creation again and they accepted me. I met one random guy standing backstage and he was the photo guy for a headliner, and when I met the band they were just so supportive of me and they personally wanted to bring me back for this year. It’s just so cool to see how little things like taking the time to say hi to someone can bring you back around to opportunities you never would have thought of.

Britt: It’s just about doing the work. A lot of people just want to reach the goal without doing any of the work. I used to wait in lines for shows - I remember I did this for AFI in 2005 - so I could be up front on the barricade and get photos. I was fifteen, and I still have them, and they’re awful. But that’s just what I had to do to get pictures. Thinking back through all of these things has made me realize that I’ve been doing this for so long. It’s hard to go back and pinpoint the super important periods.

Hopefully now that we’ve all had a glimpse into the merchandising aspect of the industry, we can get rid of the assumption that the merch person is dating someone in the band. People like Britt are proof that hard work pays off, and working from the bottom can be the most rewarding way to get the job done. The relationships you cultivate and the skills you learn in order to navigate this awesome field we love outweigh any normalcy that a 9-5 can offer, in our opinion. It was also reassuring to hear that casually DMing your favorite bands for a photo pass is still socially acceptable.

The 30%: Merchandising With Britt Boyce