 "Photo: Mike Paschal/The Daily Texan")
What do you get when you combine two former touring drummers, music fans and the rise of social media? For Todd Hansen and Scott Miller, the result was a national database of free places to stay for traveling musicians.
Better Than The Van is an online community where bands and fans can connect through sheer practicality: Bands in need of a place to crash for one night can search the Web site to find people offering a bed, couch or spot on the floor. While in theory quite similar to Couchsurfing.com, a popular Web site where worldwide wayfarers find free places to stay during their travels, Better Than The Van narrows the scope significantly to include only traveling musicians on very short-term stays — usually just one night.
The Web site was founded in July 2008 by Hansen and Miller, both Austinites and musicians familiar with the burden of touring and looking for places to stay.
“I knew the need was out there,” Hansen said. “When you’re in a touring band and you don’t know anybody in other cities, there needs to be a way to be able to connect with someone — [someone] who goes to shows, can offer them a place to stay and invite their friends over.”
And in many cases, the gratitude extends to both parties. It’s a fan’s dream — the option to house a band they love.
“If you’re a fan of the band, you can connect with the people behind the music on a different level,” said Will Bryant, an Austin designer who’s let musicians stay at his house. “You can get a better sense of their music just by hanging out with them and seeing that they’re real people.”
There are more than 1,000 accounts registered on the Web site, split evenly between bands and people offering places to stay, Hansen said.
“Finding a place to stay is something that’s really crucial to touring,” said Austin-based musician Elisa Ferrari, who has been using Better Than The Van on her recent tour. “It’s also one of the most difficult aspects, especially when you’re on a budget.”
Initially, the Web site relied solely on word-of-mouth promotion, but since then, it’s been picked up by mainstream press outlets like USA Today, The New York Times “Freakonomics” blog and Wired magazine.
“After word got out, it really just started to spread,” Hansen said. “It’s been pretty organic.”
The founders use social media as well as a “street team” — nationwide volunteers who pass out flyers and promotional materials in exchange for free T-shirts. Though the Web site is, as Hansen puts it, “a boot-strap thing” — the “headquarters” for the Web site is still Hansen’s house and Miller works another day job to make ends meet — the owners as well as many users are optimistic about its future.
“It will work wonderfully … it just needs more people to help out, and they will. They just need to know that it exists,” said Eric Dalke, a Web site user and member of local band A Faulty Chromosome. “And when you pretty much lose money on every single tour you go on, it’s wonderful to make new friends that help you save what few pennies you have left.”
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