Interview With An Instrument Thief

For our tenth issue, we did some detective work of our own and managed to convince a reformed thief to give us an insight into his former profession. Click here to open the full interview. 

As a small band out on the road, profit margins from touring can be razor thin. So if you were to wake up one morning, head out to the motel parking lot and find that your van had been emptied of its contents, it’s likely going to cause some serious problems. Ultimately, having your gear stolen is nothing short of soul destroying.

The vast majority of instrument theft doesn’t occur at venues or from homes, but from cars, vans or trailers. After you’ve done a gig, collapsed all the gear and got it back in the van, the prospect of unloading it again into a tiny hotel room where there’s barely enough space for a single person let alone 20 flight cases isn’t appealing. But, if one day you should find yourself staring into an empty trailer, you will come to regret this decision more than you regret the fictional existence of Jar Jar Binks.

Unfortunately, being a victim of theft isn’t just down to bad luck, which is why instrument specific insurance policies often exclude theft from vehicles. The harsh reality is that your stuff gets stolen because you’ve presented someone with the opportunity to take it. Preventing theft is down to how easy or difficult you are prepared to make it for a thief. The easier you make it, the more likely it is that your stuff will get stolen. It’s pretty much that simple.

After a lot of trawling, we found Simon (not his real name), a reformed thief who was willing to pass comment on what you can do to make sure your possessions remain just that when on tour...