1984 national tour

Albini believed that Big Black had nothing to gain by adopting the usual corporate trappings of rock bands: “If you don’t use contracts, you don’t have any contracts to worry about. If you don’t have a tour rider, you don’t have a tour rider to argue about. If you don’t have a booking agent, you don’t have a booking agent to argue with.” Handling the tour booking, equipment hauling, setup, and breakdown of shows themselves also meant that the band did not have to hire a booking agent or road crew with whom they would have to share profits. The lack of a drummer also meant one less member to split profits with, and since there was no drum kit the band did not have to rent a tour van to fit all of their equipment. Thus Big Black was able to profit from most of their tours. They embarked on a 1984 national tour of the United States in preparation for their forthcoming Homestead EP, utilizing the close-knit network of independent rock bands to learn of cities and venues to play.