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Fun Stuff => BAND => Topic started by: Koremora on 13 Sep 2009, 15:39
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So, I wanted to have some discussion about how people build a life around music. You mostly hear about the bands that have at least moderate success and are able to sustain themselves financially by playing music, but I've never really heard specific stories about how bands or musicians fit recording albums, touring, etc. into a full-time job schedule and raising a family. Do any of you know people like this? How do they make it work? What do you think is the difference between those groups that are able to be full-time musicians and those that have to work on the side?
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My son is a classical pianist. In spite of an international reputation he had to move to a different country (UK -> DE) to be able to make it sustainable.
But I suppose little of his experience is relevant to life in a band.
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Any stories like that are good, I'm just trying to gather some perspective based on other people's experiences. I'm headed off to college somewhere about a year from now, and these kinds of situations are things I need to evaluate as I figure out what I'm going to do with myself. Plus, it makes for a pretty good discussion thread.
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I used to play music as my sole source of income. I was a freelance jazz bassist primarily, but I played some rock gigs and musicals upon occasion. The most important thing for me was to be versatile. If someone called me for a gig, the worst feeling in the world was having to say that I couldn't play in that genre, so I made sure I never had to say that. I practiced as much as I could (sometimes this was difficult due to injury, but I'll get to that later) and I played with everyone I could. Not just for pay, but sometimes for experience and a lot of time for the chance to get my name out there. Reputation is really everything, especially if you're playing freelance.
I rarely had a weekly gig, which meant that someone had to specifically think of calling me when they needed a bassist often enough for me to be able to sustain myself. So, pretty much every gig was not just work, but also a job interview for the next gig. That's the way it is with bands, too (rock bands, at least), because you can't rely on steady employment. Networking is key, too. Whenever I went to see a show, or to a restaurant where a jazz band was playing, I would have to talk to the guys playing just so they either remembered me, or got to know me if they ever needed a bassist. It's that last part which is the main reason I got out of the business and am now a simple graduate student. That and it was a big hindrance to trying to have relationships.
I guess I miss playing jazz a lot (all I get to play is rock, because I don't have a reputation in the jazz community in this town), but it's much more relaxing hanging out with musicians these days. I also don't get to practice nearly enough (only about an hour a day), which is slightly depressing, because even if I got called for a jazz gig, I probably wouldn't be able to play it. I guess this was a lot more rambling about my previous career, but maybe it'll be a bit useful in the discussion.
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Shellac of North America
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Our Band Could Be Your Life
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Most of my favorite bands have, on the large scale, held working jobs throughout their musical career. Whether or not there's a correlation here is up for debate, but I'd be willing to argue that monetary incentive can very easily corrupt a good artist. When you're pressuring yourself to make a living off of the music that you create, whether it be consciously or subconsciously, that is going to come out into the music. You're no longer creating just for yourself--you are indirectly thinking about the listener, about what the listener might want, and catering to it. This is where I find the argument just kind of splits off. Is it better to have the artist create something for you to enjoy, or to write solely for themselves, listener be damned? I fall into the latter perspective myself, but to each their own.
That being said, it can be done. Emilio mentioned Shellac, which is a stellar example in this case. I deeply enjoy Shellac's music, and At Action Park is one of my favorite albums. All of the members, so far as I remember, anyway, have a day job in addition to writing music. Steve Albini runs/records electrical audio (I believe Todd works in a factory or bartends or something). That's their primary source of income. BUT they're (well, two of them, anyway) are still making a living through music. Just, not, you know. There own.
Anyway. Brief return. Back to my forum-lurk-cave for disgruntled bastards.
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Networking is key
If you take away one thing from this thread it is these three words.
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Oh! I just joined a Scottish pipe band as a tenor drummer, actually, and the pipe leader actually supports himself and his wife solely through his line of work. He's played in a few bands over the years and has enjoyed a pretty nice amount of success. He has a modestly sized, but endlessly classy house in a city outside of Birmingham, and is actually the only man in his line of work in all of Alabama. I mean, I guess you don't see a lot of bagpipers in America, much less Alabama, but he is really well-off because of his line of work. I think his wife may give belly dancing lessons to help out, but that only contributes a bit. So yeah, it's pretty possible to achieve moderate financial success by only playing music and still have cash left over for a house.
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I've never really heard specific stories about how bands or musicians fit recording albums, touring, etc. into a full-time job schedule and raising a family.
If you're a DIY band in the UK it isn't that bad (I know absolutely nothing about non-DIY bands but a fair bit about DIY ones, so all of this will be about them). A band can drive to a gig pretty much anywhere in the country from anywhere else in a day, so it's easy to do a gig where you like on a weekend so long as you don't mind crashing on somebody's floor (at least as far as logistics is concerned). For most cities there will be quite a few places you can play and get from in a night so you can still play some out of town midweek gigs and hold down a nine-to-five job.
Cost can be very problematic though. Being in a DIY band is in almost all cases a net monetary loss. You'll spend more on van hire, petrol costs etc playing gigs than you will, on average, get back so you need a good enough income from elsewhere to handle that or you end up either playing very few gigs or just playing in your home town. The same goes for releasing records, tons of DIY labels go under because they can't afford to keep losing money anymore. Networking comes in here too, someone who puts on gigs in their home and plays regularly will have a much easier time getting gigs than someone who only has time to play once in a blue moon since nobody will know them.
Touring can be tricky as well. Sometimes if you can't get holiday time from your job you have to decide between the job and going on tour (which is how I lost my last job), but most bands just tour when people can book time off and accept the limitations of that. Some people deliberately choose jobs with long holiday periods (like those in education) in order to facilitate touring or just go on the dole.
Kids seem to be one of the biggest problems. Loads of DIY bands seem to go under when one member has a kid since it almost inevitably means a serious cut in the amount of time that can be spent on the band. This isn't always the case though, others just adapt to not being as active a band as they perhaps once were. Basically it all boils down to prioritising your time and money to make sure there's enough there to still make music and play gigs, and occasionally pulling a sickie so you can go play to ten people in Dundee.
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The state of classical music in Britain (http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/sep/07/artists-in-exile).
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What about Thomas Adès or (if you want to go to the whole UK) James MacMillan? They're two of the brightest composers from the UK and I think they both still live there. I'm not saying it means that the article is wrong based on two composers, but I would have liked them to maybe present an opposing viewpoint.
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I remember I wrote about my view of music in the I'm new-thread...
Music is my life, but I don't play any instruments and probably never will because for me Music is an art I just want to appreciate, not create.
This gives me the benefit of not clinically listen to music as some friends I know do.
When it comes to bands, I don't think I have a lot of opinions about the matter... But as along as it suits them with their families and lifestyle it's ok.
Hehehe some bands I like never do life-shows so they have to work, but they seem to like it.
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This gives me the benefit of not clinically listen to music as some friends I know do.
Not all musicians clinically listen to music. Most of the time, I just bury myself in the sound and let the composer take over. Most of the musicians I know do that same thing. The one exception is if I'm trying to learn or arrange the piece of music.
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And most of the musicians I know do the thing I was talking about... Different cases, that's all.
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Bob designed a lot of Electrical Audio's electronics but he doesn't work there. He co-owns and runs Chicago Mastering Services (http://www.chicagomasteringservice.com/)
Factual error on my part is now fixed.
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also goddamn kai what have you been doing
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The state of classical music in Britain (http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/sep/07/artists-in-exile).
Very interesting read, thanks for posting. I think Britain is certainly less of cultural cesspool than here in Canada or in the U.S., if you want culture here you go to one of the big cities... New York, Vancouver, San Francisco, etc.... every small town in mainland Europe is packed with culture. I'm jealous.
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What about Thomas Adès or (if you want to go to the whole UK) James MacMillan? They're two of the brightest composers from the UK and I think they both still live there. I'm not saying it means that the article is wrong based on two composers, but I would have liked them to maybe present an opposing viewpoint.
Composition is a very different animal from performing. Sure, it requires occasionally rigorous touring schedules to keep up the contacts and the appearances and the premiers, but oftentimes that is provided for the artist. The fact of the matter is that you can write music anywhere, especially in this digital age. Performing tends to be a different story altogether. To perform requires an audience, and an audience rarely comes to you, even for the best musicians in the world.
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Aha! Thomas Adès is also a fantastic conductor. Also, the article mentioned some composers. I was just presenting an opposing viewpoint and wishing the article had actually produced a balanced piece.
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The great thing about choosing music in college is that it affords you amazing opportunities to network and play with some truly incredible musicians, at the expense of spending every waking moment in a master class or a practice room. A number of people I knew at the university now support themselves and their families as musicians, teachers or composers, thanks to the connections they formed while in school.
Every person in this thread who says that networking is the key is absolutely right and getting into a studio in college will help with that immensely. However, just like everything else that's worth doing, it will require a large measure of dedication and work on your part.
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Supporting yourself from your music as a DIY musician, while doable, is often not desirable unless you plan on getting used to spending the days where a good meal is considered a luxury.
If you accept that it will an extremely tough, unglamorous and unrewarding lifestyle, save for the joy of playing music, then by all means go for it. Otherwise, it's probably not for you.
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Every person in this thread who says that networking is the key is absolutely right and getting into a studio in college will help with that immensely.
It should be noted that, although going to college provided me with a great network, I needed to keep that network up. I needed to stay in periodic contact with the people I knew while there, some of whom I didn't really care for to be honest.
That's another thing. You will have to work for people you hate. In an office context, this is usually okay, but the nature of music requires you to be around them for the entirety of your work for them. If they think you hate them, they will not call you again. Actually, most club/restaurant owners are incredibly terrible people, especially to musicians. They have no idea what you are doing and they will expect you to do your work in a rather silly, unfeasible way.
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I have been desperately trying to build up a network of contacts so that if I ever actually get to run a club I will be a shining beacon of non-arseholishness in an otherwise myriad see of dickbags but I'm starting to realise that if I ever actually manage to get high up enough to be able to run a club I will have almost certainly done it by fucking other people over anyway so that should tell you what you need to know about those sorts of people.