Tales from a Failed Musician

Over the weekend, my parents and some friends of theirs came over for a night. My dad and his friend play music together and my father had told his friend how well I played the drums, so the guy and I talked a bit about that. Meanwhile, on Twitter, Public Enemy frontman Chuck D has been tweeting suggestions to up and coming wannabe rap artists. So I had a few drinks and got on YouTube, where I checked out some videos of amateurs playing. And it all got me thinking...

Now I originally tweeted some of these ideas, but I'd been drinking, had at least 1000 things to say, and only 140 characters in which to say it. Luckily, I have this blog, so I figured I'd expound on some of it in a little more detail.

But keep in mind, I'm no Chuck D. Most importantly, I ultimately failed. In my defense, I was just a kid and I had absolutely no idea about the business or what it takes to make it there. It goes without saying that I'd do basically everything differently if I had it all to do over again. So some of this is going to be stuff I remember, some of it is stuff I've heard or was told, and some of it is what I'd suggest doing if you're serious about making money in the music business.

Further, I haven't actively played in nearly 10 years; the last time I played out was 2003. Almost everything about the biz has changed since I was actively trying to make a career out of death metal - a whole lot has changed in just the 10 years since I last played! So keep all of this in mind and temper everything I say by it.

I played extreme music - specifically, I played death metal, but I also did some rap, punk/hardcore, and experimental/progressive stuff - so everything I'm saying comes from that position. If you're looking to do a cover band, play pop or mainstream music, or become a celebrity, you can probably dismiss almost all of this because your path is going to be very different.
Over the years, I played with a lot of incredibly talented musicians - guys who would literally make your jaw drop open. One of my best friends in highschool was also one of the most amazing guitarists I've ever heard to this day. By 16, he could play everything Eddie Van Halen and Jimi Hendrix ever did. Most days after school, he would bring me home and we would play Slayer, Metallica, Rush, and whatever else we were listening to at the time. Again, he was 15-16 and I was about 13.

Here's how good this guy was: The solo for "Castles Made of Sand" was recorded, then run backward for the track. My friend did not know this, so he learned the solo - the solo that was recorded then played backward over the track - as it was on the record. (I think the song was "Castles Made of Sand" - I could be wrong.)

To this day, he has not "made it."

He's probably one of the best I've ever known, but I played with a host of great musicians over the years. None of them have ever "made it." I know at least three or four people right offhand that could stand toe-to-toe with just about any professional musician you can name but not one who is supporting himself through music alone today. Several of them still play music, some even make money doing so, but they all have other, more stable and traditional, occupations. Many of them could have but chose not to - because they didn't want to "sell out."

The first mistake we made is the same one almost every kid playing extreme music makes: We weren't in it for the money and we weren't about to "sell out." On the surface, it sounds like we had integrity - and we most certainly did - but unless you want to play music on the side, you need to be concerned with making money from your music. When you write three demos full of blazing speed metal screaming about the devil and build a following from that, then tone down your music and eliminate all mention of Satan on your first studio album, you sold out. Go listen to everything Metallica ever did before the Black Album, then listen to the Black Album; that is selling out.

Playing in a cover band on the weeknights isn't "selling out," it's a job. It's a lot more fun than working at McDonald's but it's still just a job. Playing backup for Linda Ronstadt isn't selling out, it's a job. Simply put, you can't call all the shots if you want to work in the music industry; you will have to learn to compromise and probably sometimes play music you don't really care about or even like. If you want to keep a full-time job until you "make it," I suggest you get really good at your full-time job; if you want to support yourself playing music, you are going to have to learn to play music other than the stuff you write or enjoy.

I don't know much about it anymore, but I remember you used to need your ASCAP to work good gigs. I'm not even sure what all it does but I think it protects you from not getting paid, for one thing. We'll talk about that at some point but for now, just know that ASCAP is basically the working musician's union. Used to be, you had to have performed in public at least twice, then your ASCAP cost like $25. This isn't meant to be a tutorial - just me talking about this stuff - so I'm not looking it all up, but you should be able to find out more about ASCAP online.

Some people choose to work in the music industry tangentially as their full-time job and that's pretty clever. No, they may not be exactly "working musicians" - that is, they aren't supporting themselves solely by playing music - but they are ensconced in the business all day long just by being near it. They work in music stores, studios, bars/clubs, etc. They also get discounts on instruments, discounts on recording/mixing time, opportunities for paying gigs before they go public, they get to meet a lot of people in the business, and so on. Furthermore, having jobs like these comes in handy when you need to take some time off to tour or record or promote a project.

If you've read this far, you may be getting the impression that I don't believe you can support yourself financially playing extreme music alone. That's exactly the impression I mean to impart; I don't believe you can make a living wage playing only extreme music. I believe you can work your way up to doing that - honestly, I don't even know that you could do that these days but there was a time when you could - but you're going to have to take a different path. I think the only way you could do that is with a stable band/crew and you'll have to establish that outfit's name, image, music, and so forth. If you are looking to make a living playing music, the fact of the matter is that extreme music simply isn't in high enough demand to facilitate that.

I'll talk about studios, playing gigs, and more in other posts, but there's a lot to working in music. I don't know even half of it; like I say, we were just kids when we decided we were going to become career musicians and this was 20 years ago. We hadn't the first idea as to how to actually go about doing anything professionally and everything I know about anything has to be tempered by that. Needless to say, posting a video of yourself playing along to your favorite records is about as productive as we ever got... and none of us are supporting ourselves through music alone today.

© C Harris Lynn, 2012