The core aspiration of any moderately functional adult is to
be able to support them self. Being that we are no longer hunters and
gatherers, nor are we prey for giant bird monsters and sea iguanas, the concept
of ‘survival’ has become much more complicated. It doesn’t just mean to keep
your heart beating, it means having a stable place to live and preferably
owning it. It means being able to feed and clothe your self on a regular basis
(daily is recommended). For many it means building a family and being able to
feed and clothe them on a regular basis as well. It means saving for retirement
and being able to collect social security when the time comes, and it means having
access to a doctor who will make sure your heart keep beating so you don’t have
to.
It may or may not have occurred to you before, but this
equation gets much trickier for musicians. It isn’t just to survive; it’s to
survive on music alone. If you think about all the musicians you know
personally, you can probably count just as many nuanced approaches to
music-fueled survival. Some have been riding a one track mind since high school
and resolved not to compromise their integrity by getting a job or moving out
of their parents house. Some study music in college hoping to stumble on the
last piece they need to make it work. Others get jobs of varying commitment
because they know that as good as they are, success in the music industry can
take a very long time.
Indie-garage rocker Robert Pollard of Guided by Voices,
equal parts prolific and full blown alcoholic, took work as a substitute
teacher until his band Guided by Voices got a record deal. And it was a good
thing he did since the record deal along with sustainable popularity wouldn’t
come until his late thirties. But even his story is the exception. There was a
whole slue of 80s post-punk and indie bands (i.e., Pixies, The Vaselines,
Half-Japanese) who effectively didn’t see a dime until Kurt Cobain started
dropping their names years after they had already disbanded. Worse yet, there
are those who never get even marginal recognition until they’re dead or just
too old to capitalize on it.
So how do you ensure your survival and also avoid being
condemned to decades of obscurity? You definitely need a job, but when get one
(or if you have one) make sure it has some degree of flexibility so that one;
you have time to keep working on your music and two, you can start reducing
your hours according to your emerging success, if your lucky enough to need to.
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