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Mentor Harriet Schock.
Q: So many of the Just Plain Mentors have had success in songwriting, but are still working like maniacs on dozens of other fronts to make a living. If those of you with great success like you have had can't be a full time writer, is the idea of quitting your day job to pursue songwriting an unrealizable fantasy?
A: To begin with, let me say this is simply my opinion and others could make a convincing case for the opposite viewpoint. That said, let me tell you that I believe it's not a good idea to quit a day job (including gigging at casuals) unless you know you can support yourself as a songwriter. I was fortunate that I could make a living as an advertising copywriter for a year or so before I got my first publishing deal in the seventies. At that point, I quit advertising because I needed the time to do everything necessary with an impending record deal and a staff publishing commitment. Within the first couple of years, I had a hit, so that meant I could be a full time songwriter. Three solo albums later, Disco happened. Then I was really in
trouble, because all I knew was the music business. The royalties were still coming in quarterly, but I needed an outlet for songs. So I started writing songs for films and that supported me through the eighties and nineties, with the additional help of another staff publishing deal. Now that songs seem to be valued again, in a way similar to the singer/songwriter period of the seventies, I have another record deal and am getting covers.
I've also been teaching since 1986 when I was asked to teach songwriting at USC. I taught there for two years, in their undergraduate program, and have been consulting with songwriters ever since. This feeds my soul much more than my body, because I don't have time for a full time teaching practice, and do not consider it a "day job." I do much of it over the Internet, which works well with my touring schedule. It's a labor of love, like my music. I advise my students to continue working at their day jobs until they are at a point in their careers where they can consistently turn out work that will support them...whether that be cds of their own as an artist, or songs for projects, or songs to pitch. New songwriters have a fantasy that professional songwriters sit around all day writing songs. If I leave the computer and the phone long enough to eat lunch, I feel like I've had a relaxing day. Running a career as a songwriter/artist--even if you have a manager, a publisher, a record label, an agent, and an assistant, for that matter--is a complicated process. Everyone wants to be dealt with personally. That means YOU have to call them or email them yourself. It's not like I thought it was going to be when I daydreamed about it at my day job over 20 years ago. It's a whole lot better.