JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Musicians with Day Jobs Support Group

If you are like me...or if I am like you...we both know there are not enough hours in the day! We have to work a day job we really don't care about to pay the bills, keep our families fed, and fund our music careers.

I wanted to create this topic/support group for people like me to come and be encouraged to keep going. Work can be so depressing sometimes, and hamper our creative ability and passion to go out and perform as often as we can/should. So let's begin....

If you have a day job or night job, that you know you need to fund your career, come and share. Or if you are already a full time musician, and are blessed to not be doing something you really don't wanna do, please come encourage the rest of us...we need it...EVERYDAY! As I flip through the ProGear catalog, dreaming of when I can afford the gear that I drool over, I think of how many long hours I have to put in at the job just to get one of them. With not many angel investors looking to fund musicians careers, and the recession having no bank giving us any money love (maybe it's cause of my sub-par (read bad) credit...but I'm a singer/songwriter. That's what I want to do...and a job, though it helps fund...really gets in the way.

Okay...I'm done venting. Proceed with your vents, or posts of encouragement.

Jared,

In never stops. I live in a town with thousands of writers, artists, musicians. I have one plumber who has had three number one songs, another one with two number ones, who is a property manager for his main income, and can't tell you the amount of people I know who had songs on the radio before they gave up their regular jobs. Then a couple of years after had to get regular jobs again.

It is a very tough game and always has been. You have to act as if you will never make a dime, keep your costs very low, and get in front of as many people as you can, always. If you do that continually, you will find your way. Just always treat it like a job and keep your expectations realistic.

MAB

Hang in there....

Hi Jared

well I Try to keep a positive attitude about all the things that I do -- including my day job.... I've always had to work at least one job , sometimes 2 alongside my art and music careers.... The Up side is that it makes you really appreciate the time that you get to spend on making music and art... We also get to become Experts at time management....... look at your day job - what ever that is -- as a place to study words, conversation, and behaviors.... try to create from the things that you are exposed to daily and use them to add color to your creations... It helps to think of you day job as a school of sorts...
Best wishes on your path, jm

Day job...what day job? I am a full time singer....well I only hve to sing a few hours a week when I have to.... but it is enough to keep the wolves at bay. There are only a very few full time music pros who make any money from writing no1 hit songs. It is a pipedream. I and many like me work at music any way we can. This includes session work, composing jingles and performing with or without a band for anybody who pays. It is a hard life and not suited to most. I am not complaining cause I can come and go almost as much as I please and get paid quite well for doing what I like best. MUSIC. My advice is do not put all your eggs in one basket.... do not be to narrow in what skills and talents you have or try to develop.....and above all else be prepared to do stuff you may not like or approve of. It always seems to be the hobbyist who say they would never perform covers or play to backing tracks and hate karaoke....pros will do whatever to make a crust. Ask anyone with a reg job if they are 100% happy...not one will say yes. Why shold musicians be any different. Like anything in life you have to fight for your right to party.

No day job in 20 years, and I don't take it for granted for 1 minute, because I can't AFFORD to. It's never been tougher to earn a living playing music than right now, and if I rest for one minute, I'm afraid It'll be over. I spend my every waking moment networking or practicing {despite my jokes to the contrary} I don't know if I could possibly establish myself today if I were a newcomer. The good news is there are FAR more resources for networking now than when I started.{Passing around press kits, and putting fliers on telephone poles was the extent of it back then}

I work now looking over my shoulder because time and changes are catching up with me, and there is no plan B. I have no other life skills other than music, and my last day job was working on the grounds crew at a local cemetary for $7.50 an hour in 1989.

Not to mention I've been self-employed for so long that I can't concieve of being someones peon again.

Back when I worked dead-end jobs to support my music habit, I felt the will to live sapped out of me everyday by bosses and co-workers who wanted to keep me down at their level, and the day I broke free was the greatest day of my life.

I worked my ass off to get to that point, have worked my ass off since, and now I've got to up my game another notch still to stay around. I will admit though that sometimes I envy you folks that have a steady paycheck and benefits. I guess the grass is always greener..

Jim and Bob,

Do you guys have families to support? I think that's the hardest thing for me, because if I were single with little responsibility, I would get an apartment with my producers, and our only job would be music. Now I have to make the adjustment...not complaining because God blessed me with a beautiful family, but now I must make sacrifices to keep them happy.

Jim, I liked what you said about making it anyway possible. I was about to get into doing some jingle work, but I just wasn't passionate enough about it. But with everyday, and more music companies going under, as many music jobs as I can get is important, even if it's not something I set out to do, I should adapt and learn to do it, and find the fun and challenge in it.

Joyce, I like what you said about finding sources of inspiration at the day job. My day job takes tons of focus though (Adjudication of Medical Claims), but every little break I get, I should do more of creating on the go.

I find by the time I get home in summer and then do home chores... I'm dead and don't feel up to writing or playing... one day soon I'm planning to retire and sit in my home studio... invite folk out ...and do what I want

It is amazing how much PASSION can be called upon when you have to do something in order to EAT.

Jared, I have a large inherited family {a wife and 5 step kids}
The youngest of whom just moved out to college, so it's just me the wife and the dog now. I do still have a pretty substantial house and car payment though. Most of my wife's salary goes towards health insurance {since I have none}she pretty much covers all the things we'll need in old age since I have no benefits. I pretty much pay the bills though.
I agree that I wouldn't be sweating things if I were still a bachelor with no responsibilities.

Hi Jared,

thanks to my day job, I can - barely - pay for my family needs and my musical needs. I started working for real - I mean steadily - at the age of 35, would you believe that? I was a 'musician' before that.

I'm now 42. I don't enjoy my day job overmuch, to tell you the truth. But I've 'done' more things in music in the past few years than ever before. of course, I wouldn't advise you to watch the face I have in the morning when the clock rings, lol. But when I had time, I had no money nor as much motivation to get things done.

I'd like to quit my day job and become a pro musician asap. I don't think it's gonna be soon, though. In the meantime, I try to persuade myself I need gear and demos before passing onto the 'real' thing ... if that ever happens.

Let's have a thought for all these men and women who are toiling for peanuts and don't have any creative outlet, though. Nothing's easy, nothing's really bad. Let's do it one step at a time.

Best wishes,
Yann

Wow Jann,

Four posts on that. Pretty cool.

Jared,

Most people have multiple jobs no matter what level they are at. One thing you have to consider is to get out of the "Me Myself and I" mentality. AT some point you have to pair up with other people. Musicians, managers, agents, etc.
When you talk about "buying equipment" is there someone you know who you can pair up with and use their equipment and maybe help them with something they need? Are their musicians in your area that can help back you up if you help them on something they need.
We all have to build "teams" that range from the general public (fan base) to publishers, point people, etc. It is kind of like a relay. you start the ball rolling, prove yourself valuable to other people (club owners, agents) and that helps build your team. I don't know of anyone that can do this on their own.

MAB

Re the team:
someone told me once - maybe it was Marc, lol, can't remember - 'you give someone what they need, they'll give you what you want'.
That was an epiphany for me.
When dealing with somebody now, the first question I ask myself is: what can I do for them? You wouldn't believe how many friends I have now, lol.