What I've been saying for years!

[timmerz]

Last weekend at a thrown-together bar gig, 4 of us reacting to a panic call from the bar when the band they'd hired cancelled at 6:30pm for the 9pm gig, I was chatting with the drummer on our first break, and I said, "Y'know, this **** is so much fun when you get the right people together, it's almost criminal to get paid for it!" and he looks at me, cocks an eyebrow, and says, "Oh, we all play for free! If you think about it, you'll realize that the playing you definitely do for free....it's the LOAD-IN and LOAD-OUT that we get paid for!"

After I finished laughing I started thinking about it, laughed again, then owned up to it. That's exactly right. Even after the million+ (seems like) gigs I've done, I still don't regard the playing as a chore....
So that's my new philosophy!

Anybody else feel this way?

[bassist15]

After playing at our high school basketball games All you wanna do is leave. Me and the drummer usually have to help each carry stuff. Its a treck up stairs and back to the band room. Last week I passed by the drummer and I said " This is the worst part. " She agreed. I feel like setting up and taking down is the least fun out of everything.

[vindy500]

thats why playing at church is great, take your bass plug in, at the end unplug and leave

[Scottgun]

This is why lots of bass players leave the amps at home and just use the PA. (Of course you still have to help your lame drummer. )




Scott

[bassist15]

there's really no way to avoid bringing an amp to a high school basketball game. IVe got to lug around my amp. There are alot of other percussionists but the last game they all left without helping me or the drummer so we did it all ourselves. The band director said we were gonna get extra credit cause we were the only ones to tear down

[Bryan316]

Heck yeah.

I play for free. Hauling the gear earns the paycheck!

[lowphatbass]

Originally Posted by Bryan316

Heck yeah.

I play for free. Hauling the gear earns the paycheck!

The playing part is fun unless:

#1) You're playing with a crappy drummer

#2) You're playing material you can't stand

#3) You're playing with a bunch of jerks

Unfortunately when put in a position of having to take every gig you can, even the playing part can feel like work.

[Basshole]

I toured professionally for 15 years. I came to understand why musicians fall prey to what you would expect would strike them as totally cliche, and become drug addicts.

The fact is, the hour or so you spend on stage is the fun part, and the rest is a sacrifice that drives people to things like drugs.

You're alone, away from your family. You are often in confrontational situations with promoters, industry idiots, the press, and everything from airline employees to hotel desk clerks with attitude...and even your own bandmates at times.

It becomes difficult to maintain personal relationships, since you travel all the time. You lose all feeling of belonging. It can totally erase all points of reference to the point that you begin to self-medicate to ease the stress.

I am not an addictive personality, so I did not suffer this, but most people ARE addictive types, and simply can't stand the stress of being a professional musician.

It's tough work. The playing is the easy part. Hours on planes, mini-busses trundling through Europe, the sound checks, the isolation, the stress; that's what we get paid for.

We endure all that, and then we smile, and we hit the stage as if everything's great. If we have a cold, the Flu, WHATEVER; the show must go on.

That's what we get paid for.

[scottice]

Originally Posted by Basshole

I toured professionally for 15 years. I came to understand why musicians fall prey to what you would expect would strike them as totally cliche, and become drug addicts.

The fact is, the hour or so you spend on stage is the fun part, and the rest is a sacrifice that drives people to things like drugs.

You're alone, away from your family. You are often in confrontational situations with promoters, industry idiots, the press, and everything from airline employees to hotel desk clerks with attitude...and even your own bandmates at times.

It becomes difficult to maintain personal relationships, since you travel all the time. You lose all feeling of belonging. It can totally erase all points of reference to the point that you begin to self-medicate to ease the stress.

I am not an addictive personality, so I did not suffer this, but most people ARE addictive types, and simply can't stand the stress of being a professional musician.

It's tough work. The playing is the easy part. Hours on planes, mini-busses trundling through Europe, the sound checks, the isolation, the stress; that's what we get paid for.

We endure all that, and then we smile, and we hit the stage as if everything's great. If we have a cold, the Flu, WHATEVER; the show must go on.

That's what we get paid for.

Excellent post!

[NoNoise]

My band hardly ever gets paid for gigs, because we play music that doesn't draw many people, and we're not known yet. So, most of the time, we actually pay (gas, tolls, time) to play. The way I look at it, however, is that I know people that pay to play in sports clubs or act in community theaters where they really get no reward for their time and very hard work to learn lines and rehearse/perform for a month or two. So, really, if I have to pay to have fun with my "hobbie," I can't really complain.

[Lazylion]

Originally Posted by timmerz

...he looks at me, cocks an eyebrow, and says, "Oh, we all play for free! If you think about it, you'll realize that the playing you definitely do for free....it's the LOAD-IN and LOAD-OUT that we get paid for!"

We had a sub drummer at our gig last Saturday, who said almost this exact thing.

And +1 to Basshole's post. Well said. Definitely got a better understanding of all that when I went on the road.