Working nights and gigging?

[VincentSalizeri]

I know a few of you are weekend warriors, so I don't doubt working a full time job and gigging is possible. Unfortunately, I work 10pm-6am 5 days a week, which conflicts with other people's schedules. Thankfully, I have weekends off, but it still seems like it would be rather awkward to work with a band.

So, is this doable? Does anyone else have experience with a situation like this? Or am I just worrying about nothing?

[Smokin' Toaster]

well, playing in a band and working a "regular"job is awkward any way you cut it. Your situation doesn't seem so bad. If your band can practice 7-9 on weekdays (as often as required, once, twice a week or more if necessary), you can hit the road and be at work by 10. With free weekends, gigging should be fine, if you are off Friday night. If not, you might have to play one night gigs on Saturday. They're out there.

[RadioactiveGuy4]

i work the grave yard shift and i have no issues. Jam from 8 to 10:45 the out the door to go home and clean up then off to work. I have weekends off as well so thats when we gig.

[R. Laevinus]

Sounds like it'll be tough with your schedule - most of the bands I've been in wanted to start rehearsals at 8 or 9 PM. You could maybe find a bunch of guys who were cool with practicing earlier or on weekends, but that might be tough.

More importantly though, most gigs will be happening during the week, even if you happened to be in a big-name band, and I have never been to or played in a show that had the first act begin by 9:00 PM.

You might be able to make it work, but it seems like it'd be tricky.

[Mike M.]

For me it's no can do. I work 12 hours a night Monday thru Friday from 5:30 PM until 6:00 AM. That means going to bed around 7:30 in the morning and crawling out of bed by 3:00 and out the door by 4:45. I barely have time to even look at my bass during the week let alone playing it. So needless to say there's no time Monday thru Friday to jam with anybody. God....I miss living.

It sucks and I'm trying to change my situation but it's proving to be more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm not saying it's impossible, just difficult.

[skidrawk]

I did it when I was young. If you don't need sleep you'll be fine. Hope this helps.

[Dekker]

Arrange for band practices/jams on the weekends.
Avoid weekday gigs.
Work half days (er, half nights) for weekday gigs, or arrange with day-shift co-worker to switch for the gig day/night shift.

Good luck!

[AnchorHoy]

Originally Posted by R. Laevinus

You might be able to make it work, but it seems like it'd be tricky

Word. I work Graveyard Shift and yes indeed it is tricky

Band gigs aren't really that big a problem for me since they tend to fall mostly on Friday and Saturday nights - my two days of "weekend". On that score, the Third Shift thing is actually something of a minor advantage since my 'body clock' is already perfectly acclimated to musician's hours and I don't tend to burn out late in the evening like my bandmates who have day jobs sometimes do

The really tough part is timing band rehearsals...... Being 12hrs out-of-phase with everybody else makes it difficult to come up with a day/time that works for all of us as a combined unit

The solo guitar stuff that I do locally almost always falls in the middle of the week, which makes it absolutely necessary to be offstage and rolling for work by 10pm or so. Unfortunately, that has tended to condemn me to being the "perpetual opening act" far more than I like. No real way around that, as far as I can see, shy of getting a different job

[bassplayer8953]

They guys in my band are just the opposite: most start work around 6:00 am. Practices aren't a problem but gigs can be. By the time a gig is over, our (old) bodies are telling us we should be sleeping for several hours. Usually adrenaline gets us through the playing part, but everything after, like the load out & such, is a $%^&...

[VincentSalizeri]

Thanks for all the responses so far. The current band I'm aiming for suggested weekday practice in the late afternoon, so I think it'll work out okay, though I'll have to get used to getting to sleep right after work rather than staying up a bit.

Originally Posted by Mike M.

For me it's no can do. I work 12 hours a night Monday thru Friday from 5:30 PM until 6:00 AM. That means going to bed around 7:30 in the morning and crawling out of bed by 3:00 and out the door by 4:45. I barely have time to even look at my bass during the week let alone playing it. So needless to say there's no time Monday thru Friday to jam with anybody. God....I miss living.

It sucks and I'm trying to change my situation but it's proving to be more difficult than I thought it would be. I'm not saying it's impossible, just difficult.

Wow, that's a tough place to be. I hope you get to a better place soon, working like that doesn't even seem like it should be legal...

[Rebecky]

I'm trying to do it, but it's not really working. It's only casual part-time work so it's only a few evenings but it's already started to clash with my gigs, and there's no chance I would chose selling shots of Jagermeister over a gig! Almost looking forward to getting fired...

[bluewine]

If you don't have a family and your single, I would say you can do it. I think the key is being available for Friday and Saturday night shows.

blue

[sobie18]

I am military and I have had to work Mids and Swings (3-11) for many years. I have also had to decline/cancel gigs because of work and it can really affect your credibility and reliance by other bands.

Stick with it, gig when you can, and stay positive.