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Los Angeles

U

unrealworld82

Aug 18, 2008
9
0
#1
JMJ,

Myself (and a long time collaborator) live in nowhere Georgia. We are full time musicians (albeit ones who don't make a heck of a lot of money). We are both 25 and really want to continue to play music full time for the rest of our lives. Obviously, we hear that L.A. is the place to be for musicians.

As for here, we live in an area where basically all the other musicians are simply "weekend warriors" which makes meaningful "networking" non-existant.

We've been debating moving to L.A. and trying to get into the industry there. While we collaborate on own material, we are also competant and capable of session work on multiple instruments, engineering, and are both extremely versed in MIDI implementation and programming. We don't neccesarily want to become "rock stars" (though that is great), we really want to be hardworking industry pros.

How much of a catalyst would you say L.A. is to your career? Should we pack up and head out West? Is there just too much of an oversaturated market?

Thanks in advance!
 
#2
I once studied law, and considered being an attorney. I was concerned about there being so many lawyers out there, but an attorney I knew told me, "The field is very overcrowded but there's always room for a good one." The same applies to music.
 
#3
I've lived in LA since I was 1. So it's very hard for me to objectively comment. I know talented people by the droves who moved to LA and can't get hit by a bus. I know untalented people who moved there and are somehow the toast of the town.

More to the point: if you really feel that the expansion of your career is limited by your geography, and that you have well and truly exhausted the possibilities in your area, that's when you get serious about a relocation.

Sounds like you may already be at that point.

Anyway, there is certainly over-saturation in LA, but people rise to the top. Might take a bit longer to get known, but there never seems to be a shortage of work for the truly talented and truly driven musician.

Good luck!

Best,
JMJ
 
#4
jmjbassplayer said:
I've lived in LA since I was 1. So it's very hard for me to objectively comment. I know talented people by the droves who moved to LA and can't get hit by a bus. I know untalented people who moved there and are somehow the toast of the town.
Click to expand...
How much of that do you think is personality driven? And how much do you think is pure luck?
 
#7
Exactly - can be very frustrating. I think it's only partially luck; I think a lot of it has to do with wack people jiving other wack people. :-) Meaning yes: "personality" coming into play.
 
#9
Call me crazy, but I like image. We all project an image whether we like it or not. And it gives you an identifiable hook for people to remember you by. Even with Justin...before I knew his name, I identified him as "That dude with the 'fro." And the Beatles, of course, were famous for their haircuts long before we knew their music would still be played and loved to this day. Image has no bearing on talent level, although some of the less talented do use it to get themselves over when their skills can't. But put image together with talent, and all of a sudden it doesn't seem so bad. Beats boring the hell out of your audience trying to not have an image at all.
 
#11
Thx dude. Even I, at my age, still try to project an image. My image is "that fat old guy who kills himself trying to do stunts on an upright." But we all have to go with what works for us...as long as it's an honest image, it's all good ;)

EDIT: I'm working on the fat part...
 
#12
unrealworld82 said:
JMJ,

Myself (and a long time collaborator) live in nowhere Georgia. We are full time musicians (albeit ones who don't make a heck of a lot of money). We are both 25 and really want to continue to play music full time for the rest of our lives. Obviously, we hear that L.A. is the place to be for musicians.

As for here, we live in an area where basically all the other musicians are simply "weekend warriors" which makes meaningful "networking" non-existant.

We've been debating moving to L.A. and trying to get into the industry there. While we collaborate on own material, we are also competant and capable of session work on multiple instruments, engineering, and are both extremely versed in MIDI implementation and programming. We don't neccesarily want to become "rock stars" (though that is great), we really want to be hardworking industry pros.

How much of a catalyst would you say L.A. is to your career? Should we pack up and head out West? Is there just too much of an oversaturated market?

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
unreal,

come move to Chicago. Decent music scene here (maybe too much punk, for me anyway) but the music scene here is pretty good and diverse. its not LA, but chicago's a large market with pretty good local support and certainly a good jumping off point to a larger stage.

JK
 
#13
Cool, thanks JMJ and everyone else... really good thoughts - actually you guys confirmed a lot of what I suspected. Image isn't everything... just mostly. Ha.

Jk3 -

Chicago huh? You know I actually have some connections to Chicago I did some work for a (video) production company there called Big Shoulders (of course!). Good people, left me an open invitation to do some more stuff for them. Maybe I should take em up.

Well, I'm gonna count my cash for a few weeks and stare at a map and decide where to go - I know I'm not staying here. Will let you guys know where I land.

:)
 

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