Every totally lose interest in music?

[PauFerro]

Strange thing happened to me last month. I lost interest in music. I lost interest in my bands.

I had a gig last night and subbed myself out because I didn't feel like going. I think it's because of layoffs at work and all the extra preparation for my own unemployment I am making. Although employeed, my job fo 22 years appears to be on the way out, exposing me and my family to financial hardship.

It's hard to devote time to a serious hobby like running several bands when you feel your bread and butter job is on the way out, and you need to prepare for your next career or job...but I'm not sure if that's necessarily it.

Do you ever feel a loss of interest in gigging? When it seems like a chore to haul gear, and you are watching the clock as you are performing, wanting to get it over with and go home? That is how I've been feeling lately -- the first time in my 40 years of gigging that I have felt this way....

I hope it's temporary. Ever experience that? What caused it? Did it last?

 

[JCooper]

I've felt similar to that when I was in 'the wrong' band…..but not for too long.
Here's hoping you can rejoin us!

 

[bolophonic]

My experiences with that sensation have always been brief and probably related to other issues. I am preparing to have a kidney stone removed in a week or so and I don't consider it to be coincidental that I can't find anything that I want to listen to and the radio stinks and I am treading in a major rut when I pick up my bass. I expect things to improve once I begin to recover.

My typical M.O. for overcoming this state has generally been to select a good album and sit down to study all the bass lines.

 

[RustyAxe]

Lose interest in music? Nope. Music is what gets me through those challenging periods of life (and I've had a few!). Lose interest in gigging, band drama, promotion, etc? ... yeah.

 

[rufus.K]

Nope, never lost interest

 

[PauFerro]

Recently I had the feeling that I wanted to rid my home of every piece of gear I have, but luckily I'm not able to fit all my gear in the car at once, LOL.

Feeling similar, but only with the stuff I never use anymore. I have a lot of basses I have accumulated but don't play anymore, as well as some cabinets and amplifiers I don't use much. I would like to thin the herd, but definitely want to keep the instrument.

Now that I can't play, due to some sort of nerve problem (carpal tunnel like), I miss it more than ever.

Sorry to hear that -- I had a similar problem a few years and not playing for 3 months until I healed was torture. The guys in the band got antsy about it too.

Anyway, I think you're just going through a depression, and you'll probably feel this way about more than just music. Keep some gear & don't burn any bridges, for when you snap out of it.

I'm not depressed, just going through life changes I think. Kids leaving the nest, employment and career a looming concern, and a bit overwhelmed with going to school part time for two programs in my "spare time". Just a lot going and music seems like a burden. I knew something was up when I subbed myself out of the gig last night. I just wanted to focus on running the event when normally I would crawl over broken glass to gig even if it meant being pulled in multiple directions. I also overdid gigging with 2 gigs a week for two months in April and May and I still haven't recovered...

I've also been reading about the simple life, with few possessions, few things to worry about.

Hopefully it will pass. Music is usually a source of great happiness. Strange to have it feel like a burden now.

 

[Remyd]

After my whole kit was stolen, I took 6 years off. In that time, I went through five other hobbies, until my wife browbeat me into getting back into bass. I didn't know how much I missed it 'till I was back. It's possible to scale gigging projects back to bedroom warrior status, at least until you get the itch again.

 

[garp]

I have lost interest in being part of a gigging band. However, I have never completely lost interest in music.

Without a doubt, being part of a working band entails a lot of work. Whether or not you're motivated to perform that sort of work is a highly-subjective decision. But if you've come to the point that music itself no longer ignites a spark in your soul, perhaps it's time to seek professional assistance. There's no shame in asking for outside help when you can't solve a problem on your own. If you suspect that clinical depression might be involved, you'd be much better off trying to address it earlier rather than later.

In the meantime, I'd encourage you to explore other genres. Never listened to cool jazz? Buy a CD or cassette outside of your preferred genre. Never appreciated classical orchestral performances? Grab a recording of the London Philharmonic. Never completely understood reggae? There are tons of recordings available online to help you discern if that genre interests you or not. Recently, despite not being a fan of rap nor hip-hop, I became obsessed with the phenomenal popular appeal of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Broadway show "Hamilton" and obtained a live recording of the show. It has proved to be incredibly educational to me, and at the very least, it reminded me that I don't know everything about popular music.

Wishing you all the best.

 

[jaywa]

I have never totally lost interest in playing music but for whatever reason I listen to very little of it any more. Which I'm sure is to my detriment as a player but the stuff I've always liked is old by now and the new stuff coming out, with very very few exceptions, triggers responses somewhere from meh to revulsion, in pretty much any genre. And since I have no cover band at the moment I'm not doing "homework" either.

I literally have not turned on the sound system on in my car for months, and absent an occasional listening night with the wife (mostly old vinyl that holds special memories for us), recorded music is not heard in my home either. But I still love picking up the bass and throwing down with other good players. It's weird.

 

[Lobster11]

I can totally understand why you feel that way given your current "real-life" situation. For me, the joy of playing music is the greatest when the other, more important, things in my life, such as my regular job and marriage, are going well. The more I'm worried about those other things, the less enthusiastic I am about music. Just focus on dealing with your employment situation for now, and I'm sure that once you resolve that -- however long it takes -- your motivation and enthusiasm for playing will come right back.

 

[jaywa]

To the OP: I can so relate. I was downsized out of my day job just a few months shy of 17 years in, and as a result I had to move 7 hours away for new employment, which meant giving up our family home and my spot in the 4 bands I was in at the time. Between settling into the new day job, dealing with the move, supporting my wife emotionally (who was crushed by the loss of our house), and the prospect of having to start from scratch establishing myself on a new music scene, I just kind of shut down and opted out for the better part of my first year after the move.

You are wise to be preparing for your own downsizing. My former company made several rounds of cuts and my wife begged me to start looking for other options but unlike you, I thought I'd be safe. When the axe fell I was blindsided. One thing to think about though... if you are preparing to be unemployed and you have steady, PAYING gigs, you might really want to think about hanging on to those. When I was gigging heavily I was banking about 80% of my gig money (which was a lot), and that stash really came in handy after I had moved out here for my job and we had to pay for me to live here plus still make house payments back home. Even if your heart isn't into gigging right now you need to be making (and saving) as much money as possible from other venues in case you do get the pink slip and times get lean. And of course, goes without saying that any new gear purchases are off the table and if anyone makes you a nice offer on anything you currently have and aren't using, might want to take it. Good luck!

 

[bassbully]

I did three years ago when my orignals band I helped form came to an end. I sold off allot of gear bought a boat and went fishing. I still fish but got the bug to play again a year later. I got back again only to get Backstabbed and fired from a band the old bandleader (and so called friend) from the first band formed. I was ready to stop playing again but I'm back giving it a go.
Sounds like life is getting in the way of music. Take some time and see how you feel.

 

[rodv66]

I stopped playing in bands in NJ, back in 93. Then moved to Vegas and bands were even more unstable then. Still loved music, but gradually played less and less. Moved back to NJ, married, kid, teaching career and lost time to play. As you get older, it can get hard to find time. I felt that time for playing was cheating my family of my time. Looking back, it was easy to walk away from playing, but I lost a big part of who I am as a person. I'm 50 now, and realize that I need time to be selfish and enjoy playing. I should have been trying to make some side money to supplement our income.

 

[47VevetS]

Ive been through the job thing, hard thing to have to deal with, you just have to adapt and overcome....could be the best thing to ever happen to you. The best thing ever can be right around the corner....use music as an escape from all the BS, good luck.

 

[PunkKitty]

I've been having that problem recently. I live with severe depression and it's a symptom of a depressive episode. It happens fairly regularly.

 

[KromaatiKlauun]

I quit for a while, and decided to get a degree. All the struggle made me go back, and now with a bachelor and a master's degree I'm back on the game (and with more money to support it)

 

[Eidolon0274]

Generally, yes. Mainly in the music I'm playing, never the act itself. You have to make sounds you love, and that represent you, whether or not it's in front of people shouldn't matter. Even working in the industry I rarely get to play music I love or relate to, so I have to play whatever it is I have to play in a way that instills some of those qualities, otherwise it's not worth it.

If music isn't something you have to do for money, there shouldn't be a reason to lose interest in it.

 

[onosson]

I haven't lost interest in music, but I have found that I've lost interest in writing music specifically. I used to write a lot, both collaboratively and by myself. Over the years I have less and less interest in creating songs, to the point where I prefer just to work as a sideman learning other people's music these days. Not sure exactly why, but it doesn't bother me either. Maybe I just like more diversity than I'm able to come up with on my own.

 

[Ritchie_Darling]

I have never lost interest in music itself.

However, the area that I live in is the least musical place that I have ever been.

And I lived in a tiny village in India several years ago.

This area has very nearly ruined me on being in a band and performing live.

I still do it occasionally. But, it has gotten harder over the years to keep going.

Music will always be there. Even if performing isn't.

 

[Frenchy-Lefty]

Depression often gets you there