Can't say I've exactly "made it", but I know several folks who have (personally) and I have some prospects on the horizon. I also talked with my bass teacher (Andrew Pouska) about this extensively...
The first thing to get in your head is the idea that this can be formulated is highly unlikely. It's sort of like asking "How am I going to find my spouse?" For me, people could say "Go meet girls" which is like telling you "Go play music". There is no one size fits all recipe for success, however you define that, which will get you in. It's going to vary from person to person, it will have to be a mix or luck and hard work to some degree. With that in mind, I'll go onto the rest.
- What is success? Whatever would, or could, make you happy is what you need to shoot for. If you want to be a singer/songwriter, then work on that. If you want to be a backing bassist, work on your chops/flexibility and focus on that. Don't tell yourself "I want to be a famous virtuoso, better go out and become a roadie." If you're exercising your body to be an effective roadie, you might not be prepared to shine on bass when the time is right, losing your opportunity. Not to say some roadies can't, but the odds aren't too high. Get into the studio game if you want to do production, but don't think that getting an audio engineering degree will make you the next Les Claypool, you'd need to focus on your playing in that situation.
- Work/life balance is KEY. You gotta pay the bills, but you need to be ready to live within your means and do so responsibly. You may room with some buddies, live in a mobile home, or move in with a sig. other but you need to get as many obstacles out of the way from you pursuing music while being fiscally responsible. Contrary to what some folks believe, you don't magically get handed $100k for getting into a cool band, many of those guys have to teach lessons or something else in order to sustain a living outside touring. With that in mind, don't work a job that completely saps the hell out of you and takes up all your time. I have weekends free but my job is incredibly stressful, I can definitely feel the changes at my job affecting my music life. I may need to look elsewhere for something that doesn't conflict so hard with my band life. I am also learning to lower my debt and cost of living to accommodate this. The sooner you learn those two things, the easier life in general will be
- Network network network. It's like looking for a job, the more resumes you put out the more responses you will get. Have the discernment to know what's good and what's not, which may come from some hard knocks and tough lessons, but the experience is what's key here. Playing in three different P&W bands wasn't a fun experience (kinda disliked it), but my current gig with Mike was possible because of those experiences. The other musicians I'm working with understand these things and have similar experience, so it's helpful. I've had calls from past bandmates and I've called past bandmates for different things...make friend and connections, you never know what will pay off.
- Be flexible!! Unless you want to be a studio ace, you don't have to master every style there is, however knowing the fundamentals and key techniques can impress or at least prepare you for them. This is kind of related to music theory (I guess). I've impressed more bands/musicians with being able to play several different styles as opposed to playing one style super fast. Being able to go from blues, to metal, to country, to funk, and then alternative rock will speak more about you than playing super fast metal speed runs....unless you want to play exclusively in metal bands and nothing else.
Keep your head up and do what you love, you don't have to go to college for this stuff (unless you want to go the super famous producer audio engineer route), especially if you just want to play in bands. Just like some folks meet their mates in a bar or some doing laundry at their apartment complex, all you can do is be available and see what happens. Work your butt off when you see an opening though, it may be the one you need to break out!!
The first thing to get in your head is the idea that this can be formulated is highly unlikely. It's sort of like asking "How am I going to find my spouse?" For me, people could say "Go meet girls" which is like telling you "Go play music". There is no one size fits all recipe for success, however you define that, which will get you in. It's going to vary from person to person, it will have to be a mix or luck and hard work to some degree. With that in mind, I'll go onto the rest.
- What is success? Whatever would, or could, make you happy is what you need to shoot for. If you want to be a singer/songwriter, then work on that. If you want to be a backing bassist, work on your chops/flexibility and focus on that. Don't tell yourself "I want to be a famous virtuoso, better go out and become a roadie." If you're exercising your body to be an effective roadie, you might not be prepared to shine on bass when the time is right, losing your opportunity. Not to say some roadies can't, but the odds aren't too high. Get into the studio game if you want to do production, but don't think that getting an audio engineering degree will make you the next Les Claypool, you'd need to focus on your playing in that situation.
- Work/life balance is KEY. You gotta pay the bills, but you need to be ready to live within your means and do so responsibly. You may room with some buddies, live in a mobile home, or move in with a sig. other but you need to get as many obstacles out of the way from you pursuing music while being fiscally responsible. Contrary to what some folks believe, you don't magically get handed $100k for getting into a cool band, many of those guys have to teach lessons or something else in order to sustain a living outside touring. With that in mind, don't work a job that completely saps the hell out of you and takes up all your time. I have weekends free but my job is incredibly stressful, I can definitely feel the changes at my job affecting my music life. I may need to look elsewhere for something that doesn't conflict so hard with my band life. I am also learning to lower my debt and cost of living to accommodate this. The sooner you learn those two things, the easier life in general will be
- Network network network. It's like looking for a job, the more resumes you put out the more responses you will get. Have the discernment to know what's good and what's not, which may come from some hard knocks and tough lessons, but the experience is what's key here. Playing in three different P&W bands wasn't a fun experience (kinda disliked it), but my current gig with Mike was possible because of those experiences. The other musicians I'm working with understand these things and have similar experience, so it's helpful. I've had calls from past bandmates and I've called past bandmates for different things...make friend and connections, you never know what will pay off.
- Be flexible!! Unless you want to be a studio ace, you don't have to master every style there is, however knowing the fundamentals and key techniques can impress or at least prepare you for them. This is kind of related to music theory (I guess). I've impressed more bands/musicians with being able to play several different styles as opposed to playing one style super fast. Being able to go from blues, to metal, to country, to funk, and then alternative rock will speak more about you than playing super fast metal speed runs....unless you want to play exclusively in metal bands and nothing else.
Keep your head up and do what you love, you don't have to go to college for this stuff (unless you want to go the super famous producer audio engineer route), especially if you just want to play in bands. Just like some folks meet their mates in a bar or some doing laundry at their apartment complex, all you can do is be available and see what happens. Work your butt off when you see an opening though, it may be the one you need to break out!!
