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Why do you gig?

#48
puddin tame said:
I got to thinking this lately. This applies to non-professionals only.

If you are not making money (doing it for a living, or partial income) then is gigging not merely just an exercise in ego? The difference between jam buddies and a gigging band is night and day. I feel the first is musically more satisfying and much more fun, but the second seems to be a lot more people for strangely non financial reasons.

Is it all just a big ego trip? I've been asking myself this question lately. I believe ego should have no place in music. So then, i'm doing this (ideally) ego-less thing, in a format that exists seemingly for the function of feeding my own ego (playing gigs). Or, at least, that just what i've got to thinking.

I notice a pattern with the bands i've been in. My last two bands have started as good friends jamming, we enjoy the music we're making so much we decide to go official with it (proper band that books gigs) the fun drops right out. Well, not right out, but a lot of the magic goes. We go from making freely the music we want, not worrying if that solo should be 4 bars shorter or if the rhythm is danceable or are there enough venues for this genre etc, to suddenly worrying about this stuff. We go from playing what we want, when we want, and enjoying the hell out of it to following practice agendas and all that business. So instead of hours and hours of fun, it's then hours and hours of quasi-work to a few hours of proportional fun.

You're probably thinking I should shut up and mind my own business! How does this affect me, you ask? Because this whole "gigging" fad is stealing all the good musicians!

Anyway, I want you guys to really think about it... why do you gig? The common answer I think is that it is fun to see people digging into the music / to entertain people. But what good is that? Those people would be having a good time without you there, and how does it help you? Is a street performer or a comedian then not doing the same thing? It just doesn't seem like a musical exercise to me. It's an entertainment exercise. But then why is every musician so eager to make the leap to entertainer? It just seems to be the thing that is done, so people do it.

This thinking i'm developing also might be a side effect of being in a somewhat frustrating market. I'm in a very small country, so there just is not a very large market. There aren't that many people out there to come to the gigs compared to other places in the world. I know kick ass prog rock bands that have been building a name for years and years who are still playing shows to 6 people. There just ain't the numbers down here to support deviation from the most popular stuff. This is possibly making my gigging efforts a much more frustrating experience than perhaps some of my international readers...


TLDR

Why do you gig? Is it just an ego trip that ultimately results in a lot of fun being sucked out of the musical process?
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So what problem do you have with ego? There's nothing wrong with it, we're all born with one. It's one of the things that defines us as human beings. I love gigging, it's a huge thrill to be able to pull off a complex song in front of an audience and they like it. It also does my ego a world of good. There IS a place for ego in music, of course not to the point of being a douchebag. Nobody wants that! But we all want to be told we're good at something, it's what makes it all worthwhile.
 
#51
stratovani said:
So what problem do you have with ego? There's nothing wrong with it, we're all born with one. It's one of the things that defines us as human beings. I love gigging, it's a huge thrill to be able to pull off a complex song in front of an audience and they like it. It also does my ego a world of good. There IS a place for ego in music, of course not to the point of being a douchebag. Nobody wants that! But we all want to be told we're good at something, it's what makes it all worthwhile.
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I have a problem with ego in the musical process, strictly the making of the music.

I don't have a problem with ego (well to a certain point, obviously), I was more questioning the linking of the two activities. Music, *to me* should not involve any ego. Gigging is a different story, so I was wondering if someone was purely a musician for music's sake what the motivation for gigging would be.
 
#52
puddin tame said:
I have a problem with ego in the musical process, strictly the making of the music.

I don't have a problem with ego (well to a certain point, obviously), I was more questioning the linking of the two activities. Music, *to me* should not involve any ego. Gigging is a different story, so I was wondering if someone was purely a musician for music's sake what the motivation for gigging would be.
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If you replace the word "ego" with "pride" or "accomplishment" or the like, it changes the tone. Ego is a loaded word that tends to have a negative connotation.
 
#56
The money is a nice bonus. It doesn't pay the bills, but it's nice to have a little extra spending cash dropped in your hand on the weekend.

More than that, it's important to me to be in a gigging band because I think of music as a performing art; playing for an audience is a whole other matter than just playing for yourself or your buddies in the basement. To put it positively, there's that glow of achievement and affirmation when you have a good live gig. To put it negatively, if I wasn't gigging, I'd feel like there was another level still for me to get to, something I was missing out on. From that angle, getting paid to play is another part of the affirmation; it suggests that maybe people aren't just tolerating me taking up their space, like at an open mic, but that they actually enjoy and benefit from my playing, enough to make it worth something to them.
 
#57
If you get paid for it, you are a professional in my book no matter what level of professional you may be. I gig because I am a performer and my voice or gift is in playing electric bass guitar. As others have indicated it is a gift to be shared. We belong to this forum but in terms of sheer numbers of people there are in the world vs people who can play an instrument, we by far are outnumbered. There are many people who do not and can not play on the level that many of us do. It is a gift to be shared and it provides a sense of fulfillment to us as well. We do bring joy to the masses.
 
#58
I gig because playing bass by myself is boring :D

Jamming is OK and I do sometimes but I can play much higher quality music with higher quality players if I gig. In particular I get to play with some very talented professionals! :hyper:

The response from the audience is pretty low in my reasons for doing it. If the band is cooking, who cares if the room is empty?

The money is secondary, of course I want to be able to cover my expenses (time, gear and travel) but I'm free to choose gigs where the music and hang is great even if the dough is low. Not that I mind being paid well :smug:

I have had opportunities to play and record with some of my heroes without giving up my day job and touring endlessly. Seems like a pretty good deal to me :cool:
 
#59
Robdrone said:
I always wanted to get a pilot's license, I bet that's a blast being able to jump in an airplane and fly somewhere...
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It's not a relaxing hobby, that's for sure! I decided to quit while I was still alive. It sounds weird to say this, but flying airplanes taught me a new respect for the ground. I like the ground! There is a lot I don't have to worry about when I'm on the ground.

Sorry for the derail. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.......
 

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