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Why I can't join a band

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#21
KingRazor said:
Like I said, I've been looking for a job since November. I haven't found a place that's willing to hire me yet.

And yeah, 10 hours every weekend. On Saturday I have a prayer class from 4:30PM to 5:30PM, then I have rehearsal with the worship team (doing sound) until 6:30PM. Then at 7:00PM the service starts and wraps up at about 8:30PM, then I edit and upload the pod cast of that service to the website and get home around 9:45PM.

Sunday is similar although it also includes a 2 hour chunk for worship practice.

The only restrictions I've placed on jobs is that they can't interfere with church.
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Thats not going to get you very far in life Im afraid. You need to make sure church doesnt interfere with you being an adult. I can see why youre having trouble. Im not convinced that God wants you to be unemployed. You need to take whatever you can get. There is NO excuse for a 22 yo healthy person not to work. Who pays your bills?

Im sorry I just dont understand your attitude. Go cut grass, dig ditches, stand out on the highway waving signs for tax preparers, deliver pizzas! Youre lamenting not being able to join a band? You have to get your priorities together. You may think Im being a jerk, but Im actually trying to help you.
 
#22
KingRazor said:
Like I said, I've been looking for a job since November. I haven't found a place that's willing to hire me yet.

And yeah, 10 hours every weekend. On Saturday I have a prayer class from 4:30PM to 5:30PM, then I have rehearsal with the worship team (doing sound) until 6:30PM. Then at 7:00PM the service starts and wraps up at about 8:30PM, then I edit and upload the pod cast of that service to the website and get home around 9:45PM.

Sunday is similar although it also includes a 2 hour chunk for worship practice after service.

The only restrictions I've placed on jobs is that they can't interfere with church.
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Are you getting paid for the church work?
If not, that has to go if it means getting a job.

What is your work history?
 
#23
Oh no no, church is the priority. Church comes before work.

I'm getting unemployment, which has been paying the bills so far (barely). So it's not like I'm not getting any money at all.

God takes good care of me and my family and I'm believing he'll get me a good job that won't interfere with church.
 
#26
hdracer said:
Are you getting paid for the church work?
If not, that has to go if it means getting a job.

What is your work history?
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Is there an intern position open? Our entire tech team is volunteers, but for Weddings, Funerals, and other events, we get 100$ for 2 or 3 hours of work.

You could ask for a little bit of money for what you do.... Have you talked to the Worship Arts Director about a job?
 
#27
“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!’”-Hunter S. Thompson
 
#31
Excluding the class, which I guess you're a "reluctant participant" in (as I was) you're working about 9 hrs over the weekend. Minimum wage in your state is 8.80 USD per hour. That's almost 80 USD every weekend. Personally, I would advise you to consider that "work" and ask for AT LEAST minimum wage. The sound guy/podcast role is "skilled labor" which you can say is worth 15 USD an hour, but for the sake of your soul, you can give a special price to God. A couple of months, you have a better amp (no need to plug directly into the PA), or extra money for the mom and lil bro.

But, about bars... that's a tough one. I guess there's lots of people here who don't play at bars. Your OP sounds like you're determined to not do that.

Options? Wedding band, party band, outdoorsy cover band... not a lot there.

Bottom line, get paid for the job you have now. And.. practice until you're better than roots/3rds/5ths and re-asses your position/situation.
 
#33
If your church band rehearses during the week (or whenever), even if they already have a bass player, there's no downside to regularly attending the rehearsals.

Then you can obtain copies of the sheet music and recordings of the band's performances (hey, you're the sound guy :) ) so you can start practicing the tunes, getting a lesson or two from the current bass player and possibly sitting in on a couple of tunes at rehearsal or at worship service.

Once you get the tunes down, you can then be one of the band's subs if the bass player becomes ill and can't make a service.

Seems like you have lots of opportunities to join a band. I don't think you'll have to go to another church for that experience. I'm sure if you speak with the Musical Director and the current bass player, they can make some room for you, if that's what you really want.

In addition, you could also be training a "sound guy" intern to help you out and free up more of your time to sit in with the church band. :bassist:

Hey, if you like doing sound, maybe that's your hobby, not music. Then, once you decide that, spend time learning about FOH sound reinforcement and become a pro at that.

Good luck
 
#34
ibateur said:
Excluding the class, which I guess you're a "reluctant participant" in (as I was) you're working about 9 hrs over the weekend. Minimum wage in your state is 8.80 USD per hour. That's almost 80 USD every weekend. Personally, I would advise you to consider that "work" and ask for AT LEAST minimum wage. The sound guy/podcast role is "skilled labor" which you can say is worth 15 USD an hour, but for the sake of your soul, you can give a special price to God. A couple of months, you have a better amp (no need to plug directly into the PA), or extra money for the mom and lil bro.

But, about bars... that's a tough one. I guess there's lots of people here who don't play at bars. Your OP sounds like you're determined to not do that.

Options? Wedding band, party band, outdoorsy cover band... not a lot there.

Bottom line, get paid for the job you have now. And.. practice until you're better than roots/3rds/5ths and re-asses your position/situation.
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I'd love it if I could get paid for what I do, but that's not why I do it. Besides, if I demanded payment, they could just find other people to do it for free. I'm not their only sound guy. The only people that get paid at my church are the Pastoral staff, and I'm ok with that.

My mom does even more than me for the church, tons of things for them. She doesn't get paid either.

When I can find a job that will pay better than unemployment, and won't interfere with church, I'll take it. I've applied for a few jobs that would fit that description, but haven't heard anything back from anybody, so I'm going to keep looking. I'll find something eventually. Until then, I'm thankful to have unemployment to fall back on.
 
#35
Yeah, I think you should try to play bass for your church.

I always wanted to play in a band, but didn't have the money or time until I was 50. Just keep at it and you'll get there.

There's this whole business of working at it, and working at it hard, that seems to be missing here.
 
#37
klokker said:
Yeah, I think you should try to play bass for your church.

I always wanted to play in a band, but didn't have the money or time until I was 50. Just keep at it and you'll get there.

There's this whole business of working at it, and working at it hard, that seems to be missing here.
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They know I'd like to play for them. Hopefully when we have more sound guys I'll be able to.
 
#39
Im 25 have no car and live near you in clackamas oregon. I am playing bass in one band and guitar in another. If I can do it so can you... take max its cheap and gets you to where you need to go. Im actually happy to take max my other band members always have to go down and plug quarters into the parking machines... I dont. And if you find an established band often times they have a nice bass setup you can use.
 
#40
hdracer said:
Do you have a DL?
What is your work history.
Click to expand...

Worked at a pizza shop for about a year and a half starting in 2007, started working there a few weeks before I turned 18. The next year around July I lost that job and was out of work for a few months. My mom supported me during that time.

In January of 2009 I found a job at another pizza shop. Worked there for a while but they started cutting my hours as business slowed down. Got to the point where I wasn't getting enough hours to afford to pay my bills.

So in July of 2010 I got a job at a call center. The job had good pay, more than enough to pay the bills. But in November of 2011 they cut the contract I was working and everyone got laid off. Tried to see if I could transfer to another contract within the company but I didn't have the skills they were looking for.

Been looking for another job ever since.
 
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