College v. Band?!


Question:

College v. Band?

Well, I'm in a band, and I really enjoy playing (I play guitar/bass about 1-3 hours a day. Before you say it, I have a life, but I love guitar), but I figured it was just a hobby/way to pick up chicks. The other day at practice, though, our guitarist started talking about getting signed/touring. I thought he was just talking hypothetically, but he was serious. unfortunately, he's getting out of college two years before the rest of us are, and he doesn't want to wait for us to graduate.
From what I understand, it's pretty hard to get signed and whatnot, but we really do have a good setup - our guitarist is going to college to be an audio engineer, and everyone in the band is good friends with the owner of a (and pretty much the only) venue for local bands to play at.
My plans, however, were to graduate and get a job and maybe play in a band on the side. I suppose what I'm asking is what would you do, because if I ask what to do, I have a feeling I'm going to get all "Do what you want".

Additional Details

2 weeks ago
To quote Rivers Cuomo from Weezer,

"I thought school sucked and rock music ruled. It was an easy decision [to pursue a career in music]."

Those 1000 characters went fast.

2 weeks ago
Right now we're called "Homemade Heresy" (it kinda started as in inside joke, saying "we'll change it later) but we never changed it. We're a prog rock band, and we're recording some time this year.


Answers:

Seriously consider the career possibilities with your band. Do a realistic analysis of what your earning potential is. Forget chasing a dream. We're talking about your future here.

Be as serious as you want about getting signed, but realize how many other serious bands out there are trying to get signed. What are your chances? How are you going to make a living while trying to get signed? You have to also think about how you're going to make a living even IF you get signed...because that alone isn't necessarily going to put a scrap of food on your table. There are lots of artists out there who can tell you how they had a hit record and were still broke. [I could go into that, but we'll save that for another day.]

However, I'm not saying that a career as a musician is an impossible dream. It is virtually impossible if the goal is to "make it big". But, if you shift the focus toward making a living rather than being a star, it's quite possible...actually kind of easy. There are lots of us who do it. We are in...hold on to your hat...cover bands! I know that saying that draws snickers from all those guys who think it's beneath them to play someone else's songs, but the paycheck you can draw is much bigger than what their music will make them. (I'm talking about 5-6 man bands easily making $3,500 on a Saturday night.) I can go into more detail on this, too, but I won't bore everyone with it. The short version is...call booking agents, ask who their top bands are, go to the agency's website and read up on those bands, check out their picture to see what they look like, check out their playlist to see what they're playing. That's what makes them make money. Be ye like unto those bands and thou shalt make a good living.

AND, you can start while you're in college!!!!! I did. Lots of people work while in school. It might as well be a music job. I played in bands all through college. At one point (after gaining some experience on the road), I left the band I was in and started a new one with some classmates. Three years later, we cut the first of the five CDs that were done while I was in the band. Four years after we started, we were full-time. I left that band 5 years ago (10 years after I started it), and they're still going. A couple of years before I left, we were getting $3,500 for a private party on Saturday nights, about $2,500 for a Friday. With only 8 people on the payroll, that wasn't bad money back then.

Don't think that you have to choose between college and your band. It's just a job. You just have to decide whether you're going to work or not. If you see the band as a business and treat it as such rather than an artistic venture, it's a very viable career move. However, if you want to focus on getting signed, making it big, or whatever...let that be something to do on the side, not something you're counting on.


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