Just Quit
Touring to the west coast and back in a two week span will be grueling. It's difficult to be serious about a band while holding down a full time job. As much as I want BB to be successful though, the boundaries are very clear.
Many years ago Old Band had an opportunity to release a split LP with a band from Oregon at minimal expense to us. We had just put out a demo tape and had only a few new songs, so we very quickly wrote a bunch of half-assed ones (most sucked... one was really good, another was sort of ok) and put the thing out. It was not a shining moment for Old Band, what with all the relatively poor new material and inferior versions of old songs.
The band on the other side was a "ska punk" band... not a genre I'm fond of, but whatever. They liked us and were very enthusiastic about the release. They had some phone conversations with белорус Рикк about marketing the record.
Other band: "We can't wait to hit the road so we can sell the record on tour. When are you guys touring?"
белорус Рикк: "We probably won't be, actually. We've all got jobs and stuff."
Other band: "So? Just quit!"
Рикк and I laugh about that comment to this day. They probably assumed a) we worked disposable shit jobs, b) jobs were easy to find here or c) moving to another city for future work was no big deal.
If I worked an easily replaceable job, constant touring would be a great idea. This has never been possible for me, since I've always either been working to save money for school or working to survive. Nowadays, I don't have a job so much as a career. For me to give it up I'd require enough money to retire on, up front.
That might sound like a bummer, but it's really not so bad. I know I'll never need a lucrative band to get by financially, so there is no pressure to write that big hit and "make it". Maybe that's part of why I'm so into this band. They were about my age (actually, older) when they became a huge indie rock buzz band. Prior to that, they operated just like I do... working day jobs, but remaining productive and creatively free.
Will BB get to that level? Probably not... but if nothing else, our new album will have better sound than anything those guys had in their first fifteen years of existence. Which is still not saying much.
Many years ago Old Band had an opportunity to release a split LP with a band from Oregon at minimal expense to us. We had just put out a demo tape and had only a few new songs, so we very quickly wrote a bunch of half-assed ones (most sucked... one was really good, another was sort of ok) and put the thing out. It was not a shining moment for Old Band, what with all the relatively poor new material and inferior versions of old songs.
The band on the other side was a "ska punk" band... not a genre I'm fond of, but whatever. They liked us and were very enthusiastic about the release. They had some phone conversations with белорус Рикк about marketing the record.
Other band: "We can't wait to hit the road so we can sell the record on tour. When are you guys touring?"
белорус Рикк: "We probably won't be, actually. We've all got jobs and stuff."
Other band: "So? Just quit!"
Рикк and I laugh about that comment to this day. They probably assumed a) we worked disposable shit jobs, b) jobs were easy to find here or c) moving to another city for future work was no big deal.
If I worked an easily replaceable job, constant touring would be a great idea. This has never been possible for me, since I've always either been working to save money for school or working to survive. Nowadays, I don't have a job so much as a career. For me to give it up I'd require enough money to retire on, up front.
That might sound like a bummer, but it's really not so bad. I know I'll never need a lucrative band to get by financially, so there is no pressure to write that big hit and "make it". Maybe that's part of why I'm so into this band. They were about my age (actually, older) when they became a huge indie rock buzz band. Prior to that, they operated just like I do... working day jobs, but remaining productive and creatively free.
Will BB get to that level? Probably not... but if nothing else, our new album will have better sound than anything those guys had in their first fifteen years of existence. Which is still not saying much.
posted by the baron ash von foolishness at 9:24 PM
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