gigging - rant and rave

[drum6282]

I play pretty frequently around town in several different groups playing several different genres. As a drummer, it's very competitive for gigs due to the small music scene vs number of musicians that are here. Especially given the way restaurants/clubs have cut back on entertainment - music is the first thing to go. Plus, a lot gigs are duo gigs or restaurants where drummers aren't welcome (even brushes). The jazz gigs in the downtown area are, for the most part, monopolized by the local college faculty and their students. I'm lucky to be on most musicians call list when they need a drummer - I play many styles and get along with most. However, I'm extremely disgusted with the scene and the many restaurant/club owners. Not only has the pay been the same since beginning of time but, now the music is starting to all blend together. A lot of it may have to do with the musicians that are being used on gigs are all circulating around each group, but every band is starting to play the same worn out tunes over and over. It's the same band, different lineup. Jazz, rock or pop - it's all the same. How many times do I have to hear/play Autumn Leaves, how many times do I have to play/hear Superstition, how many times do I have to play/hear Chameleon or Watermelon Man? It's so uninspiring. Then, you play a 3 or 4 set gig - which is about a 5 hour night considering breakdown/set up and let's not mention the wait to get paid. Here's a measly 100.00 - maybe - sometimes the manager comes up with some bs excuse and we walk out with 75 to 80 bucks (they won't sign a contract because they know they can get a half ass band in there for the same amount). Don't get me started on gigs playing for the door - I won't even take those calls. The people that really irk my nerves? The musicians who do gigs for free or very little pay. They are doing nothing but devaluing the music and the musicians who do it for a living. Most of these types of people can't play, so now you get more and more hackers on the scene who only know Superstition and Chameleon because they're cheaper than the last band. I have a day job and teach part time, so I'm lucky to be able to play for a hobby. If I did this type of gigging for a living, I'd be broke and probably end up quitting. I play as a hobby and this still gets to me. This past Saturday, I played a place where the AC was half ass (I'm in the hot humid South) and a DJ was playing on the rooftop part of the bar. The band was inside (where 15 people watched - guess where the majority of the people were?). How does a place hire two forms of entertainment to compete with each other? I bet the DJ made more money double what I made on the gig. I was covered in head to toe in sweat. It looked like I jumped in a pool.

I think I've had it. Between hackers, restaurant owners, double bookings, cancellations, same tunes, competing with DJs, I'm done.

Don't get me started on weddings. Maybe I should be a DJ.
_________________

[Kurtis]

i feel your pain. i stopped gigging for a while just cause the scene sucked. started back up with some talented r&b guys. i'm in two bands now. make good cash and we worked our way into the A rooms. there's to much live classic rock in this part of town so people are getting sick of it. r&b is making a comeback. not the disco r&b crap either. non of that play that funky music shit. but if people want to hear it we play it.

clubs and their owners are a bunch of shmucks. can't change that. most of them around here suck nuts. you have to earn your way into their pockets and even then it's still a grind. the reason i still put up with this gigging grind is cause i love to play. but if the bad out way the good like in your case i would hang it up also.

i saw a DJ gig not to long ago where he had a drummer playing along with him. just the two. well rehearsed. the drums beefed up the songs. it worked. how about hooking up with a DJ? can't beat em... join em
_________________

[Vdrummer]

It sounds like you're in a rut. Why not change your approach to those tunes or even not lead your own group? That way you can use the same guys, tailor your set to avoid tunes you think are overplayed and try to build a following to work at bigger venues. I play in a few bands and unfortunately the Jazz gigs usually pay the worst. I'd rather play Autmn Leaves or Superstition than Bon Jovi or Lady Gaga any night of the week and but played them all to best of my abilities this weekend and was happy to have the gigs.

Yes, the DJ probably made more but who the hell wants to be freakin' DJ?!!!
_________________
Go Practice!

[willyz]

I really feel you man. That's the same sort of thing that's happening (happend) to Austin.

I'm pretty tired of the half-assed players in town, playing for little to nothing or nothing. I'm tired of the clubs and asshole owners/managers, and I'm sick of the general public not having any consideration for the band. It's rare that people below the age of 30 tip a dollar for the band when they leave, and it's even more rare to hear them clap after we finish playing a tune. It's pretty sad.

I'm also sick of some of the guys putting together the gigs and how nobody is willing to rehearse, market the band, advertise, or work in general to get a gig and ensure we get paid as we deserve to.

My solution? I'm starting my own project. I'm picking the tunes, I'm picking the players, and I'm going to be working as the band leader getting gigs, marketing, directing, etc. I care about playing and my career too much to let some shmucks ruin it for me. Maybe you need to start up your own shop?
_________________
Got Blushda?

[cjbdrm]

I agree- start your own band/revolution. That's what I'm doing. Put an ad on Craigslist. You might be surprised to learn you're not alone in your frustration...

IMO...any band playing 'chameleon', 'watermelon Man', or 'the Chicken' is just plain lazy. No club owner or audience member ever asks for that tired crap. If you're free to play whatever you want, might as well play some hipper shit.
_________________

[robhaerr]

We rarely play restaurants/bars...unless they compensate us fairly. We have connected with a couple and get paid at least $200 each...which still isn't all that great...but it can be more when we have a really good night at the cash register. These few places understand Business 101...but they are few and far between here in So Calif, too.

But...what we have done over our 23 years is cultivate our private/special event/corporate work. The compensation is much better.

It has taken years, and it is not easy. But is it much more fun coming away from a rough load-in and load-out with $500-$1,000 each....and get fed great food, drinks, make more friends and fans who hire us for their event...and home before midnight in many cases.

And...we are playing whatever tunes we feel will work...these are fun...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrLyUSuUt9E

Good luck, may the force be with you.

By the way...I loved this clip in a post the other day...getting mucho mileage from my musician friends and bandmates...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24_tiGZgPP4
_________________
Rob
The Ravelers
http://www.ravelers.com

[deseipel]

it's funny to see that every local scene has the same bullshit. Where's the good ole musicians union when you need them? Isn't there some local pay scale that should be enforced?

Personally, I've been writing my own stuff for a little while and I'm thinking of starting my own group as well.

but i don't make my living playing music.
_________________
DeSeipel

[Tombo 7/4]

Here the union had arrangements with a couple of jazz clubs. Minimum wage was $65 and club owners never paid more than that.
Now the union is out of the club scene and drums are banned everywhere (even with brushes). Jazz clubs/restaurants now only hire duos (vocal/piano, contrabass/sax,...) because jazz is basically considered as background or dinner music and people want to talk easily.

I started my own jazz/fusion band and do the booking and the advertisement. The only places we can play are small concert venues. We sell tickets or take the door.
I used to be a full time player in the 90s. Scene was bad but not as much as now. In most rock bars you need to pay for the soundman (~$250) and hope for the door.

[matricks]

This has already been posted, but it is quite appropriate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9HoBYl6_XQ
_________________

[drum6282]

When I posted this, I wanted to hear the viewpoints from all over - it's disappointing, but not surprising, to hear it's like this most places. Music has definitely changed. I'm only 28 years old and even in my lifetime it's changed. The whole landscape. I attended Berklee with this dream of being a studio session guy in LA, only to go there and realize I'm paying waaay too much for a degree you get hardly any return on. So I left to not waste any more money. It wasn't a total waste - good learning experience, but you know...the comments on here regarding Berklee are pretty much dead on. It really doesn't make sense to pay that much for a degree in the music. I did my stint for a little while in Nashville at Universal Music Group - only to find a huge dividing line between the business side and the performance side. No jobs either. The jobs that opened up didn't pay enough to hardly live on. Plus, the business side was not what I thought it was...Finished my degree at the University of South Carolina in Political Science/Business as my plan B. If I'd moved somewhere and stuck it out for a couple of years, who knows where I'd be, but with the way the industry is now, I don't regret my decisions. I still work on stuff - the Mastering the Tables of Time by David Stanoch is killer - no matter what level you're at. Of course, working in Gary Chaffee's books and John Riley's stuff at times to keep stuff happening and fresh. But, sometimes, I wonder - why? What still motivates me? There's no real reason to practice this? But, I'm never satisfied with my playing and so I've realized I do this for me because I love to play drums. So I practice stuff I may not use, but it still makes me a solid player with solid time and maybe I can bust out something here and there. That's why I get calls for gigs, even though it's a quiet version of (yawn) Autumn Leaves, or a 5 minute version of (yawn) Superstition and (how ever much time is left to finish the gig on the last set - yawn) Chameleon type gigs. I may start my own project - I've always wanted to, but then there's the part where you have to deal with the restaurant schmucks and kiss their ass to take you in. I'm into the post bop modern jazz stuff - which in Charleston people only know jazz as "restaurant background music that may have vocalist" - hence the Autumn Leaves type real book standards over and over. Or people think that jazz is Soulive or MMW or Galactic - just because there may not be any singing it's jazz, I guess is the mentality...that's jam band music to me. So I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to bust out something by Kurt Rosenwinkel or Chris Potter, etc. etc.. But, I may give it a shot to please me. Everyone will be where the DJ is anyway.
_________________

[benrand]

I have pondered the same things too, I tihnk a lot of people have the same...

But you gotta think about what would happen to your judgment of yourself, perhaps on your death bed, were you to quit...that's what sometimes keeps me going, other than loving learning new things (recently finished the AASD, and moving onto a book on African beats and Rod Morgenstein's drumset warmups book)...but you also have to prepare in case you do find an opportunity, and as you get older, your need for keeping things physically moving is even greater.

As to bandmates, a lot of people suck so badly at being human beings that you just have to live with it. Deal with those types in a business like fashion.

Sometimes that makes them even more shitty, but that's life, and it's too short to let self-destructive assholes screw your stuff up.
_________________
Echoes of Pink Floyd
http://echoesofpinkfloyd.wordpress.com/
www.echoesofpinkfloyd.com

[deseipel]

[Andy Vermiglio]

I had a steady full-time music gig for 8 years. It was great being paid to play on a regular basis. It had full benefits including; dental, medical vision benefits, 30 days paid vacation every year, sick days, education benefits and travel. Many musicians choose to stay with the organization for 20 to 30 years and eventually received retirement benefits. I just had to get a haircut every few weeks and keep up my chops.

Oh yeah, and they picked out my gig clothes.

http://il.youtube.com/watch?v=9mibszO-8nM&feature=related

Old school version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeE7jwQe2wc&feature=player_embedded#!
_________________
www.andythedrummer.com

[deseipel]

[Riddim]

While I can relate to and sympathize with the complaints listed, I think the attitude is dysfunctional and may aggravate your situation. Whining stops nothing but one’s career. No one wants to be around folks who generate and share misery, in any career field.

You live in an area with a small creative class. Perhaps you might relocate to an area where there are more folks who appreciate creative endeavors. Even if you don’t make big bucks there, being able to generate something you’re proud of is very fulfilling. It’s much easier these days to document what one does and get it out there; the next issue is putting butts in seats, but that’s something we all face. You can be miserable anywhere; would you rather be miserable in an area with few good musicians, or lots of them?

This is something you do because you must. Having a plan B is all well and good – I did, and it pays the mortgage today – but in the end, this is something you’re driven to do, and you do what you must to make it happen. We make our own choices, so make them, own up to the consequences, and deal with it.
_________________