Your Comfort Zone Sucks
One thing about this project that I didn’t fully anticipate was the consequences of pushing myself so far out of my comfort zone. In fact, I didn’t really consider I had a comfort zone. I tend to live by my own rules. Like, the idea of playing drums on the street as my sole source of income is something I am very passionate about. The idea of being 100% self sufficient and doing it 100% on my own terms cuts to the heart of who I am. My personal standard of my own integrity is defined in the proceeding sentence. That doesn’t mean, however that this is practical. But I hate practical. Who says it has to be practical? So, how to reconcile this idea of integrity with the “practical” requirements of being able to pay your way and survive with a roof over your head? And why should I worry about it anyways? Why don’t I just do exactly what I want? I’ll tell you why. Other People. There are other people in the world. I’m in love with another person. Maybe I could have written this blog for years concentrating on drumming and how to make a living as a street musician. Looking at the world of buskers and street performers I am continually inspired by their dedication to living outside the box. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t have some questions for them. Are all street musicians homeless? Do they pay taxes? Live in boxes? Can they afford to eat organic food or do they have to eat McDonalds because it’s all they can afford? And most importantly, are they in love? Do they have someone who depends on them to pull their weight? I do. And that fact requires a lot of inspection. Loving another person and being responsible for their happiness and survival do not necessarily go hand in hand. I could just “do what I want” and play drums and write my blog and probably talk forever about all the experiences I have in that arena. But in the back of your mind you’d probably be asking yourself, “I wonder if he has a girlfriend or wife?” This problem I’m outlining here seems to be the trap of many musicians. I dare say most artists and musicians are trapped by it. “I’m an artist” seems to be used to justify an awful lot of non survival behavior. And I am as guilty of this as the next starving artist. And it’s really bullshit. There is no question that I am happy when I play drums. Theres no question that I’m great at it....
The Make Break Point And Free Parking
The term “viable” means basically, “able to support oneself”. This applies to any activity in life. Even street drumming. I worked out that it would take $66 a day to make street drumming “viable” at 20 days a month. Pay the bills, keep the lights on. Well, A couple of things didn’t get factored into this equation, like parking. Do you know it costs $5 an hour to park in San Francisco? So if I make $20 an hour drumming on the street. I need to play for about 3 1/2 hours to make that $66, but now you add about $20 to park and I have to play for 5 hours to clear $66. Something like that. Yesterday I pulled up to the Ferry Building at about 5pm, didn’t have enough change to put an hour on the meter, so sat there and waited until 6, when parking becomes free. Only, I had to pick my girl up from work at 7. So I had an hour. 20 min to push drums down the street, find a place to set up. Set up, play, tear down, push cart back to car. 30 min playing time, maybe. Fuck it. Went for it. Push cart, set up, start playing. Super dirty homeless guy immediately comes up beside me doing crazy man dance. Tough call on the street because you can’t really kick people out who have no other place to go. Being a street musician, you’re kind of on their turf and it comes with the territory. However, people were repelled by this dude and that meant nobody wanted to come close enough to drop a buck in the case. 10 min later, he left. So 20 min to make it worthwhile. Few people dropping a couple of bucks. This well off gentleman standing a couple hundred feet away watching the rocking. 10 min later he walks over, big smile, says “somebody’s got to make this worth your while, you’re killing it” drops a $20 in the case. I played for about 25 min and made $24. There’s a lot to be said for “Just DO IT” Don’t do dumb stuff. Don’t hurt other people. But definitely DONT sit there wondering IF, or SHOULD I? Get out there and DO. Someone will eventually dig it. Faith in mankind...
Outside Outside Lands
Today I set up outside Outside Lands 2012 in Golden Gate Park SF. Played for 2 hours, made 18 bucks. I think its kind of a funny thing to have TheBEstDrummerInTHeWORld on my kick drum. Honestly, for the most part, the people walking by, heading to a major rock festival ignore you. I hate to say “kids these days” because I hate to sound or BE old. But, kids today are in their own world. I’m sure I was. I know many of the bands on the Outside Lands roster, but I don’t really know who many of the drummers on the bill. I could have been any of them. I would recognize Lars from Metallica, Dave Grohl or Taylor Hawkins from Foo Fighters, but thats about it. Fitz and The Tantrums drummer is great, but I couldn’t pick him (or maybe its a her) out of a crowd. At a certain point, a hipster dude with shades and a captains hat asked if he could sit down and play. I let him and he could play. He quickly had about 6 people around banging on the drums with him. Maybe he was the popular guy in the neighborhood, maybe the captains hat signaled a certain level of cool that I don’t quite grasp. But he gathered a crowd with arguably less drumming skills than I. It’s just a funny part of the study to see the responses people have to ME and to “some guy playing drums in the street” They seem to be two different studies. Maybe I need to dress like a stereotypical rockstar. Leather pants street...
I’m Not The Only One
Never thought I was the only one but busking is a funny experience. You have to pick yourself up by the scruff of your own neck and drag your stuff out there, not asking permission and Do it. I never considered myself part of a community. Never belonged to a support group. My experience has been in bands and part of playing in a band is an “us against the world” mentality. It’s always nice to find people who think like you do. Its even better when you can respect and admire what they do. The icing on the cake is learning from them while maintaining your own unique orientation. And so it is with this awesome group from SF called Clangin’ & Bangin’ I subscribe to a “music business insiders” newsletter called TheLefsetzLetter. It has lots valuable insights into the music biz and the world of music as a business which has lost its soul. The Clangin’ & Bangin’ guys gave a thoughtful response to one of the articles in the newsletter. I contacted one of the guys and asked if I could reprint his response as it was so refreshing to find a kindred spirit. A drummer friend and I were frustrated with all these issues being discussed and decided to do something about it. We’ve been in bands for a few years, played bars, decent venues, small festivals, etc. But definitely no $ or major recognition. So over the last year we’ve been dragging an upright piano and drum kit all around the Bay Area. We started playing on the streets for free, in winter, (with hand warmers!) and it has led to all kinds of gigs. We still play on the street often, but those initial gigs led to private parties, MLB baseball games, NPR recognition, and actual paid gigs. Our drummer quit his job a few months ago and has subsisted on playing gigs ever since. Granted, he does have some loans and grants for music school, but he makes more money playing music than in his previous jobs. His classmates can’t believe how many gigs he plays. But they weren’t handed to us. If you put yourself out there you never know what can happen. http://music.clangnbang.com/ -Kirby Lee Hammel Well said. And kudos to anyone who pushes a piano out into the street to play. I promise to never bitch about lugging my drums ever again. ...
A Man Without A Country – Vonnegut
I subscribe to this newsletter and saw this Kurt Vonnegut quote in it from A Man Without A Country, which I haven’t read, which I’m gonna run out and get Reprinted with no permission of anyone but me. “If you want to really hurt your parents, and you don’t have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I’m not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven’s sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” “A Man Without a Country”,...
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