Doing this is hard. Like, straight up. I don’t think people understand this. I’m sitting on my third long flight in as many days, having been in Perth on fucking Tuesday and now about to land in New York Shitty on Thursday. Somewhere in between, I took a half dozen meetings in Los Angeles. That is what this lifestyle looks like. A baby is screaming, there’s a guy standing in the aisle who looks like a guy I used to tour with who killed himself, my fucking neck hurts. Don’t get me wrong, I feel fortunate for every day I get to help bands and work in this business. I just wanted to get into the nitty-gritty of why this business sucks sometimes and what you need to emotionally prepare yourself for if you’re trying to get into the music racket for real.
4. You Need To Constantly Create Or Perform
I think this is the thing that people don’t seem to realize about being a full-time musician. If you want to do this for real you need to be creating constantly. There is no day off, it’s constant touring, or when back home you need to be working on recording new music. The thing is – it’s not just playing the shows or the soundchecks or any of that other bullshit. It’s also hustling on social media, meeting with labels, plotting your next moves – all that good stuff. This goes all the way to the top. Even bands you might think are huge find themselves grinding it out. Do you think Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth has an easy day to day schedule? No, that dudes hours are packed. That’s just how it goes, and how it has always been.
3. Drugs And Alcohol Are Everywhere
I feel like this is a big one that people don’t want to talk about. If you’re letting yourself get lost in the basically omnipresent substances then you are shooting yourself in the foot. This is a brutal reality that I see countless bands getting lost in. There’s a reason there are all these stories of classic bands breaking up thanks to heroin. That sort of thing still happens – it’s just that it’s normalized now so we don’t talk about it. It’s really easy to get lost in this and it’s rare that someone will be able to pull you out by your matted ponytail. The even more frustrating part is when you eventually do get a handle on this stuff you become more aware than ever of all the people who are fucked up messes and ensure that this industry frequently runs at a snail’s pace.
2. People Will Hate You
This is a fun one. There’s a lot of hate out there. You see it happening for major bands as well as smaller acts. You see it happen for anyone with a shred of ambition. This is how it goes. It’s one of the most frustrating things in my life and I have no clue how to combat it. At the end of the day, you need to have the emotional perseverance to power through and just keep doing what you’re doing as long as its apparently working. However, coming to terms with the hate around you and the simple reality that many people want to see you fail to combat their own insecurities is really brutal. It’s a twisted arrangement that we have found ourselves in and the more tie you spend in the cesspool that underground music can be the harder it can seem to want to continue.
1. It’s Okay To Have Music As A Hobby
Some of the happiest bands I see out there are the bands that fully realize that they are hobby bands and operate within that framework. This is one of the hardest things to come to terms with but one of the most liberating. When your band realizes that you are going to hit a certain ceiling because of the nature of your lives, it’s okay to accept that. It’s okay to accept that you don’t want constant neck pain from being stuck in planes all the time. Music is a hard gig, especially if you are for some reason mentally condemned to the weird underground stuff that we all love. As for now, I’m just going to try to take a nap. Two more goddamn ours until I am finally home.
MATT BACON
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Matt Bacon is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. Having worked with everyone from Glam Rock icon Phil Collen of Def Leppard, to post Black Metal titans Alcest, by way of legendary thrashers Exhorder as well as labels including Prophecy Productions and Ripple Music, he has dedicated his life to helping young bands develop. Having started his own blog at the age of 14 he views his career in artist development as ‘a hobby that got out of hand’. In 2015 he formed Dropout Media in order to better support the artists he loves. We sit here now, years later with countless tours booked, records released and deals signed, and loving every minute of it.
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