Musicians working together.

Being a musician is a strange world to be in. I have had many jobs in my life, and owned my own business. The music indusrty however, is a league of its own. As a computer technician with my own computer shop, it was always easy to find help when you needed it. Even from other computer shop owners. Everyone knew thier spot and didn't try to step on each others toes. The music industry is a whole other world though. Everyone is out to tread on everyone.

Agents want venues and bands to book exclusivly through them, and bands are willing to cut thier price just to get the gig. Its totally killing the cover band scene. Gone are the days of great live bands in every pub on the weekends. Not only do cover bands have to contend with poker machines, they have to contend with each other. Are we crazy. Why does it take becoming big and famous before musicians will start working together? If band "A" undercuts band "B" by $100 just to secure a gig, then the message they are sending to the publican is clear. You don't need to pay $800 for a band. You can get them for $700. And so the trend is set. Slowly but surely, the prices are driven down. This is the only industry I know of where inflation has the opposite effect on how much we earn.

The price of petrol is getting over the top these days, not to mention many other costs of living. But week after week and month after month, we see ourselves out there projecting our talent for far less than its worth. Its just ludicrous. If we banded together as one industry, we would all be better off. I'm not talking doubling our prices, but an extra $50 per gig would certainly go along way to keeping most of the great talent out there. A simple 3.5% rise per annum would bring the music industry into line a bit more and keep us struggling musicians from throwing in the towel. Come on people, think about it. It makes perfect sense.

Making the best of a bad situation.

Isn't it funny how easily we can adapt and change when its needed. As most of you know, I'm a fulltime musician. Occasionally I do solo work that requires just me to show up on time. Most of the time I do a duo with another guy. Now being a fulltime musician is not the sort of job that you can just phone in sick for. Especially not on the day. However, I had this unfortunate event happen to me yestarday when my duo partner sent me an SMS to say he was incredibly sick and didn't think he would be able to do a very good job that night. We you can well imagine that from my perspective, missing one gig in a week can serverly effect my income by up to half.

Finding it totally unacceptable to cancel a gig at such short notice, I put my thinking cap on. I could do the gig solo, but if the venue wanted a solo artist, they would have booked one. I certainly had no problem singing the whole gig, so all I really needed was someone to be on the stage with me to sing along with me and perhaps tap away the tambourine. Well I'm happy to say that the solution was right in front of me. My wife is a classicly trained singer and should have no problem oicking out the harmonies, and she can certainly tap a tambourine. She was delighted to help out, and it also meant I didn't have to pay an outsider for the night so it was a win win situation.

So here I am, 24 hours later, job is done, crowd was happy and I have saved "Toybox" from a black mark againt its name once again. Its a cut throat industry this music business. Always someone who believes they can do it better and cheaper. Most of them are half right at the very least. But its that main reason that it is crucial to do your best on every occassion. As a cover act, you are only as good as your last performance. And believe me, if you pull out of a gig at short notice, it gets remembered a lot longer than you think.

Forever Friends

What defines a friend? To many people its many things. I don't have a long list of friends basically because my defining list is probably too long or too fussy. Some people like to call everybody friend. Thats sweet at the very least, but not practical. To me a freind is someone you think about frequently. Someone you love to see whenever its possible. Someone who gives you positive words in rough times. Someone who is always genuinly happy for you when you suceed or do something well. A friend does not need to be someone you see everyday or even every week. I have a few good friends and none of them live in the same city as I do. In fact, one lives in Perth WA, one in the ACT and another in NSW. So it goes without saying that I don't see them very often. In fact, one special friend I had not seen for 17 years at one stage. Not seen, not spoken, not heard of. I was lucky enough to find her through a website one day. So how do I still call her a friend.

Well in my book, a friend is someone who shares a special moment in your history that means something to you. This girl was my very first Girlfriend. I was thirteen at the time so it was a big deal at that age to have a girlfriend. We are talking about a memory in my life that has been etched in me forever. She was also a good friend, as was her whole family. And now almost 27 years on, she is still my friend. We have both been married and had children and so on. Our lives have taken very different avenue's, and yet we still see each other as close friends. A kind of unspoken understanding. Although I don't see here at all, except if we happen to be in each others state for a holiday, we still stay in touch and keep each other up with the latest goss.

If you have someone like that in your life, cherish it. Be careful to not take it for granted. When all is said and done in this life, all thats left are memories. And the memories of a lasting friendship are things that make your life worth living.

Walk the line

I went out last night with my Wife to see the movie about the life of Johnny Cash called "Walk the line". What I got was a movie that delved into the pain of a man and showed how from the pain of life comes that greatest of stories. A man who forever seeked approval from his father, and went every which way to get it. A man who got lost in the world of Sex, Drugs and Rock n roll. A man who was passionate about his music. What's more, I got a connection to that man. Now I have never been a big Johnny Cash fan. But I admire the man with the utmost respect for following his dreams and making them a reality. Can the same be said for the rest of us in life? Not likely. Most of us go through life as the door to door salesman. Never daring to step outside the realm of possibility. Well I tell you right now. The possibilities in life are endless. All you have to do is try. Just watching this movie inspired me to come home and write a song for my father with whom I shared a similar relationship to that of J.R. and his father. So my little peice of advice is this. Don't look at someone's struggle and decide it all looks too hard. Look at thier struggle and be inspired.

Land of neanderthals

Well here I am after another gig and the end of my working week as it is. Sunday marks the first day of my four day weekend that is the life of a musician. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. Tonight was a typical average night. The only real entertainment came from a group of young men in thier late teens who decided they wanted to fight each other in the middle of surfers paradise. What a great site for the people in the streets who were there to have an enjoyable night out. Needless to say, there was far more heavy words thrown than there was punches, although a few did fly in the middle of the road of all places. It was not enough that there brains had fried to the point that they thought a good fist in the side of the face was overdue, but they also thought they had all become superman and were immune to the inertial forces of a car driving it to them at 50km/h. Was I ever that dumb at that age? Probably. In fact there is little doubt that I was. But it still amazes me when I see it in todays youth.

Anyway, on a lighter note, we did come across and Elvis impersonator in Caville Ave that was none too shabby. He went by the name of Tommy Memphis. He put on a rather good show for the people in the street and made a few dollars out of it as well. He was great entertainment and really knew how to work the crowd. I hope to catch up with him in a few weeks when we play surfers paradise again.

Long time no hear.

Its been a while between posts here, but things are moving along. I'm married again for the 3rd time in my life, but very happy and glad I did it. I'm finally working as a fulltime Musician which in itself is a wonderful thing for any musician to say. The next step is to get my act together and record some of my own music and see if anyone else is interested in it.

I'm also looking into doing an Electronics course so I can gain more skills and hopefully start a repair business to keep the cash flowing. One thing I have learnt in this last year is that it is never too late to do something new. While ever you draw breath, its never too late to change. I will always be a musician firstly though. It is my greatest passion.

Anyway, I have just arrived home from a gig in Toowoomba where I play regularly. The National Hotel to be exact. Tomorrow night I'm off to Surfers Paradise for another gig. Its a much quieter night, but it keeps the money flowing.
Till next time,
Keep smilin......