Torque wrote:northernlight wrote:i think the biggest difference between me and a pro is their will to sacrifice security for the chance of having a career in music.
i have a good job that pays well, but i takes us 9 hours of each and every weekday. I go to school, so i have a bigger chance of having good work in 10 and 20 years. Another couple of hours gone. I have a girlfriend. Lots of hours gone. i'm trying to stay healthy by doing sports. Another couple of hours And there is a household to take care of. so in the end there is not that much time i can spend in the studio.
this is all kinds of securities i'm not willing to sacrifice for music. And that's already the first barrier to going pro.
IMO, if you want to go pro dj/producer you have to be willing to sacrifice almost everything to it. Sure it's not that big, if you are 20-25 years old. but to get anywhere, most people have to keep this up for a good 5-10 years. and not many 35 year olds i know would be willing to live the lifestlye of a hawtin or villalobos.
i'm pretty sure each one of this board can make it to the top. But you have to work your ass of and be 100% dedicated. Not just in producing. But also making connections, keep up the PR, etc. Most people can not handle music business 24/7. Only sitting in the studio playing with knobs will not get you anywhere. Only DJing with records you bought from the store will not get you anywhere nowadays. You have to work it from every angle. That's why there are only a few to reach the top.
This is true.
I used to have a job that paid around $70,000 a year, had a girl, crib, car and had everything i needed but happiness. I gave up everything to do this for a living and have been on the edge of bankrupsy for years and i'v never felt happier in my life. It also doesn't hurt that i make some decent money now as well. I had to let go of everything material and it was the hardest decision in my life. Everybody thought i was nuts (They were probably right) but suffering makes great fuel for art.
You have to realise that music is not a material product like food, shelter or clothing, people don't need to have it to survive. People deal with hardship everyday and through music you have a chance to give them an opportunity to escape all that for a second and live within the music and possibly change their attitude for a short while. Having material things is no comparison to the feeling you get with the thought that you may have made the world better for a second. Maybe the person hear what you made, it put them in a better mood and maybe they interacted with the next person they saw in a more freindly way and changed another persons day. Having "Things" is not profound and they do nothing to better anybodies life but your own. If you really let go of all that and just give your all at music things have a way of working themselves out, God will provide what you need one way or another. If you're really serious about this listen to Northernlight he has some real insight. You'd be surprised how much better your tracks get when you need to make them to put food on the table but even then you have to be willing to take risks within your music, you have to be willing to give it all up at any moment. A life without taking risks is not worth living.
you guys have really pinpointed the reality of it !
i was a professional drummer at the age of 16, and now i'm 51, and ive never done anything other than music all my life, but ive lived on the edge the whole time, and i've had to shun the corporate consumer lifestyle most westerners are born into and are sucked along with.
but i wouldnt have it any other way, i live for music, it's 24/7 for me, and i'm totally underground and always have been because i've always refused to compromise my music for commercial success.
i can see how it would be very difficult to hold down a 9 to 5 and still find the energy to raise your music beyond hobby status, but some people can do it.
this is a story familiar to musicians and artists through the ages.
i slightly dissagree about music not being a neccesity, i believe we are the species 'that dances' it is integrale to our spirit, and i agree with Sauce that its in our genes.
in the end three things are important to me in this world, my family and friends, my soulmate, and my music, sorry 6 things, add to that peace, justice and tolerance, and i'll never stop believing that music and dance is the only hope for mankind to evolve out of its current status as a ruthless self-destructive killer species, and even if i add only a tiny contribution to those ends, then it was worth dedicating my life to it.
