It’s bloody difficult. I know a great number of musicians who have more then enough talent to do this thing for a living – and would dearly love to be doing just that – yet they’re languishing away in boring day jobs, working in cover bands playing music they don’t like to punters who don’t care.
So is it just a matter of tenacity? Being in the right place at the right time? Come to think of it, given my present geographical situation the latter option is probably a winner. I’m not sure how long it’s been since we saw the last Tasmanian music star, but I suspect it’s been a good while. But then, I’m not talking “stardom” neccessarily – I’m talking about making a living, getting by, being comfortable, and not having to rent your soul to the corporate world or the governemnt for 38 hours a week to achieve it.
I couldn’t even begin to speculate on a remedy. Just keep plugging away I guess – the problem is it’s a great big Catch-22. If you tie yourself to a “real job” (and you pretty much have to if you want to enjoy those little luxuries like a car, somewhere to live, or nutritionally adequate food) then the majority of your productive hours are lost in the name of, oh I don’t know, calculating some other bugger’s tax returns, or taking pictures of people shaking hands with suits on, or explaining to supposedly intelligent people over the phone where the on-button is. Hard to be in the right place at the right time, when the majority of your time is spent at work. Unless of course the right place happens to be where you work, which (let’s face it) is unlikely.