I have found musicians to be of questionable character and low moral values.

I think you forgot the smelly part

I saw no reason to single out drummers.

Randy

I saw no reason to single out drummers.

Somehow I felt that one coming...

I will concede there's most likely a higher incidence of substance abuse among musicians, and since that's mostly illegal, one important step has already been made in contact with the real badasses. Other than that, it's of course a silly generalization.

ORIGINAL: Xfusion
...Lately, work has been killing my creativity and draining all of my energy and focus- I had been recording and working on my music at nights and on the weekend, but I've realized I just can't do it anymore. When I come home, my brain is fried and all I want to do is relax and rest and I keep putting my music off even though I really do want to work on it. And whenever I try to force myself to work on music, I get poor results because my mental energy is just gone...

This segment here is the nut of the dilemma and illustrates the exact reason that quitting your job *won't* make your musical life better.

Being a full-time musician is much harder than being a part-time one. Frankly if you were really as dedicated as you're telling yourself you are then you would be making music instead of complaining about how you're mentally drained. You have the same hours in the day as Einstein, Da Vinci, Bach, Coltrane, Mother Teresa had. This board has some 20,000 people most of whom do music as a hobby or whatever.

Think about this: you don't even have sufficient commitment to be a hobbyist. What are you going to blame when you have no job?

I am not trying to be cruel, here, but you are about to make a really big mistake. When I saw the title of this thread I figured someone had been confronted with a small contract or tour deal, or was making some little money doing music and wondering whether to risk life without health coverage or job security or whatever. My advice to that person would have been to go for it.

But you are not actually confronting a choice of whether to pursue music, you are trying to use your (lack of) dedication to music as an excuse to quit your job, and asking people here to validate it.

Go back to school, seriously. Consider therapy. You are on the fast track to depression if you quit your job now, because two months later you will have nothing musical to show for it, you will be embarrassed by that fact which will lead you to withdraw from friends and family, you will become that much more discouraged and tired...

Seriously, get help from people around you who know your situation better than we do. Listen to advice from smart people around you. Do not listen to the part of you that keeps telling you that it's your job's fault. That is not a voice that's leading you to a good place.

Cheers.

PS-- If you are in a place where "it's really hard to get a job," my guess is that that place is not greater LA, New York, London or Nashville.

You should seriously get yourself enrolled in school in a city with an actual music industry. Getting out of your parent's house and being surrounded by other young and creative people will improve your energy a lot more than simply quitting your job will.

Really, a popular music "album" is ten 3~5 minute songs with a handful of chords and simple verse-chorus structures. If you can't finish some songs it's not a problem of the amount of hours in a day.

The best way to accomplish more is to get more inspired. The best way to get more inspired is to do MORE, not less.

Cheers.

Putting in a long day at work can drain your creativity, but it doesn't have to be that way. Devote that time to working, not music. Don't try to mix those worlds. When you're done go home and focus anew on your art. Circumstances will always pose potential obstacles, it's your internal orientation toward them that matters.
Your life is out of balance, and taking a musical vacation isn't necessarily going to rectify that.
Just don't lose perspective. You probably will fall into a different rhythm, a more spontaneous, creative mode while on leave of absence, but that doesn't have much bearing on whether you can survive on music alone.
Going to extremes isn't the answer. You need to be centered.
Also, the notion that at 25 it's do or die time is simply ridiculous.

I don't work a "regular" type job, anyway, but as you pointed out, there's literally MILLIONS of others out there with the same dream as you. For me, music is only ONE of my creative outlets- I'm also a freelance author. It's a tough living making music for a living, and many of my allpro buddies wind up using drugs or going down a path of self-destruction that comes with the disillusionment of being nearly 40, and not having anything.

For me, music is a way of life, but that doesn't mean it pays the bills. If you "make" it, fine, but very few actually do, so I would advise you to do what you feel like you should do, even if it means quitting your job- but be willing to accept the consequences.
GG

ORIGINAL: keith

ORIGINAL: Roflcopter

just don't end up looking like this dood.

I guess that's why they used a frog in the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oADfmYQWmW8

You can have your speed metal, and thrash metal, and post-industrial-suburban-goth-metal.... I'll take the old geezer that can still belt out a tune... oh, and some good ol' fashioned dragons and demons help too.

Me too. Rainbow and Sabbath frakin rules!!

Do you have the "Holy Diver Live," set? I have the CD and the video. It's effin awesome!

I'm writing a song that's a tribute to RJD right now... I'll tell you what inspired me, was the "Tenacious D" movie. Dude, you should watch that... if that doesn't inspire you to finish a song, I don't know what will.


BTW, does anyone here know if the "chart positions" of songs on SoundClick actually mean anything? How are they calculated? I mean, one or two of mine got in the top 10 recently in their subgenre- is this good, or does it mean nothing? Several user "radio stations" are playing a couple of my songs, but they're the special interest type (ie, Wiccan radio stations playing the songs I have that are specifically Wiccan in nature) so I don't put a whole lot of stock in that.

GG

ANOTHER brief piece of advice,

Personally, I am not TRYING to become a big famous star (even if I was talented enough- but I've played with some REALLY good pepole, I don't want to brag about who- but some brand-name folks, and I have no illusions about being able to compete with them on their level, I was just honored that they thought enough of me as a musician to allow me to sit in with them)- but, then again, sometimes talent doesn't have anything to do with whether you "make it" or not... BUT, I'm not saying I'd turn down a record deal, but record companies pick bands, and assign them a 'producer'- then the band pretty much loses a lot of creative control over their work- in fact, I know bands that have record deals that, when they went in to record, every instrument in the band except the singer was replaced by session musicians. And...if this is your living, a lot of interested parties who have thrown a LOT of money at you feel like they have the right to say what goes on your album- rightly or wrongly-we'll save the debate on the finer points of capitalism for another day. I could not live with this, and it would be an unacceptable situation to me, I play what I feel, and if others want to listen, fine, and if they don't, well, I really don't care. My music is a deeply personal thing, a 'map,' if you will, of some of my sub- and super-conscious thoughts. And my mind isn't pretty to a lot of people, so I know my songs don't have a lot of popular appeal, and that's OK.
GG

PS-- If you are in a place where "it's really hard to get a job," my guess is that that place is not greater LA, New York, London or Nashville.

You should seriously get yourself enrolled in school in a city with an actual music industry. Getting out of your parent's house and being surrounded by other young and creative people will improve your energy a lot more than simply quitting your job will.

Really, a popular music "album" is ten 3~5 minute songs with a handful of chords and simple verse-chorus structures. If you can't finish some songs it's not a problem of the amount of hours in a day.

The best way to accomplish more is to get more inspired. The best way to get more inspired is to do MORE, not less.

Cheers.

I live very close to Nashville, and I can't find a job for s$#@t. But, I have a spotty work history...
Anyone else here live near Nashville? Wanna start a band?
I just want to rock, not necessarily make millions...
But the millions would be OK too. ;-)
GG