Advice for my future! lol!!

synergy

synergy

Senior Member
Maybe not that dramatic.

I am approaching 30 at the end of this month. Doing a little naval gazing in respect to my life etc.

Assessing where I am- re-examing goals and plans etc.

On a personal life perspective I have everything I want/ need. A great supporting wife, 2 fantastic kids, the house a good job etc- its just my drumming that I am so-so about.


I am in a band with good friends- enjoy everything we do, yet I want to explore my drumming horizons a little more. Looking through my record collection I see I have a large soft spot for singer/songwriter type artists.


So I have been having 'the big talk' with myself about what I want to do with myself. I would really like to be able by the start of spring next year to try to put myself out there for the local singer/songwriter's in my area as an available drummer for them to use.

I'm not talking about changing my career and going off on tour to make millions. I would like to get my name on the list of 'go-to' musicians people think about when they need something.

So I come on here seeking advice over what you guys think would best serve me to acheive this goal?

I know my chops are nowhere near anywhere I would dream of putting myself out there as the go-to drummer, but I can swing a pretty tight groove etc.

I figure my so-so reading could also do with a big improvement as well-

Just looking for advice that you wonder guys and gals out there could lay on this eternally greatful member of this fantastic drum community
 
Hi mate.

Far be it from me to advise anyone on what they should do. I am no great success, but I am happy. I play drums for a living and it is cool. You have a happy family. Or so it appears from what you posted. That is rare as far as I can tell.

If you want to play locally it is not an issue. Ask around about auditions and put your name out there. As for full time pro work, that requires you being able to tour.

As for what you want to do with your life? Mate, follow your heart. Follow your bliss. It is easy for me to say it because I have no dependants. I arranged my life this way. So within the boundaries of your responsibilities do what makes you happy.
 
synergy said:
Maybe not that dramatic.

I am approaching 30 at the end of this month. Doing a little naval gazing in respect to my life etc.



I know my chops are nowhere near anywhere I would dream of putting myself out there as the go-to drummer, but I can swing a pretty tight groove etc.
Click to expand...

Aproaching 30. I am approaching 60 soon enough!
I would scan Craigslist or whatever you have wherever you are. My older brother is from Rochester NY and plays regularly in 3 or 4 bands, so if you are up there the scene is fantastic. He's got groove but light on the chops, and he is easy to get along with. Many bands just want groove and a like mind!
Branch out man. No reason in the world not to. You have been lucky in life so far, so keep it going!
 
There are many musician networking sites here in the Atlanta area so I would imagine there are in your area as well. Just do a search; prepare to spend some time following leads. Good luck!
 
You have to get yourself out there...to the open mics especially. ALL of my musician contacts stemmed from me going out to the open mics and playing. If people like what you do, you'll get asked to play I'm sure. I'd say let your playing do the talking, but some people are good at talking themselves up...so whatever suits your promotional style. Just don't be pushy, from my experience, the less the drummer talks, the better they are recieved by the others (assuming the playing is right).

No CL ad can come close to someone experiencing your playing live, so find out where there are open mic jams and get some exposure.
 
You know, you're deep in the same spot I found myself in a couple years ago. Actually over the last 5 years or so. Before I delve in to that, you have what you say is a great family. Put that first. I'm sure you do, but it's worth saying. If you can manage keeping that rolling, then wherever you want to go musically isn't that hard.

Here's what I did, and I kinda have to ramble about myself a bit, but I'll keep it really short. Band I had everything invested in imploded. I moved to Nashville for a few years to focus on my IT career. I got really far away from music there, believe it or not. Then I moved back to WV (music Mecca of the world, I know). Then I started piecing together the studio I have now, a little bit at a time as people back here started wanting me to do this and that. Then I started writing. I play most anything a bit, but drumming is my life. Now I'm working on an album of my stuff. Not that that's important, but that's what I'm getting to. My point is that, like you, I hit a wall. Beating your head against a wall is pretty dumb. The other side of that wall might not be what you want to get after. You can move left and right as well.

Losing my last band left a real bad taste in my mouth. In all the emotion and everything I didn't differentiate between music and the music business. I cut my nose off despite my pretty face (joke). What it took for me to get back to music was pushing everyone back to where I was alone and just playing music again. Throwing some of my all time favorite music on my headphones and playing along. Listening to new things, and experiencing new things that have nadda to do with music brought me new perspective. Not even fun stuff like traveling and all that. You sound bored, man. You might want to step away from playing for a bit. In order to express yourself musically, you have to live. That gives you the fodder that you draw from musically.

Music is the output of your life. We're who we are because we take all our lives in, and then put things back out musically. Where I'm at now, I've got a whole lot of life I can work with to channel into music. That's a great place for me to be in. You sound like you want to expand. Don't be down about that. Use it. You might be a bit worried about how to go about doing that. Don't be. That's an even better place than I'm in. The best thing you can do is embrace that. It sounds like you want to take where you're at, not from a business perspective, but a creative one, and take it somewhere else. Do that. Do that all day long. You don't need anyone's permission. See if your musician people want to do that. If they do, great. If they don't....go ahead anyway.

You have a problem a lot of us envy....a tight family and feeling like you can go different places musically. That's not a problem...that means you have plenty of tread left on your tires. Get to it. You don't have a problem. You have music to make. Get to it, son.
 
I agree with ricc333 that music is the expression of a complete life.

I would say; make sure your time is impeccable and that you can cover different styles. If you can groove even a little bit and keep solid time, I'm sure you could become an "in demand" drummer on your local scene.
 
Thanks for the reply guys- Do I really sound bored?

I ask this because I have recently started playing again. I took basically 6 months off- my band needed a rest for external reasons and I felt I just needed to leave the drums alone for a while as things werent working correctly.

I've since started playing again in the last month- I've changed my setup to one where I;ve never felt more comfortable. I'm playing better and generally enjoying playing again- I'm practicing 40mins-1 hr a day- 5 days a week at the moment, which is something I've never done in the whole time I've been playing.

I think boredom part may be from how rigid my bands music is. We have a certain thing that makes us unique in our area- this is a good thing but can also limit what we play.

I started to jam with a guitarist and a fantastic bass player- they are into Phish type jam music- which is not my thing but it allowed me so much freedom as a drummer- I enjoyed it a lot- however the bass player is having some kind of spiritual enlightenment or something and he has given up the bass to concentrate on writing poetry.


Hey, each to their own- but it kinda put a spanner in the works of those jam sessions!

Jim_Gregory- who is your brother? And what are the bands he plays in? I've probably seen him play out if he does that?
 
So I still plan to get myself into a position to be out there for singer/songwriters.

However I realized today that I have been working with someone for about 3 years who sung at UCLA in a acapella group. She has a fantastic voice and we got speaking today and are going to start working together.

It is going to her singing, myself on drums and an acoustic guitar. PLaying small bar venues and coffee shop type things.

Does anyone have any experience in this type of setting? Just wonder what I should look out for- I'm used to just usual Rock setting- so it will be a totally new experience, but so excited about the possiblities
 
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