For a while now (while in Australia at least), I've been working in the world of corporate AV to fill my days. It's always been something that has been relatively easy and convenient and it's possible to make a great living doing it. The problem is, to make a great living means working crazy hours, never saying no to a shift, basically having not much of a life outside work. As soon as you turn down a shift, you are moved ever so slightly down the rungs of their crewing ladder to a point where they don't call at all anymore. I'm not quite at that point yet but I'm feeling myself getting close. Another downside of this job is that most of the work comes in the week of or 2 days out or even the day before so I spend my time stressing that, "it's going to be another quiet week, hopefully the pay from my 1 show will be enough to tide me over.".
I'm getting a little tired of this constant cycle of uncertainty and working nights all the time. I get jealous of my friends with their 9-5's and their "weekends" and "public holidays". I don't think I've received any kind of penalty rate in my field for about 6 years.
My focus right now is shifting to the new band, The Union Pacific. It's early days right now but we're young and we've got time to hone our craft. It's coming together very nicely. Problem is, when I'm working nights all the time, when do we jam? When do we play shows? Work is constantly getting in the way. Work has always been getting in the way when it comes to bands. I see myself as a musician right now and I want to structure my life as such. Spend more time playing, writing and rehearsing and that means re-structuring my working life to something that accommodates a musicians lifestyle.
Maybe this all sounds super dramatic and I'm over reacting to a simple problem but I want a day job and now's the time to start looking.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
OFWGKTA - Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All
Somehow managed to only hear these guys for the first time yesterday. My first glimpse of their work being Tyler the Creators video for Yonkers.
Kanye West has already called it the best video of 2011, not someone who's opinion I would usually endorse BUT it is a huge compliment from probably the most opinionated and picky dude on the planet.
The crew are all teenagers. Tyler, the oldest is 19 and has already proved his depth of talent by producing a huge amount of stuff for himself and everyone in Odd Future (for anyone wondering who he often doesn't appear in the credits for their other releases, he also goes by the name Wolf Haley).
The backstory of these dudes is well documented on their (blog), dig through until just August 2010 and you'll see much of the rise to fame these guys have had so far. They've been kicking around for longer than that but it's clear to see through the blog at which points they started to garner some real attention.
Just as punk rock was stepped up a notch in the early 80's by a bunch of pissed off teenagers in the form of Black Flag, Minor Threat, Descendents and the whole American Hardcore movement, these dudes are taking hold of hip hop and reinventing it with energy it has never seen.
Keep an eye on them, there's a lot to come. Tyler the Creators second LP "Goblin" is out in April, this time on XL records instead of just being uploaded directly to the blog.
Swag.
Kanye West has already called it the best video of 2011, not someone who's opinion I would usually endorse BUT it is a huge compliment from probably the most opinionated and picky dude on the planet.
The crew are all teenagers. Tyler, the oldest is 19 and has already proved his depth of talent by producing a huge amount of stuff for himself and everyone in Odd Future (for anyone wondering who he often doesn't appear in the credits for their other releases, he also goes by the name Wolf Haley).
The backstory of these dudes is well documented on their (blog), dig through until just August 2010 and you'll see much of the rise to fame these guys have had so far. They've been kicking around for longer than that but it's clear to see through the blog at which points they started to garner some real attention.
Just as punk rock was stepped up a notch in the early 80's by a bunch of pissed off teenagers in the form of Black Flag, Minor Threat, Descendents and the whole American Hardcore movement, these dudes are taking hold of hip hop and reinventing it with energy it has never seen.
Keep an eye on them, there's a lot to come. Tyler the Creators second LP "Goblin" is out in April, this time on XL records instead of just being uploaded directly to the blog.
Swag.
