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.
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