Joining the Club
Yesterday, one of my friends said, “Mike, school will be starting soon, and you aren’t going to know what to do with yourself since you aren’t teaching!”
I smiled and said the life of a musician is just as busy as a teacher, if not more. I’m not sure she fully believed me, but it’s true.
My teaching career prepared me for one aspect of the independent musician lifestyle: I’m working all the time. Being a musician is promoting a business. Yesterday was probably a 15 hour work day for me, a unique day spent writing, performing, recording, and submitting a song for consideration for a film placement.
Here’s a little glimpse of my last 32 hours as a musician:
Wednesday:
8 PM – 12 AM – I jammed with a drummer in Hamtramck and discussed future possibilities of creating a full band! Thought to myself, “Maybe I’ll sleep in tomorrow morning.”
Thursday:
1 AM – Returned home, checked my email and saw a posting from Taxi seeking a song for a film due Friday by 1 PM. I immediately starting revising some song ideas I had written early this week.
1-3:30 AM Worked on songwriting.
8:45 AM Woke-up and had breakfast with Natalie.
9:30 AM – 4:30 PM I had an intensely focused songwriting session and finished a song called “Tiny Giants” for my Taxi Film submission. I scheduled a recording session for midnight at Marshall Block’s Real ii Reel Studios in Fenton after my gig. Marshall said, “Yes! I might be sleeping on the couch, but I’ll leave the door open. Wake me up and we will burn the midnight oil.
4:45 PM Packed car, ate dinner, walked dog with Natalie.
6 PM Drove to my gig at the Fenton Hotel.
7-11 PM Played gig. Packed car again. Drove to the studio.
12 AM – 3 AM Recorded, mixed and mastered a demo of “Tiny Giants.”
4 AM Got home. Submitted song to Taxi online. Went to bed.
* * *
In the middle of mixing my song at 2 AM, Marshall mentioned he had been up since 7 AM that morning working with recording clients. “I have to take the work as it comes! You’ve joined the club,” he said.
Cap'n Crunch is the snack that gets us through the day.
