Are we talking about gross bugs now? Cool. We found a waterbug outside of our school recently. Do a google search for “waterbug,” and know that if you see a picture with bumps on its back… those bumps are babies waiting to hatch.
Vomit.
I have a problem with June bugs. It’s pretty bad.
We’ve been seeing a lot of scorpions at our lake house this year. Thirty years ago we had an infestation in the house.
[reply][reply]Why pretend to be a hobo?
because it makes his rise to success all the more majestic.
Late,
grmpysmrf[/reply]
It’s part of cliché rock bio 101. Live in poverty, Man! Just scraping by, Maaan! We did what we had to do, I’m tellin’ you!!! It was brutal! We lived in the crappiest run down apartment with like 12 guys in a single room and we ate friggin’ powdered milk and picked cigarette butts off the ground and man we were starving and the landlord was always trying to kick us out but we busted our ass and never gave up, Man and then . . . . our big break, mega success, drug addiction, bottoming out, recovery, redemption, comeback . . . peace with the universe, blah blah blah.
Y’all need to brush up on the basics.[/reply]
I think I gotta weigh into this…
Recently, I’ve not been posting on here anywhere near as much as I’d like because I’d completely changed my lifestyle.
I finished my degrees, worked a year on a building site and decided toward the end of it; fuck it, I’m to do music and nothing else. Not cover bands, or teaching, performing music I like and just going for it. And I refused to get government benefits. I wanted to live solely off money I earned through playing music. Not dealing drugs or other shit, or taking money from welfare, but purely out of music. I have two degrees and know my way around a building site, so I really have no excuse for doing that.
The only way I could see myself making a living off it every day was by busking in the streets of Melbourne. Not playing metal or noise (already did that for a laugh once…), or singing folky acoustic shit, but doing classical piano.
I knew it was better than just going on the net and looking for work. Everyone does that. There’s a swarm of them looking for work. Instead, I go out on the streets knowing that if anyone sees what I’m doing and likes it, they’re gonna give me work aware of what I play and how I play it.
As I’d hoped for, I’ve been getting corporate and conference gigs and have about a months worth ahead of me. I need to do more of these, for insofar as busking is alright, it’s a lot more time consuming than any of these gigs and a lot harder to earn coin. The more gigs, the more money, the more spare time, which I can use to do the folky stuff, the metal stuff, the noise stuff, etc etc etc .
Busking varies. If you go to the right spot at the right time, you can earn anywhere between 100-200 in a few hours. It’s always in the least likely of places that you do best. You just have to take a risk. Sometimes, it’s really bad. But, I figure even getting a buck for sitting there and playing is more than some people will ever know, simply because they never put it out there.
So, as for why I’m hardly on prongs… I’m constantly practicing. I’ve never had to be this disciplined. I’m constantly refining the piano pieces I know, and learning new ones. I’m having to learn a whole new style of old school swing and big band jazz piano for the corporate gigs. I’m somehow having to try to find time to maintain my chops on drums and guitar and finish off songs which are half written and continue writing new ones. I’m constantly experimenting with sounds and old school synth stuff for the noise things I do. And then there’s promoting myself, organising gigs, etc etc etc.
As a result, I spend less, and rarely ever drink or smoke dope purely because I can’t afford to waste my time. But, it’s good to unwind every so often… but yeah. It’s fucking difficult if you want to live comfortably. I value putting petrol in my car, paying rent, eating well, saving money and going to see shows and buy nice shit every so often far more than blowing my money on getting fucked up and being unwell enough to busk or play for the next few days or so.
So yeah. Sorry I haven’t posted much… but, that’s how it goes. There’s a few of you, in particular Gunnar, grmpy, Akbar and Peligro who’ve been very good to me and sent me some really cool shit in the mail, and I would hate to ever stop posting on prongs for that reason!
good for your buddy, congrats. Try to keep us all updated as much as you can. My father in law plays the blues and would love to quit his job and play full time but nobody is hiring for that kind of gig and so he has to get his income from a job as a designer for some oil refinery place. he’s basically a schematics guy and it’s using his gift for art but man does he hate it. I hope the work doesn’t dry up for ya’. hang in there.
Late,
grmpysmrf
That is really awesome, Dildo! Congratulations on seeing your hard work pay off and bigger congratulations for doing what you want to do on your own terms. That’s pretty badass!
I am curious about one thing . . . the busking . . . what equipment do you use for that? A baby grand probably isn’t the most practical to drag into the subway, so are you just using an electronic keyboard or something?
Anyway, mad props to you! If you get anything on video or audio feel free to put it up here and share it with the gang or PM it to me. Cheers, Brother!
awesome job dildo! very happy to hear that…keep up the good work!
Maybe he uses a toy piano like Linus from Peanuts.
I bet he’d get a sh*t ton of tips if he used an Keytar, though.
Thanks grmpy, Gunnar and souldriver… [:)]
Grmpy, has your father in law thought about just going on the street and busking? What you said about no gigs being available for his sort of thing applied to me. I didn’t have enough of a repertoire on piano, nor did I have the connections as I didn’t stick with the conservatory or any music school, to go around and do concerts and expect a turnout.
So I figured I’d stick with busking. Noone really does classical on the streets and it might do alright. It’d be a good way to practice during the day and go home and learn more stuff at night.
My only apprehension would be what people think of me sitting out there and busking. In six months, I’ve only had one person say ‘get a job’, and that was an elderly man who was losing his shit and wasn’t really all there in the head. You get over the apprehension pretty quickly and come to love it, even if you don’t make much.
Maybe he should give it a go, just for an hour and see what the response is. If he’s not expecting much, he may well surprise himself.
Gunnar, my set up is just my full scale keyboard, stand, stool, inverter and 12 v battery. It’s a fair bit to carry and I used to carry it all around the city by hand, but I have to use a trolley now since my back started to suffer for it! I guess I walked around doing that trying to maintain the strength I’d built up from a year of working as a bricklayer’s labourer, but also to make me sort of really appreciate the point where I find a good place, can finally sit down and play and not really have stage fright because all I’ve got my mind on is just not having to carry all that crap any more.
If you’re curious, I was featured on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVLF-HunqNw
I’m briefly on at 0.16 and there’s a longer shot at 0.49. It was actually for a busking competition a friend of mine was running at the end of last year, and he couldn’t get anyone to do it. I reluctantly agreed to do it (while I was still working as a labourer), and basically earnt a day’s wages in 3 hours without even asking for anything. I had my case there and people started throwing coins. I wasn’t intending to make anything, because I had a job. But, you gotta accept things with the grace they’re given. I’m glad I did it anyway, as it pretty affirmed what I’d been thinking about doing for the latter part of that year.
And yeah, a keytar would be awesome. Maybe I could jam with these guys http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6DurwclJ74
[evil dildo]
Yeah, that’s a tough rout because around my neck of the woods that sort of thing is equivalent to standing on the corner with a sign. and that’s actually how my father in law sees it. I literally just asked him about it.
Plus he’s a perfectionist and since he doesn’t have the extra protection of the band to back him up he’s nervous to sit out there “all naked and exposed.”
He’s beyond good enough to not need the band but he has no faith in himself. I encourage him all the time to just sit out with an acoustic and do a one man show but he’s very reluctant.
Good luck to you good to see ya around the board again.
Late,
grmpysmrf