Being a rob, I’ve got to play the averages. Here’s a look at my survival…
I was lying awake last night trying to figure out whether or not this weekend’s random trip to Ohio and back was really worthwhile – we’re traveling as a three-piece to Columbus and back, playing two shows and then hitting one in VA before headed back home. We’ll be away from home for about 60 hours, and we’re being paid “well” for a given value of “well”. We’re getting some radio airplay in association with one of the gigs, another is associated with a long-running booking agency that we don’t have a LOT of control over – and frankly it’s just sort of how the dates fell together, it wasn’t entirely planned to roll the way it’s about to play out.
And so – if you count “travel” as being on the job, driving to Ohio to Virginia and back, with moneys divided three ways and include setup and breakdown 25 we’re each making about $9 / hour. Which is shit. On the other hand we’re going to one of our favourite areas (bonus), only having to set up sound once (bonus), getting radio airplay, room for both nights (thanks to a fan with Connections), dinner for each of the three shows… now, of course that’s the number before gas and taxes – but because of the way travel expenses work on your tax forms, the fact that the car averages 40+ mpg, the way per diem write-offs work when you’re away from home, we’re probably actually making another 30 – 40% of that number in tax write-offs.
Kristen setting up for a House of Musical Traditions yard sale set to coincide with Takoma Porch on May 17th, 2014 in Takoma Park, MD. Hrm. Crap. One of the downsides of playing outside. However, definitely one of the upsides of playing a carbon fiber guitar. Into the sink with it! (Takoma Porch) We had a great audience for Takoma Porch – after we kicked off the stage Wytold came up after us with a surprise guest that we’d last seen YEARS ago in a little bar in Pittsburgh. Pictured centre is Emay formerly of Between Liberties who we probably haven’t seen in about a decade!
Now – if we look at the entire upcoming week I just about double those income numbers, but the tax write-off numbers probably fall to about 10% over what comes out to be about a 60 hour work-week. Of course that doesn’t account for “office” activities – i.e. almost ALL of my spare time is spent booking, advertising, writing, rehearsing… etc, etc, etc. Being a rockstar isn’t something you put down and go home from. Ever. But it’s hard to determine some of the overlap there as a lot of “travel” hours overlap with “office” hours (i.e. as Heather drives I get a LOT of work done, photo editing is almost always done on the Wednesday drive to HMT) and there’s overlap betwixt House of Musical Traditions and answering band emails, etc.
Paul being that crazy old guy who chases kids off his lawn with scary noisy seedpods. Brennan shredding on some tenor banjo at House of Musical Traditions in Takoma Park, MD Kristen fixing concertinas. Day in the Life…
It’s all complex, but I pay the rent, buy cool stuff, put stuff into savings and generally move my carcass from day to day. I’m rarely bored. I also rarely sleep. It’s got its plusses and minuses.
Notes from the road : Heather says “fuck” an awful lot. We’ve all got the vestiges of nasty coughs. We’re listening to a lot of the Police. We’re passing a lot of police. As always, I-70 is a stunning stretch of road. 40 miles till we stop for gas (we’ll stop for gas three times on this journey). Yeah. She says it a LOT a lot actually. REAL Humvees are bad-ass, not like their idiot “street legal” second cousins. We keep passing giant machinery that looks like it’s designed to perform mass slaughter when Judgment Day comes.
Gratuitous photo gallery of Heather’s kittens…
