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What It Takes To Make It


Bluewine

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as heΒ says be under 30, (unless you're seasick steve) be talented, and above all be very very lucky, ( the Oasis doc on iplayer, unless they'd not blagged their way onto a Glasgow gig it might never have happened) how many hundreds of thousands of bands have thereΒ been and how many have even got to the stage where they can make a living at it? a very small percentage

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2 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

as heΒ says be under 30, (unless you're seasick steve) be talented, and above all be very very lucky, ( the Oasis doc on iplayer, unless they'd not blagged their way onto a Glasgow gig it might never have happened) how many hundreds of thousands of bands have thereΒ been and how many have even got to the stage where they can make a living at it? a very small percentage

Agreed,

Me, at 64, all I want is to have 2 gigs a week. That means decent bar gigs and my share of the local Festival & Fair business.

Blue

Edited by Bluewine
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12 hours ago, Bluewine said:

I think only AceΒ  or Kiss fans have ever heard of Ritchie Scarlet.

Blue

Yep :) I was a huge Ace fan back in the day.

12 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

as heΒ says be under 30, (unless you're seasick steve)Β 

Seasick Steve's story was proven to be very manufactured though. He'd been working in the music industry for years.Β 

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To make it in a band. . . . easy. . . . meet the right people. . . . . just when they are looking for a guy like you.

. . . . if you want to go the working musician route then learn to read, play like a demon with a technique to match. . . then meet the right people, etc

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Making it is purely down to the laws ofΒ probability. At any time there are thousands of music acts trying to make it. Most will be of comparable talent, looks etc but only one will be at the right place, the right time, with the right sound and looks for the times and with the right contacts. Being technically accomplished andΒ knowing music theory are pretty irrelevant

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This guy didn't make it because, from what I can see, Β he is only OK. The standards required to get to the top are very high, even for bands and artists we don't rate personally. The pr required to promote a new artist nowadays is expensive so you need to convince people to invest in you. You need to be exceptional. I know I am not and never have been so, much as I enjoy doing this, there are no pipe dreams involved. The art is it's own reward.Β 

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42 minutes ago, Bilbo said:

The standards required to get to the top are very high, even for bands and artists we don't rate personally.

Musicians usually don't "make it".Β  Even the very good ones.

Talented and original performers do, so just find one of those and be his best mate and right-hand man in his band for as long as it takes him to "make it".

Then don't be disappointed if you and the band are fired just before the first album is released.

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Be under 30..? Oh dear.Β O.o

'Making it'. What does that mean, anyway? Quite a fewΒ famous artists had a terrible time of it, really. My definition of 'making it' is not being poverty stricken, having somewhere warm and dry to live, food,Β drinkΒ and a loving family. Not very rock 'n' roll, I know. You can live fast, die young, do drugs, drink too much and be a rebel who plays by nobody's rules but your own if you like. Been there, done that (except for the dying young bit) - andΒ it's highly overrated. :)

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2 minutes ago, discreet said:

Be under 30..? Oh dear.Β O.o

'Making it'. What does that mean, anyway? Quite a fewΒ famous artists had a terrible time of it, really. My definition of 'making it' is not being poverty stricken, having somewhere warm and dry to live, food,Β drinkΒ and a loving family. Not very rock 'n' roll, I know. You can live fast, die young, do drugs, drink too much and be a rebel who plays by nobody's rules but your own if you like. Been there, done that (except for the dying young bit) - andΒ it's highly overrated. :)

there's been a thread about this before, I think the consensus was being able to make a living at it, i.e.Β pack up your day job

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33 minutes ago, PaulWarning said:

there's been a thread about this before, I think the consensus was being able to make a living at it, i.e.Β pack up your day job

I've drifted in and out over the years. I don't have a day job, but that's probably not entirely down to my 'success' as a bass player.

Edited by discreet
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8 hours ago, Bilbo said:

This guy didn't make it because, from what I can see, Β he is only OK. The standards required to get to the top are very high, even for bands and artists we don't rate personally. The pr required to promote a new artist nowadays is expensive so you need to convince people to invest in you. You need to be exceptional. I know I am not and never have been so, much as I enjoy doing this, there are no pipe dreams involved. The art is it's own reward.Β 

Yeah , Ritchie is ok and now he's ok and older.Β 

Β 

I like "Without Your Love*

Blue

Β 

Edited by Bluewine
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21 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

as heΒ says be under 30, (unless you're seasick steve) be talented, and above all be very very lucky, ( the Oasis doc on iplayer, unless they'd not blagged their way onto a Glasgow gig it might never have happened) how many hundreds of thousands of bands have thereΒ been and how many have even got to the stage where they can make a living at it? a very small percentage

Mark Knopfler hit the big time when he was 30/31.

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