Interesting Stuff

Like most students, I started back at university this week, and the first thing that I can say is that it is great to be back and studying music again after 4 months! The second thing I can say however is that I have certainly got my work cut out for me this year. But that's not a bad thing as I love what I do and I love studying music, and I want to get good grades and in order to do that I have to work hard! I'm also paying 3 grand a year to take this course so I would expect it to be quite challenging anyway!

All that aside, what I really wanted to talk about today was something that' has been playing on my mind all week. On Tuesday I had my first proper lecture of the year and was briefed on my new assignment. In this lecture, Pat (my tutor), said something that turned about to be very thought provoking. He said “when you have all finished this degree, how are you going to start your lives in the music industry? Because you can't very well go up to the Rolling Stones and say 'I've got a degree in popular music, can I be in your band?'”. This is a sentence that I have been dwelling on all week, I have of course thought about what I'm going to do once I finish university. For quite a long time I thought I'd spend a year at Drum Tech, an option still open to me. But recently I've been starting to think that maybe I don't want to spend all that money there learning things that I've probably covered whilst doing my degree anyway! The other thing about going to Drum Tech for a year is that it means I'll be in the classroom for another year! Could I maybe learn more about drumming in the music industry by actually going out and doing it for myself?

Teaching

Obviously, the dream is to be a full time session drummer, always in the studio and on the road, I target which is not unreachable but certainly quite high up there! And before I even get close to making it as a full time drummer, I am probably going to have to teach for a few years in order to make a living.
Teaching is something that I have often considered doing. Its not something that I'd want to do full time, but it does bring in consistent money and I do have to make a living. There are also lots of different options available to me in teaching, I could teach privately, I could teach in a school, I could teach adult learning, I could even teach on a B-tec course like the one I took at OCVC. There are plenty of different options and the chances are I will end up doing most of those things at some stage. One idea that I did have was that I'd set up my own teaching business once I've finished uni, teach privately in my home town Bicester. Right now that's just an idea but you never know where things are going to lead.

Journalism

One of the main reasons I started writing this blog was because I would love to one day write for a drumming or music magazine. And when I say music magazine, I mean Magazines such as Rhythm, Drummer, Sound On Sound and so on. Magazines that write about musicians not celebrities. I'm not at all interested in writing for NME or Kerrang where I can write about what ever the Magazine thinks is popular, and I certainly don't want to be dictating to people what they should listen to. I want to write for musicians, I want to write about something that another drummer would be interested in reading, even if they don't agree with me! One of my all time biggest dreams is to write for Rhythm magazine and for people to read my articles about the latest drum kits or interviews with famous drummers, not about their personal life's, but about their drumming techniques, where they learnt to play, what equipment they use and so on and so forth!

The Real Thing

Of Course, there is always the possibility that I get lucky, get behind the right act and work incredibly hard and some how make it as a professional player. Its not entirely unrealistic, it would take a hell of a lot of work, and loads of self believe, but it is doable, it has been done! And there is nothing to stop me writing and teaching as well to keep the money coming in. I have always liked the idea of being on tour with a band as a drummer and tour manager. Often people don't have the money to be able to hire a tour manager on top of a band, and I really feel like I could fit the bill! Part of me would really like the band I'm with at the moment to make it, The Lauren Bannon band. They are all hard working guys with a lot of talent and some decent potential. Lauren has some great songs, I'd really like to record an EP and go on a toilet venue tour next year to kick start the band's career. I would also like to film a music video to put on youtube, just to get our name out there a bit. I'd really like to see Lauren Bannon make it, but there will be so much work to do before that! You never know what will come along.

Hopefully, I will be able to make it as a professional player, but the chances are I will also have to do a combination of teaching, management and journalism as part of my musical career. But I think if I did all those things, I would be very happy!

Unrelated

On a completely unrelated note, I would like to add that I am on a course with some fantastic musicians. Ever week we have a music workshop where everyone has to individually learn a track and then on the workshop day, a band has to go on stage and play it. These sessions are great because we always learn so much from them. But I would just like to mention that this week's track was Pinball Wizard by The Who, not an easy track to learn for the first day back. They guys that went on stage nailed it almost first time which, needless to say, takes a lot of skill. So I would like to say that I work some some very skilled musicians, and I hope its not too cheesy to say that I feel Privileged to do so!