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I quit my job to go full-time creative! Here's the vlog

TheRitornello said:
All that said, I really wish that when I was young and single I had had more encouragement to outright pursue a musical (or visual arts) career. Being the cautious type, and surrounded by cautious/practical people, it was never seen as a remotely attainable goal. So now here I am, middle-aged, with a wife and young children, in a full-time job that is not good fit for me because it is stable.
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A stable job is a wonderful thing! 🤑
 
vibrationisreality said:
Spot on and I find Jeremy's tone consistently comes across that way, fearful. This is not a dress rehearsal, playing it safe is for wimps, none get out A/Live and all that sort of stuff...
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In the video above around that 7-minute mark, Rollins says "I don't have anybody to come home to.". Now therein lies the difference, at least for some of us. I wouldn't call that wimpey. It all depends on what you value.

But personally, I wouldn't recommend dropping everything and everyone, just because YOU 'have this unstoppable creative urge', or doing a 'sorry, honey - I know we've been together for ages, but as of today you're going to have to do all the heavy lifting, because I'm an (angry!) artist now, so put your knickers on and get me a cup of tea! Come on, on ya get!'-type of switcheroo.

Remember - No fancy VST, no synth, no memorable recording session at Air, no original chord progression, no amount of money, fame or recognition is going to be sitting next to you when it matters, sh*t goes south, or wipe your leaky *ss without complaining when you're sick/old and grey. And for sure, that day's going to come.

So if that's something you do care about my advice is to really think through what you want to do, how you're going achieve your goals and what the effects are going to be on your loved ones.

TLDR; Just don't be an *sshole. Play it safe when you have to. Be a wimp. :whistling:
 
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Epic Wonder said:
A stable job is a wonderful thing! 🤑
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To clarify, I am genuinely thankful for my job... My day job has paid the rent, medical bills, groceries--not to mention financed music education, tools, and software. So in a way, my day job is actually investing in my musical future. I work at this job because it gives me freedom to do the work I actually love. But I'm not convinced that a dull corporate job is ideal long-term if someone is really passionate about doing creative work. It's a trade-off, and each path has its pros and cons.

And perhaps some "regular" careers are better fits for creatives than others.
 
thaeo said:
Perhaps it's your tone. I don't find the message above to be very supportive, or terribly insightful. It's fear-inducing, profanity-laced, and very critical, which I find this is often true of people who claim to be offering "tough love". I guess we differ on what we consider "negative". Though I can't imagine Alex hasn't considered issue of no income prior to quitting his job, so is your goal to offer him something actually actionable here, or just letting him know he's not doing things the way that you would?

Just my $0.02.

p.s. Watch the rest of the Rollins video, friend. He literally starts by describing how and why he quit his dead-end job scooping ice cream to join Black Flag. That perspective is the entire point of the video, lol.
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Rollins was was around 20 years old when he joined Black Flag. I also quit my burger-flipping day job and toured as a drummer for six years when I was young, single and carefree….you’re comparing apples to oranges. He didn’t have a young family that depended on him.

Sorry if my tone offends you, just offering real world advice from someone who’s been in the virtually the same scenario as Alex years ago (this industry requires super thick skin). I chose to raise my daughters and pursue music part time, and have fortunately had great success over the past 25 years. Mortgage now paid off, great pension, and enough income from music that I can retire earlier than anticipated, and still a professional drummer to boot. Best of both worlds. Is it for everyone? Hell no, but it has nothing to do with fear or staying in a comfort zone, blah blah blah. For me it was family first, my dream second, period. The consequences of quitting my career when my kids were young would have had devastating results…..hence my “cynical” advice. As I’ve mentioned already, I wish Alex the best and hope it works out for both him and his young family. If you feel I’m fear mongering, I really don’t give a shit. I’ve had a successful career, I’m a successful composer, and truly content. i hope Alex finds the same contentment…without unnecessary (and avoidable) hardship.
 
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quickbrownf0x said:
So, personally I would hate to put her in a position where suddenly we had to rely on her hard-earned income, doing double shifts as a nurse, while I'm at home in my bunny slippers, moving notes up and down in my Key Editor and ruining dinner, because I was too busy tweaking some Portal preset.
That, in my book, would be quite selfish and unfair, especially since I just 'decided', after living a fairly comfortable life together to living off stale crackers and dog food. Divorce papers would follow not soon after. And rightly so.
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As hilarious as that sounds, it’s the ugly truth.
 
I mostly regret the things I didn't do, rather than those I did that didn't pan out - in those cases at least I tried something and I know it didn't work out. It's the unknowns, the might-have-beens that get me to thinking. But then again, I am quite cautious :emoji_sweat_smile:
 
tc9000 said:
I mostly regret the things I didn't do, rather than those I did that didn't pan out - in those cases at least I tried something and I know it didn't work out. It's the unknowns, the might-have-beens that get me to thinking. But then again, I am quite cautious :emoji_sweat_smile:
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Yes I can relate to that, being of a pretty cautious nature myself. I do have some regrets about not going full-time into music when I was young and with no responsibilities. However I took another path and made a real success of that while having more time than most people to do music on the side. So I feel very fortunate in that regard.

I am self-employed so I have always been able to decide on my own working hours and have therefore been able to give at least a couple of hours a day to music. Not bad really. Now I am planning to retire from that other career later this year and to give all my time, at last, to what I really want to do. Well as long as my health and mental capacities hold out that is! And as long as I have enough income coming in from the few pensions I have set up.

One thing I won’t do is fall back on my partner’s income as support - I have always prioritised making my own way financially. She is an actor and writer as well as doing the same work as me so we support each other in the creative side while dividing the expenses between us. Works out fine. Plus my two daughters are pretty much all grown up and living their own lives, though one still has a bit to go in college before she’s earning. Also I’d probably get the shovel or the burial in the garden or at least the garbage bags out on the street (love that post!) if I decided not to pay my way in the pursuit of my dream.. 😏
 
Today, I'll be in Cologne for the premiere of a film that I scored. It touches on the very subject of following one's dreams, the challenges of choosing your own path, etc. Even the title reflects that.

Very fitting to this discussion 😬

So if any of you is in the area, PM me and I can get you a ticket, there are a few seats left. Cologne, 19th at 19:30. It will be followed by a Q&A with the directors and myself.

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MarcusMaximus said:
Also I’d probably get the shovel or the burial in the garden or at least the garbage bags out on the street (love that post!) if I decided not to pay my way in the pursuit of my dream..
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Ha! Great minds apparently do think alike. Or wisdom comes with age. It's probably the latter, but I'm not sure. I can't even fold a shirt. :barefoot:
 
thaeo said:
Perhaps it's your tone. I don't find the message above to be very supportive, or terribly insightful. It's fear-inducing, profanity-laced, and very critical, which I find this is often true of people who claim to be offering "tough love". I guess we differ on what we consider "negative". Though I can't imagine Alex hasn't considered issue of no income prior to quitting his job, so is your goal to offer him something actually actionable here, or just letting him know he's not doing things the way that you would?
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110% spot on.
 
TheRitornello said:
[...] I really wish that when I was young and single I had had more encouragement to outright pursue a musical (or visual arts) career. Being the cautious type, and surrounded by cautious/practical people, it was never seen as a remotely attainable goal.
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That reminds me of the time when I went to my music teacher when I was 15 years old and told her I want to be a professional drummer, and asked for advice.

She really told me:
- Too late, you're not good enough.
- You'd need to have won your first awards at competitions by now to make it
- Only a Wunderkind can make it

I still went for it, and over the years I noticed that she didn't have a clue what she was talking about.
That and other experiences left me with the sentiment: "Careful about asking your teachers, quite often they're very dumb".

And I think lot's of the "don't do it people" really just don't have any idea how such a path would look like, but have a strong opinion regardless.
 
There seems to be this assumption here that one has quit his cushy well paid job as IT manager (or similar) and are now living of scraps after having taken the music full time route.

This wasn't the case for me. I only have the hours between 9 am and 3 pm available as I have to bring the kids to school and then pick them up. As most jobs can take 1 hour or close to get to, that essentially leaves me 4-5 hours of work a day. Unfortunately, and I realise this is all on me, I don't have a degree to fall back on, so 4 hours of menial work a day, does not equal a salary that's hard to match making music.
Is it ideal? No far from it, but it's not such a huge drop in income as some make it out to be.

I'm curious how people here get around the school trips with a full time job?
 
R. Soul said:
There seems to be this assumption here that one has quit his cushy well paid job as IT manager (or similar) and are now living of scraps after having taken the music full time route.

This wasn't the case for me. I only have the hours between 9 am and 3 pm available as I have to bring the kids to school and then pick them up. As most jobs can take 1 hour or close to get to, that essentially leaves me 4-5 hours of work a day. Unfortunately, and I realise this is all on me, I don't have a degree to fall back on, so 4 hours of menial work a day, does not equal a salary that's hard to match making music.
Is it ideal? No far from it, but it's not such a huge drop in income as some make it out to be.

I'm curious how people here get around the school trips with a full time job?
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You touch on a good point. For some of us the regular job doesn't pay all that well either and/or is just a bad fit. That can affect the calculus. I am a creative... but bookwork/accounts don't exactly reward creativity. In such cases, giving up the regular, "safe" job for something at least closer to your field of interest/personality may make more sense. Even if it's just another "regular" job.

But, I am a cautious sort. So now I'll get back to paying vendors and reconciling the checkbook.
 
If I were to quit, my wife's salary wouldn't cover our monthly expenses even if she'd do double shifts at the hospital (which she already does often anyway, because of staff shortages). Apparently taking care of people with severe (mental) illnesses, addiction, or making sure they're at least somewhat comfortable during their final days/hours (sometimes she even goes to their funerals, especially when there's no family left) is worth less than someone who's a self-proclaimed professional @Markrs Annoyer, who spends his time posting sh*t-jokes on VI-C when he should be working on some bullsh*t steering co research report for a product that's most likely going to be flushed downed the toilet within six months. How dumb is that? :barefoot:

If I'm not mistaken it's getting more and more difficult to rely on just one single income for most people these days, so consider yourself very lucky if you can and/if your partner's willing to share the extra financial burden just so you can live out your dreams. What a saint he/she is.
 
I understand that for many people my professional self-update might seem scary and trigger in them stories of scarcity and fear. I understand, I really do. And I will never flame anyone for uttering concerns or fears. Nor will I allow others to do that.

However, I reserve the right to create my own story that is NOT driven by fear. A story of opportunities, change, and growth. A story of passion. And this story I will tell in the videos.

I do have fears, of course.
My fear of one day turning into a grumpy old fart was what made me determined to quit my job. That fear far outweighed any other considerations.

And here's a little story about dreams: When I was 21 -that was 26 years ago- I had the dream of becoming a cellist. With no classical training. I chose not to listen to the naysayers and just go for it. Two years later I was studying music and went on to melt the hearts of many as a professional cellist.

I'm gonna listen to my eighty-year-old self: He says "Do it".

I'll keep updating the first post with new videos as I publish them:)
Cheers
 
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