This past weekend Hardcoretet had a great rehearsal after a small break after recording, and began talking about putting a tour together. Just the idea of touring stirs up all sorts of anxiety: Where can we play this music? How much will it cost? Will anybody show up?
This is interesting because I’ve been reading a lot about the death of jazz lately, and also heard a lot about musicians brainstorming how they can make money/get people to come to shows/sell records. Then I re-read this interview with Tim Berne on the blog for the band the Bad Plus: http://thebadplus.typepad.com/dothemath/2009/06/interview-with-tim-berne-part-one.html
Here is a guy that plays saxophone music that is decidedly avant-garde, and is definitely not going to be booked for any weddings or restaurant gigs any time soon, and he is working his butt off playing and touring and putting cds together because he believes in his music, and there are people around the world who do too, even if it is a smaller group than the one that’s got Top 40 on their radio.
I’m biased; I have a day job, and have the luxury of not trying to pay rent and bills off of music alone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still be successful playing the music you want to play if you work hard at it like Berne and so many other fringe musicians have. I’m also in NO WAY comparing myself to these musicians; they have a motivation and work ethic that I have yet to find in myself! I guess all I’m really trying to say is that I hope I can get to the point where I care more about who comes to hear me than how many come to hear me. Props to all my awesome friends and family that support the shows, I’m extremely lucky to have them.
If we get this tour together and play for one guy in San Francisco that likes our stuff, I hope I can feel like I accomplished something