Being a music student and going to gigs almost every week, how draining is it?
Nomar
If going to gigs is socially draining enough for someone like me, imagine being a music student on top of that. It’s something else.
I already knew what I was going into with the program I chose last year so I was bound to gain connections either way, it just led me to meeting A BUNCH of new people who are really chill and eventually building a sense of friendship with some i.e. Sining Shelter peeps. Learning music theory and the works whilst also learning my way around the scene are two different things in itself. It doesn’t help that I can’t just walk to these venues like Mow’s so I’m also spending money on both experiences, one being entirely more expensive than the other.
But let me talk about the main topic which is, how draining is it to be in both fields?
On the music student side, I wanted this so it’s like a take it or leave it type situation, I wanted to hone my skills and learn more about the ever-evolving concept of music, in all its glory, the technicalities, the contemporary side of it, everything you could possibly ask for when you want to learn music full time. It’s also a very competitive program believe it or not, something that I thought would end in my batch (because of the stories I hear about the higher batches.) It's a repetitive cycle that’s been going on for God knows how long. Although I did stray away from that and made sure to avoid it as much as possible, I wasn’t trying to impress anybody in that batch anyway. Though, learning music theory full-time does take a toll on your mental health with having professors that have been in the industry for well over 30+ years, so maybe I am trying to impress them if not, just try to learn as much from them and try to pass the subject. But there are positive outlooks to being a music student and learning the well beloved art! I get to use it in my own songwriting, something that may not be noticeable with the music I write but I do try my best to use what I’ve learned in the year of being a music student. I get to share my art with people from my program as well as outside the program, which is the friends I’ve made in the scene which I will talk about.
Now, being in the scene and being a staff member of one of the most known venues today while trying to be an artist is an entirely different field that I don’t think Music Production even has to offer a great insight to, it’s something scene regulars will have to teach you. (Mind you, I’ve only been in both fields for a year at this point.) So I’m still learning and I always will be learning. Going to gigs on days I don’t have school or on days that I come to a gig straight from school is like a task for me in the sense that if I come straight from school, I’m gonna be socializing for the entire day and then I only have like a day to recover and then I’m back to going to school. If I go to a gig on a day that I don’t have school it’s a little easier, I get to rest my voice and my mind from yapping so much. Icing on the cake is I mosh while my favorite band is playing or it’s a band I’ve wanted to see for a while. So there’s nothing really negative about anything here, but it’s like optional homework where I can say no to it but I choose to do it anyway.
Trying to balance both things at once is not an easy feat for someone like me so I have respect for the people that can do both easily, especially the people with day jobs and then going to a gig straight after if they’re not performing at night. Y’all are baller.
Nomar