My story is long and has many starts. I don't want to drag out boring
details that don't apply to anyone but me but if you want to get a
basic idea I can do that. As for you, you need to define your idea of
success. For most musicians that play in bands and say they want
success, it is some form of stardom. For me, it was making more money
than I would in a day job and that is easy. I ended up making a lot
more but that is part hard work, part luck, part more hard work. The
song writing came as a gift and I never worked for it. Playing was fun
and I never worked for that either but dealing with details and keeping
things on schedule and level headed (as far as bands) is work.
I did everything I could get my hands on when I was young and was
playing t-40 stuff every weekend when I was 13. When I was 16, I
auditioned for a play as a singer and got a small part. The show was a
summer long deal at the shrine auditorium and had a lot of press
because there was some serious talent there. I wanted the part so I
could meet those talents. It worked and I was invited out to watch a
guy record a record at a really nice new studio. It was so new that the
piano player that was hired for the session couldn't find it (this
was way back before pagers and cell phones) The new studio wasn't
complete and I don't think the phones were in. When the piano player
didn't show the gig went to me. From there it was easy right up until
I stopped touring at age 23 and I quit for a year or so and hung out on
my boat.
I wanted to get into scoring. I had a bunch of tunes on a bunch of
records from a bunch of bands and just got tired of it. Scoring seemed
to be the right way to go. I took a job as a runner (gofor) for Orion
TV. Everyday for months they had me photocopying the next day's
scripts. Every day I took a copy of the scripts home with me and wrote
some appropriate music for titles and so on, recorded it fast and made
a stack of cassettes. The next day I'd deliver the scripts with my
cassettes to all the producers (29 of them) at Orion TV. After three
months someone actually listened to one and liked it, asked where I got
the tunes and was very impressed when I told him. He offered me the
musical coordinator role on a production he was doing. Orion TV went BK
and the producers scattered and then I had friends in many places which
multiplied my open doors. At the same time I started producing and from
there that was easy until I turned 30 and got tired of it and quit for
a while. I had already gotten lazy and spent most of my time flying
around in a little plane that I bought so walking away seemed right so
I quit for 5 years and went sailing.
When I came back from sailing I was still working my publishing company
and writing music - that never stops, so I just continued on there. I
got sick of working again, had a son and just hung out with him most of
the time until my daughter was born about 3 years ago. I was in
California and was sick of it so I moved back onto my sailboat and went
sailing again. I take time off the boat for things like sanity. It's
hard with two kids on board a small boat so I rent vacation rentals for
a few months at a time and see America. I am going to settle in soon
(by the end of summer) but I don't know where yet..... if you were
wondering.
Well that got long winded. Anyway, back to your success. You need to
define what that is. For me it is having more then I need when I need
it and freedom all the time. The most structured job I ever had was my
few months with orion tv. YUCK! I had to wear long pants everyday. That
is what I remember most about that time of life.
If you want to live free, then be your own boss, play small gigs and
get respect locally. Earn some money from music and write a lot of
songs. If you want to be famous you will give up all your freedom. That
part I didn't mention. There is nothing worse to me then having
people know who I am and having them watch me eat. Before you want to
start having people know who you are all the time, picture no privacy.
That is the reason I went to scoring. The summer before last I was in a
Las Vegas mall (a type of place I never go but I needed an aircard for
my powerbook) and 2 people remembered me and had to stop me and bug me.
We're talking more then 20 years passing and I still can't feel
comfortable in places like that. I really wasn't a big name either; I
just worked as their keyboard player and musical director. God help the
stars!
Good luck to you in whatever you do but be careful what you wish for
because you will likely get there some day.