Are Roadies Nothing More Than Failed Musicians?
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- Опубликовано: 9 июн 2024
- Recently, a friend brought up the time the singer for a hard rock band called me a "failure", and it made me think about how roadies are often called failed musicians, and if there's any truth to that.
00:00 Intro / Not THAT Chris Brown
01:29 Getting Roasted On Facebook
03:04 "You Failed."
04:42 Mailbox Money
05:25 My Band DID Fail
07:35 Roadies Make More Than Bands
08:23 What Even Is A "Real Job"?
09:55 Outro
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I never thought roadies were failed band members. I just thought they loved music.
Precisely
that just so happen to also fail at music haha
Our old roadie back in the 90's didn't play instruments. We drove around a huge Suburban that he started with a screwdriver. 😂 good times. Drew, wherever you are, I love you and miss you bro. 😎
Same here. Band members need to be nice to the roadies because without them where would they be? Just respect people. Tank telling him cause you're headstrong and can take on anyone? Or something like that was friggin hilarious. I laughed.
Surprisingly, there are a lot of people in the world who love music but aren't interested in performing it, yet who still want to be part of the touring experience.
I think Leo Moracchioli has one of the best background stories. He started off as a guitarist, but his bands were not really going anywhere. Also he notice that recording studio's in Norway were few and far. So he quit playing and poured his money into a recording studio, on the side of his house, and became a producer/technician. Then about 10 years a go, he had a quite week, he thought it would be fun to do a cover song of Poker Face, put it on youtube, which got popular, so he did more. And now he has a band and goes on tours, doing the cover songs, and has even played Wacken festival.
He has over 4m subs and has one video with over 56m views, a cover of Toto - Africa.
Very good point! That outro for Toto...
Frog. Leap. Studios.
He sold that house several years ago. He has a new studio is in his basement of his new house.
@@HeretiCflowIconic intro 🤤
That man is a Legend
Wait, people think roadies are faild musicians? Wow, without roadies a lot bands woudnt even tour bruh
True, but I guarantee you a good chunk of them tried their hand at it, “failed”, but still wanted to be in and around the music scene because it’s their passion. Which isn’t really an insult it’s just got a good chance at being reality
A lot of techs are players, some aren’t, having that background can’t hurt, but tbh it would almost be impossible for even a mid tier band to succeed on the road without the help of “roadies” I use that name as a generalization, most pro’s are specialists at what they do , multi talented as well
Some of them are aspiring musicians. Lemmy Kilmister was a roadie for Jimi Hendrix before he was in Hawkwind.
Man, when I was editing this video, I couldn't believe that I didn't bring that up when we were talking about this on Twitch, cause that's one of the best stories of roadie to musician ever.
If there weren't any roadies, would anywhere close to the number shows that happen, actually happen? No way any of the big shows, tours, or festivals would even happen.
If given the option of being a roadie and being a musician, I would pick being a roadie 100% if the pay is similar. Musicians don't know who to trust, don't know who real friends are, everything they do is scrutinized, they have to be someone else, always dealing with people and press, fans can be creepy and weird. Roadies seem to have more stability and freedom.
As someone who did sound for bands in the 80's (never toured, just at local clubs and studios) my experience was always that true musicians (not stoned teenagers who were under the delusion that all they had to do was show up as the first band on a bill of four, do a bunch of coke act like idiots on stage and would get signed) understand that running a sound board is a talent of its own. All of the professional roadies I ever interacted with were just that, professionals. Did some of them have bands on the side? Yes. Did that make them failed musicians somehow? Not one bit. The truth was that half the guitar techs I knew were had a lot more talent than the people they were working for. However, as you alluded to, sometimes practicality has to rule and the bills have to get paid.
What you said about some guitar techs having more talent then people in the bands is absolutely true. Some people that I know that tour professionally are actually more musically talented than the people they're working for. Which shows you right there that there's more to "making it" than just being good at your respective instrument.
@@TankTheTech 100%! I've seen more than one tech sub in for the band member. One example I can think of that happens at almost every show is the tech for Skillet drummer Jen Ledger plays the drums during their sing Hero, because Jen has a prominent vocal part in that song, so she likes to get up close and interact with the audience rather than singing from behind the kit. So for at least that one song, her tech has to be able to play at the same level as Jen. In fact, I've never seen a tech who wasn't pretty damn good at the instrument they tech for.
This guy proves my comment that I just left.
There's an 4 year apprenticeship with a federal diploma here in Switzerland to become a "Roadie". Currently in my 3rd year and I'm loving it.
We are not failed musicians but professionals in front and behind the stage.
Years ago, I was a merch manager for a B level band and was always told by the band members that I made more money then they did on tour.
Yep sadly
Don’t tell tesseract
@@mikethereptileguy250 OOF
@@mikethereptileguy250lol
@@TankTheTechwhat’s the story here??
Chris Taylor Brown attacked one of my friend's on Twitter for heing a single mother and got mad when I defended her. His last album didn't even sell and people weren't going out to his shows despite him trying to convince everyone otherwise.
dunking on Chris Brown will always be funny like bringing up Headstrong by Jared Dines
@@Taxevader-gk9msIt’s so funny watching him trying to be relevant. He’s so stupid that he can’t see that everything that has happened is all his fault
Let's face it, Chris Brown is a failed Chad Kroeger 😂
@@jasminlamoureux3381 Ssssssss…..that’s the sound of Chris Brown sizzling 😂
@@jasminlamoureux3381The burn! 😂😂
If you're going to succeed as a roadie you have to be more dependable than a lot of band members I've encountered over the years.
Right? You can see how 'rock star' became an insult.
There is no such thing as a failed musician. I play bass. I'm not very good at it, but I play. And the playing makes me hear music and pick out individual instruments in a mix better. My being a meh musician increases my understanding of music immensely. Failed? No way.
Thanks for the comment. Some people just dont understand what a musician is. My band was approached for signing in the early 80's and again in later 80's. We didnt even have to think about it and just said "Hell No". We were not willing to give up family and stability to start the grueling tours, insane logistics, and hiring financial gurus and roadies. Today all of us are retired, financially stable, and very happy with life. We also still play music (not with each other) and with no regrets. Musical success is not relevant on popularity or finances but is all about being happy and still feeling the groove.
Failure isn't following the path meant for you; that is a success. Failure is not seeing the path and continuing down the wrong one.
I’m a full time touring FOH engineer and can say that almost every audio crew guy I’ve meet was at one time a musician. I have never thought of it as an insult. Also in almost every FOH person interview I’ve seen or read the engineer mentions they got started playing in a band. Great vid man
The crew are the reason bands can tour the way they do now. Always respect the crew. They do a lot of the work, so the band can keep their energy up, and focus on performing.
🤣🤣🤣 holy crap this was hilarious. The Chris Brown part that is.
Yeah I thought being a roadie was a pretty good job. You get to be in the music industry but actually get paid. Thanks Tank!
This dude made one banger and gained the ego of the entire band KISS lol
Wait what did you mean with ego and Kiss? Legit question
@jeltehoekstra2952 the band KISS excellent as they are, are notorious for being cocky and full of themselves.
@@dropkickpherby6994 Aha, never knew that haha. I saw them live last year, and they were indeed very good. Although it did surprise me that they called themselves "The hardest band in the world" lol.
You know how there are people who slow down after a major accident on the highway in the faint hope of catching a glimpse of some blood and gore? I imagine that's why people go to Trapt shows.
"You would never be able to mentally keep up with me" Tank has sanity sooo sure
I have no idea how to play a note and can't sing a note. In college I lugged equipment for local bands just to help and be involved. I was not a failed musician, I was not a wannabe musician. I enjoyed being a part of the scene, meeting other bands, getting to see free shows. I really thought about life as a roadie for that feeling and freedom. I loved the behind the scenes stuff and would have loved to learn to run sound. Then I met my wife and all that ended.
Well, there is at least one band who made a tribute to roadies. And i think a lot of people should start apreciating people that work behind the scenes a bit more, because it is easy, people see the band and think that is it, but they forget the amount of planning, scheduling, making sure every detail is taken care of.. this is a lot of work, and it deserves more credit, and a LOT more credit !
Yeah, Chris Brown should handle the entire tour himself.
I am surprised that third-rate band(I hate that style of music) got any roadies to work with them.
I mean you have to keep in mind that not every band actually knows how to properly setup their sound (let alone having enough time to do so). If music is the heart, techs are the soul of live shows.
If asked what the worst concert I've ever been to, I have to tell folks every time, September of 2022- My Chemical Romance. Not because MCR isn't great or anything but there was most definitely some kind of tech issue happening. Show started at least half an hour late and the whole show all audio was super rough. Hard to understand a single thing being said at all, hard to even understand which song was playing sometimes because even the music itself sounded kinda garbled. I've spoken with a few other people who went to different shows same tour and they said same thing. The tech makes the concert happen.
Not having seen the video yet - most musicians are nothing more than failed musicians. I mean, I play four instruments and I compose music in various genres. Have I ever made even one cent as a musician? No.
And most musicians are like me, so...
Always enjoy the convo. Merry Christmas
Tankasaurus! Dude you got to love the bitter keyboard warriors that have no clue. I recently heard an interview on Stern with Maren Morris and her keyboard player started as a tech who ran tracks. She heard him line checking the piano and it put him on her radar once that spot became vacant and now he's her touring keyboard player. I'm sure this isn't the only case. Like you said some people tech for the love of teching and some want to be full time musicians but im sure they all just love being involved in the music in some shape way or form. Thank you for your content dude 🤘
Back in the 80s. I was a pretty active bass player in bands and loved it. But whenever I was in-between bands. I would be my buddy's Drum tech. And I LOVED IT. To the point. I started doing that more than being a bass player in a band. And I was always getting offers to play in bands.
I quit music all together before I ever landed a really pro gig. But I could have. And as we got to the 90s. If I would have gone down that road of making music my full time career. It would have been a tech. But, instead, I went auto racing. LOL. And yes. As a TECH and not a driver. I hate driving race cars. Great discussion Tank. Love your channel.
I think you and spectre sound studios would get along really well and be able to have a great conversation about music production and dealing with bands and their bs
The second thing Tank has failed at this year....winning a NN award and now this...tragic. I kid I love the guy!!!
I assumed roadies knew more of the ins and outs of the technical aspects of guitaring since they have to do all the setup and extra work
If Brutal Legend taught us anything, the roadie makes the show possible. Even Motorhead wrote “We Are the Road Crew.” Lemmy knew!!
I was a roadie for around 8 years, I enjoyed it because as a music fan I got to listen to a lot of the music I loved, I had a "real" job as well, I could not go on stage openly as I suffer from crippling Anxiety and being on stage terrified me, I have been a performer/singer but very often masked in some way. Actually being a roadie in the 80s gave me oppurtunities to go on stage, and make extra money but I preferred being a roadie. I met and/or worked for some massive bands along the way so I got access that normal fans envied, massively
This is great! Thank you, I am in a band, have a rehearsal space/recording facility. I just love all the nuts and bolts of what makes music happen. On the other end, I am a Line-Cook too. I like food and music! Gotta find your happiness!
Sophie from Godspeed You! Black Emperor said she defines success as being able to do what you love doing without compromise
Love these types of videos from you. There fun!
I personally love music, and obviously metal, but am also hugely interested in all kinds of tech, even going as far as the science behind some of those things. Whether computers, stage equipment, or whatever else you can think of. I love BigClive's breakdowns of industrial and stage gear. Last time I checked, most band members aren't too interested in how stage lighting functions. I'm personally in IT, but a career as a roadie seems like a no-brainer for someone with my interests. It is a very different field of work to writing music or performing on stage.
The whole Trapt saga is my favorite thing to happen in the rock world.
And Chris only gets more and more absurd with each day. Still with the politics. I saw a video a few months ago of Trapt playing a show to like 10 people and 30 minutes of the 45 minute set was him giving a speech that made my skin crawl and shame just watching it.
I was listening to your podcast with Eyal and you mentioned the bit about tour bus and downgrading to a van. Was wondering since then which band was that. Finally, answer arrived. Thank you, my sleep will be calm again.
Hahahahaha. Coincidentally, yes, this is exactly what I was talking about.
When I was younger and had no idea how any aspects of the music industry worked, I actually thought roadies were people who wanted to be in a band eventually but were starting out helping other bands first before they could start their own 😅😂. I thought they were amateurs on their way up, not failures on their way down, and never thought that maybe it was just a job they liked how it already was LOL
Well, I don’t know what “younger” means in your case :) Yet, I can recall quite a bunch of examples from my native Poland in the ‘90s when your theory was spot on. I mean, people would play for some local band and jump on a chance to become a bigger band’s roadie so that they could get a better grasp of how the industry worked, make new friends, feed on their know-how and eventually either enhance the status of their original band or maybe just maybe join the bigger band one day. Some of them did indeed succeed.
This was an interesting video to watch as a lifelong stagehand who also plays in bands and tours as a musician. Over the years I've gotten to know quite a few roadies and techs for big tours that I'll typically run into once or twice a year when whatever big tours they're currently on come through my state. Most of them were never in a band. One of my friends from the local crew who was a serious roadie for decades (for the Grateful Dead, Slayer, John Fogerty, many other big names) has never been in a band. Honestly, I can think of more instances of successful musicians who used to be roadies (Lemmy and Tupac being perfect examples) than I can of failed musicians who became roadies.
All that being said, in my opinion doing backstage work is way, way harder than being in a band, just in terms of stress and workload. Going on the road as a touring bassist this past summer felt like a vacation after several months of back-to-back steel builds for stadium tours. Also, balancing working backstage (usually full time) with playing in bands is kind of insane at times, but it absolutely beats any customer service job. The other two people in my main band are also stagehands, so it's not uncommon for us to work a load in in the morning, go have band practice or play a show, and then go back to work for load out right after.
Roadies aren't failed musicians, that's Guitar Center employees
I was in a couple bands in HS. They weren't going anywhere. We knew that. It was for fun. I've made some money playing in/for local, house, party bands. I've done some work as a drum tech or on stage crew. I like doing music related stuff. I like going to shows. I never got a chance to be in a band with people that were motivated to to go all in on it and I don't know if I would've enjoyed that. I liked playing local shows on weekends and getting paid to have a good time. Nothing high stakes. I did the behind the scenes stuff so I got paid to go to shows. I got to chat with bands in a way I wouldn't have otherwise. Plus, I like helping people. It may sound corny, but it's cool getting to be a part of something bigger than you and getting to be a part of other people's success. You aren't always the main character. Succeeding for yourself is awesome, too. Don't get it twisted. But I really enjoy helping others succeed as well.
Having worked as a drum tech and general roadie it’s sadly a belief that’s held by to many ignorant people and sadly some touring musicians I know also believe this thankfully it is the minority in the industry in my experience
My European ass: Ive never heard of this man or his band in my life.
Looked them up. My man can't keep his band members for five minutes and I think I might know why. I could argue about how to define "failed musician" but if we go by "never had financial success to be self-sustaining", give me a "failed musician" over a failed human any day.
I work in IT, I've been at it for almost 20 years, I think my mother still thinks I'm just "playing on my computer" most of the time.
Jarrod from Taproot realized at one point that his drum tech was making more on tour than he was. That ultimately led to him putting on a suit.
He’s talked about it before on FB
In the lyrics of the Great Tenacious D "I am the Roadie, I make the rock go!"
I legit thought Trapt was a one hit wonder lmao
Another good video dude ,just like to thank you for putting me on to electric call boy ,iv been 💯 metal for years but daaaaam I can't stop listening to them 😂😂😂😂😂 have a brilliant Christmas and New year bro 🤘🤘🤘🤘
I've watched a bunch of tech, rig rundown, touring gear videos with the musicians and/or the techs themselves and it's incredibly obvious in this day and age that a tech's job is intense. They've gotta be competent musicians themselves to deal with the base instrument they're in charge of but also well versed with all the other peripherals- all the gear that's been programmed specifically by the musician/band, laptops and the programs they run, foldback systems, networking etc etc etc etc and in some cases the musician is all like 'idk how this all works, this is due to the magic of Jeff' or whoever is making sure that the entire system works flawlessly.
The musicians that throw the 'failed musician' line at roadies intending for it to be an insult would 100% be completely fucked if their roadies quit. Be nice to your employees, people. I can't stress this enough.
Painting your plugs on your stage sound cables with black light reacting paint and having a black light flashlight makes hookups and packing up so much easier ! And you can also mark your equipment with your name to make getting your equipment out of any event when you point your light at your stuff and it literally glows in the dark !
I've always though techs were gear nerds, i'm a gear nerd so I never really related it to being a failed musician. For years I thought it would be amazing to be a roadie, hear good music (hopefully) and see the world
I've never been in a band, nor play an instrument, and lord knows I cannot sing. But, I got into sound engineer by accident, a friend, who was a sound tech, doubled booked himself, and asked if I could fill in, and although nervous as hell, I discovered that I liked it and was quite good at the mixing console, and did sound for a decade, making a living from it for six of those years.
I always figured some roadies were musicians who figured out that being in a band was way too much pressure but still loved touring and music and being on the crew was the best of both worlds. 🤷🏼♀️
It should be pointed out that many professional musicians are also techs for other bands when they are not on tour. For example, Ventor, the drummer for Kreator, was the drum tech for Sodom during the 80s/early 90s. The drummer for Pissing Razors was the drum tech for Overkill. Even Jeramie King was a tech for Venom Inc. although he played professionally with other bands. I know there other similar cases, but I do not remember them.
Professional Drummer here! I started working as a Backline & Drum-Tech a feeling years ago because I wanted to see that side of show business. I could „just“ be a Drummer an live off it. But I love being a tech. I‘m 50/50 at the moment and VERY happy!
I've never looked at it that way. I've always thought "Damn, that dude gets to work on (insert famous guitarist) guitars!" I've also thought highly of them, because if you're working for huge bands then those guitars and drums and literally everything else that the crew does, needs to be absolutely perfect every single day. Gotta be good at your job to land one of those spots.
I had an old friend visit from California a few months back. And he asked about coming along when I go busking in New York. He said "I Could Be Like Your Rodie". I think a lot of people don't understand how much work that is.
I was a roadie for a band because they had my drummer and I’d rather be a drum tech than be in a band with another drummer… their bass player quit, so they told me I was the new bass player… I said “can I say no?” And they said “no.” So there’s that…
I’ve been doing big tours for a long time and I was never in a band.
Tank, ironically, I met you several times back in the day at SES when you were rehearsing there. Safe travels bro!
Oh man the good old SES rehearsal days! Hahahaha
I love working for bands… I could never be in front of people performing… I admire all of them, but Im super happy to be stage left looking
Trolling a musician with their own lyrics is such a great move.
5:25 nailed it. My old band opened for them back in 2019 and he did just that. Got in an Uber while the band went to the touring van they had. All I heard from from other people was “he’s got to catch a plane”.
Oh my word.
This is so funny.
Well done Tank 🤣
You keep doing what you like doing. I do sound on a very amateur level and have zero musical ability other than a reasonable ear.
So yeah - you make of life what you want to and if you make the correct choices then you will end up enjoying what you do as well.
For the record, I earn my income from IT support and I love what I do. To me there is nothing more satisfying than being able to solve someone's issue and making their day better.
Greetings from South Africa.
Great tech and crew members are insanely valuable!
The end part had me laughing with the grandparents. Lol. My dad thinks the same way. Great content.
I got to speak with one of Thrice's roadies at a show many years ago and he said that he had a band and did local shows in his home state but didn't want it to go any further than that and enjoyed the roadie life more. Dude was really cool too.
So...idk if this was commented already but....being told you "a few levels down" just means you are and will always be better than one Chris "Head Strong, Can take on anyone" Brown (The lower on the totem pole the more important). Happy Holidays Tank!
Hi Twitch. I have always been interested in music and the bts stuff like sound and lighting. So i know how difficult it is to run a board properly. Anyone can press a few buttons but sound engineers and lighting engineers set them up themselves.
As a musician, I can tell you that the very, very vast majority of musicians do NOT disrespect the roadies. We respect them because they WILL save your ass.
One night, we were opening for a major act at a theater (about 2700 audience) and I had lost my wireless pack holder, so I stuffed the transmitter into my pocket. Being the exact opposite of the "just stand thee guy", it wasn't long before my pack came flying out of my pocket and went skittering across the stage, breaking open and batteries going everywhere. The headliner's guitar roadie grabbed a cable and came running out to plug me in (and I wasn't even his bassist). The stage crew ran out to collect my battery pack and put it back together to get me back up. I was only on cable for one song.
There is not an intelligent musician on the planet that will ever disrespect a member of the road crew.
There may not be intelligent ones that will do it, but there are some that do. Hahaha. But you are definitely right, I've encountered far more respect from musicians in my touring career than disrespect. But the "failed musician" thing is the go to when a musician feels like being disrespectful to a roadie.
This is a very interesting. I was an audio engineer that was never in a band. I studied music and learned a few instruments and vocals. However, many of the bands i worked with respected my knowledge and heeded my advice about their sound and tone. I rarely even thought about being in a band.
as a guy who has been a musicial without a real touring band for all my life, I thought that roadies are acutally the senior ones with the experience who know how shit is getting done. While we musicians try to look professional while being drunk.
Edit: Yes, I do consider myself to be more of a musician than anything else in the music world. But I have been a helping hand at festivals multiple times, have worked as stage crew and have done backstage and merch work. But all of that was not professional as in "I worked to pay the mortgage with it" kinda deal.
Tank, what was the name of your band? I would like to check your music out. Love the channel ❤
Inept. We've got stuff online, mainly Apple Music and Spotify.
You're such an insightful dude! Love your content SOOO much. That comes from a failed musician, yeah (and no, I'm not a roadie) :D
I'm in my 50s and part of the small percentage of women who are subs. Whether there is a token response from my generation and gender, my impression is a roadie is someone who has the skill to support the band in getting their music to their fans while touring, loves music and loves or can tolerate the travel. Now, I only know 1 roadie who is now retired, and it led him to managing big, national-level events and gave him a family he didn't have by blood.
Saw Trapt in a 250 cap bar here in Glasgow, Scotland. It was a alright show. They had a single large van. No tour bus.
He was a bit weird, the drummer was also a bit weird. The bass player was decent, his guitarist then Ty Fury was brand new, brilliant guy to talk to, especially on gear. I can see why he ditched them and went on to tech with Chris Young, who I saw him do a brilliant job 3 years later when I saw Chris Young play Glasgow. Top bloke was Ty.
I know Ty, well, actually! We did some touring together when the artists we worked for were on the road together. Awesome dude.
I was amazed at Halestorm opening for Trapt & RED. Different times
I believe it was one of their first tours right when "I Get Off" was blowing up. My band was the first opener of the tour, and we hit it off with Halestorm right away. Unbelievable people. They were touring in an RV and the Hale's parents were literally their roadies. Haha
That first tour for Trapt was ridiculous. It introduced Smile Empty Soul and Three Days Grace
Started in the industry as a DJ, got way more interested in crew work because I wanted to do that more. enjoyed it tremendously more than being a performer
I have an in-law who's part of a band that were huge in the 80's (and whom reunite to tour every so often) that now tours mostly as a solo act. Amongst his roadie hires along the years was Jonny Wickersham. He had been in bands before (US Bombs, Cadillac Tramps, & Youth Brigade), and is now a longstanding member of Social Distortion. Thus one can say in Wickersham's case, he's a success in both roles.
Heck i was a roadie at my school back in the day and did the lights. Yes i also was on stage with the bass guitar with the schools bigband. But i thrive at enabling other people to be great at what they love doing, so the teching and organizing and smoothing hiccups over was my favorite part of those school concerts.
Rocket League Tournament?! damn I need to tune into more of your streams xD
i'm not so much a roadie as I am a freelance corporate audio technician. I went to school for audio engineering while not really being a musician myself, I just never could motivate myself to learn an instrument, I could scream and sort of sing but that was about it, but I loved music in my teens so I wanted to do something in music, just not really be the center of attention.
After going back and forth between more the business side of music and being an actual studio technician, I started drawing my interest more towards concerts and being a live audio engineer. So after college I went that route for a career path by choice, not as a "failed" musician, but someone who just wanted to mix live music. Anyways as the years went on I found myself making more connection in the corporate event world, like conferences, conventions, etc and while I wanted and still desire to work with bands more, I'm very happy where I'm at with stable income as a freelancer, travelling the country several times a year, on planes and in the nicest hotels/resorts and not on the road going from city to city daily. It's much more cushy and I still get to work on audio mixers so I love it.
One of the times I saw Godsmack, Sully mentioned that one of the techs was in Alien Ant Farm, the bass player I think. I still love them.
I was a bass player for college classes for 4 years and being in a musician for those years really opened by eyes. I mean I got to play with different people and everyone was friendly. However, I couldn’t make a career out of it because my passion was slowly fading and being a full time musician would mean a huge amount of sacrifice and I couldn’t do it. I rather be a home musician than being in a touring band.
1) I alway though Rodie where people that loved music not failed musicians
2) never understood get a real job thing as entertainment is not a job(do they think that people should entertain for feee
3)do found sad when the band struggles to make money where the crew is making more than them. Wonder if that is one of the reasons that some small/medium band call it quit.
4) closest I got for the real job comment IRL was when my cousin and brother and a former coworker told me that I needed to stop whining about being tired or stressed out since I worked in healthcare and didn’t know real man work unless I did construction like them.
5)love your content man keep it coming 🤘🏻
Fun Fact: Trent Reznor was Ministry's roadie, so there's always outliers.
I had a roadie friend I grew up with who never cared to play an instrument, he legitimately just loved music and loved the scene.
When it comes to a quote “real job”. I interpreted that as something that’s more stable. I’m not against full time content creation, but there is a chance that the bottom can drop out at any given point. Where as a real job has more stability.
Wasn't Steve Gadd the drum tech for Nicko McBrain for, like, 12 years? He's hardly a failed musician.
I heaar this all the time about audio engineers too. And the fact is: no, often they just legit prefer to mix in their room than being on tour.
I live playing on stage. But i'm not made for touring life. I much prefer to record bands and mix them and work on music that way. That's my true passion.
People think that by default everyone wants to be the famous rockstar on stage. It really it isn't the case.
I always felt like roadies have way more passion for music and their instruments. I don't know what it's like elsewhere but in my country, you need a degree to become a music technician, you need a perfect understanding of instruments and music, and you make a lot of connections along the way and gain experience that is worth putting on a resume. A lot of musicians from some really big bands at the moment, all started out as techs.
I feel like that Trapt guy is just disrespectful in general, especially considering the fact that his band has employed roadies their entire career so to make fun of them and call them failed musicians... He couldn't be fun to work for.
What a brilliant reply to him with the lyric hahahh
Been there quite a while ago. Never had interest in being in a band. A complete lack of ability inspired that. Learned to tech backline, loved it and lived that dream! Then life events changed my dreams away from touring. Still help friends out from time to time, but those feeling alive like that again days are very rare now.
My buddy got on Twitter to troll Chris and dude took everything so personally that he couldn’t even read between the lines at the absurd things my friend was saying, or see that his Twitter handle was “Phil Harmonica” with a profile photo of the old man from pawn stars. His clap-backs are always just a form of him dick-riding his own band to prove how much cooler he is than you.
Also you can be a “failed” musician and still be perfectly stoked and happy to be a roadie. Two things can be true at the same time
If you have multiple interests in life you can just up and go somewhere else because it makes you happier. There can be all manner of circumstances which can override certain interests. I played drums for 16 years professionally. I loved it but I also had interest in sound and show production and did that too. It got to a point where it got difficult to find people who wanted to do music for a living in my area at the time and to continue would have required a move to a bigger city. I weighed that option but at the time (91-92) gear was getting to the point where a lot of people had their own studios so the recording studios weren't hiring like they had been and touring companies didn't seem to need anyone at the time either. My interest in sound engineering had grown into an interest in computers and after about 5 years I started programming for a living. Self taught, no degree or formal education but I've now been doing that since 2000. I own my own house and have four children. I have some regrets but don't feel like a failure in the least. I am visually impaired and did all this despite that. I miss playing but I am satisfied with the path I took. It's no one's place to doubt that.
I think there is a point where some musicians that just aren’t having the success as a player that they just need to sit down and realize it just isn’t gonna work out. A lot of these people eventually either work a modest job that gets the bills paid or then get into becoming a roadie. The connotation we hold with failure is just wild to me. “Failure” is important in your life, its sometimes has nothing to do with talent. One of the most talented guitarists I know is an electrician because he just couldn’t keep a band together due to his personality.
Tank - Generally interested to hear some of your former Bands Music. It's it available anywhere?
Yeah, it's on iTunes and Spotify. Band was called "Inept". Trust me, it's nowhere near what you think it's gonna be. Haha
I was a live audio engineer and sound designer for over a decade. I freely admit I was a failed musician. There were other failed musicians who worked with me in tech (sound and lighting). There were other techs I worked with who had never been musicians. So yes, SOME techs are failed musicians and some are not. That's just the truth.
I've never once thought a roadie or tech was a failed musician. Just someone that works hard. They are the ones loading or unloading gear. They are the ones setting up the instruments. They are the ones setting up lighting. They put in far more hard physical work for longer periods than a band member.
How many techs have stepped in to play when someone in the band can't? Happens a lot. If they were failed musicians, I don't think a band would rely on them in that capacity.
From 2004 -2010 I would interview bands that came to play in Chicago for a rock and metal music blog site I created and ran. I was the only black dude interviewing metal bands at the time, so I'm sure that got me media passes on more than one occasion. I would often chat with the road crew as well. The roadies that were on the bottom of the totem pole always had some "almost made it" story about whatever band they were in during high school. A lot of them were failed musicians, but failed only in the sense that they gave up on their dreams. The lighting and sound guys were extremely skilled, although some sound guys had a bigger ego than the really famous bands they were running sound for. The unifying thing was that everyone there just loved music.
Totally understand you I love music but suck at guitar tried in highschool then I studied journalism to be at shows an reviewing music etc it’s a hard to quit my music adiction lol
I’m also opening for TRAPT January 13th next month no joke lol .