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Smurph View Drop Down
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Points: 3167 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Prog Rock Fame and Day Jobs
    Posted: July 16 2013 at 11:50
Horrible musicians are always told to not quit their day jobs... But sadly, many of the greatest Prog rock groups never find success and they must continue working a day job.


What are the day jobs of some of your favorite Prog rock musicians? (I know pink Floyd and Yes and the biggest groups never had to do this, but what about Van Der Graaf, Thumpermonkey Lives, or Anglagard?)

I honestly couldn't tell you what some of these people do to get by and to fund their musical endeavors.

Does anyone here know?
http://pseudosentai.bandcamp.com/



wtf
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questionsneverknown View Drop Down
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Points: 602 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 12:01
Although XTC may not be a prog band, this story fits the bill for the kind of thing I think you're looking for:
After releasing Nonsuch, Andy Partridge went on strike in protest against Virgin records.  This lasted for at least ten years (Apple Venus, Wasp Star and the Fuzzy Warbles series came out after and showed what he had been working on in the interim).  Unfortunately, as Andy was the primary songwriter, this left Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory with little to no income during this period.  Apparently, they were working for a moving company in the Swindon area.  The thought of such great musicians shifting sofas in a van was always pretty depressing to me.  But work is work, and bills have to be paid.
The damage that we do is just so powerfully strong we call it love

The damage that we do just goes on and on and on but not long enough.

--Robyn Hitchcock
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Smurph View Drop Down
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Points: 3167 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 12:04
Yea very true.

Also I am asking this for selfish reasons... It makes it less depressing to work a dead end job knowing about favorite musicians that had to do the same
http://pseudosentai.bandcamp.com/



wtf
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TODDLER View Drop Down
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Points: 3126 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 12:13
Great diverse musicians who rate above and beyond anyone in the band YES, K.C., or anyone for that matter....BUT..have never taken that giant leap to fame , have day jobs. I recall the first time I became a member of P.A., a snotty nosed (I have no business opening my trap..kind of person), actually thought that just because a musician hadn't made it, that placed the band YES levels above them. regarding musicianship. ?????? really?  I guess that means that any musician who studied piano at Julliard can't possibly reach the level of Rick Wakeman........cause Rick Wakeman is a "STAR" right? There are pianist's who have never once attended a music college to study anything whatsoever on manuscript paper and have been born with the talent to surpass anything Wakeman could play. ...any day of the week....
 
Happy the Man members had day positions. Perhaps they took leave when the band decided to reunite for the 2000 tour on Nearfest. Very common for the struggling bands to uphold day positions. Many dive into production or teaching. Then they finance a tour ...only to a degree...as some prog vendors gamble their finances away by assembling a prog fest.


Edited by TODDLER - July 16 2013 at 12:15
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Points: 4287 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 13:05
Is it a problem ? I don't think having a job is the worst thing than can happen.
Artist make art because they have to make art, some also have commercial success others don't.
That is how it has always been, and its not always fair, but most things in life ain't fair.
And it's not different in prog, than in other genres or styles of art.


Edited by tamijo - July 16 2013 at 13:06
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Points: 350 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 13:57
One of the guitar players in Neurosis is a schoolteacher and I think the other members have day  jobs too.
Hasse Froberg (TFK) works (or used to work) at an airport in Sweden and apart from that he does a lot of theaterwork there, doing more gigs than the rest of the band combined.

I think that the romantic idea of the big rock star with the glorious lifestyle is mostly not true.and that the vasat majority of bands needed day jobs or they chose not to have to live off their music because if they'd have to make a living doing music their music would suck.
Follow your bliss
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Points: 26064 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 14:37
Keith Emerson worked as a courier for a while in the 90's but this was by choice not necessity.Allowed him to get out on his motor bike His original day job was working in a bank but he by his own admission he wasn't very good at it.
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Points: 2162 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 14:40
I read on youtube somewhere that someone had Daniel Gildenlow from Pain of Salvation as a music teacher in middle school or something.  He introduced him to their first music video for the song Pilgrim (from Hour By the Concrete Lake). The class didn't really get... but If I was in middle school I would probably have the same reaction. Wink  Anyway, I investigated and it looks like its true!  Daniel has had day jobs as a music teacher and computer teacher, check it out:

http://se.skillpages.com/music-composer/stockholm-sweden/daniel.gildenlow/1
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Points: 8058 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 15:42
Triumvirat's Helmut Koellen was also an auto mechanic and race car driver. (I am not sure to what extent, though, he was involved in these things while a musician in Triumvirat)

Edited by presdoug - July 16 2013 at 16:44
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Points: 34 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 16:52
I am actively in MoeTar, miRthkon, *and* Secret Chiefs 3 (among other projects). I'm recording a lot and touring the world 3-4 months out of the year... But I still have (and need) my day job of 19+ years. Of course that day job is working on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, so I'm not complaining.

I don't mind having to work to support my art. Being just a musician would be nightmare to me. I need to live an active life outside of music to inspire me to make more music. Otherwise it would just be music *about* music.

- Matt
Keyboards/Bass/Guitar/Drums/Voice - Secret Chiefs 3 | miRthkon | MoeTar | Bodies Floating Ashore

Too much info here: http://www.lebofsky.com
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Points: 2632 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 17:13
When not on tour, Queen's Roger Taylor is a practicing dentist. Seriously.
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Points: 4070 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 21:18
Originally posted by questionsneverknown questionsneverknown wrote:

Although XTC may not be a prog band, this story fits the bill for the kind of thing I think you're looking for:
After releasing Nonsuch, Andy Partridge went on strike in protest against Virgin records.  This lasted for at least ten years (Apple Venus, Wasp Star and the Fuzzy Warbles series came out after and showed what he had been working on in the interim).  Unfortunately, as Andy was the primary songwriter, this left Colin Moulding and Dave Gregory with little to no income during this period.  Apparently, they were working for a moving company in the Swindon area.  The thought of such great musicians shifting sofas in a van was always pretty depressing to me.  But work is work, and bills have to be paid.

That's so messed up--XTC was a great group ---hope Jon Anderson isn't pushing coffee at Starbucks any time soonLOL
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Points: 10 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 22:58
Bruce Dickinson apart from being in Iron Maiden is an airline pilot, author, broadcaster and entrepreneur.
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Points: 4591 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 16 2013 at 23:42
Derek Shulman (Gentle Giant vocalist) works in the recording industry I think as an A&R man.  I was watching a metal documentary ("Metal Evolution") and he was interviewed about something, but during his time onscreen his title was given as "Record Executive" rather than what it should have been, "Vocalist for one of the Greatest Prog Bands of all Time" Wink
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Points: 2673 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2013 at 00:20
Originally posted by presdoug presdoug wrote:

Triumvirat's Helmut Koellen was also an auto mechanic and race car driver. (I am not sure to what extent, though, he was involved in these things while a musician in Triumvirat)


So was Jerry! Wink
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Points: 2459 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2013 at 05:25
Originally posted by maani maani wrote:

When not on tour, Queen's Roger Taylor is a practicing dentist. Seriously.


Yoshihisa Shimizu, the leader of Kenso (Japan's foremost "symphonic fusion" band in the vein of Bruford and Brand X) is a dentist as well. Apparently he always plays live wearing his white dentist coat.
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Points: 10 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2013 at 09:05
VDGG, to my knowledge, were full time musicians
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Points: 7024 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2013 at 12:35
Originally posted by The.Crimson.King The.Crimson.King wrote:

Derek Shulman (Gentle Giant vocalist) works in the recording industry I think as an A&R man.  I was watching a metal documentary ("Metal Evolution") and he was interviewed about something, but during his time onscreen his title was given as "Record Executive" rather than what it should have been, "Vocalist for one of the Greatest Prog Bands of all Time" Wink
 
He was president of Roadrunner records and signed both Nickelback and Pantera.
 
This may endear him greatly to my adopted son, but not to me.
A TVR is not a car. It's a way of life.
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Points: 928 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2013 at 14:23
Originally posted by Hercules Hercules wrote:

Originally posted by The.Crimson.King The.Crimson.King wrote:

Derek Shulman (Gentle Giant vocalist) works in the recording industry I think as an A&R man.  I was watching a metal documentary ("Metal Evolution") and he was interviewed about something, but during his time onscreen his title was given as "Record Executive" rather than what it should have been, "Vocalist for one of the Greatest Prog Bands of all Time" Wink
 
He was president of Roadrunner records and signed both Nickelback and Pantera.
 
This may endear him greatly to my adopted son, but not to me.

Ouch, and I thought Phil Collins sold out... Ouch
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Points: 265 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 17 2013 at 15:47
Lots of day jobs in Caravan. David Sinclair owns a small piano shop in Herne Bay, Richard Coughlan (a trained dental technician) leads some kind of pub somewhere in Kent, and Richard Sinclair spent some years as a carpenter.

Christoph Noppeney of German folk/symphonic rock group Hoelderlin studied medicine after his music career and now works as a pediatrician in Germany.  


Edited by Einsetumadur - July 17 2013 at 15:51
All in all each man in all men
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