I am skipping class at the moment, though I am still in the building. I came downstairs to the “fishbowl” (computer lab) to kill time while the class does busy work.
On the 22nd of this month (next Thursday) I am playing what will be, for the time being, my last gig with the Jay Rakes Band. I say “for the time being” because I have agreed to do fill-ins in the future but my status as a full member of the band has reached it’s terminus.
Basically, I have had to make a choice to focus on school, work, and my new chosen career in the IT field. I have mixed feelings about this decision, but for the most part I am optimistic that I am doing the right thing. JRB requires too much of my time, and too much of my concentration at the moment for me to feel like I would be doing Jay and Tripp any justice to continue playing with them. Juggling school, a job, bass students, and preparation for technical certifications (which is like going to a second school) while rehearsing and playing with a band for six hours a week is too much for me to juggle.
I am disheartened by the fact that I am quitting a musical situation so that I can do non-music drudgery. I do feel a bit like I am selling my soul, but I am trying to remind myself that I have taken time away from the bass before and returned more enthusiastic and passionate as ever– and this will not be a total break from the instrument. I am looking forward to putting in a dedicated effort on beefing up my practice routine and shedding hard on some new things. I want to get more serious about posting some more online lessons and I want take a breather and remember how excited I used to be about music before Berklee. Sometimes those things are easier to do when you aren’t worried about stepping up to a band situation.
I wish Jay and Tripp the best. I have gained so much as a player and as a person from playing with them. The challenges I have had to overcome– just to hang with these guys– have been extraordinary. I am glad that I was able to take part in playing with them for the last 2 1/2 years, and I will leave them now as a transformed musician. They are world class musicians and deserve the very best.
quitter.
also, i love you.
Sounds like a tough decision, but over-extending yourself is no good either. My husband is in IT, good choice, you’ll have plenty to spend on your bass / music / electronics habit.
I don’t know. That whole “selling my soul” thing sure makes paying a mortgage easier. I can only speak from personal experience, but my mind is most at ease when I worry more about what needs to be done or what makes me happy and less about abandoning my supposed calling. I’m much happier now just playing along to Iron and Wine CDs than I ever was at Berklee learning drop-2’s and crap like that. But, hey, that’s just me.
You know, I actually debated going to Berklee. From what you, Drew, and Justin say about it seems to make my decision to not go a little easier to handle. Still, I would have loved to have played bass for school….
Good luck with everything, Justin. You still have plenty of gigging days ahead of you.
Don’t misunderstand me. I loved Berklee. But there were times that I felt completely overwhelmed by it. My biggest problem that results from my Berklee education is that I paid for it all with student loans and as such I have been forced to turn down some opportunities in order to pay the bills. My efforts at ECPI are not the end-all be-all of my existence, it’s a job that will someday allow me to relocate away from Norfolk, VA. My hometown that I have never felt at home in. While Mr. Steiner might be happy jamming with CDs at home, that is not how I want to go out.
Ah, well the financial situation can ruin things; I can see that, and turning down opportunities due to it doesn’t sound fun at all. Sorry I misunderstood you Justin, but I’m glad you cleared it up for me. I don’t want to be running aroud this world with the wrong ideas about you fliing my head, after all!
Sometimes the wrong ideas are the most comforting, Alex.
I don’t know what that means.
It’s best to have the wrong ideas about him…trust me.
I can tell you all from 27 years of experience that Justin makes no decision on a whim. This was a difficult one for him to make. but I have no doubts that great things are going to be happening to my son.
He has displayed hard work, perseverance and discipline — something I haven’t seen in quite some time. It is my personal opinion that having music in your heart, as Justin does (and you. Alex!) you can do anything you want. You’ll never lose it — you’ll always have it and you can always return to it…whenever you want to…no matter what you are doing or where in the world you are.
You are all young — follow those dreams and make them turn into plans. That’s what life is all about!
I think it’s true that you never lose it. Music will always be a part of my life. I think I’ve just accepted the fact that it won’t be as big a part as I thought it would when I was 17, worshipping Dream Theater, and picking out a school to go to. I was always a little jealous of people like Justin, where that was just “it” for them; it was obvious they belonged there. Any kind of education should teach you about yourself as well as what you study, and I learned that being around music that much takes all the enjoyment out of it for me. I wish there was a cheaper way for me to find that out, but I’ll never regret going to Berklee. I met some of the best people I’ll probably ever meet, including my wife. I haven’t given up on anything or sold all my gear like I told Justin I would; I just know myself a little better than I used to, thank God. But, once again, hey that’s just me.
Furthermore, I apologize if I’ve steered this whole discussion into a different direction than it was intended. Sorry…
The dream of being a professional music (i.e. supporting yourself doing music alone) is much much different than the reality. I know people who are content taking whatever gigs they can find just to make the money.. I don’t ever feel any different auctioning off my dignity to a cover band than I would selling my soul to a major corporation. I hate Starbucks with all of my coffee-drinking heart, but at least with Starbucks you have a shot at a 401k and a benefits plan and when you come home you don’t smell like smoke and you have music waiting for you.. it’s not a job that taints the very thing you love the most.
So there is no confusion, this is an unrelated topic, the Jay Rakes Band was not– in any shape or form– a cover band or gig where I felt like I was selling my soul.
Also, I am not working at Starbucks.
Real quick; speaking of dignity: I was really excited to take lessons from Don Lappin. At the time, I liked his music and he was a cool dude. In my first lesson, he told me he just got a gig with this wedding band that played the Cape and Martha’s Vineyard, places like that. He was pretty excited about it. Near the end of the semester, he tells me “Ok, today we’re going to learn to play ‘Brown-Eyed Girl,’ because that’s what you’ll be playing out in the real world. That’s all I play any more.” It was really sad.
Justin, you’ve got the drive, ambition, and, above all, the talent to avoid all of that. So, by any means necessary, do it! Okay, I’m done…