Letters to the Editor
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You're too old, LW. Don't do it.
Don't form a band even though you want to. I think you're too old. Don't form a band because it's possible that some people will laugh at you. They will think you're too old, too.
There. You let someone else tell you what to do with your life. Happy now?
Incidentally, open your mind and your heart: those "mindless robots" you work with have dreams and aspirations, too.
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What?
This is my favorite part.
I've been told many times I have a near genius IQ
IQ is determined by test, not consensus.
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Hapiness comes from within
OK so you want to be happy. Can you be happy at 45 being a star/record producer/upstart recors label owner who can't pay his bills? Maybe yes but while it is important to do the things that make you happy they are hard to do when you are homeless and destitute. Form a band with likeminded people and play local venues in your off time. For free if you have to. If you are good people will pay you and you may be able to realize your dreams. If not you can still keep dreaming. See work as a means to an end, and not the end. A change of perspective may be all you really need.
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Don't Do It
Not because people will laugh at you or whatever, but because industrial music sux.
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@J: one little problem with your practical and kindly advice--
If this LW forms a band with "likeminded people," it will be a room full of narcissists, and the last thing needed in a band situation is 5 divas with no one to hold down the bass line and keep the tempo steady and make sure rehearsals get started on time.
Everything about this letter reeks of immaturity, from the exasperating references to near-genius IQ and "outside-the-box" thinking (hint: truly creative thinkers don't use such tired corporate-speak) to the dismissal of other human beings as "drones." Don't worry, LW, no one will laugh at you for being 45 because they'll never guess..you will fit right in with the self-involved 20-somethings who populate the club music scene.
To help yourself grow up, try contemplating what it means to have artistic "gifts." They are abilities given to you (by your genes or God or the universe or however you want to view it). To show your gratitude for having been lucky enough to receive them, you find ways to share them with others who dream the dream but don't have the talent. It's not about you: it's about them, those "drones" who you'll be desperately trying to connect with when you want them to buy your CD or show up to your gigs.
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Yes and no
[I] would love to start my own record label and also record my own album.
Hey, who's stopping you? I'm 46 and I found myself in the same position a couple of years ago. Here's what I did:
(1) Wrote and recorded a bunch of music by myself. Multitrack recording on a computer is easy nowadays. Assuming you can get by on piano or guitar, you don't need any other musicians to record an entire album. Except for drum loops, I record every instrument myself, and I'm not the world's greatest instrumentalist by any means.
(2) Started my own website and uploaded my music to it. Maintaining your own website is not that hard a skill to learn.
(3) Released my music under a Creative Commons license and posted links to it on opsound.org.
I've been doing this for a couple of years now and have easily written, recorded, and released 2 albums worth of material. I decided early on, though, that I wasn't going to sell it and would release it under a Creative Commons license. I think this is the smartest thing people like us can do. If our music is any good, it will eventually get noticed. This also means not quitting your day job. If you're worried about money all the time, you're not going to make good music.
If you're worried about looking like an idiot on stage, just skip the touring years and go straight to your "studio period".
The people I work with, while nice, are not in any way relatable to me. I view them as mindless robots who do whatever society tells them to do.
They're just people like you, trying to make it through the day. You think they don't have secret sorrows and secret ambitions? If they've given up on their dreams (and they probably haven't), well, that probably wasn't their fault.
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maybe not
J: As a resident of Portland (and one heavily involved in the music scene) I have to say that the odds of him getting booked are, uhh, kinda slim. I mean, first of all, the market for live industrial music in this capitol of indie rock is pretty small. Smaller than the metal scene, even. And, frankly, the music scene is awfully image-focused, fair or not. I'm not trying to dash anyone's dreams, just be realistic, but he'd have to be pretty damn good to get past all the barriers. Much better than he'd have to be as a 23-year-old in an indie rock back.
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Middle Ground
Surely, there must be some halfway creative job you can do to pay the bills while getting your band off the ground. There must be some ad agency, design firm, etc. that could give you fulfilling work and keep you roof over your head.
If you’re artistic and musical, why not teach classes? That will keep you in your art and give you time to get your band off and running.
I hate to sound like a drone, but at 45, retirement is only 20 plus years away, you’ll also need to sock some money away for old age. Starting a band is an awesome idea, but it’s a hard living and hardly worth the risk of ending up destitute.
Good Luck!
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What's missing here?
You say you have a "near genius IQ", but what you don't say is if you have even a near "mediocre" sense of rythm or can hold a tune. Yeah, its industrial and goth, but even the successful musicians know their bass from a treble. Sid Vicious and his ilk can only get away with it at 23 and then they have to OD by 30.
Still, if you can sing and/or keep a beat you're not to old to upload anything you want on YouTube or YouSing (the next big thing and I've just trademarked it, along with "YouPlay". Once I get enough entries I'm starting YouSuck for those who like the first few American Idol Shows, or reruns of the Gong Show.)
Go for it. Better to have tried and looked foolish than to worry you cheated yourself out of any chance of being happy.