moving into the next phase of my career

[megajoe]

My plan is to move to Portland in six months to do freelance engineering/producing and develop a career as composer/performer. What I'm looking for with this post is general insight, experiences, perhaps a link to a topic I didn't see in the search...

Here's some background:

In 2007 I earned a Bachelor of Music w/ an emphasis in music technology. Afterward I hooked up with some folks that multi-track the hippie festivals, sell DVDs and CDs on-site, have an online distro AND a national music TV network that programs local content and cross promotes the festivals and distro with exclusive live videos. Over the past two years I've gained a lot of experience doing in-house production for them. These guys also have a decent (outdated site) studio that I've utilized.

During that time I've recorded and mixed live concerts of hundreds of bands like Secret Chiefs 3, Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, Grace Potter and Sun Volt, written beats and made rap albums for NFL players, done all-analog sessions, mixed albums for various local bands, produced and created arrangements for songwriters, performed in Glenn Branca's guitar orchestra, composed music for corporate promo videos, worked as a session musician, had modern experimental compositions performed at the National Society of Composers conference, edited video for a Yonder Mountain String Band DVD, etc... I feel very fortunate for being able to stay busy and not having to get a 'job' since I graduated.

So everything's been going great, except now I've hit a wall. Making TV is not for me. In fact, I really dislike most things about TV and reached a breaking point. I have had a huge weight lifted off me recently because I don't do TV work for them anymore, just freelance at the studio. I'm ready to move on to a better market.

Although I've done a lot of traveling, I have lived within a 50 mile radius of Kansas City for 16 years (I'm 25). I started 5th grade around here, went to college in the same town and now I work here. Time to get out! Setting up in a new city where I'm not surrounded by a large network will be a new experience for me.

I'm not worried about being poor for a while. I can always find some way to pay rent.

I've never been to Portland, I will be visiting in April. It seems I would fit well there. I'm a vegan, environmentalist, and seem to line up well with a lot of counterculture ideals.

Any advice or opinions on this situation/idea is of course greatly appreciated!

[Snarl 12/8]

If you're cool enough, maybe you'll make it in music here. I never did.

[Nick Sevilla]

1.- You HAVE a job doing Audio.

So, what was your question again?

Really, you should re-think your position.

Why Portland (and DON'T F'ing say "Kurt Cobain" or some other Oregon Band).

Try finding more audio jobs within your job.

You say you have mixed live audio for bands recorded to TV. Hook up with them. They may have liked what you did, and give you a chance. Maybe you can gig live gigs for a while. You'll get to "see the USA" for a while.

Cheers

[inasilentway]

Since you have experience with live sound, try and get a house gig at one of the smaller music venues, one around a 200-cap that hosts both locals and touring indies. It's an easy way to meet local bands, and if you're good at it, people will trust you, which is the most important thing of all when you're trying to freelance. Be prepared for some serious rebuilding time though.

[Shane Michael Rose]

i just moved to nyc from boston,. the transition took about four months from move in to the point where I had a somewhat steady client base.

[mwerden]

i just moved to nyc from boston,. the transition took about four months from move in to the point where I had a somewhat steady client base.

That's pretty damn good, I've been here 5 years and I'm still trying to find a client base.

[Bro Shark]

I didn't understand the question, so I'll try to rephrase it. You work in TV, you want to become a composer/performer, and you want to know if Portland is a good place to do that?

If I got it right, then I'd say no.

[megajoe]

Thanks for the responses. At the time, I didn't take note of the self-absorbed rambling and ambiguity that was in my post, my apologies. I posted this shortly after I made the decision and I've talked to quite a few people since then. As far as what I'm asking, it could all be boiled down to:

How was relocating to a new market as a freelance engineer and/or how has your experience as an engineer been in Portland/NW US?

Why Portland? Because I've always wanted to live there for a while and there seems to be a lot of people making art and music there. I quit the TV gig last week, so no looking for jobs there. I'll still do audio production for them, but I'll be freelancing until I move.

Four months? Nice, hopefully I can pull off something like that. Was that by word of mouth, meeting folks at concerts and/or something else?