Day Jobs (or what else you do apart from engineering)

cjogo · Post by **cjogo** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:44 am

A photographer for many a year --- started out on the stage beating drums . part time > a little commercial/fine art photography on the side.

Still shoot Corp stuff :: and occasional weddings.

And continue to perform musically few times a month on stage. The rest the time : hands on faders mixing/producing.

Looking forward to retirement --just around the corner.

Spent 20 years traveling East/West Europe http://imageevent.com/estrump/fineart;j ... 16&w=0&p=0 And another 10 Caribbean/Mexico /US

A.David.MacKinnon · Post by **A.David.MacKinnon** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:30 am

iamthecosmos wrote:
Back to the thread, has anyone made the leap from secure employment and been happy with the decision? I'm looking at what other relevant services I can get into that don't involve touring.

My last real job was about 10 years ago when I was working in the family funeral home (good times). The job came to an end when my dad retired and I made the shift into engineering work. I'd already been busy moonlighting as a recording and live sound engineer so it wasn't that harsh a transition. It was a big adjustment though.
After 10 years as a freelancer I'm almost at the point where I don't panic if there's a two week gap in my calendar. It was also a really big moment when my yearly income as an engineer inched past what I'd been making driving a hearse.
I'm a much, much happier person for having made the transition.

joelpatterson · Post by **joelpatterson** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:21 am

So now when the bell tolls, you think instead: Somewhere around Ab? Maybe almost G natural?

terryb · Post by **terryb** » Tue Jun 07, 2011 3:06 pm

former high school and community college math and physics instructor.
now a self-employed, private tutor.
Gives me plenty of time to tromp around the woods AND make music.

jkelly222 · Post by **jkelly222** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 9:13 am

I am doing my damn best to avoid getting another coffee shop/service industry job.

Currently I am a live sound engineer. I play drums as a hired gun. I teach drum lessons. I have a publishing deal and a recording contract so I get paid to write songs which is pretty cool! I also do at home mixing for friends and bands I really love.

I was doing a ton of freelance audio engineering and producing but since I've moved to New York I have had a tough time getting back in the swing of things (mainly because I left most my gear in Texas and I can't record in my house anymore).

I'm also interning at the Bunker Studio's in Brooklyn, which is an incredible studio!

Hopefully I will eventually be able to sum all this down to one job and playing music, or if I'm really lucky, just playing music/writing songs. We'll see how it goes. Tons of stuff in the works!

This is the first time in the past several years that I have been working solely in music related areas. I've worked a ton of shitty day jobs at coffee shops etc. I actually taught pre-school for three years which was awesome! Right after high school I told myself I'd rather work jobs I'm not fully passionate about/not to committed to so I could tour and travel the world(although teaching was awesome, but I was also able to tour a ton because my boss ruled). So my main focus for the last several years has been playing in bands/making records/touring.

plurgid · Post by **plurgid** » Wed Jun 08, 2011 10:37 am

I work in IT developing "ticket systems" (i.e. databases + webpages that hassle / nag everyone else about doing their jobs). I've done it something like 15 years now. As you can imagine, this is not the most beloved position in the company ... every last person hates you. If it's a guy low on the totem, he will hate you with the intensity of a thousand burning suns because "your worthless bureaucratic ass just doesn't understand how real work is accomplished and you're just there to make his job harder". If it's someone high up on the totem, they will hold you in the lowest regard because you and your shitty programs cost money and don't return hard results like an exact 15% reduction in such and such bullshit metric on an executive spreadsheet (because in fact you're program isn't an AI from the future that actually DOES the work, it just hassles the first guy).

It's a wonderful perpetual shitstorm, and I'm truthfully not sure how I even slid into it. I started out doing something completely different, and then I came to work one day, and that shit was just my problem. Like many people I was in my early 20's, just married, and had a kid on the way. I put away all my music stuff and focused on that for about a decade. Gradually I became so burnt out on it that I couldn't stand to look at a computer ('cept for a DAW ... a little bit). But I got what I needed, insurance and a steady income.

I'm at that point now, where I just pretty much NEED to find a different way of supporting my family, because that gig is sucking the life out of me. I've got too many responsibilities to go to recording school and intern for a year or two and start over in a new industry that way. So pretty much I have a hobby and a lot of dreams ... I'd bet money I ain't the only one around here in that position.

Like about a billion other people on the planet, I sure wish I knew a way to get into that "music for commercials" gig ... or really ... anything beyond bar-band stuff that'll earn money.

i hear BBQ stands make money. But then there's that lack of insurance ... wish that wasn't such an issue in the US.

nobody, really · Post by **nobody, really** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:13 am

But then there's that lack of insurance ... wish that wasn't such an issue in the US.

Bingo. So you keep slaving for da man. In a country like ours.... it ain't right.
Everyone I know who is against universal healthcare has their insurance paid for by mommy and/or daddy and/or whoever.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 7:35 am

>>>>Everyone I know who is against universal healthcare has their insurance paid for by mommy and/or daddy and/or whoever.<<<<

I can't speak for who you know, but that sounds a lot to me like a VERY sweeping and speculative statement.

I know that _I_ work my butt off, don't have my parents or anybody else to pay for anything, and in fact have to take care of a family that _includes_ my parents... Nonetheless, not a big fan of Obama-care (or any legislation that is driven down the throats of a nation by one party in a communo-fascist unilateral fashion).

"Universal Healthcare" is a pretty broad term that could use a lot of definition, both in your post, and in our current reality.

BTW, I'm _not_ rich.

GJ

jhharvest · Post by **jhharvest** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 8:59 am

I find it utterly baffling that so many Americans are against leveling the playing field for other Americans and would go so far as to call it "communo-fascist".

But then I don't live there, which is well enough.

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:30 am

>>>>I find it utterly baffling that so many Americans are against leveling the playing field for other Americans and would go so far as to call it "communo-fascist".<<<<

Well--

1) I'm not "so many Americans," nor do I claim to be. I'm just a working guy who now pays double for healthcare what I used to, with a plan that is not as good as the one I had, while paying double what I used to for prescriptions (and between myself, my wife, and my four kids, that is a small fortune). I also have two parents in long-term care, and am not looking forward to Medicaid going bankrupt...

2) It's not about "leveling the playing field" or not; it's about _how_ that is done and what that entails (and about what might be masquerading as "leveling"). Definition of terms. People that did not back the legislation here where not ALL completely against a plan that would work for everybody, they were against this plan.

3) Ram-rodding it down our throats without proper debate or disclosure in a unilateral party-line vote? "Communo-fascist" enough for me...

++++But then I don't live there, which is well enough.++++

True on both accounts, I'm sure. But then, everybody and every place has it's own set of problems, right?

Sorry to get political and start resembling the topic so aptly described by EarlSlick in his thread above... I will now "lock" myself so we can get back to normal discussion. If anyone else has a comment, either PM me (I don't bite), or I aquiese, you win. I'm not interested in a flame war. But sometimes sweepingly generalized statements need to be addressed as such, you know?

GJ

EarlSlick · Post by **EarlSlick** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 9:44 am

Sorry to get political and start resembling the topic so aptly described by EarlSlick in his thread above... I will now "lock" myself so we can get back to normal discussion. If anyone else has a comment, either PM me (I don't bite), or I aquiese, you win. I'm not interested in a flame war. But sometimes sweepingly generalized statements need to be addressed as such, you know?

This is a bit more casual discussion, not bogged down by technical details. It's hard to talk about employment, without talking about healthcare, since the two are tethered for some odd reason. In other words, there are no "Unqualified Individual" in this particular discussion.

My day gig is a software engineer, in a healthcare oriented software company. I feel like many others here, that stated that their jobs pay the bills and fund their hobbies. I would love to be a full time audio engineer, but I'm following the money at this point.

sessionsatstudiom · Post by **sessionsatstudiom** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 10:55 am

EarlSlick wrote:
Sorry to get political and start resembling the topic so aptly described by EarlSlick in his thread above... I will now "lock" myself so we can get back to normal discussion. If anyone else has a comment, either PM me (I don't bite), or I aquiese, you win. I'm not interested in a flame war. But sometimes sweepingly generalized statements need to be addressed as such, you know?
This is a bit more casual discussion, not bogged down by technical details. It's hard to talk about employment, without talking about healthcare, since the two are tethered for some odd reason. In other words, there are no "Unqualified Individual" in this particular discussion.

My day gig is a software engineer, in a healthcare oriented software company. I feel like many others here, that stated that their jobs pay the bills and fund their hobbies. I would love to be a full time audio engineer, but I'm following the money at this point.

I am like you. My day is where I go to cover health insurance. I have Crohns and my medication would cost me just shy of 80,000 a year. That is why I have my day job. I do audio for it. But not the type that I love. Reality is where I have to live. And that reality is group medical plan to pay for medications.
Unless someone has the winning lotto #s for me?
Mike

Gregg Juke · Post by **Gregg Juke** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 11:16 am

Hey Mike-- Check your box... PM'd something that might be pretty important.

GJ

iamthecosmos · Post by **iamthecosmos** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:20 pm

I live in Britain, we're lucky to be blessed with the NHS. It's not perfect, but I can't imagine life without it. I realise some people disagree but I couldn't imagine the idea of being sick and that being it unless you paid up. Digression over!

I was wondering what the tipping point was for people who've gone into full-time engineering? At what point was it looking promising? One good band or several average ones that paid?

sessionsatstudiom · Post by **sessionsatstudiom** » Thu Jun 09, 2011 12:49 pm

Gregg Juke wrote:Hey Mike-- Check your box... PM'd something that might be pretty important.

GJ

Got it thanks Greg. Tape op is an awesome community of people.

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