January 3, 2014

Good day, gentle readers! Since my successful Kickstarter campaign, I get many questions, both in person and online, about how the project is going. I love these questions and am only too happy to give long, colourful answers. People tend to react with a sort of awe, and I am more aware than ever that my work as a musician is somewhat mysterious to people who have no direct experience with it. That is why I have decided to gather some data about how I spend my time over the month of January, and to share it with you here. I am lifting the veil, if you will, over the mystery of a musical life.

For my fans who are not musicians, this should give you some more insight into what a working week looks like for people like me who have chosen such unusual paths. For my fellow musicians, and other self-employed artists and trailblazers, I imagine you reading it with relish and sharing it with your own friends if it rings true for your own experience. I will post updates each Sunday, and then the nice big summary at the end of the month.

This is only one month in the life of one Canadian indie musician. Every musician would have a different tale to tell depending on their own circumstances, and other months of this year will certainly be different for me. To put it in context, I am currently recording two different albums at once. One of them is homegrown with zero budget and I’m doing almost everything myself; the other has been funded by Kickstarter and my many fine friends who contributed, and I am working with a number of talented people to make it as good as it can be. I am a full-time musician and audio engineer, which currently means that in addition to making music I am making ends meet with freelance audio and music instruction. I am not touring, I have no record deal, and while I am focused on these recording projects I will not be spending much time on stage.

I hope this makes fun reading, and I am as curious as anyone to see what this month will look like. I have stop watch, notebook and pen at the ready and have started recording the time I spend in various aspects of my chosen career.

A little while ago I got a call from a market research company doing a survey. I always take those surveys if I can, since I used to work in one of those call centres and commiserate with their employees. When the gentleman asked me how many hours I work in a week, and to please include both time spent working for an employer and time spent in self-employment, I actually laughed out loud and said, “I don’t know…maybe sixty?” In retrospect I think that was a conservative estimate. I guess we’re all about to find out!