Untitled - Memorial University's Digital Archives Initiative

lob - Were there any other opportunities or ambitions that you've had to pass up
on in order to pursue a musician's life?
RIUS- Well. certainly I've had to pass and miss on the drudgery of. you know. a
nine·to-five day job. which I have not held in the past ten )'ears. I do contmet
work in the film industry to survive. which I find can destroy your life as a
musician. Certainly as a musician I would not survive a year if I dedded to try
and live offthe earnings ofmy bands... They might pay some support. like when
we're on tour these days we generally get per diems and stuff. so I can afford to
live while I'm away. But as for paying me a paycheck at the end ofa tour or after
a gig. generally all the money goes right back into being able to keep the band
progressing and creating things and allowing us that opportunity.. ,
I make quite reasonable mone)'. and obviously I have a relatively large house
which is moslly afforded by the fact that I have the lime to do the work on it
myself, I haven't had to hire contrnelors to do my work. Rock and roll being a
nighttime sort ofgig thing, you've got a 101 ofdaytimes to bum up and do sluff.
so I invested a couple years ofmy life. I guess. The rock and roll lifestyle
allowed me to live in an environment that I want to live in,.
The intensity with which these respondents held to their hopes ofmaking a good
living off the work they loved. coupled with their acute awareness ofthe financial
pressures ofdaily life. in some cases seemed to introduce a note of pragmatism into their
aesthetic deliberations:
Rob - How would you feel about adapting your sound in any way to meet the
demands ofa wider audience?
Alldn'" - Any band who kind ofgets close to success is going to have to
detennine at some point whether or not they're going to-- They're going to be
approached by the record company. and Ihey're going to go. "Well. maybe you
should have this producer, why don't you do this and make it more accessible?'" I
don't know, Ido believe in artistic imegrity but I also believe in the seJl-out
young, make a shitload ofcash, and then you can buy your artistic imegrity back,
Juetlfy - I'm not a stickler for tlun kind ofstuff like a lot ofpeople. I'm
innuenced a 101 by pop stuff... I write songs. sometimes the thought will pop into
my head as I'm writing a song about making it make more sense or more
accessible, but I do that for me.. , I'\'e learned to do that and I'm proud ofrhat.
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