Musicians: Blue Collared Artists

"Saan napupunta yung mga sweldo mu? Ilang buwan ka ng nagta trabaho wala ka pa ringnaiipon? Puro ka kasi kalokohan eh, sinasayaang mu yung pinagpapaguran mu sa mgakalokohan mu."

I can still remember my Mother telling me that I needed to use my money on more important things. Yes, I know they wouldn't and probably wouldn't understand that being a musician or in a band really requires money, lots of it actually. It got me thinking that yea, with my meager income I should have saved or invested my money on things that will benefit me most in the future. But heck, did I care? Hell no!

When I started working I made a list of things that I want to buy when I have the money already. The list includes things like Zoom B2, a Behringer DI, guitar strap, a better gigbag, D'Addario bass strings and a pedalboard. It never hit me that all of these stuff are band related, until my mother saw it, preached the importance of saving for the future and me thinking about how I could get this stuffs.

Being a musician requires dedication, perseverance, passion and yes, money. Being a member of a band requires gears; guitars, effects and stompboxes, cymbals and the common miscellaneous like drum sticks, a set of guitar strings, guitar picks and straps. And these things aren't for free. Quality guitars would cost you about three thousand to as much as thirty thousand, depending on the brand and type. Drum sets, cymbals, skins and even drumsticks costs much too. Gigs and events requires moolah too and of course there are still occasional expenses like fare expenses and food. These are the things that most people who are not in the music scene couldn't understand; a lot of underground artists who are not that famous are struggling to acquire their gears, through blood, sweat and tears, literally. Though some of us might have day jobs, it's still not enough and this is where a true musician rises.

We are not payed for all our efforts just to be able to play in an event. We are not given fares to far away venues and places. We are not sponsored costly promotions, gears and instruments. We might not earn like engineers or doctors or lawyers or those big name bands that brings home a couple of thousand bucks after playing for a three song set. We are musicians who plays with love, passion and pure dedication. We are musicians who struggles through adversities to make our music echo a little louder. We are musicians who makes the most out of everything. I guess being heard and appreciated is a better way of repaying us. It might not buy us top caliber gears but I'm sure it would give a boost to our dedication, to spread our music and help each other. That is the job of a musician.

Thanks for reading this piece of thought. BTW I am Rica and I play bass for the awesome boys of Dubdriven (yes, I'll call them awesome because they're my bandmates. talk about biases huh? :D). Let's continue supporting the underground scene and spread the music!