Now
What am I doing now?
Updated March 31, 2025.
(This is a now page in the style of Derek Sivers.)
Session recording/arranging
I spent all of last year trying for a job in software engineering. I got a total of two responses (neither chose to hire me), and that's with 12+ years experience and a total of 20+ years IT experience. I have always needed a job outside of music. It's not just about money to live, it's also about money for equipment, maintenance, investing in my music, and much more. I was broke all last year, and I still am. I am borrowing a recording interface from a friend because I can't afford to replace my self-retired one.
A music friend back home in Kelowna recommended I try getting some work on AirGigs. I enlisted myself and set my prices low in hope of incentivizing some activity and building reviews. So far, that's been working: I've been recording guitars, arranging background vocals for songs, and also mixing/mastering songs. It's been satisfying—working with and getting paid for music—but I am not earning enough to even cover food. Now that I'm getting some reviews under my belt, I will analyze the platform more and soon reset my prices. I have to choose prices that are a compromise: fair for me, but also relative and reflective of where I and my studio are at in my/our musical journey.
Live-streaming
Last year I was live-streaming weekly: I would practice a set of songs and then put on a performance... to essentially nobody. (Taps the mic, "Is this thing on?" Microphonic feedback whines.) So, by the end of year I had already pivoted to what I started this year doing: I am taking a set of songs and practicing them during a livestream. I still gain the odd new subscriber (I do this on YouTube) and I am also eroding the pressure I put on myself for performances in general. Viewers get to see what I do to work through problem parts of songs and also get the odd solid performance of a song. There's also some chatting or joking around when a viewer gets into the chat.
Prioritizing (and adjusting)
I started the year with a clear and considered set of priorities. The new AirGigs work I'm doing is the result of one of the priorities, which was: Get my services up on some online platforms. Two other top priorities have been taking much longer, especially now that AirGigs is taking up some of my time: finish a note-organizing (software) app I started, and finish my audio/chart guides for 10 – 15 songs for shows with a trio. I'm so discouraged with the state of software engineering that I have let the prior drop now for nearly two months. The latter, though, I am trying to put regular time into. There's a third priority—more of an ongoing one—which is to revisit a batch of songs I wrote back in 2020/21/22. They have a lot of potential but require me to embody them—put them on and wear them—which usually results in edits. Especially, lyrical edits come up, as do edits to how I might perform (guitar) them alone or with a trio. This revisiting of these songs will ultimately lead to a new recording of some length—EP or LP. The going is slow, for now.