40 thoughts and learnings from leaving my job as a software engineer to go on a national tour with a rock band
TL;DR: Only quit your job if you absolutely have to. But also, definitely do it.
Some background: From September thru mid November 2021 I toured the country playing bass guitar with the punk/emo band Covey. We played 41 shows across the entire country. I kept this list as an exercise in mindfulness during the trip.
1: Since the pandemic took shows away, I had to relearn how to practice my instrument, rehearse with a band and put on a good performance.
2: The usual first question I got from people when I told them I was leaving my job was: “how old are are you?”
3: Leaving your job to work on a creative project feels like breaking the rules.
4: Driving around playing rock shows to hundreds of people is the complete opposite of working a day job from home during quarantine.
5: I learned how to be productive on small projects where and when I could. For example: daily journaling, development on my personal website, lyric writing for my own music project, etc.
6: I miss my family and friends in New York.
7: I miss my routines.
8: I miss my mechanical keyboard.
9: Never underestimate the kindness of strangers. This is a big shoutout to everyone who let us crash at their house, cooked us a homemade meal or supported the band when we were on the road.
10: I love hearing stories from fans about how they discovered the band and what compelled them to come out to see the show.
11: Never refuse free food.
12: 2 hours of sleep is better than no sleep at all.
13: It’s interesting to see the differences in how different states and cities are responding to the pandemic.
14: Similarly, taking note of the vibe of the crowd each night in an attempt to gauge how they might respond to the music.
15: How to be away from home for the longest time of my life.
16: Tour is a lot of standing around, waiting and doing nothing.
17: How to find moments of solitude when traveling with a group.
18: The role of technology in touring: We use several apps that help us with logistics, scheduling and merch sales.
19: Working the merch table after the set is a lot of fun. Each night we try to set it up to optimize sales and have safe and meaningful interactions with fans.
20: Live music isn’t dead.
21: The music industry is still very much a white boys club.
22: A creative life is possible and worth it.
23: It’s hard to keep up with this list.
24: I enjoy the periodic days off but I don’t like not playing shows.
25: The influence of the design of venues on the general mood and energy of the show.
26: I’ve never seen more free alcohol in my life.
27: We saw a nice sampling of regional gas stations and truck stops nationwide: Wawa, Sheetz, Bucc-ee’s, Love’s, Sinclair, etc.
28: How to soundcheck and communicate clearly with sound techs.
29: I want to go out to more shows, museums, movies and events when I’m back in New York.
30: It’s nice to see posters at the venues of artists who I’m familiar with playing just a few days before or after we are at that same venue. So many artists who I respect are on tour this fall. It makes me feel like I’m on the right path.
31: All shows should be all ages.
32: True friendship is real and it takes time to nurture.
33: Tour is a time warp. Waking up and falling asleep in a different city every day makes each 24 hour period feel like a lifetime.
34: With all the countless hours of individual practice and band rehearsal that we did, mistakes on stage will still happen. Imperfections are part of a live performance.
35: There will be some low energy nights on stage.
36: You’re gonna take wrong turns while following Google Maps and end up driving around in a circle for 20 minutes.
37: How to wait.
38: LA is great. I have so many good friends in LA. I want to spend more time in LA.
39: I overpacked.
40: The final days of the tour had `last night of high school before graduation` vibes — everyone was talking about their plans for the future with simultaneous excitement and sadness.
