markmcclelland Posted May 13, 2016 Author Share Posted May 13, 2016 [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]A professional audition, a rehearsal and a jam night. In that order. https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/day-108/comment-page-1/#comment-10[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 14, 2016 Author Share Posted May 14, 2016 [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] Can't believe how much happened in these two nights. Second time in the famous Camden Blues Kitchen and first outing playing in Soho's just as famous blues bar Aint Nothin But...[/font][/color][color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] The saga continues. From the resorts of Benidorm, Alicante and Javea on the Costa Blanca, back to Madrid, and now taking on London.[/font][/color][color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2016/02/19/day-109-part-2/[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted May 16, 2016 Share Posted May 16, 2016 I am seriously enjoying day 109! The Jimi Hendrix guitar line - brilliant! Really excited to find out how things go with Julia too - you've really built the tension quite masterfully throughout these last two entries. S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 Stylon, thankyou so much. And yes. I was quite pleased with that Hendrix line myself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 16, 2016 Author Share Posted May 16, 2016 A spectacular jam with Julia followed by a very interesting encounter https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/day-110-part-2/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 21, 2016 Author Share Posted May 21, 2016 [color=#4B4F56][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Where I find myself in a venue way above my paygrade and discover a girl who's been singing with me was on the Chinese X Factor https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/day-111/[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Today, Mark's Diaries is the featured blog on Wordpress.com. To go straight to the latest entry, go to: https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/day-120/[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stylon Pilson Posted May 23, 2016 Share Posted May 23, 2016 Featured blog! Nice! Congratulations, Mark! S.P. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 23, 2016 Author Share Posted May 23, 2016 Thanks a lot Stylon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]A bonus entry today. I think I'll call this one nasty and nice. https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/day-123/[/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 and who doesn't love a bonus entry??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 Exactly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Seems you do a fair bit of playing in your spare time Mark. Chuck a noodle in here sometime..... http://basschat.co.uk/topic/284669-basschat-noodle-bar-may/page__st__30__p__3057043__hl__noodle__fromsearch__1#entry3057043 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 Thanks for asking. Here's a couple of noodles. The first one is from a while ago but is still the best single ten seconds of my playing I've managed to record. It was part of a four video online application audition for a cruise ship. It asked you to learn and record three cover videos and a one minute 'impress us' video. The first ten seconds is just going for it, the rest is jamming around the place. Maybe I should have just shredded for the whole minute. Who knows? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6yrhkl9-LM Although I quite like this bit too from The Blues Kitchen, Camden of August last year. A horribly awkward first minute showing exactly what a live jam session can be then a really kick ass jam. I get an unexpected solo call at 5:47. This is Freddy McVintage who you may have met already. I'm not sure but he is in there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3ZUsNEtcHA I'm horribly bereft of footage from quite a while back as I haven't been able to get videos off my phone and so have stopped recording anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Has to be a minute long so i've taken the first clip and put it in there for you. Nice groove Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 Thankyou very much. But put it where? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuNkShUi Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 The basschat noodle bar....Here [url="http://basschat.co.uk/topic/284669-basschat-noodle-bar-may/page__st__30__p__3057043__hl__noodle__fromsearch__1#entry3057043"]http://basschat.co.u..._1#entry3057043[/url][color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [/font][/color] [color=#282828][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Will remove it for you if you'd like. Sorry, i obviously didn't explain myself very well above.... Click on the link and check it out [/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 No, that's absolutely cool. Thanks a lot for that. I was a tad confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted May 31, 2016 Author Share Posted May 31, 2016 [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [font=inherit] [font=inherit]A bit of a shock today and then my first professional London gig.[/font][/font][/font][/color][color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif] [font=inherit] [font=inherit]https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/day-126/[/font][/font][/font][/color] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 I was beginning to think you would wind up having to make a living as a blogger, Mark! Ice broken then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted May 31, 2016 Share Posted May 31, 2016 [quote name='markmcclelland' timestamp='1464711776' post='3061715'] [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][font=inherit][font=inherit]A bit of a shock today and then my first professional London gig.[/font][/font][/font][/color] [color=#1D2129][font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif][font=inherit][font=inherit][url="https://marksdiaries.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/day-126/"]https://marksdiaries.../12/19/day-126/[/url][/font][/font][/font][/color] [/quote] Not wanting to sound negative but I personally would not call that a 'professional' gig - more like a decent semi-pro band playing a standard pub gig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) Ivan, thanks a lot mate. Yes. It's a start. And Pete, first off, really great that you're up with it and I totally get where you're coming from. I also fully expected this to be brought up when I wrote that tagline. I go back a long way making money from playing bass gigs and have thought about this a lot and have had a lot of conversations about this. If you make money from it, it's a professional gig. End of. Your description of it being a decent semi pro band playing a standard pub gig is exactly spot on. However, the word semi pro - and I'll look at that below - is the kicker. It's pro, of whatever distinction. People are paying you. They want and expect a professional job. Therefore you're doing a job as a professional even though it may not yet be - and yes so far, far from it - your profession. How do many bass players, or musicians, make a living? By doing a gig exactly like this. Then another one a few days later, then maybe a session in a studio, then maybe teaching a lesson somewhere, then possibly standing in covering for someone at a jazz gig. Maybe a reading gig at a big show a few days later. Taken on their own, they are nothing but sets of jobs. Or, as you rightly say, a semi pro musician playing a standard pub gig making up one of those sets of jobs. That is all part of the make up of a professional set up. Again, I totally get where you're coming from. But I turned up and did a job. I got paid for it. It was a professional job. Is the stated aim of the Diaries achieved? Hell no. Take a look through the whole of The Diaries again. I expect no-one to do that so I'll do it here. In Ireland I was what I would call semi professional which is what The Punching Preachers can also be called. Like a footballer playing in the lower reaches of the leagues and getting paid for it, if he's lucky enough to do that. He would be described as semi pro. Oh. I'm going to digress here for a second. Just setting off for a gig a few weeks after this one, I told someone about Punching Preachers and said something like I was off to play with my semi professional band. He said, 'Semi professional? Do they only half pay you?' 'What do you mean?' 'Do they say they're going to pay you and the money doesn't quite make it to your bank for some reason? Or do they pay you half of what they said they were going to?' 'No,' I said. 'So you'll get actual money for the gig you do tonight?' 'Yes,' I replied. 'So it's a professional band then,' he finished. Back to my point. I'll look back through the Diaries for you and beyond, because it is in there. A few years ago - a good few years ago - I was what I would call, and would still call, a semi professional musician. That is someone who does gigs they get paid for, ie, professional gigs, but doesn't do enough of those gigs to not have to do another job. Therefore, semi professional. However, the gigs themselves are still professional gigs. Now, bringing it into Diary territory, once I left Ireland and moved to Madrid, for reasons which cannot possibly begin to be covered here, I did gigs all over Madrid for six years, some of a good professional standard and to paying audiences. Not once did I go home with more than 20 euro in my pocket. And I believe that amount of money was made twice. Add taxi fares for my amp and I still probably only broke even. Leaving Madrid on this quest of which I'm currently writing, I went to the Costa Blanca where I didn't make a penny from bass. Apart from the bit of fun where I was asked to play, 'The bassline from that Formula One Song' for the change on the table. From Costa Blanca back to Madrid and right back into whatever that was going to be all over again. Then, from out of nowhere, the opportunity to go to London. Anyone who's read that knows what an absolute nightmare that became. But I stuck with it. Went homeless and jobless, sleeping on the floor of a friend's bedroom wondering when the moment would come I would have to admit it was all over and go back to Madrid again, tail between my legs to start all over again there to plan to leave again who the hell knows when. That didn't happen. I got a bar job. With zero experience, I struggled in that, being way below standard. I kind of floundered really but stuck with it as I had no choice and held so hard I was just good enough to not be fired to have it all fall apart all over again. I learned the job. Got good at it. Fully established myself in the place to the point where some regulars were introducing me to their friends as the manager of the whole joint - never mentioned in the Diaries. Through all this, I started to play on the music scene and started to get a little known. Landed a gig with an original band that may or may not make money, that may or may not even make any kind of dent anywhere. At the same time got myself in this pub covers band, for that is what it is. But despite what it is, through all of that, this is the first time in seven years through Madrid, Costa Blanca, back to Madrid and then onto London that I've stood on a stage, played my bass and got paid more than it cost to get there and back. That's six years in Madrid making zero money from music, and then getting paid for the first time within months of arriving in London. That makes it, indisputably, my first professional gig in London. And yes. Of course, the very next day, or maybe the day after, I went back to my actual job of being a waiter and barman. Edited June 2, 2016 by markmcclelland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivansc Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 You tell `em, Mark. With 60 odd years of paid gigs under my belt, they all ALL count. Over the years I am not ashamed to say that I have very often had to supplement my gig earnings with a day job, but that was mostly because I wouldn`t go on unemployment whilst getting paid for gigs... and also because I had a wife, children and a mortgage to support! YES I have spent a lot more years when my primary source of income was music, but I have also been very glad to be, on occasion, a waiter, a plumber, an appraiser of musical instruments and jewellery, etc etc etc.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markmcclelland Posted June 1, 2016 Author Share Posted June 1, 2016 Cheers Ivan. I know nothing bad was meant by it at all and it was all in a positive spirit. Yep. Things do often have to go on the side. It's something else that gets talked about that it's difficult to have just one job in music now and maybe it always was, I don't know..Professional actors too. Waiters, waitresses until you can get one acting job to keep you going until the next, or until they hopefully all start to roll into each other. Hell, maybe a musician does other things just to make more money to help out should things dry up in the future, or simply to have a little more. Afterall, if you've got downtime, might as well use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peteb Posted June 1, 2016 Share Posted June 1, 2016 (edited) [quote name='markmcclelland' timestamp='1464740591' post='3062151'] And Pete, first off, really great that you're up with it and I totally get where you're coming from. I also fully expected this to be brought up ... ...the very next day, or maybe the day after, I went back to my actual job of being a waiter and barman. [/quote] F**k me, that’s a long response! First of all, I take your point that a gig is a gig! Obviously pros will play bar gigs, if only to fill up the diary, and as you say most will have a few different ways of generating income to ensure that they can pay the rent. Also, I would say that the distinction between pros and the better semi-pros can be pretty blurred, more so than some people think. However, I still don’t think that playing a pub is a professional gig. I’ve got a straight 9 to 5 office job and can’t be considered a pro musician in any reasonable way, yet have been playing upwards of 40 pub gigs a year for most of the past 25 years – ever since I stopped trying to be a professional musician in fact! I make a fair few quid out of doing so, but certainly nowhere near what I would consider making a living. If you were to play 150 such gigs a year (3 a week), you would struggle to even cover your rent in London, so I don’t think that pros really do really make a living playing gigs ‘exactly like’ the one you describe. I know a lot of this is semantics and as I said above, pros do play the odd pub gig. However, I look forward to see how you start to make you way as a professional musician and I'm interested to see if you go down the route of teaching and the function or tribute gigs, etc that are the main sources of income for most jobbing pros. Edited June 1, 2016 by peteb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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