DRUMMER CAFE

A question to you fellow drummers who are both working a “regular” 40-hour/week job and playing weekly gigs:

How do you manage to do both and keep a healthy life?

And let's not forget family and friends relationships to take care of.

I haven't really done both on a regular basis but that's where I'm heading, while taking a break from a steady relationship so that I allow myself enough time to play music like I've always been dreaming of.

Everyone is different but for me family comes first...  I'm playing a gig with our band around twice a month and then I play with church around twice a month.  The band involves a weekly rehearsal and church involves a rehearsal for the week I'm on.  This turns out to be a "gig" every week, sometimes more sometimes less.  I also have a small business that keeps me busy.  When the kids were small, I simply didn't play drums.  We still have a 13 year old at home with a busy school and soccer schedule so mixed together its still busy.  My wife and I have to talk about schedule alot and I have to keep things in proper priority.  I've not got plans to be a pro drummer and as much as I love it, my first commitment is to family which boils down to keeping the relationship with the wife tight.  That takes time so if the drum thing becomes an issue - it takes a back seat. Fortunately for me, my wife is the BEST and we can talk through all this stuff without a lot of drama (some but not alot ) 

For me, it is a real balancing act.  Two bands, Playing Church, Full time Job and Family raising children.  I am about where eardrum is.  Family is what I try to put first.
Honestly, I am going to have to let one band go, sooner or later. I have been having some thoughts about changing even more about my life now.  I am playing with a Blues/Rock band, and a Band that plays more variety,& Church when they need me. 
I have been flurting with the thought of dropping the club/bar thing and going with a Contemperary Christian Rock band.  Somethings aren't always about money.  I also get tierd of being up until 5am. Having clubs dictate what time you set up and what you wear. They don't want to pay what I was making off a gig in the late 70's. I am stretched way to far.  That is how it is for me.  There is a part of me that say's that I don't play music for the money that is why I have a real job and there is part of me that says it is all to much work for the little bit that clubs try to get away with paying. I think the problem is that you will always have bands trying to get started and they will play for peanuts.  When you set a price that you will play for, someone will always play for less.  This hurts working musicians everywhere . What a rat race !!
                            Nutty

For the many years that I played 5 nights a week I developed a system that worked great for me. It was my business, I could set my hours....Then after I stopped my personal business and worked a factory it got worse. I had to dictate to the boss when I needed off work early to play a band job. I won....I quit the factory job! Went back to working for myself again. My family was happier because I was happier. Plus I was again able to play more gigs. Once again the family and music came first.   

This has been a recent problem for me.  I work as a substitute teacher during the school year (a few classes away from being certified to teach English), and I work at a children's program during the summer.

Both are pretty flexible, but this past spring and summer I've been trying to practice an hour or two myself during the day, attend one to three rehearsals during the week, and play about two shows a week. 

It's been great for me.  My drumming, bands, and band-related income have all improved, but my girlfriend and family have been feeling the strain of me not having time for them (I've felt it, too).

I suppose this is often the price for pursuing what you love to do.  But I'd sure like some advice on how to balance things without trading one for the other.

Very interesting comments, everyone. 

Keep 'em coming!

I and my band never have more than two gigs a month, and we do gigs only on Saturday or Friday, so this is OK with our daytime jobs. We usually have a rehearsal on Sunday afternoons, but only when we don't have a gig at the weekend. (Then we rehearse at the gig ) When I go home on weekdays, I usually practise an hour before the evening falls, and I sometimes go home for practising an hour at lunchtime. This is so easy with an amateur band.

This is a really useful thread. I'm currently a second-year junior college student (equivalent to last year of American high school in these places) and I'm taking a year off next year before entering college, but I've been trying to figure out how I can fit all my hobbies into the time I have. I play drums and guitar (drums more than guitar), I want to shoot air rifle, cycle and take up luthiery and drum-making. Most importantly, I plan on doing film in university and for a career (ha!) so I'll be making short films over the next year and probably for the rest of my life (what a thought...). At the same time, I also want to be a serious musician on both instruments and while touring might be a very long shot, I at least want to play on the big stages in this city.

My thinking right now is that - I'm not a person with discipline, but I can reap a lot of rewards quickly if I focus exclusively on technique right now, so I'm setting aside an hour a day each for drums and guitar where I just do rudiments/scales, coordination and control exercises. Twice a week I'll spend that hour on songs so I don't get bored off my schedule. I don't currently have a band so that's okay, but I definitely will join one soon. This way, I make the most of my time in terms of technical progress and it'll free up time in the long term.

I'm still trying to work out how I can fit everything in my time, so I'll be watching this thread.