Welcome to my blog. I document life as a failed musician.
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Nothing much good has come from the coronavirus pandemic. Sure, for the individual, the chance to learn something new or get something done that you’ve been putting off for ages during lockdown isn’t bad.
The dream of never having to work on ships again didn’t last long. One year after last ferry contract, we’re back at sea. And it’s awful.
As far as most jobs go, musicians have it fairly good. I’ve mentioned before that if you are able to make a living from performing, you should be relatively happy with yourself, as well as counting yourself lucky.
After an eight month absence I am once again back on the Baltic ships. I actually arrived in Finland just over a week ago. That’s been just enough time to settle in to the usual routine of mild alcoholism, poor quality sleep, contracting some kind of respiratory disease and not seeing any daylight for I think eight days now. As long as I don’t get the stomach flu that’s going around, I’ll be happy.
Whenever I tell family or friends that I’m about to go away to work a contract on a ship, they seem to assume I’m going to have a great time. This is understandable as most people who hear about ship life are used to stories of drinking and partying. Playing music as a job is itself considered an easy ride by most.
Being a professional musician is mainly great. You get to do some travelling, meet new people and although there are negatives, stress levels are pretty low once you have some steady work in place. If you make a mistake on stage, chances are nothing bad is going to come of it. It’s probably one of the least important professions in the world and anyone able to make a living from it should be really pleased with themselves.
