Day One

I have survived day one of Way Home! I'm dirty and sweaty and don't have cell service, so I'll update once I can get a stable connection. Highlight of the day was Delta Spirit... Dissapointment sadly was Neil Young. He sounds great, but needs to give the Monsanto shit a rest. Photos to follow!!

Way Home, here I come!!

Greetings, faithful readers!

The rumours are true, I am off to Way Home this weekend! I'll be live tweeting (follow me @Heather_M01) and blogging the festival, so stay tuned for live coverage of Neil Young, Modest Mouse, Alt-J, and pretty much everyone else! Have any special requests for artist photos/videos/set lists? Let me know, and I'll make sure to check them out! Festival lineup can be found here!

Stay tuned!!

A Modern Day Cover Letter

Dear potential employer,

You're a record label who needs an executive assistant. You also just so happen to be home to a few of my favourite bands. I'm a music nerd, who just so happens to be well educated AND in need of a job. So far, I feel that we're a good match.

You need someone who's organized, efficient, and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment. Someone who's comfortable communicating with individuals and clients at all levels of the organization. Someone who can multitask and solve problems. Someone with an eye for detail. Someone who might point out typos they happened to notice while reading the ad for the job in question (it may be presumptuous, but I have an eye for details and I think this proves it).

 You're also hoping for someone who has stellar interpersonal skills, the ability to anticipate needs, someone who can collaborate and work well with others. You want someone diplomatic and engaging, who knows their way around a computer and who has maybe worked in the music industry before.

I still feel that we're a good match. 

Before going back to school, I worked in the heart of the tourist industry in Niagara Falls - the definition of a fast-paced work environment. For nearly 10 years, I cooked, tended bar, and served at some of the busiest restaurants in the area, where multitasking and organization weren't skills I learned, but methods of survival. Anticipating guest needs, communicating effectively, and collaborating with my team were necessary steps in making good tips. An eye for detail and a sense of urgency made my job easier. Despite the laundry list of things restaurant staff are responsible for, being diplomatic and engaging was always job one.

All of the skills I learned in the tourist industry trenches translated easily to Public Relations, the field of study I chose to pursue upon returning to school. And PR ended up being a fantastic gateway to the place I long for the most - the music industry.

While in school, I had the opportunity to intern for the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, which a lot of people found confusing at first (I'm a bit more Moneen than Mozart). I loved every minute of being involved with a not-for-profit organization committed to bringing music to the masses, even if the type of music wasn't what I was used to listening to. I also had the opportunity to undertake a second internship with Errant Entertainment, where my research, writing, and editorial skills were put to good use (check out my interview with Sumo Cyco here).

Alas, my days as an intern are over, but my thirst for being part of the music industry has not been quenched. This, potential employer, is where you come in. I'm passionate, organized, well versed in computers (Windows, Mac, all social media platforms, Google docs... I'm even learning HTML and CSS as we speak!), and I would be a great addition to your team.

In closing, thanks for taking the time to read my blog. I hope to hear from you soon. And if not, I hope you clicked through my blog posts and at least enjoyed what you read. Also, here's my favourite song by my favourite band (Yes I know this particular B Side wasn't released on your label, but I did really really enjoy Damage and can't wait for the next album).

Don't Quit Your Day Job - Musicians Before They Hit the Big Time

As some of you may know, I've recently graduated from a post-grad program in Public Relations. And, like most new graduates, I'm finding myself in that career limbo. I just completed a brief stint that allowed me to combine some of the skills I've learned in PR, some of the ones from HR, and ALL of the ones from my life as a restaurant brat. It wasn't exactly the PR job of my dreams, but managing a small restaurant was interesting, challenging, and frustrating. Plus, it allowed me to flex my culinary muscle. And it paid the bills.

I don't have that job anymore, but it got me thinking. Everyone has to start somewhere, and our favourite musicians are no different. Some jobs might have been a little more glamorous than others,sure. But from cooks to civil servants, strippers to upholsterers, hell even grave diggers, each of them paid their dues. So, in honour of starting somewhere, and in hopes of making it big someday, I bring you "Don't Quit Your Day Job - Musicians Before They Hit the Big Time".

1) Gene Simmons - Assistant to the Editor at Glamour and Vogue

Before his days of rock and rolling all night and partying every day, Gene Simmons worked at the top fashion magazines in the US. This may or may not come as a surprise; his hair and makeup are the stuff glam rock dreams are made of!

Love Gun
Detroit Rock City
I Was Made For Lovin' You

2) Debbie Harry - Playboy Bunny 

She really was dreaming during her 'pre-Blondie' years of the 70's at New York's Playboy Club. Harry admits that more often than not, she was half asleep thanks to experimenting with drugs. You'd probably need to be in order to handle the constant creepers.

Dreaming
Hanging on the Telephone
Atomic








3) Jack White - Upholsterer

Jack White was always somewhat of a musician, however his first paying gig was as an upholsterer in Detroit. After his apprenticeship, he opened up his own shop, Third Man Upholstery which boasted the slogan "your furniture's not dead." The business didn't do so well (some people didn't dig on the hand written poetry inside the furniture), and now thanks to Jack White and Third Man Records, "your turntable's not dead" either.

Love Interruption
Entitlement
Hotel Yorba







4) Rod Stewart - Grave Digger

On the morbid side of this list is everyone's favourite soft-rocker, Rod the Mod. Before joining the Dimensions, Rod Stewart worked at the Highgate Cemetery in north London. He maintains he did more plot marking and manual labour than physical grave digging, but it did lead him to a brief stint as a labourer at a funeral home in North Finchley.
Reason To Believe
Maggie May
Stay With Me

5) Courtney Love - Stripper

She's both loved and hated the world over, and she's probably the least surprising addition to this list. Grunge Princess Courtney Love did whatever she had to do to make it big. She began stripping at Jumbo's Clown Room in Hollywood in the early 90's to finance her band, Hole. Miss Love gained exposure, traveled, made the money she needed for her band, and picked up a heroin addiction to boot.
Doll Parts
Miss World
Malibu






6) Ian Curtis - Civil Servant

The late Ian Curtis worked as a civil servant in both Manchester and Macclesfield while trying to make it big with his band, Joy Division. The biopic Control tells the story of how Curtis met a girl in the dole office who also suffered from epilepsy. He was inspired to write the song Control after she had an episode in the office.
She's Lost Control
Love Will Tear Us Apart
Disorder

7) Morrissey - Inland Revenue worker

He was looking for a job and then he found a job as an Inland Revenue worker. Stephen Morrissey dealt in taxes before starting his early punk band the Nosebleeds. That didn't last long, however. After posing the question to NME "I work for the Inland Revenue - am I still allowed to be a punk?", he quit Inland to go on the dole and make music.
Everyday is Like Sunday
Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
Bigmouth Strikes Again

8) Tom Waits - Pizza Cook


It didn't take long for Tom Waits to be promoted from dishwasher to pizza cook after he was hired at Napoleone's Pizza House in San Diego. It was the 60's, he was playing with the R&B/Soul outfit The Systems at the time, and the experience inspired Waits to write songs for his albums Small Change and The Heart of Saturday Night.
The Ghosts of Saturday Night (After Hours at Napoleone's Pizza House)
The Piano Has Been Drinking
I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue)

So, for all my readers out there who happen to be in the same boat that I am, remember that everyone on this list made it, and we will too. Use your situation as motivation to get to where you really want to be. Hold your heads high, keep the tunes cranked even higher, and keep on keepin' on. Jukebox Hero out!