How to Become Unemployable

Im not an expert in much of anything, but I learned the hard way how NOT to get called back. I’ve learned a few things about what gets you hired, and what keeps you getting hired. These are things that are blatantly obvious to some, yet others seem to have not picked up on them. Below is a brief list of “Dont’s” to avoid if you want to stay employed, followed by some thoughts on what you SHOULD do. If you happen to be a musician who’s work has slowed down recently you may want to take a look at this list. By now I think I can honestly say that I’ve made just about every mistake I can on stage, in business, or otherwise in this profession. It’s easy to get sucked into certain mindsets that can be detrimental. If you do any of the things listed below you might want to rethink your approach.

Here are some of the many ways to become unemployable quickly:

Don’t Respect the Situation:

Whatever you do, no matter if its a 50.00 gig, or a 5000.00 gig…..If you say yes, then play by the rules. Do the homework, show up on time, play the room, and be nice. This would be an obvious set of things to pay attention to, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t share this idea. Of course,”Respectful” can be a loose term. To me, one of the most disrespectful things to do is to show up late, unless it’s unavoidable, and if you are consistently late, then you will eventually find yourself out of work. It’s not fair to the others who busted their asses to get to the gig on time, and it’s not fair to put the leader or leaders of the band in that situation. If you are playing drums, you need to be there, set up, and ready to play 5 min before the start time, and be prepared. One of the best phrases I ever heard was “you are only as good as the worst player in the band”. There are simply too many great players out there who are willing to do these things, and if you don’t do them you will probably find yourself not getting called back. Don’t ever show up and act like you don’t want to be there, and always do your homework.

Accept a gig and then back out of it for another gig:

As a rule this should be avoided. I like to say that I generally stick to my word in this department, but sometimes this rule has to be broken. There are times when you simply can’t say no to something that comes in, because the opportunity is too great. I was in a situation with an artist a few months back that had booked me on a gig out of the country for 2 days.  About 2 weeks later a group in Japan wanted to book me for the same period, however they were offering me two months of work.  I did everything I could to do both gigs, but ultimately I chose to do the japan gig. I went out of my way to make sure that the other gig was covered, and I paid the airfare plus any fees necessary to cover the original artist who had booked me. This is only fair, as you have increased their stress level by backing out. There are situations like that occasionally that require changes to the schedule. From a business standpoint, its a personal call. In this situation, I simply couldn’t afford to turn down 2 months of work for one or two gigs. Fortunately anyone who has worked in this business for a while knows that things like this happen occasionally, and if the situation arises with a professional organization, then they will often work with you. If you can avoid it, don’t get in this situation.

Im sorry to be so blunt, but if you do this, you are an asshole. I’ve had this happen to me, and I’ve heard stories of guys doing this on Broadway shows in New York. Sometimes people think that because they are in a position to offer you work as a sub, that they can treat people unfairly. Let me make this clear, I don’t care how “big” or important the gig is. If someone took your gig as a sub, they probably turned down other things to do it, and they expect you to honor things professionally. If you subbed them on your gig, and you suddenly become available, then you need to do the right thing. Take the hit and not work that night. It’s incredibly disrespectful to sub someone on a gig and try to back out of it, unless you offer them something to make up for it, like another gig, compensation, etc. If someone does this to you as a sub, I would suggest never subbing for them again. They are obviously untrustworthy, and they are only thinking about their own situation. Unfortunately this is common in some areas of work, but that doesn’t make it right. Keep it fair with your subs and they will treat you with the same respect.

Don’t Be Honest With People:

Being straight with people is really important. Not only is it the proper thing to do, but if you are dishonest with people it will eventually catch up to you. Most likely in your endeavors you will run into those who are very good talkers. Some can play and some can’t. Of course, you should strive to deal with the latter. You will always run into those who talked their way into a situation, or are friends with someone, who got them the gig, etc. All you can do is treat people fairly and do the best job you can. Obviously you want to only deal professionally with people who are honest with you, and in turn you should be honest with them. In my case, whenever I realize that someone is not being honest with me or others, I usually steer clear of dealing with them professionally or otherwise. If they have a dishonest character, then it will show up in your dealings with them sooner or later. When it does, if you saw evidence of it previously, then it’s your fault that you kept working with them or trusting them. I would suggest keeping your eyes open and observing. If someone isn’t straight with you, then gradually phase them out of your work and or personal environment. This is hard I know….but in reality, you will be better off in the long run only dealing with people who are honest, and you will certainly respect yourself more.

Talk about all the cool stuff you are doing, especially in a loud voice:

No one likes the guy who shows up name dropping and talking about all the gigs they are doing, how much money they make, how hot their girlfriend is, etc. There are places for that if you feel the need, but talking about that stuff on at a gig can alienate you without you realizing it. This also goes for topics like how tired you are, or why you’re pissed off, etc. It can take some practice to keep your mouth shut, but you really should try. Just play the best you can, have a good time, have a nice conversation with the people who were kind enough to come to your gig and listen, and leave it at that. Remember, no one owes you anything and there are a zillion great musicians out there. Its important not to fall for the temptation of talking about what you are working on or who you are working with, not to mention the girlfriend.

Don’t Learn Anything New:

If you are listening, playing, and generally doing the same thing that you have done for years, then your days are numbered. Sometimes we have to learn this the hard way. Many professions…. but especially music, are socially conscious environments. Whatever is new and exciting today needs to be integrated in to whatever it is that you are doing. I’m not talking about copying people. I’m saying that if you don’t stay aware of whats going on, then you won’t be able to keep up with the language of the future. For example, if most of us had not learned some basic computer skills over the last 20 years or so, we would not understand the developmental aspects of where things have gone and we would be jumping in at the deep end now. The newest cell phones have a language that is secondary to most of us at this point, but if we hadn’t used one up until recently, the newer version of the language would make even less sense to us, in turn making us frustrated and confused. Stay up with whats happening out there, even if you don’t like it.

Don’t Take Responsibility:

One sure way to piss people off is to not take responsibility when something is your fault, or to get pissed off at criticism. If something drags and you are the drummer, unless you are being conducted,  then you can blame everyone you want, but you eventually have to take credit for it. Blaming everyone else may ease the pain of a mistake in the moment, but it doesn’t solve anything for you in the long run. Take responsibility for whatever your faults are and fix them. You’ll get better as a player and everyone will like you much more than they would otherwise.

Have a Huge Ego:

There is nothing more infuriating than a huge ego on someone, whether they can play or not. I have been very fortunate to meet and even play with some of my all time heroes in music, and I will tell you from experience, the baddest players out there are usually the nicest.  It takes a healthy ego to survive in this business, and all the great ones have strong egos, but you rarely see it on the gig.  Don’t be the guy who treats people poorly because you have a huge ego.  Even if you have one, you can still keep your mouth shut.

In the end, we are all trying to have fun, stay working, and hopefully get better. There are always issues that can be frustrating, politically financially, and otherwise. You must learn to deal with these things tactfully in order to stay working. Most of us including myself have been guilty of the things on this list, and being conscious of it can help you change your approach if the need be.