I've recently started using Google as a songwriting tool, and I am now using it as a blog naming tool. I type in the subject material of the blog, and the first title that google gives me is my title. We'll see if anything more exciting comes up.
So I have decisions to make. My good friends Jeremy Eisenhauer and Sheree Plett want me to tour with them all summer long for 3 months. mid-May to mid-August, from BC to Quebec and back. I really want to do this, and they really want me to do it. But, there's a conflict. There's this cover band based out of Vancouver that is planning on touring to Asia to play in ritsy hotels. I've been playing with them for about a month and they REALLY want me to be their keyboardist. They are planning on being ready to leave by June, and plan on doing this for quite a while. They'd go to one hotel for 3-4 months, come home for a several-week break, and then go out again to a different country. While at the hotel they'd be playing about 3 hours a night, 6 nights a week, with the rest being free time.
They might not actually leave by June though. They first have to get a promo video together, which would be done by the beginning of May if all goes well, and then an agent needs to book them a gig at their first hotel, and the agent could take 2-3 months to do that. They could conceivably not be leaving until August, but their goal is to leave in June. I've proposed to them that they just wait for me, since it's possible that they wouldn't leave until i'm back anyways, but they figure I would need to be around to practice with them anyways. So they're definitely asking me to NOT tour this summer. By the way, if I go with them, I'll be doing that for a while, I'm not sure how long. If I don't do it, I was thinking I'd be going to school in Winnipeg.
I need help making this decision. So here's the pros and cons list I've been advised to write.
Going to Asia PROS
- it pays good money (we're talking Roslyn good if you count everything), all travel costs and living expenses paid, room service, permanent hotel room to myself, financially a sound decision
- I've been needing to travel overseas
- potentially is a long-term career option, although not necessarily one I'd want, as it would keep me away from friends and family. The guys definitely want to do it for a long time
- it would just be a really cool experience.
- I'm young and unattached, really at the prime time to do this kind of thing. Although I feel strongly tied to Winnipeg, I don't have any actual responsibilities to hold me in Canada. It's not the kind of thing I could just decide to do a few years down the line.
Going to Asia CONS
- keeps me away from friends and family
- although the bandmates are all good folks, they're probably not best friend material for me personally
- is living in a hotel cool? it sounds cool. I've always wanted to. but maybe it gets old.
- it could make me miss out on a really great time with some really great friends, including Jordan Dueck, who I haven't seen in a year cause he's been in Ireland
- if I'm choosing it as being good for my career, what do I do when I decide to quit? What Canadian company has "experience touring with a cover band in asia" on their list of resume requirements?
- it could really set back the time frame for my continued education. if I want to take music therapy at CMU, which I think I do, I'd have to start in September, or not for another 2 years.
- being out of the country makes it hard to continue my own musical escapades that I'd like to do with Jeremy and Sheree
Touring with Sheremy PROS (as I call them when I get tired of saying Jer and Sheree)
- they're great friends/it'll be a really good time
- these folks are my closest musical partners at this point, and we have great plans for recording new albums together, part of which could possibly happen while on tour
Touring with Sheremy CONS
- the money will probably not be that great
- it could make me miss out on a cool opportunity to play music for a living and get paid to travel the world doing it
so... anybody have any advice? comments? More things to add to the PROS or CONS list? And let's try to keep the self-motivated advice to a minimum, shall we? ;)
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19 comments:
first I'd like to say that it's hilarious to me that roslyn is the bar of financial status. true enough, but still funny.
second, I think that it's a little silly to ask us to be unbiased. just sayin'.
3rd: that’s a tough call. Sounds like it maybe boils down to money vs. friends and education. Now, if you need the money for something, like for example, it help would pay your way through the program 2 years from now, that might help you (a) have a financial goal in mind and (b) have a specific timeline of when to get out.
As far as furthering your career, I think music therapy is more likely to do so than a cover band in asia, but my knowledge of the music scene is limited. Maybe you’d become a sensation in asia, who knows?
Well, that probably didn’t help at all....
i'll pray for you. definately no boycotting on this one!!
well lets say you did it only twice, you'd be hanging out with just a few 'not best friend' dudes - and NOBODY else - for most of a year... leaving all the relationships which might be closer to your heart, almost out to dry...
as far as money, keep in mind that with the near-infinite free time (tiny hours, plus next-to-no chores to do) and, again, none of your ultra-close peeps present, you will spend a LOT of money on not being bored. I know my friend Matt who taught in Japan three years came back with substantially less money than he was hoping to do... and he had plenty of friends and a lot less free time than you will.
potentially you could have amazing travel escapades, but wouldn't it seem bittersweet without anyone you're really close to, to share it with? it was really fun seeing Japan, but it was more fun visiting Matt. plus, you couldn't make any travel trips longer than a day and a half if you're on a six-evening schedule.
ultimately... unless you're planning to make your life in an asian nation of your choice... it sounds like a fun-but-kinda-useless idea to me... definitely entertaining, but probably not as lucrative as you'd hope, and when you get back, it sounds like you might not still hang with the people who you shared those memories with... especially if they're still out there doing it for years! you'd be out of their loop, too, after you left. so in terms of life experience value, maybe not as amazing as a year of your life could be here in lowly Canada.
I can't disavow any interest in seeing you choose Canada, but I think people who play Settlers with me can tell you I'm usually okay at giving unbiased advice... the difference is I can't see your heart, so I don't know all the rules to the game you're playing... :)
anyway of course we're behind you whatever you choose... buuuuuuut we'd love it if you happened to live in Canada for awhile :)
To me it sounds like a pretty awesome opportunity, but your list of cons is pretty convincing. Especially setting you back in school, not-so-great friends etc. Though i do think travelling is one of the best experiences. Who knows, maybe you could do your Sheremy tour, go to school and then next summer see if they, or someone else needs a pianist to tour asia?
umm, i just read in a previous blogs comments that I was traded along with cheryl for a slurpee. This is me not being impressed. Plus, Roslyn was worth 1 slurpee and me and cheryl were only worth half?
Man... we keep repeating (and amplifying) that diss of your possible future bandmates... I hope they aren't reading this, haha
Mel, the other guy probably only had half left... I'm guessing he whittled Jeremy down... plus, once you've sold one sister, you might as well sell 'em all, you're gonna get in trouble anyway ;)
Mel the purchaser had for a long time already expressed interest (whether real or fake I'm not sure) in Roslyn for quite some time, so I got top dollar for her. At the time you and cheryl were really too young for a high school student, so you were kind of like draft picks. Important, but not nearly as valuable as an actual player who can take one for the team right off the bat. More thoughts everyone!
Oh and Tom I muchly appreciate your wisdom, especially that little nugget about not knowing the rules to the game of my heart, pure cheesy love song genius. I do think that you underestimate 1) the Penners' ability to be cheap and spend no money 2) my ability to be wildly entertained by things that are free, like wireless hotel internet. But I've also planned on bringing my portable studio for continuing my own song recording in my free time. And rest assured that nobody in the asia band knows about this blog. Again, I'm taking everything that everyone says straight to heart and appreciate it a lot.
Oh wow, well I just got home with the intention of going to bed, but I will comment a well though-out response at a later time
I find myself disagreeing slightly to Tom's extreme down with asia stance. This is odd because I don't want Jeremy to go to asia, and yet I have to say I don't think that it would be a "fun-but-kinda-useless" idea. The decision to spend his money whilst not working on "being bored" is a decision. This is not something that needs to happen. I find it more likely that if you have a lot of friends you would spend more money on going out and doing things. As he pointed out he could spend that time working on recording an album of his own. Maybe he could even find some sort of other part time job? (I'm not sure if this is a possibility) Nonetheless, boredom does not necessarily=spending money. I think if you are getting all your living expenses paid for, then basically most of the money you make will be take home money unless you decide to do frivolous things with it.
Anyway, I really don't want him to go and agree with Melanie that his list of cons is something to consider, I just didn't agree with Tom in his reasoning there.
Heheheh... I wish *I* were as dutiful as that... sometimes I find it difficult to spend all my free time doing useful things, though... that's what we call 'understatement,' by the way...
I'm just sayin' is all. If I were in that position, living alone in a foreign country, I would spend a lot of money... even if I could live for free off room service, I'd probably want to try the food out in the world a lot... lots of money for travel - going the fast expensive way instead of the cheap slow way, due to time constraints... I'd also want to see/do/try as many cool things as I could while I was there, so I'd probably spend a lot of money on that, too... and don't forget, everything's more expensive if you need it in English.
The truth is, everything there may genuinely be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If I were to go, I would actually plan on taking up those opportunities, rather than plan on treating them as temptations to be resisted. It would be a primary benefit of the situation. There will be lots of cool stuff over there! A whole other country and culture to explore! When I say it would be fun, I mean it would be a LOT OF FUN... but there's no way I could come back with as much money as I would want to do. So I probably wouldn't do it if it weren't with good friends.
Anyway. I suspect I'm just being redundant and defensive now, it seems like most of the good arguments are already out there in the open... may God give you wisdom to make these decisions...
yes, good points all around. i think i need to consult an oracle.
I'll chime in and say "Asia," despite possibly incurring the wrath of several.
Sounds like a once in lifetime. You're still young. Bandmates will be there when you get back, right?
Oh hi brother who sold us all for slurpees
I think this is something you'll really have to decide on your own. We could try the whole, flip a coin thing and say... ok, you're going to asia (or vice versa) and then you'd realize that you were acttually hoping for the other option to come up on the coin.
Whatever it is, I think money should not be the deciding factor. I mean, though it would be helpful to earn money for school or whatever you want to do after asia, it's just not a good enough decision making factor.
I will be praying for guidance in this.
By the way it looks like me and Rebekah might come to visit BC the last week in April or the first week in May (although I haven't been able to talk to her about the may idea yet) Would the first week in May work for you?
Breaking with the trend of comments suggesting you go for an exotic adventure or forsake money and follow your heart!, and also as a relative stranger who would like to increase the creepiness factor of this already suspicious comment:
why not consider your options in terms of a montage of movies that feature asia/music/music and asia/music and north america/bands traveling? These scenarios could indeed happen to you:
Asia: Rinko Kikuchi horrifes you by her most unladylike poses bar-side; you never want to see anyone wear a plaid skirt like that again. Especially not Bill Murray, although you did wake up next to him yesterday after not consummating your completely platonic relationship with him. You suspect he may have carried you to bed after he finished his tenth round of karaoke with the band.
North America: you are in peril road-side: you have encountered a one-eyed Bible salesman who assaults you with a shovel, though you escape with your lives. You also escape the wiles of Alison Kraus and her backup singers, though you fear that they have turned Sheree into a frog in a fit of jealousy over her singing skills. Sheree later reappears and is not in fact a frog. Your single, "I am not a man of constant sorrow (for I am a Christian)" becomes an instant radio hit; you star in a compelling live performance wearing very fake beards as disguises. Did I mention you are all also prison escapees? Later you clear your names and are signed by Tom Hanks, who tries to talk phonetic spelling into you and your band; when sheremy becomes disenchanted/lost at an amusement park/self-righteous, abusive and stifled by the demands of your manager, you take up with Liv Tyler and become a Jazz musician.
So, which will it be? Bonus to anyone who names all the movies.
Rinko Kikuchi? no clue.
lost in translation (i'm assuming - never actually seen it)
o brother where art thou
and That Thing You Do!!! (love that movie)
Sonya, that was an excellent movie montage. I'm sure it will help jeremy in his decision.
That was very clever
creepy and suspicious is right!
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