[NewMusic] improvised music - gender & money

[Matt Davignon]

Hmmm, there's been a lot of sentiment lately to the effect that artists are
doomed to a life of poverty. I'm not sure if that's necessarily true. I
mean, sure instruments, equipment, recording sessions and Bay Area rent cost
money, but so do the big screen tvs and new cars that the 'normals' are
buying. Is there some unspoken rule in American companies that they
shouldn't hire artists for decent paying jobs?

Maybe it's that I'm a (relative) young'un, but I've never considered it
possible to simply drop out of day work and say "I'm an artist now." (Ok,
maybe I had a little of that in my teenage rock-and-roll fantasies.) Even in
countries that have greater arts support, I'm certain they don't pay for
everyone who wants to be an artist.

Regarding the gender thing, I guess I'm willing to just shrug and say I
don't know all the causes. There may be a slight correlation of women making
more "hold" music and men making more "seed" music, but there are plenty of
exceptions on both sides.

"Seed" is so overdone these days that some of the most striking music I've
heard in the last few years has been stuff that applies "hold" approaches.
"Hold" is the new "seed". (Or to translate it back into non-metaphor-speak,
concentration and refinement grab my ears these days more than making a lot
of random noises and trying to be the "outest". )

This is a really great time to be participating in music in Bay Area.


On 1/6/07, Sarah - 21 Grand <21grand at 21grand.org> wrote:
>
> In response to a few of Phillip's postulations:
>
> PG: Still, there is always the notion that a woman is "giving up"
> something...like, principally, childhood, to be an artist. Why is that?
> Are men not "sacrificing" to be artists too?
>
> - Certainly both genders are sacrificing, it's an equal sacrifice. But
> then
> again, though I'm a woman, I think I was born with little to no maternal
> instinct whatsoever. I don't even have pets - I like other people's pets,
> but the responsibility and menial tasks (not to mention time and money)
> that
> caring for a pet entails, as adorable and enjoyable though they may be, I
> don't want one of my own, even if I could train it to use the toilet and
> flush. Thus, I can hardly represent myself as speaking for women in
> general
> or even a "typical" woman, as the majority of my gender wants/has babies
> and/or pets.
>
> PG: It seems to me that there have been so many women who work or make
> music
> and that those families make it work. A man can just as easily assume
> the role of parent while mom goes out to the Luggage Store and turns on
> her laptop and makes our ears squiggle. And yet...I don't know that many
> families that work that way.  Are men holding women back from pursuing
> their
> art? If so, how does that play out?
>
> - I would put it this way, more women than men will sacrifice doing what
> they want to do and having their desired lifestyle in order to support
> their
> partner. Are men being selfish in a bad way or are women practicing
> self-denial in a bad way? One could draw categorical conclusions here
> based
> on philosophy or beliefs, but after years of lived experience, for me, I
> think it depends on the relationship.
>
> - I also think female artists/musicians are more likely to have partners
> that are also artists or musicians than men are. One could theorize about
> gender differences quite a bit with that one. As a woman artist/musician
> who
> is realistic about the poverty of her chosen path, wouldn't it be more
> pragmatic to hook up with a doctor or a lawyer or management consultant
> rather than someone whose chosen path is equally economically pathetic?
>
> Then you end up with the following options:
> 1. both of you try to do the art thing and struggle together, accruing
> overdraft fees, hoping you don't get evicted from your rent-controlled
> apartment or eminent-domained out of the house you bought on the cheap,
> and
> eating mac and cheese on the free couch someone was going to put out on
> the
> street.
> 2. one or both of you get lucky at the art thing and you aren't poor
> anymore.
> 3. one of you gives up on the art thing and sticks with the day job - the
> sacrifice - and is content with it.
> 4. one of you gives up on the art thing and sticks with the day job - the
> sacrifice - and resentment builds that they are doing all the work and you
> are having all the "fun."
> 5. one of you gets sick of poverty and hooks up with someone with whom
> they
> can have a more "comfortable" lifestyle or goes it alone.
>
> sl
>
>
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