No no. Trey's "healthy" now.

Oh GOD! You have to read this. It's a transcript of a signature Trey speech prompted by some head throwing a Birkenstock at him at a recent show:

"funny cause its near the end of this tour,
and hopefully i can keep the ahh..
incredible spirt that im feeling in this room,
and still say what im about to say.

but im gonna say this now,
because somebody just hit me with something,
during that song (invisible)
and im gonna tell you this,
cause ive pretty much FUCKING had it at this point

im in a place that i love, san franscisco
in a room that i love, the warfield (crowd cheers)

but people have been FUCKING hitting me with SHIT this whole tour,
and ive been putting up with it (laughs)

you know quarters and glowsticks,
and thats a pretty sad state of affairs,
whoever is doing that, youre a sad MOTHER FUCKER
so, i feel FUCKING sorry for you
all of you

and if its you in the hat, then FUCK you!
i hope its not you
(laugh) sorry man
but seriously man ive been putting up with,
ive been putting up with this the whole tour

i got three very dear friends of mine
page, mike and fish
and we talk about this shit
and we're very happy right now
we're happy healthy people

i love playing music for you (crowd cheers)
and im sorry to say this right,
you know, because we are having a great time tonight,
but, you know
thats the last time i hope somebody is going to throw something at me,
(laughs) so please dont

i like palying music for you people, you know
im doing my best up to try to,
try and stay alive

thank you (crowd cheers)"

ive heard that, too----even though I never buy merch.

I think that the bottom line here is that you CAN make money as a band provided that you are willing to run your band like a business--and this can be a real difficult thing for some folk---but those are the people that mix up lattes.

Good article on this topic in the Washington Post last week:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02708.html

not so much rich, but even having parents that are willing to work their asses off for their kids--no matter what, is not only helpful, but also inspiring

That Albini article is a little misleading. It's easy to look at that send-up and say "my god, major record labels are evil" but Stever doesn't emphasize the fact that while earning 1/3 of the money they would've working at 7-11, the band got $10k in all-new gear, got to eat for free, got to stay in hotels for free, etc.

Also absent on his "balance" sheet are the promotional costs for the record...

It almost seems that indie bands have a better shot at making money these days with shows like the O.C. playing their music and commercials seeking new talent so they don't have to fork over insane amounts of money for using the Stones or the Who to sell their products.

That shit isn't free. Those are all recoupable costs.

Yeah, you're right, but the $4k is IN ADDITION to everything else they got. That's what I meant. You don't get free meals, free hotels and 10K in gear working at 7-11?!?!??

Technically, it's not "free" if it's been taken out of the advance, or they get billed for it later, which they usually do. Company doesn't spend a dime -- they usually spend the musician's money on behalf of the musician. They're usually just fronting the money.

Major record labels are evil.

I know that most of the Saddle Creek artist came from fairly well to do families and went to a Prep school in Omaha, but they now all seem to enjoy slumming it, if they actually are. The frontman for Criteria was a lawyer up until recently, and now is making a career as a musician, so I am guessing he can't be losing too much cash. Saddle Creek is also trying to build a corporate compound that would also contain a 450-800 person venue, so they might also to be an exception to the current trend.

likewise.

most of the people i know in la that are in bands have day jobs.

few bands malke money off of album sales...

a big majority for most bands comes from touring, merch, endorsement deals, etc...