Nevada has it all, I hear.
girls

Great rock

Family fun

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:That said, most of the cool places to live with mass transit and a good arts scene, are fuck-all expensive. Boston, SF, NYC, LA, Portland OR, DC. (there are surely others I am forgetting) are all gonna be fun, but tough to break into and you will spend 60% of your pay on rent.

Portland is costlier than average, but it is nowhere near NY or Bay Area.

If you don't have to stay in the states, Montreal, Quebec is a cool place to live and have a band. And a kickass girlfriend.
Rents are cheaper than in many big us cities, food is nice, you are 6 hours from NY if you have a hotshot contract to sign there, and there are some very cool studios there. Plus you'll have the opportunity to learn french.
And eat poutine.
And see cool concerts.
I wonder what I'm still doing in Paris, now, thanks to you.

sorry arthur!

canada would be cool I guess.

I got a lot of oregon, and washington in that list, seattle, portland, providence, and boston were the biggest cities in my top 25.

the$inmusicisallmine wrote:The less expensive places I would consider if I wanted to be a guy in a band, and that was the most important thing, are: Chicago, Minneapolis, Providence, RI, Austin, TX. I would have put Madison, WI on that list, but you are apparently not happy there.

I have tried for two years now, to get something going musically, all the networking, craigslist ads, flyers, have been a crap shoot. I've met some rad people through bands here, don't get me wrong, but there already in bands, and most are older, and don't want to work with a younger guy. it's just how it is here, I've had promising responses with some good musicians, then I tell them my age, and it's the last I hear of them. I managed a project for six months, but there was no bass players, the drummer wasn't open to anything else, we had to have a bass player. he scared a damn good one away, then quit, now he's drumming with another band. god, it's like dating almost.

i forgot louisville.
montreal is cool.

if you can't get a band started in Boston, you shouldn't be in a band. It is ridiculously easy. (or at least it was when I lived there)

I am sure Minneapolis and Chicago are the same. NYC is tough because there are not enough rehearsal spaces. The smaller cities may have the same problems that Madison has, I don't know.

sack of smashed assholes wrote:I hate my job, and all the promise of moving up hasn't happened. I have a two year degree that has gotten me no where. the whole idea of going back to school, I've thought about it, but I don't know if I can afford to do it again.

If you have designs on "moving up" in an office environment as a career - and that's totally cool if you want to - you will need to get an actual bachelor's degree or more.

If not, then just get a different job - go cook, construct, wire, fix computers, whatever. But if you're beating your head on an office desk because you're not getting promoted and you haven't gone beyond an associate's degree, you may want to think about changing that instead of moving.

joelb wrote:

sack of smashed assholes wrote:I hate my job, and all the promise of moving up hasn't happened. I have a two year degree that has gotten me no where. the whole idea of going back to school, I've thought about it, but I don't know if I can afford to do it again.

If you have designs on "moving up" in an office environment as a career - and that's totally cool if you want to - you will need to get an actual bachelor's degree or more.

If not, then just get a different job - go cook, construct, wire, fix computers, whatever. But if you're beating your head on an office desk because you're not getting promoted and you haven't gone beyond an associate's degree, you may want to think about changing that instead of moving.

I work in a kitchen, it's irregular hours, management experience would be nice for my resume, better hours, better pay, but mostly for the resume...

stop getting drunk all the time. that will not only make your life better, but it will also save you a bunch of money and you won't need to earn as much since you won't be pissing away so much money getting drunk.

use that time studying some skill that will get you a job where you can make you more money, or writing more songs or meeting more people who work at record stores or coffee shops or wherever musicians might hang out.

that'd probably be the biggest help, first and foremost.

of all the times I've heard people talk about how they were gonna move to a new town so their life would get better, I can't remember one where the person stayed in that new town for more than 3 or 5 years before realizing all the same bullshit had followed them there. the problem totally could be the town, but also, it really might not, it might be something that you carry around with you. for example, when you move to a new and unknown town, for the most part, you'll know nobody and have nobody to hang out with, at least for the first months and maybe for a year or ten. if you compensate for that by drinking, you're gonna have a shitty time of it, drunk alone in a different city. that might get old kinda quick. y'know?

how old are you that your age is a problem being in a band in Madison? like 40 or something?

Portland, Maine
Seriously, man. Portland, ME is great. I grew up there, moved to Chicago for about ten years in my 20s, then moved back to Portland for about 5 years before moving to Colroado (it sucks) for my job.

Portland is like a cool neighborhood in a bigger city. It's on the ocean. It has great weather - four distinct seasons. There are lots of beaches. It has a solid music scene for a smaller city: metal, punk, "indie," whatever you like. It's close to Boston. It has a minor league baseball team, the Sea Dogs. You said you work in the restaurant industry. Portland has one of the highest per capita rates of bars and restaurants of any city in the country. It's very cool. I would move back there in a second if I could.

Scott,

Madison is tough as far as bands go right now. It's just dead at the moment. I caught the tail end of the coolness. I know a couple cool people though if you're interested. Remember Gabe (drummer) and Jeffery (guitar, I think) from the Dead Meadow show? Gabe was the really, really tall guy, and Jeff is a hilarious red-headed dude who loves Devo.

Jeffrey has a huge boner to start a band...I've never heard him play, but he's so committed...he just has to be good. Gabe and Jeff are tight. We had a good conversation, remember? Jeff in particular would be completely open to jamming...and seems to be flexible...seems to know what it takes to put together a band (well, at least I'm pretty damn sure). I'd be more than happy to put you in touch with him. I also know some other serious people who are looking to put together a band. Facebook me. My name on Facebook is P.J. Craven (or you can just PM me and stuff).


Dude, Chicago is not that expensive...just stock up on some yummy Wisconsin brew before you come down. For what you get, it's completely worth it. People are so cool and there's so many great shows seemingly every "G.D." day as Rog would say. You're also at the center of the Midwest. Fucking Kalamazoo, Michigan is closer to Chicago than Detroit! Get my drift?

You are a cool person. I wish we woulda met a long time ago. Being 22 or 23 is hard if you want to accomplish something. You can and will kick ass...just be persistent.