Postpartum depression..

[smy1]

Man, Tom Fischer sounds like a broken man. You can really see the emotions in his face when he talks.

One reason why most record labels love young bands is the power and "we dont care"-attitude they have. When you are 20, all you need is a place to sleep and some food and beer to get around. When you are 30, you want your own car, you want a decent hotel room, you want this and that. I notice that with myself and my poor booking agent always feels the "wrath of the spoiled adult"

The reason why I am still at it, starting my own label, designing my own covers, setting up my own photoshoots, directing and editing my own videos, writing and producing all my own music, doing almost everything on my own is the fact that I can't stop doing it. It's simply impossible.

My whole life has changed radically many times, I've gone to law school, played basketball at a US college, started managing gyms, became a coverdesigner, became a photographer, had lots of different girls and from different walks of like, but the only constant in my life remained my music and the desire to play it for as many people on this world as possible - whatever it takes.

Everyone is different when it comes to this, but for me, there is no other way.

 

[Chryst Krispies]

^^^^ That's the way to good dude. Keep your hobbies your hobbies.

 

[Uladyne]

Interestingly, my buddy (and co-guitarist) and I were talking about this very thing last night. Once upon a time, I really thought that I needed to have a career in music. However, I had other obligations (ahem...loan repayment) that required a much more stable existence than playing in a touring band could accommodate. Also, I wasn't in any sort of financial position to relocate, and Fargo ND is a horrible place to base a band out of--you have to drive a couple of hundred miles to play anywhere else. When I got married, I resigned music to being a hobby and nothing else. That was the best thing I could have done. Rather than lamenting the fact that I wasn't in any position to get anywhere in music, it freed me up to do exactly what I want. I write what I like. If people don't like it, I really have no reason to care. I found a few guys to play with. We have fun. We have no expectation of making any money whatsoever. We recorded a full-length 2 years ago, and sold 200 copies. It's not a big deal by any stretch of the imagination, but the idea that there are 200 people out there with a copy of my stuff is gratifying. I Googled my name, and found some Chilean message board where they were digging the stuff that they had heard on MP3. It's crazy to me that some Chilean guys are digging the stuff that I write in what spare time that I have. That's the level that I'm at, and the level that I'll stay. In the meantime, I work my 40+ hours, come home to my wife and baby, and enjoy the general stability of a "regular" life. At this point, it's not about dollars and cents; making a ton of fans; playing "rock star"; or even trying to garner respect. It's just about getting together with my friends and creating something.

Sounds like you've actually found success in music. Way to go man!

 

[TravisW]

Thanks! I think you do hit on an extremely important point--it's all in how you define success.

 

[Radd]

Tom mentions he wrote a book.... ...sounds like it would be a very interesting read. Any idea if it's been published or has a title?

-0z-

Here you go Glen:
[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Are-You-Morbid-Gabriel-Fischer/dp/1860743102/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225404926&sr=1-1[/ame]

I saw another interview with him where he said that when he was a little kid he lived in a little shack in the middle of nowhere and his parents got divorced. His dad left them and then his mother gave him the key to the place which was one of those giant iron type keys and told him he's on his own now and left him alone there. Messed up.

I'm not thrilled to see this thread back up. I was hoping it would be gone and forgotten. Anyway, my shattered dream is half of my depression but I finally made the decision to go on anti-depressants which I've been on for a week now. I hope it helps. Some people like myself need that help I think.

 

[Glenn Fricker]

THanks for the link. I'll definitely check it out.


Hope you're feeling better. This business can really knock the shit out of you: I went through it in early '05 wondering if I could continue. 3 years later & I'm glad I did.

 

[Radd]

Hope you're feeling better.

Thanks. That means a lot to me. Its gotten really bad over the past few months and I had to do something. I'm hoping it will get me back into the song writing mode again. I do miss it but just haven't seen the point for far to long.