It's really that simple, if you can't live for $40K you're in the wrong part of the world. Don't plan on living 'above average' in California without a doctorate in Growing Money Off Trees, especially in music - talk about expensive living for the sake of expensive living. Unless you plan on costing a hell of a lot to record with (in which case you're paying more than $20/hour for assistants) compared to everyone else on the board (who doesn't live in California), you're not getting anywhere over there. Why else do you think NK is living off a ranch in Texas, Murphy is in bloody Florida, Gavin here hails from a city in Scotland with a population the size of your state's universities whose claim to fame is a gigantic bloody volleyball tournament... ?
Jeff