Part of working as a musician has always been about living with uncertainty. Like many artists I know, I’ve held multiple jobs at a time to eke out a career in arts and culture. Most bass players don’t have main-character energy; I’ve typically made music for collaborative reasons. I also work as a composer and sound designer for theatre and dance. Over the last couple of years, I’ve had to shift gears to keep afloat.
Before the pandemic, about 65 percent of my income came from live performances. COVID-19 flipped all of that. During the stricter periods of lockdown, I wasn’t playing gigs at all. Now I’ve taken on more work as a composer and arts administrator. It generally pays better and is more stable than playing live.
