[brandondrury]

This whole "make a living" thing is TOUGH. The biggest problem is not quantity of business, it's when you get the quantity of business. Even though I'd say half the bands out there have an audio interface I could stay busy pretty much every night and weekend. The problem? I'd have to work every night and weekend!

I think the conservation of energy applies to your income...mostly. You will have to deal with bullshit in one arena or another. Specifically, going to work sucks. Going to a recording studio ain't so bad. However, when your work is something fun you pay for it in other areas. Even when you figure out how to beat the system and just sell products you made or whatever you still had to go through the epic disaster of creating and marketing those products. Few people can get over that hurdle.

There are a few specific issues with making a living recording.
-- When $$ are involved you tend to record less capable of bands for the $$$. This reflects negatively on you. It is NEVER the band's responsibilty to sound good. If they can't, you won't and you will lose business.
-- If you are too picky about who you work with you will lose business.
-- Working every night and weekend is fun for a while. Then one day you wake up and realize you hadn't seen your friends in 3 years. Seriously. I've done that. I don't want to live that way.
-- When you have strangers coming and going every day it gets to be a weird home situation for everyone living there and even your neighbors. That's why they have laws against that sort of thing.

I've found the most rewarding way of working is to pick bands I WANT to work with. Charge a flat fee. Use as much time as it takes because this is a fun gig for me. Finish the project up when I can. Move on. This solves all the problems except one. The income is dismal.

Brandon