So, what do you do?

jiffybox · 2024-03-30T03:42:54.560Z

Yeah, I’ve been there. And still am. Panic attacks are the worst. And I’ve always gotten them at ad agencies and marketing departments.

I joke about how my current job, outside of a demeaning paycheck every two weeks, has only given me a wicked Ambien and Xanax dependency…

dolphins · 2024-03-30T08:49:14.368Z

Wolf-Rami:

Nowadays I’m an entrepreneur and it’s kinda stressful but having experienced work fatigue I can now recognize those marks and react if I ever start feeling the same way again.

I’m actually familiar with your career change story. Wasn’t there a news piece about it? I remember reading it and having a strange sense of relief that there are other people who have gone through something similar.

Glad things worked out for you.

matteblacksmoke:

I’m glad youre figuring things out. I’ve felt super burnt out, too, though I havent been through what you have.

Looking back, the two latest episodes were just the tip of the iceberg and I had already been through it twice before without fully even realizing it. It gets worse each time. That’s why it’s crucial to recognize the early signs.
Stay safe and remember to rest.

alechko · 2024-03-30T08:59:46.321Z

jiffybox:

wicked Ambien and Xanax dependency

that sucks, hope you get over it

pokk · 2024-03-30T09:03:13.283Z

Hey all, i’ve enjoyed reading through many of your stories.

I’m Martin, 45, and an anarchist, anti-capitalist.

I currently work a handful of hours a week as a lecturer at Point Blank Music School teaching sound design and music production which i have been enjoying a great deal, and I also run a small record label. We are in our 11th year.

I have always found the balance of work/school and music really hard, as for me it always needs to be 100% music, and work/school doesn’t like that much

My parents were pretty broke, split up when i was 10, which was right around the time i got into making electronic music. After having a horrible school experience, low attendance, i left and needed to help pay my Dad’s mortgage, so worked in a supermarket, then a cleaner before becoming a postman for nearly 10 years. I got fired eventually as went to see Richard Chartier and Sawako play, and they didn’t like that, apparently i had too many days off.

I went back as a cleaner, met my partner, before heading to university at 30 to study sound art and design. I got in with almost no school qualifications but 20 years experience making music in my bedroom, and left with a 1st. The irony here of the value of qualifications not needed to get in, then to get qualifications not needed?

For me, it’s always about the experience.

After university i had no money, did charity street work for a few weeks, before stepping into web design. The idea of earning money in music didn’t appeal or was something i could see working.

I worked in various startups, got laid off from pretty much all of them for one bs reason after another. I was called a liar, a cheat, not corporate enough, accused of not working at all, none of it true, i worked super hard and am super honest, but i was loosing jobs all the time.

At this time i was needing to secure a certain income over a long period as defined by the UK Government so i can enjoy living with my partner who is Taiwanese.

While i was sat in the job centre helping the staff member spell and use his computer system, so he could help me find work, i noticed how bad it was, and was compelled to move into service design. I enjoyed it for a while before a dictator director arrived and i, and many others, left.

At this point i was most definitely burning out, but went to work for some radicals within a council set on changing shit. It was good for a while, before it wasn’t. Core people left, before i was one of the last. My contracted ended and i needed to get my head straight.

We got the visa by the way. I even had to stand there listening to the national anthem after being scrutinised and attacked mentally and financially for 5 years and feel proud of my country or some shit? It was around this time I acknowledged I’m anarchist, finally haha.

3 months planned off work turned into just over 2 years recovery, weekly ongoing therapy, and some massive life changing actions, which I’m only now just starting to realise.

I’ve worked at Point Blank since late last year, 2 terms, starting my third term in a few weeks. It’s been amazing.

I’ve even started to work on 1-2-1 classes privately, which is quite scary but quite exciting.

My work/school life balance, after my whole life fighting, is finally balanced to a point where it is actually 100% music, which is kind of crazy to realise right now.

The fight is not over, but that’s my story.

(if anyone is experiencing anything similar or just wants to chat about this, and isn’t so comfortable doing so in a forum, feel free to pm me, happy to talk about anything. I wish i had more support when going through this, so i want to do what i can )

alechko · 2024-03-30T09:45:57.895Z

curious about the private lessons, what are these about? technique or more sound design and mixing stuff like that?

pokk · 2024-03-30T10:13:14.661Z

So i think less specific techniques, although it obviously can be that, but more speaking with whoever is interested and crafting something specific to their needs and if local i can potentially visit them and use their gear so they are left with the projects sounds etc but also seeing what that gear can do hopefully inspires the possibilities. I could probably still do that to some extent online over a video call as well if some comparable gear.

I have been crafting the first 1-2-1 recently with someone, asking them what they feel they need, making some suggestions and then to run a session, reflect adjust it. And again it’s a PWYC model.

mitya33 · 2024-03-30T19:23:49.526Z

I’m a JavaScript developer. I build web platforms. Although my educational background is in music (I’m a pianist + have a degree in composition.)

In Nottingham, UK - anyone nearby?

matteblacksmoke · 2024-04-01T01:03:18.801Z

really beautiful. anticapitalist here, too. i’m glad things are working for you now.

Sleepynumb · 2024-04-01T01:15:12.682Z

I am a Concierge at a luxury hotel. It is a super fun and surprisingly uplifting most of the time.

Lived my whole life in San Diego. Worked at the same spot for 19 years. I have lived in the same place for 15 years. From my single days living, breathing music to my current family-man life., squeezing in music time after the kids go to sleep.

I enjoy sipping agave spirits, video games, only the finest California burrtios and nerding out on this forum on my downtime.

It is not a bad life

KnobTwister · 2024-04-01T02:42:04.082Z

Been an Electrician in the Seattle/Tacoma area for 25 years. Started my own department “Industrial automation” about 15 years ago. Recently took a position as the COO for the entire company. Cool thread btw

irok81 · 2024-04-01T03:07:08.488Z

Respiratory therapist for 18 years.

Dava · 2024-04-01T07:00:50.964Z

Had the good grace and fortune to find myself working in a forest school since September, 40 km outside of the city.
Working with a small team of excellent people in a beautiful environment.
The kids (including my own two offspring) spend the majority of their days outside.
A place to breathe and grow, for all of us.

Jedilicious · 2024-04-01T07:36:39.618Z

I currently work as a project lead to implement virtual reality training for the Dutch police force.

I am a psychologist by training and worked as an independent consultant (and part time assistant professor) before this, and I really love the career change

pokk · 2024-04-01T08:39:49.341Z

Ah thanks, appreciate the kind words. I’ve definitely been a whole lot happier since embracing anti-capitalism and anarchism.

kirlian · 2024-04-01T08:57:41.551Z

previously jazz musician, then knowledge mgr, then frontend dev, now trading futures/fx. slowly writing a few books.

currently living 40m outside Brussels. incidentally, if anyone is nearby Mons or have some recommends on good meetups/venues where people are using and collaborating with elektron gear, pm me! would love to meet some people here.

palm · 2024-04-01T16:58:49.981Z

palm:

3D animator, Maya/Max/XSI/Houdini for 20 years. Been out of werk for, coming up on, 4 years now.

Coming up on 8 years now. Gave up applying for anim jobs. An old man that can’t even get hired at the post office, liquor store, grocery store, driving range…no one will hire me.
Everywhere I apply online/in person they say “we JUST filled that spot” I check the listing, and the jobs remain posted for weeks/months after I applied. I’ve even gone back to try 2nd, 3rd time. Persistence doesn’t matter anymore.

Canada’s instance on having diverse werk force quotas is not helping. Diversity over filling the spot with a qualified applicant.
[almost tapped out of funds]

So what do I do…apply, get denied, stress, lose hair and money. Those first four years were easy compared to the last four. Being stressed all day every day is a shitty hobby.

bodymechanics · 2024-04-01T17:12:52.573Z

Animation jobs are extremely hard to get, even if you’re a top notch animator with lots of experience.
See a like most animation hires are mostly chosen because they know someone who already works there.

Chreeb · 2024-04-01T19:51:01.491Z

Similar experience here.

Work experience is mostly retail/service.

Graduated in 2010 for 2D animation. Didn’t know anyone locally and couldn’t spend dedicated time to practice consistently after college due to working full time to pay for school/rent.

Fucked up by not getting an internship. Cue me giving up and joining a band and becoming a bar back at a local college bar, which lasted about 8 years.

Now I’m across the country working for and getting laid off by tech companies.

I have also embraced an anarchist and anti-capitalist mindset.

Now I don’t know what to do going forward. I’m 36 (37?), and can’t afford to start over. I actually got a job offer for an entry level QA role working on VR games, but the pay was non-livable. I would be happy to work an entry level job for a career change, but entry level roles don’t pay living wages in general.

I spent the last few months doing a character design mentorship and eventually realized it’s not a steady job and needs lots of supplemental income. I’m not interested in that.

Perfect job would probably be scoring music, but only by my own reputation. I don’t have the education to produce music in someone else’s vision, so they would have to be down with whatever I come up with. So that job doesn’t exist.

Looks like I’ll stay in Support until I figure it out.

7schlaf · 2024-04-01T20:25:38.450Z

Since quite some time I have been missing your always inspiring contributions at the current sounds.
I wish you all the best!

sinktothesea · 2024-04-01T20:45:19.208Z

I am a professor of philosophy in California and (mostly) enjoy it. A long time ago, I decided not to focus on a career in music (tuba, electric bass, synth) because “what if I lost a finger or two?” I was thinking that at least I could still do philosophy. But here I am still doing music—with my digits still fully intact—sometimes a lot more than I do philosophy these days.