the downside

So.

Since Jan 1, 2006,
I, Pete Shukoff, play
music for a living.

Very cool.

It feels good,
it's a nice thing to say,
great way to meet chicks.

"what do you do for a living?"

"me...? oh, I play in a band, for a living...
yeah, that's right, now rub my shoulders
while I sign your friend's boobs."

But.

There's a downside.

Now it's a job.

A job where I must count dollars,
and keep track of them.

I've caught myself evaluating
the quality of a gig by how much money we made.

Not cool.

I've caught and punished myself
for such thoughts.

"Bad Peter..."

It's a funny struggle,
I feel a great responsibility to
"keep it real"

Even in this tiny business,
with no label or any of that other
stuff, I have felt a tiny disconnection
from the pure artistic value of playing music.

The disconnection
will be forced to
remain in tininess.

Have no fear,
I'm not making enough
money to get lost in any
kind of success.

But I am making enough
to survive, barely, and
that is very cool.

Now,
here comes my first nomination
for quote of the year...

The context:
A new homie in Appleton, WI,
a fan of the great jam band "Family Groove Company"
who saw a Nice Peter show for the first time
and wanted me and Kristen to come back to
his place to party.

"It's the kind of acid you take when you
want to find out what God's asshole smells like."

wow.

-p