Misha Mansoor of Periphery’s Advice to Aspiring Bands: “Diversify Your Income”
Periphery guitarist and mastermind Misha Mansoor has been on a Real Talk mission lately, dishing out brutally honest advice about the realities of “making it” in today’s music industry. It’s refreshing to see because it’s a topic that’s not often spoken about. Many musicians are content to keep up the illusion that being in a metal band is their full-time job, but fans are complicit too: we’d rather keep the larger-than-life illusion intact than think about how a musician we idolize goes home and tends bar at the local dive when he’s not on tour just to pay his basic bills. The truth is, though, the latter describes most metal musicians, even ones you’d think of as “successful.”
Misha’s latest dose of reality came via an interview with Guitar Interactive at this year’s NAMM Show in Anaheim, CA last month:
“There ain’t no money in this music industry. I’ll tell you as well because you guys should also know about this. Mainly you guys *points at camera* should know, there’s no money in this industry, so if you want to be in a band, do all the things. And if you’re lucky, you could also do all the things that you enjoy. So I enjoy gear, I’ve always enjoyed gear. That was sort of a way to merge the two passions, and also be able to make a bit of extra money out of it, right? Because again, you ain’t going to make no money in this industry.”
Do you have any advice for people trying to follow the model you guys have done?
“I do have advice. If you’re going into this industry and you’re like, ‘Oh, when can I quit my job? When can I do this full time?’, you’ve already lost. You’ve already lost. It’s like, if you just kind of went for it because it was fun and that was what you wanted to do – that’s the reason to do it. And then be smart about it. Find ways to make money, find any ways to make money, play to your skills.
“And a lot of people aren’t going to make it, but you should try it anyway because, might as well, right? Most people in this industry – people that might surprise you – don’t make any money… Man, this is depressing, we’re supposed to be talking about happy things! You just got to believe and diversify your income, that’s really what it’s about. Diversify your income.”
The context here is that this interview is taking place because of Misha’s own efforts to diversify his income, namely his forays into the gear world. Later in the interview Misha goes on to talk about the new amplifier he’s releasing through Peavey, the Invective MH, a miniaturized version of his signature head. You can watch the full interview below.
[via Ultimate Guitar]
