The sacrifice behind "Indiependent" by Mission Man

Before you read about my sacrifice, I want to say a few things. First, most artists face these kinds of sacrifices. Many people face much worse. Don't feel sorry for me. I made the choice to sacrifice what I've sacrificed for my music, and I'm glad I have. It's worth every penny and every minute to never have to say "what if..."

I have sacrificed a tremendous amount for music, and I have received more in return than what I have sacrificed. When many of my friends were getting drunk or partying in other ways, I was writing lyrics, or playing the bass, guitar, keyboard, drums, rapping, producing, putting together demo packages for clubs, newspapers, and radio stations, practicing for a gig, or preparing for Playing For a Cure. I chose to continue to deliver pizzas instead of pursuing a professional career because I needed the flexibility to pursue music. I graduated from college in 2002. Assuming I've made $20,000 a year for the past 4 years, that's $80,000. Assuming an entry level job of $35,000 a year with a $1,000 raise every year, that's $143,000. There's an opportunity cost of $63,000. My drumset was $1,000 plus tax, "Out of the Shadows" set me back about $1200. The first annual Playing For a Cure set me back $1,000. The second set me back $400+. So far, I'm up to $66,600 in losses, and probably a total lifetime musical earning of at most $2,000. Of course, there's website fees, ads in newspapers for shows, flyers, costs of sending out demos, giving away t-shirts, burning off CDs (there's another $1,000 in the last 2 years alone), gas to get to shows, plane ticket to get to Florida for two shows there, etc. etc. etc. So, from a financial standpoint, I'm out over $65,000 because of music. I'm thinking this through for the first time, and that's a ton of money. It's still worth all of that, plus the $2,040 I spent to pay for the pressing of "Indiependent," which, of course, required a sacrifice itself.

In order to save $2,040, I cut down to spending less than $7 per day on food 6 days a week (for many of you, this is not sacrificing, I spent $25/week on food when I worked at McDonald's after my mom passed away when I was 15, so it's not really a sacrifice for me either; it's just less than I'm used to now). About once a week I decided to spend maybe $15-$20 just so I didn't go nuts. I also hadn't seen a movie in the theater since Star Wars Episode III sometime last summer (until I saw Over the Hedge in June 2006). I worked more than I wanted to as well. Delivering pizzas isn't a terrible job, but at times I can definitely feel myself burning out on it. I didn't go out and play pool any more either. I was probably only spending $10-$15 a week or so on pool, but in 6 months that adds up to about $250-$400. I didn't buy Revenge of the Sith until after I paid for "Indiependent", as that $20 needed to go to "Indiependent." That's the same reason I didn't buy any new games for the PS2 I got for Christmas, or a memory card for it until after "Indiependent" was paid for. The only real optional expense I allowed myself was $65 for a monthly pass to the rec center so I could get in better shape to improve my live shows and increase my focus on "Indiependent." I also cut down on my shows to just a handful of regional shows because the long distance shows were costing me more money than I was earning.

Back to "Indiependent."