"Are you still bangin' the ol' drums, Dave?"

I remember when I failed my audition to Newpark Music School’s ‘Professional Musician’ course. It was a way of them suggesting I’d never make it as a musician. Now, 30 years later, after touring the world with household names on some of the biggest stages and doing big TV shows as well as playing on dozens of great albums, I feel like they might have got it wrong. Which is fine. If anything, receiving that letter at the time made me even more determined. Drumming has always been my vocation and my passion. I could never NOT dedicate my life to it.  It hasn’t been easy financially in my career to date though, that much I’ll admit. The career highs don’t tell the whole story.  The insecurity of never knowing if you’ll have enough work the following month for all your bills and needs should be highly stressful. I’m so used to it that it isn’t a stress at all. More of a challenge. But it could be made easier...

So, here we go...moany hole time! Things that could be better for us...

1. It’s very difficult to get time, or indeed a space, to work in or to play music in. It would be great to have a local practice room or shared artists residency. There are lots of empty buildings locally. Empty for years. I don’t need electricity. I’m a drummer that has loads of drums, a laptop with a full battery, a candle, lots of colouredy pens, lots of paper and a little tin bucket to catch my drool in. 

2. It’s difficult to make ends meet and I am, what I would consider to be, an experienced, relatively successful musician. If I had the equivalent status in almost any other industry, I would be comfortably well off. Musicians can’t get mortgages because they can’t guarantee 3 years of steady income to the banks. And other subtle discriminatory factors I’m sure. A lack of a nice shirt and tie. 

3. Another frustration.. I have tried to get Arts Council funding and have failed all 6 times in the last 4 years with very enterprising projects that would also employ and benefit many artists in one foul swoop. It has been baffling to me as to how these have all failed. And many people won’t even apply for fear of disappointment and rejection. So no help there.

4. Also, the income of a musician, low as it often is, has been decimated by Spotify because it means there are no income possibilities with the sale of the actual music. The Cd is dead so there are no earnings there. Radio play for Irish independent artists is disgracefully low. I think French radio by law must play at least 33% French music. I now get about 10% of what I got 20 years ago for royalties. My teaching and gig fees are the same as they were in 2011. But the price of a sliced pan has gone from 49 pence in 2001 to 136 pence in 2022. The bands and songwriters in this country are practically all going to each other’s gigs and are playing to each other in tiny venues and so the guestlist is usually full and therefore the gig fee is minimal. 

5. The chasm between the super-rich music industry people and the rest of us is immense. The new B.I.A. ( Basic Income For The Arts) fund that was rolled out last month here in Ireland is most welcome at a vital time. And I’m one of the lucky ones (approx. 2000 out of 8000) that their computer picked randomly. But it’s not enough for some, hard luck for the rest, and too late for others. There are so many hugely talented people that I know that have given up. Maybe we should all have given up the same time as a mass protest. No more music, sorry. No more gigs, festivals, albums, singles, radio, tv performances, videos, nothing. Until we are supported properly.

*My great friend Willie Walsh who lives and plays drums in France says that the French have had a system that has supported musicians for decades, whereby you have to have 43 ‘caches’, or 12 hour work sessions, per year, to be accepted into the system.  Then you give the venue/promoter half of your fee from your session on the spot, and they give it directly to the government who then put it towards your social security, tax and pension. On the days when you don’t have paid work, the government give you money, albeit a fee much lower than a regular days wage. The more ‘Caches’ you have the greater the daily allowance. The point is, one is always working as a musician; rehearsing, preparing, writing, researching, and practicing your craft, and that needs to be acknowledged, and is in this French system. I have always done at least 40 hours a week. But most people don’t trust that we do work that hard. The Finnish and Canadian governments have very good support systems also. So much respect for the Arts. 

Per capita, I think the Irish have the most talented artists in the world. Let's keep it that way and celebrate it like we are the best football team in the world, wear that badge proudly, and support it accordingly! And let’s not be too quick to judge the musicians and artists who don’t fit criteria or have all the conventional boxes ticked. They could be the modern Jimi Hendrix’s if we got behind them. If we get the right support and encouragement from the start, then we will struggle less individually in this unhealthy industry. We will reap the benefits of being a culture and a nation with the richest of imaginations, a deep soul, and an even greater artistic output.

'Music World Cup 2022'                      

                      P.   G.   R.  S.   F.    Pts.

Ireland         10  10  10  10  10.   50. 

Country B.    1    1     1    1    1      5

Country C.    1    0    0   0    0      1

Country D.    0    0   0   0    0      0