A “shoulda woulda” question?

12 comments

1. Background: I play guitar and sing in a thrash metal band heavily influenced by American bands like Megadeth, early Metallica, Exodus, and others. I am also a fan of hard rock bands like Aerosmith, Van Halen, Extreme, Poison, Cinderella, Skid Row, and have recently discovered bands like Danger Danger, Harem Scarem, Leatherwolf, Lynch Mob, Firehouse, Winger, Shark Island, and more. In my opinion, no other nation on this planet has given such high-quality music to the world as the US (and the UK). German bands like Scorpions and Accept faced initial ridicule in Germany but found huge success once they gained attention in the US.

   However, I was born and raised in India. I was fortunate to have access to a lot of American media while growing up. In 2003, when I was 16, Metallica’s St. Anger album premiered on MTV. I decided to explore early Metallica and got an MP3 CD burned from a friend. When I heard the title track from the album “Master of Puppets,” it blew my mind. A year later, I got my first guitar, and the reason behind it was my love for the US.My first job in Bangalore, India involved working with banking clients from Delaware. It was a pleasant experience working with them. So I had a strong inclination towards the US for a long time. I had aspirations to pursue my Master’s degree in the US in 2009. I even passed the GRE with a good score and had good recommendations from my university in India. However, I couldn’t make it to the US due to financial reasons, so Germany became my second choice. It was more affordable compared to the US. Life here is fine, with things I like and dislike.

2. If you say it’s too late to pursue your dreams, you might as well roll over and die. Go chase what is important to you.

3. I think the niche you’ve found in Germany (software engineer by day, metal guitarist by night) may be much harder to find in the US. There is much more competition in both fields here.

   I’m speculating here, but go with it for a moment: There are many people playing and appreciating metal here in the US. However, they represent a smaller proportion of the total US population than the same group of Germans represents within the total population of Germany. I read a post the other day about a guy in DC who was disappointed that none of his 10 favorite metal bands – who are touring this summer – are playing within 4 hours’ drive of where he lives.

   If you think it will make you happy, then uproot your life and move here. I just wouldn’t want you to trash the good thing you’ve got going in Deutschland for a fair-to-disappointing thing in America. Transatlantic relocation is a lot of effort. A company would have to **really** need your specific software engineering chops in order to bring you here, rather than hire someone who wouldn’t have the same visa issues. If you have any health issues at all (e.g. diabetes), you are almost certainly better off staying in a country with a less insane healthcare climate than the US.

   Or I could be completely wrong. You might find it very easy to get a job, move here, and get acclimated. I just don’t like the odds.

4. No, it’s not too late now. I have a number of acquaintances and friends in their 30s thru their 60s who have “regular” day jobs, but also musical careers. They’re not playing arenas, but smaller venues, and some tour and do festivals.

5. Definitely doable from music side of things. There’s a healthy metal scene in the US. Its more niche and spread out (like a lot of things in the US), but it at least seems to exist in most big cities, and I don’t think you’d have trouble finding people with similar tastes. I have friends who play live in metal bands and also have day jobs. As for getting a job in the US I couldn’t really help with that.

6. Heavy metal, especially thrash isn’t anywhere near as popular here as it used to be. Just a consideration

7. I share some similar interests to you (not too much thrash metal but other types of metal and rock) and work managing a team of software engineers and I’m a few years older than you.

   Firstly, your dream of being in a band *as a career* would be really tough in the U.S. I think there’s a bigger market for that style of music in Europe than the U.S. To give an example of a fairly recent band (or one guy really, who is older than you) that is just now moving to playing in larger arenas with rock music is Ghost. A couple of years ago their concerts would be in small auditoriums in the suburbs of big cities despite winning awards, having several good albums, and being featured on movie soundtracks. I doubt there is a single radio station in the U.S. that has Ghost in a regular rotation even today. That’s much more mainstream sounding pseudo-classic rock music than thrash metal. What would be more realistic for you in the U.S. is that you’d be able to find some people to form a band with if you lived in a big enough city and if things worked out you’d probably get to a point where you’d play shows with an 80’s music cover band on the weekends a few times per month at a small bar, maybe making a tiny fee as a result. You’re probably better off in Germany playing thrash metal.

   Secondly, one area that could be beneficial is if you wanted to work as a software engineer. Those jobs do pay much more than you get in Germany. However, you’d likely have to deal with long commutes, long working hours, and lots of other sacrifices that would keep you from putting time into your music. I’m pretty burnt out when I get home so maybe I spend my 15 minutes of free time knocking out some stuff in the new Legend of Zelda game. I am too tired to pick up my guitar when I get home, and even when I do every few months I mostly just play through some scales and practice some riffs that I like then I need to go do some other chore. The American way of life has little to no free time in comparison to Germany. I get ideas for songs all the time but I’m so tired they end up forgotten and disappear forever.

8. As an American who works in IT by day, death metal by night, you will be in good company

9. 80s-90s metal/rock is considered pretty lame/passe where I live, and yet bands full of “weekend warriors” playing that stuff are a dime a dozen. You can find one banging out bland covers of def leppard songs (or even worse; their own “originals” that *sound* like that stuff) in some bar to a group of 20-30 bitter guys in their 40s and 50s about every 3 blocks on a friday night.

   You could very easily get a gig over here playing that music, but don’t expect to make more than $100 a night doing it or a dedicated audience coming to your shows to see you perform. At best, you’ll get a disinterested crowd of boomers yelling “PLAY FREEBIRD” at you for 2 hours.

   I think US nostalgia acts probably go over better in europe where it’s more of a novelty.

   EDIT: I see you’re talking more about 80’s thrash (and similar), but it’s very similar for that stuff too, except the money is even worse and the crowds are even smaller and it’ll be GenX and Millenials and they’ll only yell “PLAY FREEBIRD” ironically. (I’m also into heavy music, so no shade here, it’s just the truth). Unless you’re an already established act from that era, you’re not going to “break into the scene” playing music like that. There’s already 10,000 other bands over here doing that every weekend, and no one cares. The metal scene has moved passed that style of music except for the established nostalgia acts.

10. If you don’t try, you’ll never know.

11. Hell yeah we need more cool metal folks in the us, come on down! 35 is not too old at all, move here and start a metal band

12. You sound cool, feel free!