Hutch Harris, guitarist/vocalist of The Thermals, has taken to the Internet to register an enlightening think piece on what it means to be in an indie rock band in the 21st century.
The singer pontificates on proudly keeping (and then abashedly quitting) his day job, measuring his band's popularity in the age of social media and trading bygone royalty payments for the fractions of pennies paid out to bands by today's streaming music services.
The Thermals; Harris, bassist Kathy Foster and drummer Westin Glass, are a powerfully lo-fi, earnest pop-punk band from Portland, Oregon. With seven full-length albums to their name -- on labels like Sub Pop and Kill Rock Stars -- the trio released their latest effort, We Disappear, earlier this year on Saddle Creek.
Yesterday, out of nowhere, Harris scribed an amusing and informative essay on The Talkhouse. Entitled "Don't Get Rich, Don't Die Trying: Thriving v. Surviving in the Music Industry," the musician waxes poetic on the realities of life as a semi-starving artist:
"One of the myths about the music business is that once a band reaches a certain point of success, it's smooth sailing from there, that you'll reach a point where you're set for life and will no longer have any worries save for where to park your fifth car or when to schedule your next spa day."
It's funny because it's true. Harris kept his barista gig for the majority of his time in The Thermals, only recently quitting after feeling guilty from fans recognizing him at work.
His best admonition, however, may be the following:
"You have to be delusional to think you can support yourself making art. You have to be downright crazy to think you can tailor your art to only your specific personal tastes, to cater to no specific demographic and still expect to profit from it."
Don't quit your day job.
Below, watch The Thermals' music video for the title track off their 2009 fourth album, Now We Can See:
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