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Listen "145 – Becoming a Full-Time Musician – with Producer, Singer-Songwriter Malcolm “Bubba” McCarthy"
Episode Synopsis
Full-time musician. Doesn’t that term have a great ring to it? Wouldn’t you love to pursue your passion full-time?
In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I chat with UK based musician Malcolm “Bubba” McCarthy and ask him how he rose through the ranks to become an established and in-demand musician.
Download the PDF Transcription
Podcast Highlights:
01:01 – Who is Malcom “Bubba” McCarthy?
02:48 – The deficiencies of traditional education
05:57 – Side hustles
06:50 – Playing well vs. social media marketing
08:10 – Revenue streams and taming the tiger
09:12 – Establishing yourself as a quality musician in UK
12:23 – What sort of gear are you using?
16:42 – Getting repeat gigs
19:05 – Being versatile in the music industry
20:32 – How important are music sales for you?
22:24 – The duality of being prolific and perfectionism
24:20 – Michael Jackson and Thriller
25:15 – Are there any books or resources that have helped you on your journey?
27:28 – Building relationships in the industry
Transcription:
David Andrew Wiebe: Today I'm chatting with UK-based musician, producer, and songwriter, Malcolm “Bubba” McCarthy. How are you Bubba?
Malcolm McCarthy: Hello! I'm good. It's four o'clock in the afternoon and we actually have some sun here in England. So, that’s good. I'm happy.
David Andrew Wiebe: That's great. It's like about -1° Celsius here in Calgary, which is not too bad for this time of year. I think it should warm up a little more through today. I've had the chance to read up a little bit about you and your bio and everything but I think first things first, I'm sure for my listeners, they would love for you to share your story and how you got to this point in being a full time musician.
Malcolm McCarthy: Hmm. Well, long road, I would say. But really interesting road. I actually went to university to study history. I was going to become a lawyer. I was going to become a lawyer. I finished my degree in law school, and I just decided I want to take a year out and go to music college, me in front of people and just you know, enjoy music for a year before I went off to law school again. But then, actually, in that year, I was like, “Oh man, I need to give this a shot.” I started meeting a ton of people who then started hire me for the gigs for a little cost and so… Actually, you know what? Let me put all the law stuff on hold and go for it.
So, in that time, you know, I didn't get a ton of gigs, probably the first year. So, I did a bit of peripatetic teaching. I taught piano at secondary school or high school as you guys would call it. That helped me go and help me afloat until I got tour that cometh that came in that would be a bit more sort of consistent. And so, I think that's when I was like, “Okay. Let's go for this full time.” And yeah, I’ve been doing it for the last, I guess, six or seven years. That's been a fun, testing, exciting, you know, all the above. It was pretty cool.
David Andrew Wiebe: You know, something that I'm regularly on about is this whole thing about school. No doubt, I'm sure it had some benefit in your journey, but there's also some fairly apparent, I think deficiencies in school. I'm wondering if it equips you and left you with all the tools you needed to succeed in music or if you found that there was a lot more that you actually need the skills you needed to pick up or experiences you needed to have to become a full time musician.
Malcolm McCarthy: Yeah. I think I agree mostly with you on that point. I'm not 100% sure, like the necessity of going to school. I think the main thing for me that was able to… Two things. I was able to pull out my technique. So, I played the keys and I played the drums, but when I went to music college, it was the drums that I specialised in. So, I was able to fill out my technique, which was horrific. That actually was something that I needed to fill up. But I guess you know,
In this episode of The New Music Industry Podcast, I chat with UK based musician Malcolm “Bubba” McCarthy and ask him how he rose through the ranks to become an established and in-demand musician.
Download the PDF Transcription
Podcast Highlights:
01:01 – Who is Malcom “Bubba” McCarthy?
02:48 – The deficiencies of traditional education
05:57 – Side hustles
06:50 – Playing well vs. social media marketing
08:10 – Revenue streams and taming the tiger
09:12 – Establishing yourself as a quality musician in UK
12:23 – What sort of gear are you using?
16:42 – Getting repeat gigs
19:05 – Being versatile in the music industry
20:32 – How important are music sales for you?
22:24 – The duality of being prolific and perfectionism
24:20 – Michael Jackson and Thriller
25:15 – Are there any books or resources that have helped you on your journey?
27:28 – Building relationships in the industry
Transcription:
David Andrew Wiebe: Today I'm chatting with UK-based musician, producer, and songwriter, Malcolm “Bubba” McCarthy. How are you Bubba?
Malcolm McCarthy: Hello! I'm good. It's four o'clock in the afternoon and we actually have some sun here in England. So, that’s good. I'm happy.
David Andrew Wiebe: That's great. It's like about -1° Celsius here in Calgary, which is not too bad for this time of year. I think it should warm up a little more through today. I've had the chance to read up a little bit about you and your bio and everything but I think first things first, I'm sure for my listeners, they would love for you to share your story and how you got to this point in being a full time musician.
Malcolm McCarthy: Hmm. Well, long road, I would say. But really interesting road. I actually went to university to study history. I was going to become a lawyer. I was going to become a lawyer. I finished my degree in law school, and I just decided I want to take a year out and go to music college, me in front of people and just you know, enjoy music for a year before I went off to law school again. But then, actually, in that year, I was like, “Oh man, I need to give this a shot.” I started meeting a ton of people who then started hire me for the gigs for a little cost and so… Actually, you know what? Let me put all the law stuff on hold and go for it.
So, in that time, you know, I didn't get a ton of gigs, probably the first year. So, I did a bit of peripatetic teaching. I taught piano at secondary school or high school as you guys would call it. That helped me go and help me afloat until I got tour that cometh that came in that would be a bit more sort of consistent. And so, I think that's when I was like, “Okay. Let's go for this full time.” And yeah, I’ve been doing it for the last, I guess, six or seven years. That's been a fun, testing, exciting, you know, all the above. It was pretty cool.
David Andrew Wiebe: You know, something that I'm regularly on about is this whole thing about school. No doubt, I'm sure it had some benefit in your journey, but there's also some fairly apparent, I think deficiencies in school. I'm wondering if it equips you and left you with all the tools you needed to succeed in music or if you found that there was a lot more that you actually need the skills you needed to pick up or experiences you needed to have to become a full time musician.
Malcolm McCarthy: Yeah. I think I agree mostly with you on that point. I'm not 100% sure, like the necessity of going to school. I think the main thing for me that was able to… Two things. I was able to pull out my technique. So, I played the keys and I played the drums, but when I went to music college, it was the drums that I specialised in. So, I was able to fill out my technique, which was horrific. That actually was something that I needed to fill up. But I guess you know,
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