If one is to start a band out of passion – for just the sake of creating art – and one day that band ends up becoming a “business” for them, that might be one hell of a jarring shift to work with.
That is a concept that Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe still struggles with to this day. Per a recent feature with Sobre La Dosis, Blythe answers three questions, with one asking what he finds to be “complicated” about being in a band.
In answering this question, Randy shares that he finds it odd how Lamb Of God – a band he started for the sake of making art – has become a “career.”
Here is everything Randy had to say regarding his efforts to acknowledge Lamb Of God as a “business” (as transcribed by Metal Injection):
“I think the most complicated part of it is not really anything within the band. It’s trying to make sense of how this has become a career, because we just did it for the love of it. That’s why we started the band. I never thought it would be a job. I was never like ‘oh we’re gonna become rock stars or whatever.’
“I think the really complicated part of it for me has been navigating the fact that something that I would be doing anyway, which is making music, is navigating how that has become a business. It’s not something I’m always entirely comfortable with to tell you the truth, because I’m just a regular dude.
“That’s why we have management, though. I don’t handle the business but I think that has really been the most complicated thing for me – realizing that it’s a business at this point.
“We employ a lot of people. People were able to buy their family Christmas gifts this year because we employ [them]. It’s definitely a band that we that… you know, it’s our art and we love it, but it is a business.
“For me, accepting that is strange because I don’t come from the business world. I never had any money. I’m not a rich kid or anything weird like that.
“Learning to be a professional musician, I guess, is the most complicated part. Writing the music and touring and playing shows and all that shit, that’s fun. That’s easy for me. Learning the business has been complicated.”
What do you make of these points? If you are a musician, do you find yourself facing a similar struggle?
You can check out the full feature involving Randy Blythe below.
Watch: Randy Blythe Once Fled The Police While Drinking And Driving A 4-Wheeler
