Keeping your Mind Sharp and Decompressing: A City Manager's Take on Playing in a Band.

This post is a little different from my previous posts. Many people don't know this about me, but I played in a band for a few years. What instrument did I play? Well, if you guessed guitar, then you'd be wrong. If you guessed the drums, then you're correct and probably observant based on the blog post image. I'll talk about some of the benefits I gained while playing, and also some of the challenges of playing in a band and working in local government.

One of our setlists from a Holiday show. As you can see, we mixed in some Christmas classics that night.

I had always wanted to take up the drums. It wasn't until a group of friends and I went to a concert in Orange County that we committed to playing music together. Three of the guys played guitar, so the only thing we needed was a drummer. In that moment I said I would learn the drums and the rest was history. It was fun, exciting, and we got to the point where we were playing a few times a week and making money at every show.

I eventually left the band to commit myself more fully to my local government career (a set at 11pm means only a few hours before you have to get back to work and start the workday).

What I gained from those days included lessons that resonate today; working together is critical, communication is key, sometimes you'll have everything fall into place, and sometimes you just have to go with what you have and expect the unexpected.

Teamwork is Critical

Well, who would've guessed that this would be relevant in a band? It's true. Whether it's deciding on musical parts, or collaborating and deciding on what songs will make it on an album, the amount of collaboration while in a band was always present. Deciding on which shows to play, and how much money would be set aside for the operations of the band required collaboration and input from each of us. Sometimes we disagreed, but at the end of the day we were all friends brought together by the band team.

An image of one of the shows we performed in Riverside, CA. Somehow the photographer made it behind me and snapped the picture.

Practice and Commitment Matter

We all committed to the band by way of our actions. This meant that we had set days of the week where we would practice together. Practices were typically a few hours long, and we would go over all aspects of our set for upcoming shows. We would routinely have 30/40 songs that we could play on the fly to play in a moment's notice, but we would go over the songs and rework them every so often to add flavor and mix it up. We would also use this time to develop new music, go over ideas, and rehearse all aspects of upcoming shows. Sometimes we would scrap entire ideas, and we would often record these sessions to revisit past ideas and develop and refine those same ideas into new material. Putting in the effort to improve and get better was a reoccurring theme for us.

Sometimes Things go Right, and Sometimes The Police Shut Down Your Venue

We had incredible opportunities, and played some great places. From #LongBeach, #OrangeCounty, #Riverside, #Fontana, city sponsored events, birthday parties, to venues that we didn't know existed. The commitment of practice and refining our craft meant we had built a team that more often than not seemed like we were sharing a brain while playing. And when we were on that same wave length, it was like magic.

But there were also times where things went wrong, and we just had to roll with the punches. One of these times was in Upland. We had been invited by a band we had played with previously to join them for a special event they were putting on. We were beginning our set, and there was a small scuffle that ended up turning into a pretty big fight. Our gear was getting knocked over by those who had started fighting, and that's when we all looked at each other and said that we needed to pack it up and leave. We immediately stopped playing, began to tear down our gear, and began loading up our vehicles to depart.

By this time, the management had called the police and no less than 10 police cars arrived to dispel the fight. We had packed up the vehicles with our gear, closed the doors, and left the venue by the time we saw people getting arrested.

Sometimes things go right, and sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and be prepared for the unexpected. Kind of like a Council meeting.

Lessons Learned

While this was a great experience, I left the band to focus on my public sector career as it became very difficult to play multiple days a week and to make it into the office without being tired and able to focus on my full time job. It was an incredible time, but the balancing act became too much to handle. Now that I reflect back on my time in the band, the importance of communication, collaboration, and working towards the same goal ring true as #CityManager or any other local government #executive.

Sometimes your gear will work out perfectly, and sometimes you will have equipment mishaps, you'll break a drumstick, or a fight will breakout ending your set.

At the end of the day sometimes you just have to expect the unexpected.