I spent a few years in my 20s playing in a rock band with some friends. Skill-wise, I was passable enough at rhythm guitar, drums, and keyboards. We wrote some nifty songs, played lots of shows, self-released a few EPs, and had lots of fun. At no point did I ever think I would be able to make music full-time. I knew that I didn’t have the intestinal fortitude to be on the road most of the time. I certainly wasn’t good enough to ever find consistent work as a supporting musician, whether in the studio or on a tour. However, plenty of talented musicians do this every single day, and Band People is their story.
Written by Franz Nicolay, a long-time member of rock bands like The Hold Steady, this book chronicles the lives of the musicians who work in the background supporting your favorite artists. Published by University of Texas Press, it reads like a thoughtful fusion of business textbooks, oral history, and heartfelt documentary, but without the glossy schmaltz or soft-focus lens. Using the subtitle “Life and Work in Popular Music,” it’s a mostly positive investigation into the sociology of life as a working musician who often makes the music happen but without getting the attention.
The crux of the book resets in the decade-plus of interviews Nicolay conducted.
With his storied career, it made sense that he would have musician friends across the rock n roll landscape. These “band people” – the name serving as a badge of honor in these circles – put many years of hard work, long hours, and artistic heft into building a career with their musical skills. They spoke candidly about their successes and frustrations with the industry, how money works, how fans treat their craft, how the stars regard their art, and so much more.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book on two distinct levels.
First, no one ever engaged in any finger-pointing. While I didn’t necessarily want to find any negativity or malice, I expected some, simply because of the nature of the stories being told. Anyone with even a cursory understanding of how the music industry works knows how it frequently chews people up and spits them out again. However, Nicolay works magic with his interview subjects because they collectively focus on real stories about real people. Not only do they give plenty of credit to the big-name artists who treat “band people” right, but they capably point out where and how it goes wrong without naming any names.
Second, no one held back or sugarcoated anything.
These talented musicians were very upfront with their struggles and choices. On one hand, they are fully aware that they’re living out many people’s dreams by playing music full-time. But on the other hand, this is their job – just because they can create art with instruments doesn’t mean they don’t have bills to pay and mouths to feed. In fact, they will happily tell you that they love what they do while also regaling you with hard truths about the fickle realities of the musician’s life.
Band People serves as the craft-centric inverse of well-known mythologies like Our Band Could Be Your Life.
Franz Nicolay delivers a principled and detailed book that focuses on the highly nuanced and often misunderstood world of career-backing musicians. I especially enjoyed reading reflections from artists such as Jon Wurster, Kelly Hogan, Nels Cline, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Jenny Conlee, Thor Harris, and Brian Viglione. Collectively, the interview subjects speak warmly and frankly about songwriting credit, music economics, family struggles, and the realities of musical collaboration.
It’s not easy out there for band people, but that won’t stop them from making music.