I started playing regular gigs on the island of Mykonos in the summer of 2010 with my friend Antonis. We played because we wanted to see how people would react to us and lucky for us we were appreciated by our small and humble audience. Suddenly, thanks to a fantastic bar owner, we were getting payed for our performances every week. If you find yourself in Mykonos any time soon I urge you to visit the bar called 'The Dublin', just near the new port and the beach Agios Stefanos. Anyways, that was a fantastic summer and things were so simple as I look back on it. We played a bunch of covers that people wanted to hear, Antonis played guitar and I sang and we got payed for it. Of course, throughout the summer we kept rehearsing more times each week in order to fit more songs into our set. I remember our last gig that summer lasted around 3 hours.
Because of this fantastic summer I decided to pursue my intense desire to make music and play my original material live. The truth is I had been writing songs since the age of 13 and became particularly inspired to let my emotions flow onto paper after I fell for a girl called Nicole when I was 14, going on 15. And in 2009 I had recorded a pop song called "Flying" in Simon Bloom's studio in Athens. I must have drove him crazy with how naive I was. I was so excited to be in a studio for the first time that I forgot about the song and the music and just wanted to hear my voice on my first recording. I played around on instruments but was never particularly good, in my opinion.
So, when I returned to London in August 2010, I started looking into what it would be like to play guitar. I always wanted to learn but never thought it would go well and was afraid I would fail miserably. Along the way I discovered I was left handed on the guitar and started googling all sorts of left handed acoustic guitars. I settled for a Fender CD100CE which I use to this day and love. I began to finally create full songs with the guitar in my hands. It was rather strange that I was writing songs that I could not yet play. In January, 2011 I returned to Simon Bloom's studio in Athens to record 3 songs in two days. I had no great skill on the guitar and my voice had broken up from pushing it against the walls of my room in London. But I was definite that my intense emotions and passion would carry these songs despite the low quality of guitar playing and distorted vocals. If you are curious what they sounded like, they are on iTunes now: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/3-songs-by-alex-hamel-ep/id428811004. With these original songs recorded, I returned to London to find some gigs. I found that it was harder than expected and no one would take some guy who played guitar for a couple months but luckily the University's live music club 'Top of the Hill' let me play a slot at one of their gigs. I played another gig in March for 'Top of the Hill'. I was so ecstatic that I was playing live in London that cash was the furthest thing from my mind. In all honesty, it was probably best since I sounded so rough.
I returned to Mykonos that summer to play gigs with Antonis to find we had both gone in different directions with our music. Our gigs lost their taste and I found that our usual payment had gotten split in half. We "broke up" for the summer and I sat around and sulked in my misery but wrote a whole lot of new songs to return to London with in September. It was when I returned that time that I found myself playing gigs almost weekly, thanks to the help of a great musical friend, Brenna. Once again, I was playing for free but the question arose in my mind "How does one make a living at this?" So, at a certain gig at 'The Old Queen's Head' I was told if more than 15 people come to see me, I will make 1 £ per person. And the entrance cost 6 £. I didn't question this because I was still new to the London scene but soon enough found out there were all sorts of deals around London town. In all honesty, I gave up on trying to make money with my music in London and focused on playing venues that had a fantastic set up for musicians such as 'The Troubadour' and 'The Half Moon'.
Well, I returned to Greece in the summer of 2012 playing gigs at least 3 times a week and getting payed a small sum for each gig. I certainly missed London for one big reason. In London they want to hear your originals. In places like Greece, they want you to play covers that everyone plays. But, in any case, I gave the audience what it wanted and threw my two cents in whenever I got the chance. Now that I'm living here for a while, I play gigs as much as I can (as I mentioned earlier) but am shocked by the mentality here. Well, here's where I want to talk about the finances of being a singer/songwriter playing gigs here.
Well, I had an occurrence in June, 2012 in Trikala, Greece at a small bar called 'Swing'. I had played there in November, 2011 and got payed the sum I asked for. But this time, I played the same sort of gig, except with more equipment that I brought in and the owner ended up paying 1/4 of what I had asked for. In response to my questioning he responded "Art should be free." I was furious of course because this man had taken my art and thrown it on the floor, claiming it would be completely normal for me to walk in, play live music for a couple hours and leave without so much as a free drink.
Throughout my time here I have come across the type to say "Art should be free" as well as those who who question any sort of price. Well, this is where I'd like to set things straight to those bar owners and personality types who think art is free. To the bar owner...how did I arrive? Did I appear in your bar by some mystical power? No. I travelled here and carried my equipment and am going to travel home after this gig. Once again, to the bar owner... did someone place this guitar in my hands free of charge along with a load of equipment I did not struggle to acquire? No, the equipment a musician uses costs a great deal of money, particularly if it is of good quality. Furthermore, does being an artist mean I starve myself and avoid drinking fluids before/after or even during the gig? Once again no. And beyond the basics, beyond taxes, beyond possible sound/lighting expenses did I come up with the ability to play this instrument and these particular songs (that you may have requested) at the speed of light? Here's an idea. This past summer I reunited with Antonis to play a 20 song gig at the Dublin bar. We rehearsed at least a couple hours a day for 6 days before the gig and spent 7 hours rehearsing on the day of the gig. So please, bar/venue/cafe owners out there, do NOT question your artists for the prices and do not mistake "free art" with "free creativity". I create art free of charge and so can anyone in this world. If you have the capacity to feel emotions, you have the capacity to be an artist of any sort. Of course calling yourself an artist comes with certain burdens but its a small price to play if you love your art. Just as a decent payment is a small price to pay for a true artist. Once again, this is what it's been like through my eyes. But I'm sure even the Rolling Stones would say their "high" ticket prices are a small price to pay for the incredible show they put on where their expenses reach the sky. Five days of rehearsal at the Wembley Arena cost them 20 million pounds, let alone the expenses of the shows and other. Respect the artists, young or mature.
Alex Hamel
P.S. There is an interesting calculator for the "gigging" artist here. I suggest you have a look at it. http://gigcalc.gehwokka.com/
