Ryan Sprute dot com

Today is kind of a slow news day, so I thought I would take the time to talk a little about myself, well my band.

I’m in a very unknown band called The Matirns, although we are changing that name pretty soon, and hopefully we’ll become less unknown come the end of November, but that’s yet to be seen.

Being in a band is a weird thing, and it’s hard to compare it to many other pursuits because it’s a weird clash of business and art. First, clearly you are in a band because (hopefully) you enjoy making music and doing it with people who have a similar taste and style in music, who can help you create at a better level - this is certainly the case with my band, without a doubt I am the weakest member, and I consider myself to be an adequate drummer.

However, there are many other factors that a band has to deal with besides making music, and that is where the weird conflicts come in. Yes, we deal with many creative decisions, but they aren’t always musical ones. We argued for TWO YEARS about a band name, but that is a rare example of something we can’t resolve quickly. See, being in a band is a lot about compromising - not necessarily artistically, but in other ways.

You aren’t always going to get your way, and you’re not always going to be happy about it, but that’s life. If you can’t work with other people in your band, you might as well leave. I consider myself very lucky in that I enjoy being around my fellow bandmates, but I definitely still have my frustrations and trying moments. I have no idea what it’s like to have to deal with a “diva”, but I’d imagine it would be spectacularly unpleasant.

I think it might be hard to imagine exactly WHY bands fight, and you hear about bands that were torn apart by the industry. I can’t speak upon the impact success has on a band, because…well…we haven’t exactly HAD any major success yet. But I can say that making music can be a very emotional and exhausting process, and one can become very attached to ideas. It’s easy to get personal, and being in a band successfully - something I believe I CAN speak on, considering I’ve been with my band for nearly 3 years now - relies on your ability to not take things personally and think about how something affects everyone in the band, and not just yourself.

Plus, it’s a lot like a job in that rain or shine, you’re going to have to go to practice. You may be in a shitty mood, you may have other things on your plate, but you have to put your band before yourself. I don’t think I’m perfect at this, but it’s a crucial part of being a good band mate - putting the band first.

So here I am, taking a year off of school with my band to pursue a career in the industry - will I think it was worth it by the end of the year? I guess we’ll just have to see.