Karaoke Forums

Okay, every few years I get to the point where I think it'd be just great to get away from karaoke for a while. Usually it happens when I'm juggling 5-6 shows a week; right now we're down to 2 shows a week and I'm still feeling like I need a break from it. Probably because I don't trust anyone else to host for us.

Quitting is not really an option because of the size of our investment ... not likely anyone would come running at me with fists full of $$$$ if I posted a turn-key price ... and it's a great way to increase income at a moment's notice ... and I do enjoy the interaction ...

Anyone else get to feeling this way occasionally?

I get that feeling a couple times a year. But try to take some time off - even if it's just a weekend here & there, I have 2 other hosts I can use in a pinch that i've trained. One is currently working a couple nights, the other worked for me for 5 years & is still an on call.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

Yeah I'm about there right now. It's over 100 degrees outside and I've got to get moving. I've gotta move everything to another room for a Friday one-nighter. I wonder if anyone will even show.

Last night was no fun. A lot of the regulars are out of town. The heat is keeping many others home.

One guy (he sang the first and last song) sang 11 times. So we did 10 rounds in 5 hours. I let him one more song at the end to set some kind of record for the room.

Fortunately he's a great singer. And boy was I glad he was there. Aaron, love ya man!

But it's been slow this whole month.

It may be just the summer blahs with both of us Karen. But if I'm still doing this next year I'm taking a couple of weeks in August off like everyone else. This is ridiculous.

This burn out condition happens to all of us. Mostly, I get tired of lugging equipment out of storage, into the trucklet, out of the trucklet and onto the venue. When I'm done, I have to do it again in reverse. Then, I have to load the trucklet with my artist supplies for the weekend. Gah!!! Hang in there.

Or get a small cargo trailer. I know a few that use these & they just keep them loaded all the time - only unload/load is at the venue. Locked well & parked in their garage when not in use.

_________________
LIKE Lonman on Facebook - Lonman Productions Karaoke & my main site via my profile!

People in every profession feel burned out at times.
Definitely take some time off from it or change up the routine a little or a lot.
Maybe hire someone to do some of the work that you don't like.
Do you have to do all the loading and unloading?
Could you pay someone without doling out cash?

I've never done it, but KJing looks like more fun than a real job.
If it isn't then make it more fun for you somehow.

Take it easy.

That is a cool option except the apartment I live at has no garages or allows trailers in the parking lot. I would still have to store the trailer somewhere and I would not be comfortable with it far away, or my stuff exposed to temperature extremes.

We have a 14-foot trailer that contains all hubby's band equipment and that sits in our driveway. Our karaoke equipment fits in a passenger van that has all the seats but the two front ones removed. We have slimmed down to active stuff, thereby avoiding a heavy rack with amps, etc.

I just came back from almost two weeks away (in Sturgis) and maybe it was being around "real" band stuff again exclusively - I hope my change in attitude isn't permanent.

Bill, I'm with you on the heat - it's over 90 here today and the place I work in on Friday nights has no air - I'll be taking the box fan with me in an attempt to cool it down a little.

Good news is everybody missed us when we were gone - we have a great working relationship with our Friday night owners and they didn't want anyone else in there on the Fri's we were gone - more good news, everybody wanted to know where we were. Maybe after I'm back into the swing of being at home and routine is back to normal, my attitude will improve.

I'm so glad to hear I'm not the only one!

k

The feeling of burn out - DEFINITELY !

I too get the feeling of burn out from time to time. I love my job - I hate my job - I love my job - I hate my job. Great people keep me going. Drunk jerks make me want to quit. I'd say about 2 or 3 times a year I want to pack it up and quit, but never do because I know the feeling usually passes.

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]

There are times when I don't feel like leaving the house to do a show, but I don't know that I'd call it burnout so much as laziness.

I'm a full time DJ and karaoke host, and honestly, I've got one of the best jobs in the world. I get to have fun and get paid for it, so my complaints are few. It's like porn...I just get slightly less diseases.

_________________
hi-voxentertainment

DJ Swirl,

So you DJ and Karaoke. That’s a great setup, you don’t have to sweat if/when the singers start, and sometimes someone just wants a DJ.

I was gonna do that (well, I do, but not regularly); I wanted a name that wasn’t too long, so I was gonna use the name DJnU2... get it… DJ and you too (karaoke).

I’m sure I didn’t need to explain all that.

Maybe the name sucks, I dunno.

_________________
Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

I'm not trying to be rude or sarcastic here, but how do you pay someone without doling out cash???

As for your other comment, KJing is a Full-Time job for a lot of the people here on this Forum, so I wouldn't go casually saying that it looks like more fun than a real job. They've been doing it for years, and it's not as easy as some make it appear to be.

“Pay for it without doling out the cash”…

Hey, maybe Karen K isn’t that kind of girl, eh.

_________________
Hate is like taking poison, hoping the other guy gets sick

speaking as someone that HAD to take a break for a couple years, I can tell you I miss it immensely. I never really got burned out, but I did get dejected a bit, like Babs and everyone else has mentioned... the drunks get to you, the petty bullcrap... people sniping to get your gig when you're already about as low in price as you can be and still be profitable... knowing other, less reputable folks are doing this without the expense I incurred, and not getting "busted' always set me back a bit. I just wanted someone to come in and lay down the smackdown on one of those pirate rigs...

I'm trying to set up shop here, but the area is pretty saturated, mostly with BAD karaoke companies. Knowing I won't get much more than a $75 for a weekday night and $100 for a weekend, and knowing I'd have to get some discs I didn't get for the past couple years... it's frustrating!

DJing and hosting definitely has its ups and downs, but I'd much rather be doing this than something I hate for more money. Compared to the politics and other crap I had to deal with in the corporate world, as well as when I was a server and bartender, this IS easy. Yeah, things like insurance, taxes, equipment maintenance and slow seasons can be a pain, but I'm my own boss, I work when I want and as much as I want, and when you break it down to brass tacks, I get paid to play music. I LOVE my job.

_________________
hi-voxentertainment

Karen

I have to agree with most here and say we all get burned out at times. I finally had to get a couple of replacement KJ's that I could trust and take some R&R. Your business will be there when you return... A couple of days here and there will help you cope with things better.

Many of us have Full Time jobs and do several nights a week. Sometimes it gets to be too much to have to be there 52 weeks a year on each one of those nights without a break. I cut out 4 nights a week 2 years ago because of this. I still do one night and rent one of my systems to a KJ on the weekend. Yeah the income loss was significant but I became better focused on my day job and my income went up...go figure...

The other thing that happened is that my bookings for private gigs went up and those pay more. I could never do them on weekends because I had my regular bar gigs.
The other benefit is I can choose to work them or not.

Hang in there!

_________________
FlipSide Karaoke
Scott

I love it when people say it's not a real job or an easy job for good money for four hours work.

I guess they don't think that travel, set up tear down isn't part of the job. That hours upon hours to do up books isn't part of the job. That selcting and buying music isn't part of the job. That the money you receive is just extra play money that you don't need to buy music, equipment, maintenence of your vehicle to get to shows, or those other pesky things like food, clothing, and shelter.

But then again it's just an easy job fr big bucks, with no responibilities.

_________________
You can be strange but not a stranger

This is what I meant by my 'not a real job' comment.
I've had jobs that I just hated going to everyday. KJing looks like it could be a lot of fun.

Paying without paying in cash = bartering

A KJ has something that is specialized and highly desired, so you could trade your specialty for some physical labor.

For example, do you know a neighbor who would like you to kj a party for them?
You could ask them to load your equipment a number of times in return for doing a party for them.
Same thing at your regular venue. Is there someone that you could barter a kj party with for loading your gear?

Just an example but I'm sure there are other ways you could barter for some help.

I totally agree - People have no idea what really goes into a show. Most people think it is an easy job. Of course they aren't around when I'm converting CDGs to my hard drive, making books, cleaning equipment, making slips etc...

_________________
[shadow=pink][glow=deepskyblue]. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
[updown]~*~ MONKEY BUSINESS KARAOKE~*~ [/shadow][/updown][/glow]