This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
We like to imagine the life of rock musicians who live a life of debauchery fueled by limitless income and a dash of cocaine. The only labor they experience is walking from their mansions to their pimped-out tour buses.
In reality, of course, making a living while making music is rare.
For every U2 or Katy Perry, millions more dream of being full-time musicians, and those dreams most often don't come true.
In an era where touring, not record sales, provides the main portion of a musician's income, indie-rock bands like Deleted Scenes depend on their day jobs to stoke their musical dreams.
"I don't know what a music career is," said Deleted Scenes lead singer Dan Scheuerman, whose Washington, D.C.-based band performs Saturday, Jan. 14, at Kilby Court.
Bassist and keyboard player Matt Dowling adds: "It's hard to imagine paying the bills by being in an indie-rock band. The musicians are always the last to get paid."
When the band isn't on tour, Scheuerman is a full-time literacy tutor. Dowling, who holds a Ph.D. in bio-engineering from the University of Maryland, is the head of a medical research company. His company is now in the research-and-development stage — read: "pre-revenue stage" — of medical devices that seal rapidly bleeding external wounds.
Dowling is self-employed, and Scheuerman's boss is very accommodating, so they're both able to take time off to perform shows in places like Salt Lake City. In fact, Dowling keeps up with his work while in the band's van. The band plays at night, and "during the day, I write grant applications."
The quartet has been together since high school, except when the members attended different colleges. Scheuerman studied English, literature and creative writing, so it makes sense that he's the band's lyricist. He tries to get the inner-city children he tutors in reading to get excited about language. That's the same thing he tries to do with song lyrics.
Interacting with impoverished students also influences his music, Scheuerman said. "There's a tendency to write confessional [lyrics], thinking about self-pity," he said about the often-cryptic lines he writes. "But you see those kids who have it way worse. I try to write more positive and work with a workable philosophy for life."
Dowling also thinks philosophically about the parallels he sees between music and his job. "Everything comes down to the product," he said, whether it's a medical device or a song.
With Dowling's education and career field, there's a good chance that he could become very wealthy very soon. But if given a choice between a low-paying job in music and a high-paying career in the medical field, it would be an easy decision.
"I would do music full time, that's for sure," Dowling said. "That's the dream."
Deleted Scenes with Nurses and A LULLWhen • Saturday, Jan. 14, at 7 p.m.Where • Kilby Court, 741 S. 330 West, Salt Lake CityTickets • $8 at door'
Here's a clip of the band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WPFzFwYovss&feature=related