Working to Play in a Rock Band

Working to Play in a Rock Band is an excerpt from the film Bundy Into Dreamland (16 mins), an episode of the series Working (7 × 16 mins), produced in 1979. Working: The series is a window into the 70s and reflects different attitudes to work, including working for money, love, or passion, and working for an employer or being self- employed.

Bundy Into Dreamland: Part-time musicians discuss the problems involved in earning a living while playing in a band. In order to earn money, they must work at other more mundane jobs, such as in a factory or on a production line, and pursue their musical career in their spare time.

Working was produced by Film Australia.

Reading standard: Students read, view, analyse, critique, reflect on and discuss contemporary and classical imaginative texts that explore personal, social, cultural and political issues of significance in their own lives. They will also read, view, analyse and discuss a wide range of informative and persuasive texts and identify the multiple purposes for which texts are created.

Writing standard: Students write sustained and cohesive narratives that experiment with different techniques and show attention to chronology, characterization, consistent point of view and development of resolution.

Speaking and listening standard: Students engaged in discussion, they compare ideas, build on others’ ideas, provide and justify other points of view, and reach conclusions that take into account of aspects of an issue.

The activities in this learning module are relevant to the Interdisciplinary Learning strand of Level 6 Communications (Listening, viewing and responding standard; Presenting standard) and Thinking Processes (Reasoning, processing and inquiry standard; Creativity standard).

The activities are also relevant to the Physical, Personal and Social Learning strand of Level 6 Interpersonal Development (Building social relationships standard; Working in teams standard) and Personal Learning (The individual learner standard; Managing personal learning standard).

Artists of all genres, prior to establishing their careers, can experience a period of difficulty in supporting themselves financially. Balancing regular paid work with the time that can be devoted to a creative pursuit can be difficult and frustrating.
This can be a sorting out period when the talents and capabilities are matched against passion, dedication, perseverance and a commitment to producing a consistent and high quality work. In order to gain recognition, which may lead to financial success, these characteristics need to be supported by establishing good networks, excellent PR and support from within the sector or industry.
This period of gradually emerging into the public eye can be considered as a kind of apprenticeship.
Individual artists may find the isolation of working though this period challenging, although sharing studio space or accommodation can overcome this. A group of artists has the difficulty of developing and maintaining an equal level of focus and professionalism. The loyalty to the group can also be tested during this period. If artists/players shift their allegiance to other groups or drop out for any number of reasons, finding suitable replacements can create additional stress and even threaten the existence of the group.
Imagine dedicating two or three years or more to a group only to see it all crumble before you!

From the birth of rock and roll in 1954 thousands of young Australians have formed bands and practised in their garages, living in hope of being the next big thing.

Most have not succeeded, but many have maintained their love of creating music with mates in a group.

1. List examples of how the video clip shows the passion, ambition, sacrifice and compromise needed to work in a rock band.
2. Identify the positive and negative experiences about being in a band shown by the video clip.
3. State the intended audience of the video clip.
4. ‘From the birth of rock and roll in 1954 thousands of young Australians have formed bands and practised in their garages, living in hope of being the next big thing. Most have not succeeded, but many have maintained their love of creating music with mates in a group.’
   1. Discuss the above quote then list the qualities you think it takes to succeed as a rock band.
   2. Brainstorm and note any examples of rock bands that display your listed qualities.
   3. Dreams are essential’. Compose an 800-word letter, blog, personal article or short story using this theme.

Documentary
Bundy Into Dreamland, an episode of the series Working, Film Australia, 1979.