Don’t Quit Your Day Job: Five Musicians with “Real” Jobs
Greg Graffin
The 43 year old frontman of Bad Religion is also a lecturer of life sciences and paleontology at UCLA. Graffin received his Ph.D. from Cornell where he began the Cornell Evolution Project as part of his dissertation. He is a proponent of evolution and frequently lectures on Darwinism and natural selection. On the differences between singing and lecturing to a college audience, Graffin explains “I’ve been used to [communicating with a college-aged audience] all along, because Bad Religion [always] gets a year older and our audience stays the same age.” Contrary to his musical performances, his lectures are somewhat boring according to his ratemyprofessors.com page.
Bobby Bray
While not straining his vocal chords in the San Diego based power violence band The Locust, Bobby Bray earns (or used to earn) a paycheck as an elementary school teacher. This, on the surface is not surprising as some other musicians are (or were) teachers, but take one listen to the band and ponder the question: Would you like the man striking that guitar and screaming to teach math to your precious little snowflake?
Blake Schwarzenbach
The former frontman of Jawbreaker and Jets to Brazil began teaching as part of the Adjunt Faculty in the English Department at Hunter College in New York City following his tenure as a singer and judging from his ratemyprofessors.com page, he is well liked by his students. Before taking on the vocal duties for Jawbreaker, Blake completed his bachelor’s degree in English at NYU where he undoubtedly read a good deal of Jack Kerouac, who he frequently references (“Boxcar,” “Condition Oakland”).
Milo Aukerman
The title for Aukerman’s first album with his band the Descendants, “Milo Goes to College,” was fitting as soon after Milo would attend UC San Diego and later the University of Wisconsin at Madison where he would obtain his Ph.D. in biochemistry. Following the Descendents disbanding, Aukerman would retreat to the laboratory where he studies “really complicated stuff with genetics and plants and biochemistry.” It is interesting to see Milo (as well a Graffin and Schwarzenbach) work in such intellectual environment when the music he creates is often considered “simple” and “stupid.”
David Lovering
On a somewhat stranger note, the former drummer of the Pixies has become a magician. As documented in the film “loudQUIETloud,” Lovering often performs at the Magic Castle in LA as the Scientific Phenomentalist and as a member of the Unholy Three. He does not perform traditional magic, but scientific and entertaining physics experiments after donning a lapcoat. It’s quite a career change going from hitting the skins in an influential band to getting paid to do magic, but props to you Mr. Lovering for at least doing science magic and not G.O.B. Bluth magic.
nice post that thanx, didnt know alot of that