I currently reside in Omaha, Nebraska. I’m 24 and have almost two years of Mortgage Banking experience, along with a Finance degree and an impressive resume. I’ve always done music as a hobby/obsession, only there is little demand in Omaha for original music (rock n’ roll).
The drummer in my band and I have been given an opportunity to move out to Oceanside, California (50 miles south of LA) in the fall. We’ll move in with his mom (cool lady, totally helping us try to make our dreams come true) until we get established. From there, the plan is it get a mortgage banking job to pay off debt while we start a new band in a part of the country where there is a lot of music industry.
I know it sounds cliche to move to Cali to become a rock star. I have no allusions of my chances, but it is not rocket science, people do have music careers, and it isn’t going to happen in Omaha. And I think I have what it takes. I would be perfectly happy just meeting my expenses; I don’t care if I’m poor (which I will be for sure).
So my question is what advice any of you older and wiser Dopers would have. I’ve been to Long Beach and LA and loved it, but the traffic is intense and it would be nice to have a heads up on anything under the sun you can think of that a Nebraska native should know. Any job searching tips? Any tips on finding musicians/getting record labels interested/finding gigs? Anything I should know/take advantage of the California lifestyle?
I know this is extremely vague, but please post anything that you think is relevant.
For starters, don’t call the area “Cali”. I thought you were moving to Colombia.
Also, Oceanside is more like 80-90 miles south of L.A. depending on where you are starting your commute. Commuting daily between Oceanside and L.A. in a car is not recommended for anyone wishing to remain sane.
If you are living in Oceanside, you should look for more gainful employment in San Diego.
If you really do want to find a job in mortgage banking for the time being, I’d say your better bet would be to look in LA versus San Diego. I don’t know much about the mortgage banking business in particular, but I do know that your chances of finding more companies to choose from are better in LA than SD. Plus, you’d probably be closer to the contacts you’d need to make it in music.
Traffic is bad in LA, and to a lesser extent in SD. That’s pretty much a given. If you can swing it that you live and work in the same general area (i.e. Long Beach, Torrance, Santa Monica or Westside in general), the less time you’ll spend on the freeway in traffic. Those three areas I mentioned specifically are places that have residential and business relatively close to each other that might be viable options for you. I’m not sure I’d recommend living in Downtown LA, though there are probably lots of finance jobs there, too.
I have no advice on the music side of things. But I can tell you that a car is pretty much mandatory around here. There are some pockets of mass transit that are doable, but you’ll be extremely lucky if where you work, live and play are serviced by it.
Job searching - I’ve always had good luck when I network. If your buddy’s mom has any kind of business contacts, that could help you get your foot in the door somewhere to get a job.
Regardless, the weather’s great out here. Just don’t spend the time hanging out at the beach instead of making your dream happen…
As BobT pointed out, Oceanside is way more than 50 miles south of LA. Commuting from Oceanside to LA is a surefire way to the insane asylum. (That, and no calling it “Cali”.) Commuting from Oceanside to southern Orange County is possible. That part of OC is largely residential, so I wouldn’t know what to tell you there.
I’d consider San Diego. The commute is less of a hassle and you probably have a better shot of finding a job there than in Oceanside (but I don’t know this for sure). San Diego is lovely - when people think of Southern Cal with the 72 degree beach weather, well, that’s basically San Diego. It also has the added bonus of having 2 big colleges - UCSan Diego and San Diego State - so you can try to tap into the college gigs scene. There’s also a train that goes from OC to San Diego and I believe it passes through Oceanside. That’s an option to consider.
You will hear this time & gain: traffic is a way of life in SoCal unless you’re really fortunate to live near your work (I am one of those). You will need a car and a lot of patience. And maybe many Books on Tape.
Oceanside is a bust town right now, because all the Marines are in Iraq… But the Oceanside/Carlsbad/Escondido area is usally booming. Also, the farther inland you go, the lower rents will be (and the less congested traffic will be.) The “inland empire” of Riverside and San Bernardino are also good places for newcomers to SoCali. (Hey, dudes, I’ve lived here all my life. You can call it Cali, or you can call it Calif, or you can call it Lotusland, or you can call it Lalaland, or you can call it The Left Coast… But you don’t has to call it Paradise!)
Also, I was told to not really waste my time contacting companies until I was out there since I would not be able to interview, and that companies would have little interest in flying me out for an interview. But then I thought, well, with technology these days, maybe I could do some phone interviews or something. So I guess my question is, would it be to my detriment to contact busniesses before leaving, or would it not really matter? how far in advance is too far?
Once again, thank you for your posts. Already I’ve picked up some great info.
Wait, I thought that the music scene in Omaha was growing (what with Bright Eyes and The Faint and all the indie rock coming out of there)…You should really decide whether you want to go to San Diego (Oceanside) or straight to LA because, as mentioned earlier, commuting between Oceanside and LA is not going to work.
If you do work in Los Angeles and live in Oceanside, there are several trains a day between the two places. Many people do commute by rail. It seems to me if you’re a mortgage banker you could find something in downtown L.A., and commute on the train. (Or Hollywood, or Universal City, which our nascent rapid transit system puts in easy reach of downtown L.A.)
Oceanside is a great area, I just spent an 11 month stint there (moved to Carlsbad last weekend). I agree with the advice to look more towards the San Diego area. The commute up to LA in the morning will drive you nuts unless you’re lucky enough to get an odd hours job. 94.9 FM plays local talent every week, you can send them whatever demos you’ve got. Tom Giblin’s Irish Pub has an open mic night every Sunday and it’s real close to Oceanside. Our band plays there on occasion, you should stop by and get your jam on.
Your situation sounds really similar to mine. I moved out here from Kansas last year with my clothes, computer and bass guitar (all I could fit in my Jeep) to live with a friend and start rocking. I’ve got some decent skills in IT, but found myself unable to land a job in that field for the first 8 months I was here. I don’t know what the market is like right now for your profession, but I’d recommend looking online for jobs first to get a feel for it. I used flip dog and got hooked up with a consulting firm that eventually found me a great job. The Reader is also a good place to check. Before I got my hook-up it was a lot of blood, sweat and tears doing 60+ hours a week stocking shelves at Trader Joe’s, fixing crap at Best Buy, and working a teller job at Washington Mutual. There were some really rough moments being away from friends and family, but if you’re determined enough and willing to work for it, you can survive and eventually prosper. Hope that helps, and good luck!
Wow, thanks so much. This post has been extremely encouraging. Skydive101, you’ve inspired me. It is an intimidating scenario at times, but I’ll try to save as much as possible and make smart decisions. THanks for the local music hook-ups, I’ll hit that open mic the first week I’m there for sure.
Anyyone know of any other music opportunities in southern California?
I am a musician living in Southern “Cali”. I would agree with the posters here about living in Oceanside and commuting to LA, that will not be any fun, BUT if it is just for gigs and you work closer to home it might not be so bad.
I will tell you that the music scene in Oceanside and upwards to Orange County isn’t nearly as good as it is in Los Angeles.
My main two places where I search for jobs in the industry or other musicians are here. Music Recycler
rhinostylee-
good luck with following your dream! It takes “Cojones Grande” to take a chance this big.
Everyone has steered you true as to the local area…Orange County is the Northern limit to which I would commute from Oceanside. (the California Combat driving will fry you out fast if you drive to L.A) I’d stay in the San Diego county job market if at all possible.
You’re going to have to get yourself a surfboard if you live in O’side! (careful though, surfing is addictive)
Also,
My thanks to Skydive101,
I had never heard of the “flip dog” site prior to his cite…I just got the layoff notice last week and am searching feverishly for a job in the IT field…looks like “flip dog” will be a good resource.
I’m a musician (well that was pre-marriage, pre-kids, pre-corporate, but I digress), and in my music phase I lived in San Diego. This is 15 years ago. At that time, LA was great for music, San Diego good for music, and Oceanside was like, well, Omaha. There are fun bars there you can play at, but you can find bars with band gigs in any po-dunk town.
I don’t mean to demean Oceanside; I still have friends there, it’s a fun town. But if you’re moving to California to chase that music dream, you’re setting your sites a little low.
However, having a place to stay and a fellow musician to work with is a great foot in the door. But when you get here, my advice is to aim for a job and living arangements that are more geographically condusive to your dream.
I would seriously consider LA, especially if you want to focus on original music. Anywhere south of LA and your opportunities are limited unless you want to play in a cover band. LA will offer you many more opportunities to network with musicians and other industry types as well as many more venues that cater to original music. The competition is fierce, as there are million other musicians that moved here with the same aspirations that you have, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t follow your dreams. I wish you the best of luck out here!
