There are many different approaches for a musician to make their way into the music industry; playing in original bands that write their own songs, playing covers at functions or weddings or maybe producing music in a studio or at home – the list goes on and on.
However, one of the most popular aspirations for hard working, dedicated musicians is session work.
High quality session musicians are indispensable and, as always in the music industry, it’s often about whom you know… this means making a good first impression is imperative!
What is a session musician and what do they do?
A session musician is a highly skilled and usually very experienced musician who can be hired to work in a whole host of musical scenarios. This could take many forms but will primarily either be in the studio or for a live performance.
Live performance
This is particularly relevant in the pop music world, when a vocal group or singer/songwriter needs a backing band for live shows and touring.
This isn’t always for acts signed to major labels, it can be for grassroots acts and those signed to indie or DIY labels.
Sometimes session musicians will also supplement an existing band line up for touring.
This is usually in order to recreate parts that we’re multi-tracked in the studio that they cannot reproduce live without another musician. Theatre or house band work will usually also fall to session musicians.
More recently, we’ve seen a trend in session bands being put together for TV Talent shows, in order to help give their performers a more realistic live performance.
Studio sessions
While live gigs play a big role in life as a session musician, it could be argued their primary function is to contribute parts to recordings, whether they be singles, EP’s or entire albums.
This could take many forms – perhaps a producer needs a piano track for a ballad that’s already been scored out or maybe they need an improvised guitar solo at a key point of song.
If you have a good relationship with an act or manager, they may even ask you to rehearse and contribute to every track on the album.
Session musicians are used in all genres and you could end up contributing to musical compositions to adverts, film scores or in theatre productions.
Interview: Emily Dolan Davies
Emily has been a professional drummer since leaving school aged 18, and so far in her career has played with many different artists including, The Darkness, Bryan Ferry, Thompson Twins’ Tom Bailey, Bono, Anna Calvi, Cher Lloyd, Tricky, and a host of others.
She has toured around the world playing in some of the world’s most prestigious venues, and at some of the most renowned festivals over the years.
As well as touring she also has her own recording studio, EDD’s Place, where she records drums for people all across the globe in a variety of styles including Rock, Pop, Country, RnB, Folk, Punk, Jazz, and anything in between.
You can learn more about her by visiting her website or watching her promotional video.
Q1. Can you please give us a brief summary of your musical background and experience?
My name is Emily Dolan Davies, and I have been playing drums since I was 11 years old. It all started in a drum club on a Thursday lunchtime in my secondary school. I had tried playing a few instruments before (my dad was a guitarist, and my mum played a bit of piano), but I didn’t ever enjoy playing, although I adored music and would sit listening and reading along with the lyrics from albums for hours on end.
When I sat down behind the kit, it all just made sense to me. I couldn’t play yet, but I just instinctively understood – I had never felt that way about anything before, nor have I since. From there, I was in love and obsessed! I would go into school early to practice an hour before school, an hour at lunch and an hour after school with my best friend Cherisse Osei and we would bounce ideas back and forth, show each other what we’d learnt or thought of, and just generally had lots of fun! I also started playing in bands inside school, as well as out, and my parents would take me to blues jams to play with people much more experienced than me, and to negotiate, sometimes difficult situations or characters on stage (quite rightly!
If I saw an 11-year-old girl approaching a drum kit to play, I might be a bit skeptical!) I carried on throughout school doing as much as I could and playing with as many people as I could up until A-Levels. It was at this point I then got into working with lots of different covers bands and new up and coming artists that I found through friend recommendations or ads on Gumtree. I was just obsessed with playing with other musicians as much as I could. This was the beginning of my career.
Q2. Who and what did you find most useful in getting your first session work?
For me there are 2 important things for getting session work. The first was getting out there and playing with as many musicians as possible, being as helpful as I could, as well as doing a good job. Doing a good job was paramount, whether it was a covers gig in front of 400 people and I was being paid, or a new artists’ gig where I was playing for free, and there were 3 people in the audience – all of whom family members!
The second was always striving to be better and not resting on my laurels. Luckily I operate from a strong feeling of fear in most situations. This makes me over prepared in any situation I can be, and if things go wrong, then I go into hyper mode to fix them for the next time. I’ve had lots of (what I saw as) failures that I learnt the most from and always pushed me to be a better musician.
Q3. What key skills do you consider most important in your work as a session musician? (General or instrument specific)
I think there are many skills that are important to me in being a session musician. Being prepared is paramount. I don’t like wasting anyone’s time, or anyone wasting mine. So if I’m coming into a week of rehearsals for instance, I want to know all of the songs back to front and better than the artist that has written them (which a lot of the time I do).
Being consistent is another thing that I hold in very high regard. This is true both when it comes to playing, and generally as a human. In terms of playing I don’t mean play the same thing all the time forever and ever, but have an area of consistency that is all at a high level so that even if you’re having a bad day, you’re still performing at a perfectly professional level.
As for a personal consistency, just be reliable, and have a good reputation in terms of never being late, not letting people down and being dependable. The number of times I hear people say ‘yea they’re really great, but I can’t take the risk’. It’s quite amazing.
The most obvious is knowing your craft of course. You have to go and tread the boards, play some awful gigs, have some challenging experiences, and every time you do the foundations of your playing and experience will slowly become rock solid, and your playing will have a new depth that I’ve found can’t be imitated by practicing in a bedroom for hours on end. Life experience will always shine through in everything you do.
Q4. What advice would you give to anyone looking to make the jump from tours & sessions for independent/lower budget artists to those with label backing and more of a budget in place?
I think the one piece of advice I’d give to anyone looking to go from doing smaller/independent tours and sessions to the bigger ones with backing and labels is there’s not much difference! If you’re lucky it means you might not have to set up your own gear (not exclusively true of course), and you might have some nice food in catering.
Other than that, it’s still travelling lots, hanging in a venue for hours hurrying up and waiting, and just generally having a laugh with whoever is on the road with you. I think the only difference with maybe being offered a big artist’s tour as opposed to a smaller one is a mixture of persistence, momentum, preparation and luck of being in the right place at the right time.
I often think back about how things have unfolded and there is always some sort of element of luck involved. However you can be in all the right places, but if you don’t have that solid foundation and experience, then it all doesn’t mean much.
Q5. Finally, what general advice would you give to anyone thinking about a career as a session player and how do you find it as a lifestyle?
I think as a general piece of advice, make sure you love it, work hard, be nice and be kind. Some people may not understand why you are devoting yourself to something they can’t understand, and that’s ok.
Build confidence in yourself and your ability, but always know there’s more to learn, and you can learn something from everyone. As a lifestyle, it can be great fun, and you meet some incredible people. Equally it can be very lonely, so you have to be very comfortable in your own company and being self-motivated because no one will do the work for you.
Above all, just find the fun, the love and the passion in anything you do. Follow your heart, and if you can make a living, then you’re winning.
Working as a session musician
As with any new venture, it’s important to work hard on promoting yourself, just like you would with a new band or upcoming gig.
Due to the growing number of very talented potential session musicians being trained in universities across the land, it’s often hard to establish yourself. The main answer is to be willing to work that much harder, but not to undervalue the market by undercutting prices.
Advertising is a big part to promoting yourself as a session musician. By getting to know the producer at your local studio (indeed, any producers at all!) and maybe leaving a few cards there and at music shops, hopefully people will become aware of your presence. Get out to local jam nights and do as many gigs to meet as many people as you can.
Creating a simple website that is updated with useful information is great to have as a central point to send prospective clients and colleagues to.
By doing this, news will get round of your availability and you may soon find yourself acquiring work through word of mouth.
Networking is a big part of any job in the music industry and session work is no different. If you do a good job, word will get round.
It’s important to be punctual, open-minded in your work style and willing to discuss any ideas that the producer or artist may have.
Session work is about providing a service. Provide the right service and you’re well on the way to a successful career as a session musician.
Royalties
Don’t forget, as a session player you are still due royalties for your performance on the track, even if you didn’t compose it.
You should join and register the track with the royalty collection service PPL to receive your payment.
Make sure you double check any agreements you sign with the producer/composer and you understand where you stand before you sign anything.
Musical Skills
Being able to play many different instruments is a great way into to session work. Naturally, it’s easier and more cost effective to hire one musician to play multiple parts, so if you are a multi-instrumentalist this will definitely work in your favour, especially in a recording scenario.
Players are usually required to work quickly to learn new pieces, and it will be assumed that any successful session musician will be able to play a virtually any genre, learn parts by ear and transpose pieces quickly and easily.
Having versatile equipment is also a must. Don’t just look for gear that suits your favourite style, but have a flexible and transportable set up that can work in as many genres as possible.
Establishing a career as a session musician takes years of hard work and networking but developing a portfolio of your previous work with producers and artists will help to further promote your services.
Other well-known session musicians…
- Questlove (Drums – The Roots, D’angelo)
- Steve Jordan (Drums – Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Keith Richards)
- Pino Paladino (Bass – John Mayer, The Who, D’angelo)
- Adam Goldsmith (Guitar – The Voice, Will Young, Rod Stewart)
- Nile Rodgers (Guitar – Chic, David Bowie, Madonna… and everyone else!)
- Steve Lukather (Guitar – Toto, Michael Jackson, Randy Crawford)
Do you work as a session musician? What are the best ways to make contacts and source work? Let us know in the comments below…
