The days when a musician stands a chance of making a living as a musician may very well be coming to a close. It’s one thing for the members of Crowbar Abortion to have to get jobs at the mall when they’re not on tour, but when even the dude from Guns N’ Roses is giving guitar lessons on his down time, you know times are tough.

Which gives a little extra edge to the below video, in which our doppelgängers at Metal Injection ask various musicians what they’d do with their lives if they weren’t in a band. Because that’s a question most metal musicians should probably ask themselves at some point or another.

Best answer comes from Revocation drummer Phil Dubois-Coyne, although I’m down the response A Life Once Lost’s Doug Sabolick and Bob Meadows provide, too.

This video is the first in a new series Metal Injection is doing, called, cleverly enough, “Ask the Artist.” Go here to make sure you stay up-to-date on all future installments, as I’d wager that they will continue to be this entertaining.

-AR

…then check out this quote from a recent interview with vocalist Tommy Rogers:

“We have a really exciting set list for everyone this tour. We are going to do the entire new record [The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues] plus a set of old songs.”

Well, I think that’s great fucking news, and based on your reactions from when we debuted the EP last month, you’ll all find it happy-making, too. Plus the album is only thirty minutes, BTBAM are the headliners, and Tommy promised “old” (lulz) songs as well, so it’s not like you won’t get to hear favorites from the rest of the band’s discography.

In other words: this really exciting tour just got that much more exciting.

The Parallax: Hypersleep Dialogues is out today on Metal Blade, and the tour kicks off Friday! Get dates after the jump — BTBAM alone are enough of a draw, but Job for a Cowboy, The Ocean, and (on select dates) Cephalic Carnage are all on the trek, too, so you’re really gonna feel like a dummy if you don’t go. And also don’t forget to check out our recent “Rigged” column, in which BTBAM axe slingers Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring take you through their live setups piece by piece. We’ll have another entry from BTBAM drummer Blake Richardson soon!

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[The live rig rundown Veil of Maya's Marc Okubo did for us last year was so popular that we've decided to make it into a regular column! Welcome to Rigged. In this inaugural edition, Between the Buried and Me guitarists Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring take you through their live setups piece by piece. Coming soon, BTBAM drummer Blake Richardson and The Ocean's Robin Staps. Between the Buried and Me and The Ocean begin their MS-sponsored tour with Job For A Cowboy (and on select dates Cephalic Carnage) next week. Get dates here.]

To all our fellow string pluckin’ heavy metal headbangers, howdy! This is Paul Waggoner and Dustie Waring, and together we are the guitar duo for Between the Buried and Me. It’s come to our attention that there are some folks out there speculatin’ on what sorts of gear we put to use in conjurin’ up all these rowdy sounds. Well, here we are, to do right by all who take up an interest in such matters.

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