“You Can’t Just Be a Bass Player” | Marcel Pusey on Building a Life in Music

<p class="PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer">Bass player, composer, producer, educator and music entrepreneur Marcel Pusey has built the kind of career that rarely gets talked about enough.</p>

<p>Rather than relying on one gig, one band or one big break, Marcel has spent decades creating a sustainable life around music — performing with Bassistry, composing for television and media, developing music education programmes, working in music technology and taking his work around the world.</p>

<p>In this episode of <em>Now That’s Bass</em>, Marcel talks about starting out playing rock and learning largely by ear, blagging his way through reading gigs, discovering jazz and fusion, and finding his place in London's music scene.</p>

<p>But the bigger story is how he learned to make music pay without giving up the music he actually wanted to make.</p>

<p>We talk about why jam nights were crucial to building his network, why musicians need to understand the business side of their careers, the importance of creating multiple income streams — and what happened when Marcel said yes to opportunities he wasn't entirely sure he was ready for.</p>

<p>There’s also a gloriously painful story involving an orchestra, a piece in 7/8 and the moment his sight-reading bluff was very publicly called.</p>

<p>In this episode:</p>

<ul>

<li>Why learning music by ear remains such an important skill</li>

<li>What old-school learning gave musicians that YouTube sometimes doesn't</li>

<li>How jam nights helped Marcel build his career</li>

<li>Why networking works best when it doesn't feel like networking</li>