Sean Sobash: How to Become a Touring Musician in LA (Episode 196)

Reliability beats virtuosity.

If you are a young player at home dreaming of the road, Sean Sobash is doing it. In Episode 196 of The Career Musician, Nomad and Joel Meza sit down with the LA bassist whose credits include Dominic Fike, Remi Wolf, Luke Hemmings and Rooney, with stops at Coachella and Bonnaroo along the way.

Sean started out at a Six Flags summer show, not a tour. What got him from there to arenas was community, versatility and smart business. This episode is a blueprint for how to become a touring musician, including the money talk most players avoid.

Community beats the cattle call

Before Sean even joins, Nomad and Joel set the tone. Nomad remembers the legendary weekly jam at Cafe Cordiale in Sherman Oaks when he moved to LA, and buying drummer Gorden Campbell a drink there. Joel's tip: Monday nights at Gold Diggers, where you might find half of a superstar's band playing in the house band. The A-listers are not unreachable. They love music and they are good hangs.

Sean's story proves it. A guitarist he met at that Six Flags gig started a Monday night jam in Hollywood, which later moved to the Viper Room. Sean was in the house band. That jam built a whole community of players who shared gigs: someone got a tour and needed a bass player, they called Sean, and vice versa.

Auditions are still a way in, he says, and if it is your only route, do it. But cattle calls are brutal, and not getting the chair is often not about your playing. The goal is to get past auditions, to where music directors, other bassists, drummers and managers just call you.

"Ideally, you get past that where people just call you for the gig... It's just increasing that network, like any industry."

Sean Sobash, 30:24

Know the book, then do your homework

Sean and Joel met on a gig with no rehearsal. They got a two-hour show as one audio file and a song list, and had to learn it on their own. That is a big part of the job: show up and nail it.

Joel came up on Nashville's Broadway strip, where the first call was 70 songs in two days. Both of them write their own shorthand charts, based on the Nashville number system, focused on form and hits. Nomad, when he is MD, hires a copyist so the charts are 100 percent legit. Different methods, same rule: everything you do is an audition, including the prep nobody sees.

Versatility matters too. Sean plays electric, upright and synth bass, programming his own Moog sounds with no presets, and can double on guitar.

What touring should pay

Here is the part people rarely say out loud. Sean thinks arena tours paying players $300 a night is appalling. His own minimum is $3,500 a week, about $500 a day, and he thinks big artists should pay at least $5,000 a week. When he moved to Nashville, a friend told him never to leave town for less than $2,000 a week.

There is a sliding scale. A brand new artist with no label support playing 250-cap clubs is a different story from an arena tour. And because tours don't run all year, the rate has to cover the year.

"We don't want people undercutting gigs and taking gigs for nothing, which ruins it for all the veteran musicians."

Sean Sobash, 42:23

Nomad calls undercutting a race to the bottom, like crabs in a bucket pulling each other down. And once you are in the band, don't talk money with bandmates. Some people deserve more, like the drummer who is also the playback engineer and stage manager. If you learn what someone else makes, keep it chill, file it away, and use it next time you negotiate. Never use it against them.

How to actually negotiate

Joel's definition: you are only negotiating when you are willing to say no and walk away. Otherwise, it is compromising. And if you never hear a no, you are probably not asking for enough.

His real-world example: he was offered a playback gig at a rate that didn't fit the work. Instead of a flat yes or no, he thanked them, acknowledged that budgets are tight, asked for triple, and laid out exactly what value he brings, like building playback for award shows. The next day they asked when he could rehearse. That is Savvy from the ETHOS code: clear communication, no emotion.

Speaking of emotion, Nomad tells a story from his 20s in Nashville. Fresh off an argument, he snapped "Who is this?" into the phone, and it turned out to be a guitar hero calling for a contact. His fix now: if you are mad, write it out in your notes, then wait until the next day before you send anything.

You're not the rock star

Sean played with Dominic Fike for three years, from small clubs to headlining big festivals. Losing a gig crushes you at first, but he got the Remi Wolf call right away. Later he left that gig to tour with a childhood friend's project, which opened for Dominic, because loyalty matters and in pop you can lose any gig at any time.

A little rock star energy on stage is fine, and some artists want it. Sean threw his bass to a tech at the end of every Remi Wolf show. But remember the line Nomad always repeats: you are not the rock star, you work for the rock star.

Joel's take on what really books you: your attitude and reputation. He remembers meeting Sean straight off an arena run opening for ELO, jet-lagged, flying in for one show, and walking in like the happiest dude in the room. Work begets work, and good energy is contagious.

Take care of yourself

Life on the road catches up. Nomad, at 53, talks about staying consistent with fitness instead of swinging between pizza and kale, and about running to explore new cities on tour. Sean agrees: the industry is visual, staying healthy extends your career, and planes and buses hurt more when you are out of shape.

Sean's final advice: be yourself, be a good hang, check your emotions, and don't ignore social media, because it can get you gigs. And hang out with musicians who pull you up, not down.

The takeaway

Build community, do your homework, know your rate, and protect the profession by not undercutting it. Your reputation will book you more than your chops. To go after the gig the right way, grab the free Get the Gig guide.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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