My EDC (EveryDay Carry) as a Musician

I think that part of maintaining an active career as a musician - especially on foot in New York City day in and day out - is having the apporpriate tool kit with me at all times. This way, I'm really prepared for anything.

By way of reference, I work the following jobs on a weekly basis between late August and late June each year:

• I run a high school music program, which includes around 150 students in 7 instrumental ensembles and 2 choral ensembles, as well as 4 different music courses (4 preps, as teachers would say).
• I run the artistic side of a non-profit organization, which involves weekly meetings with our Board President/ED, weekly rehearsals of the volunteer ensemble (Monday nights), board meetings, administrative functions including grant writing components, longterm concert programming, auditioning new singers, score study and rehearsal preparation, and various arranging and composition duties.
• I artistically direct for an additional men's chorus which involves most of the things in bullet 2 above, except for some of the admin and grant writing components.
• I am the organist at a Rite One Anglo-Catholic church in Brooklyn and play for solemn mass every Sunday morning.
• I also occasionally play piano and music direct for theatrical productions, cabarets, coachings, and teach lessons.

Obviously this is quite a lot for a single person to handle, but, believe it or not, it's rather common for a musician who is "in demand" by the textbook definition. Survival as a full-time musician involves many things. Perhaps the most important ones are:

• Versatility: I always tell students that "versatility is money" in this business. The more musical situations one can fit themselves into, the more money one can make in the business. This also refers to versatility of skill set. Even though I am primarily a choral conductor and composer/arranger, it's likely that my work as a pianist went much futher towards adding "street credit" to my name over the last decade living and working here.
• Economy: Being sensible with money is something that seems to be a given, but for professional musicians, it is of utmost importance (Second only to versatility) because having financial control means having more choices when it comes to accepting or turning down gigs, and thus, steering one's work more concertedly in the direction of projects that make them happy vs. projects they have to do either way because they need the money. When musicians do the latter too much, they become resentful and disillusioned over time. This obviously doesn't make good music happen.
• Health: Since musicians wholly use their bodies as the instruments or as a large part of the effort, things like what to eat, how much sleep to get per night, defense against illness, and avoidance of life-threatening vices like excessive smoking or drinking, or use of drugs. Though many people stereotype musicians, in general, as the "dramatic affected ones" of society, a rather small percentage of working musicians suffer or fail in this area. The media would, of course, like us to think otherwise. What else is new?
• Organization: This is paramount to success, especially if a musician is working on multiple projects at the same time, as I am. This brings me to the topic and reason for writing this post: my Everyday Carry...

Note: I am in the process of posting a 26-part series on "The Healthy Musician," in which I elaborate much more on the topics above.

The term "Every Day Carry" is definitely a trend on the internet and there are whole blogs entirely devoted to this, such as everdaycarry.com

Google defines "Everyday Carry" as "referrring to items that are carried on a consistent basis to assist in dealing with normal everyday needs of modern western society, including possible emergency situations."

I thought it would be fun to show you what I carry with me every day and how I organize myself so that I can do my very best in my work. Let's start with the bag itself...

Now, I confess, I am a sucker for bags. I have far too many of them. I'm sort of like a lady with lots of handbags. I have different ones in different sizes and styles, meant to be used for different purposes and different times. What I am focusing on here is the day-to-day bag - my "go to" bag for essentials, if you will.

I use the APERA Locker Pack in Graphite (shown here) as the base of my EDC.

The main reasons I love this bag are:

• It's very lightweight on its own. There's no reason to have a bag that adds extra weight to your back when you already have to carry a lot of stuff.
• It's durable and weather resistant.
• It's spacious without being cumbersome.
• It has enough organizational features without being overwhelming with pockets / compartments etc. This allows me to organize the bag in a way that works for me using other things from my own accessories. More on that later.
• It has laptop and tablet storage. I use both. Furthermore, the compartments for these items, which are the heaviest of all the things I might carry, are closest to my back. This makes the overall weight of the bag more manageable when walking long distances or frequently up and down stairs in the subway.
• It's antmicrobial - this is just an extra feature (since it was designed as a fitness bag) that helps keep it from smelling or getting moldy after being wet.
• The lining of the bag is bright green. Aside from green being my favorite color, the bright lining makes it much easier to find things in the bag - even at the bottom. It seems trivial. It's not.

What I carry inside of the bag:

• Two very thin pencil cases - one for pens and pencils and other office items (such as binder clips and rubber bands) and the other for smaller wires such as phone and kindle charging cables, adapters, and various chord ties. The ones I use are the perfect size and are sold on Amazon for around $14 a piece.
• A thermos - very thin and light, holding only 10 oz. or so. I use the Kikkerland Slim Bottle. Refilling throughout the day helps me control the weight in my bag and also monitor my intake of fluids.
• In the front compartment of the backpack (which is meant for shoes, clothes, etc. and which I occasionally use for that purpose), I normally carry an upright toiletry kit bag containing:
  • Snacks - protein bars, jerky, minty gum, drink mix packets, truvia sweetner packets or stevia liquid, and various sugar free candies
  • A spare battery - I use the Amazon Basics 10,000 mAh Power Bank, which is cheap and high quality.
  • First aid items and medicine - band aids, antiseptic towelettes and alcohol swabs, pain relievers such as Advil, various other prescription meds, and gauze or cotton pads. I know this seems a little "hypocondriac," but believe me, you'd be surprised how often one needs these items on the go. Sometimes you need them for yourself, or randomly for others.
  • Eyeglass cleaning spray and cloth
  • Hand lotion (I use Kiehl's!)
  • Lavander essential oil - I use this to calm myself or center myself when I start to feel stressed out. It really works and is a very small item to carry around.
  • Lip Balm - especially helpful in the winter! (Again, I use Kiehl's!)
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste, and disposable flossers
• A folder / folio with all my current paperwork in it as well as a yellow notepad (letter size). The sections are clearly labeled by project. I have one for Chameleon, one for ECMC, one for Regis, and an "Inbox" section to throw things in to be sorted and dealt with later. Each section is tabbed so I can flip to exactly what I need at a moment's notice.
• Various labeled document pockets (the ones with a zippered top - 8.5x11): I use one for each group I am conducting to keep the sheet music for each separate.
• My MacBook Pro 15 inch with power brick
• Sometimes, my iPad Pro 12 inch with power brick - I have been gradually moving away from paper music to this device. I'm still getting used to it. I find myself really missing paper, but then not wanting to carry so much of it around all the time! Go figure...
• Sometimes, a change of clothes - for example, if I have to teach all day and then go do a concert where I'm wearing all black, I will wear the black pants, shoes and socks from the beginning of the day, and then bring the change of shirt, tie, accessories for the evening with me separately.
• Keys, cell phone, wallet - enough said.
• My Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones in their case. This is obviously a luxury item, but for me, particuarly on the NYC subway, it's an essential. Crowded trains with bickering people, loud bells and horns, and overly loud conversationalists are no match for me with these on.
• My Kindle Paperwhite e-reader: On the train to and from work, I either read, score study, listen to music, or grade papers. Sometimes, I manage to do more than one of these things at the same time. Those are usually the mornings when I am feeling particularly over-caffeinated or ambitious.
• Other items vary based on whatever I'm doing at the time

I have found that with this stuff on me at all times during the regular work week, I am prepared for anything. I hope that you've found this article helpful. I had a lot of fun writing it for you. Please reach out to me with any questions or suggestions!