Music

This metal drummer quit his $150K day job to play music full-time

by Dan MacRae

Safety nets aren’t metal. METAL is metal.

Dan Presland of Australian prog-metal outfit Ne Obliviscaris has raised eyebrows with the announcement that he’s giving up his $150,000 per year day job to devote all his time to the band. The decision was put into motion when the drummer couldn’t get time off from his train driving gig to go on tour. That also means an exciting work opportunity has opened up for Australians who are really into trains.

“I just resigned from a six figure career to persue (sic) music 100% – goodbye safety net, hello freedom!” wrote Presland in a post revealing his resignation. “Money comes and goes but opportunities don’t. Time to make some music.”

Ne Obliviscaris raised $86,000 in Australian funds last year to fund a major international tour. Despite their increased live presence, Presland says being in the band is far from a lucrative line of work.

“Many people think that NeO are already doing really well financially, and everyone is making an income from touring/merch sales, when in fact none of us have been paid a cent…” the drummer told MetalSucks. “However we know the only way to make this band our ‘career’ is to go all in and take the risk head on.”

Shhh! No one tell his parents.

[h/t MetalSucks]