Michael Carillo is a passionate supporter of artists of all types. A San Antonio-based musician, he is the frontman for Deer Vibes and Michael J. & the Foxes. Go catch one of their shows…soon…your life will be better and you’ll thank us for it later.

This isn’t about me complaining about people not coming to my shows. Whoever thinks that about me clearly doesn’t know who I am. I often point out small issues I have with bands, promoters, venues, and professionalism in general. But lately it’s occurred to me that something also needs to be said about the lack of support from the “fan/friend” base of these people who work so hard to do what they are passionate about.

Not everyone does it right. But the artists and musicians that do deserve so much more than just that $5 you’re so unwilling to pay to support your “friends.” This isn’t about the moment in time you go out and drink and watch a band for forty-five minutes. This is about people — extremely brave people — who dedicate their lives to their art and passion.

This is about the hours of recording, the thousands of dollars spent, the cross-country touring on the road, the constant inner struggle of “are these choices the right ones to be making?” Yes, everyone has bills to pay. Everyone has responsibilities. But just as you may or may not have chosen to work 40+ hours this week or have that baby to take care of or are working towards becoming a “doctor, lawyer, Indian chief,” etc. We make the choice to be the real risk-takers of the modern-day world.

Good musicians — true musicians — are some of the hardest working people that exist. Because all of their work goes unrecognized except for the hour of music they perform that makes you feel something inside of you.

So friends, be a real friend, pay to see your friends’ bands, pay for artwork that took days and money to paint. We only survive if we support each other. If this system ever fails, if you never get out of that college debt, or out from under those medical expenses, in the end — as it was before — you will sing your songs of freedom, of heartache, of everything that keeps us free, everything that keeps us human in this land where we are so easily held captive under the weight of what it takes to exist “happily” in this life.