Wealth & Money Quote by Peter Garrett

Garrett’s line is a neat demolition of the “overnight success” myth, told in the plainspoken dialect of the touring van. “Survived or perished” isn’t rock-star melodrama; it’s an economic truth about early band life where art is inseparable from logistics. You don’t “break through” by being discovered. You break through by being reachable: physically (show after show), socially (a growing network of venues, fans, promoters), and emotionally (learning what lands in a room).

The sneakiest phrase here is “capacity to reach people.” It’s not just marketing; it’s communication as a survival skill. Garrett frames audience connection as infrastructure, the thing that keeps the lights on and the band together. That turns the romantic image of the musician into something closer to a field organizer: you show up, you repeat the message, you build trust. Coming from Garrett, who later became a prominent activist and politician, that subtext feels less accidental than prophetic.

Then there’s “getting into the pattern of having no money.” The wording matters. Poverty isn’t framed as tragedy; it’s a rhythm you learn to live inside, almost like a rehearsal schedule. That normalizing is both bracing and unsettling: it captures the stoic camaraderie of early touring, while quietly indicting a culture that expects young artists to self-finance the grind until someone with capital deems them worth backing.

“Playing lots of shows” lands as the only lever they could reliably pull. Not glamour. Repetition. Presence. Work.