On “Proper Jobs”
I recently had a meeting at the Jobcenter.
I am currently on welfare, and I know I need to get off it as soon as possible. That was the context of the conversation. We sat down to talk about my situation, my plans, my future.
I tried to explain what I do. How I work. What I am building.
But the conversation quickly narrowed down to one question: how much money do you make from it?
When the answer did not meet expectations, the conclusion was simple. It is not sustainable. You should find a proper job instead.
My friends worry about me. I appreciate it. But if I am honest, it is getting harder to imagine myself in what people call a “normal” work life.
So let me try to answer the question I keep hearing.
Why don’t you get a proper job?
I do have one.
My job is my art.
What people see when they think of an artist is the visible part. A release, a performance, a finished piece. That is maybe ten percent.
The rest is invisible. Administration, applications, emails, budgeting, coordination, promotion, constant adaptation. And on top of that, survival. Figuring out how to sustain yourself between projects, without stability, without safety nets.
This is work. It just does not look like what people expect.
For me personally, there is also another layer.
As a neurodivergent person, conventional work structures feel restrictive. Fixed schedules, rigid hierarchies, constant supervision. What is normal for many feels suffocating to me.
That does not mean I do not want to work. It means I need to work differently.
Art gives me that possibility. It allows me to build my own structure, to work in cycles, to create value in ways that are not reducible to hours.
This is not an escape from work. It is a different kind of work.
Why artists need support
I recently read a piece about Ireland’s basic income for artists:
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/mar/13/ireland-basic-income-artist-scheme-pilot
One idea stayed with me.
When artists are given stability, they produce more. Not just more work, but more honesty.
Artists are in a unique position to point at what is broken. To make things visible and to create friction where it is needed.
That is our function.
And for that, artists need support. Not as charity, but as infrastructure for reflection and critique.
At the same time, I do not fully trust systems from above to sustain that.
What I trust more are small scenes and grassroots communities. People supporting each other directly, sharing resources, documenting what is happening before it disappears.
That is where art feels alive.
Why Mycelium
This is why I am building Mycelium.
Not just as a platform, but as infrastructure for those scenes. A way to connect artists and audiences without relying entirely on gatekeepers.
There is a whole cultural layer that exists outside institutions – immediate, honest, and often invisible.
I want to help document and create access to it.
I want to build something that could actually sustain me. Something that would allow me to get off welfare and stop pretending I can function in systems that clearly do not work for me.
Something that could give me enough stability to apply for German citizenship. To feel a basic level of security.
And if it works, I do not want it to only work for me.
Once I reach a point where Mycelium sustains itself and covers my basic needs, the rest of the subscription income will be shared equally between all artists contributing to it.
All subscribers will have access to financial reports, so this process stays transparent and accountable.
Because this is not just about individual survival. It is about building something collective.
If I can sustain myself while doing that, then that is more than a proper job. It’s a sign of a changing paradigm.
Postscriptum.
If this way of sharing and listening to music resonates with you, even €2 a month is already a meaningful way to support the artists involved and help this space continue to grow. At the same time, I’ve been wondering: what would you personally want from a platform to feel good about supporting it like this? Is it specific features, access, or simply the feeling that you’re helping independent art exist on its own terms?