Life's not always a beach for rock stars

Don't for a moment be fooled into thinking your favourite rock stars are all holidaying in the Seychelles,

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Yes, the freneticism of the pre-Christmas gig season is a fading memory. And yes, there are few bands on the road in January, the quietest of all months on the live music scene. A quick scan of the 'What's On list' will show you that the answer, in short, is this: not much.

But there's a huge difference between what happens in public and what happens in private.

Those bands sufficiently fortunate to have a few weeks break at the start of the New Year may well be adjusting to what others call 'normal life'. Quality time with friends and family is at a premium for hard-gigging, hard-working musicians, who spend much of their lives living out of a suitcase.

Others will be busy plotting the year ahead. Gigs will have been pencilled in for later in the year, for festival season or the autumn, and now is the time when musicians will be writing the songs that will be played to enthusiastic fans in months to come. They'll be rehearsing, mulling over new tunes – some may even be playing marathon rounds of Xbox and convincing themselves that they are being 'creative' by letting their mind flow freely. Of course, there's no set timetable for all bands.

There are no set routines, no procedures that all bands follow. A small number of bands may indeed by fortunate enough to be sunning themselves in the Seychelles – but they'll be in the minority. For the rest, it's work.

Being in a band is a peculiar way to spend the best years of your life. The high times that punctuate the lives of many people – going to gigs, celebrating achievements – become the norm for a long period of time. The things that others take for granted – spending time with family, immersing in the day-to-day – become the highlights. Everything goes in reverse.

So when it comes to what rock managers affectionately call 'downtime', it can take musicians time to adjust. After nine or ten months of constant gigging, promotion, recording and other engagements, it can be tough to flick the 'off switch' and adjust to a different pace of life.

Of course, there are some brave souls who hit the ground running as the new year starts. There's less competition in the live arena in January, with fewer bands on the road, so a few try their luck and hope that they'll get lucky when there are few others in town.

Such an approach sometimes works – though not always. Many bands who were out and about in last year's bitterly cold winter months would have struggled to pull in a crowd for one simple reason: the weather.

For the fans, January is often a time when they're paying off credit card bills following the delights of the pre-Christmas gig frenzy – or, indeed, following the excesses of Christmas.

Of course, the temporary lull is just that – temporary. Give it a month or two and we'll all be hard-pressed to choose between the delights of, say, Killing Joke and Pop Will Eat Itself, or The Maccabees and Enter Shikari.

Until then, however, it may be time to baton down the hatches and enjoy DVDs of your favourite band – safe in the knowledge that they'll be back on the road soon.