Mudhoney have been around for over two decades and released nine albums, but that doesn’t mean the whole band can (or wants to) quit their day jobs. Bassist Guy Maddison — who has been with the band since 2001 — works as a registered nurse and splits his time between that and playing with the band. In a new interview with University Of Washington’s NewsBeat publication, he sheds some light on how he juggles his two jobs. “For me, music is more of an area of fun and entertainment,” he explains. “Nursing fills a different space; it is a career. My time in Mudhoney is a very extensive and elaborate hobby. I think the other guys would say the same thing.”

The bassist, who is originally from Australia, came to the United States full-time in 1993. He got his nursing degree from the University Of Washington after studying literature in his home country. Now, he works at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. Maddison started as a nurse on the front lines, but in the past year he’s transferred over to a desk job as someone who manages the rest of the nurses, though he still keeps a shift every other week. He says in the interview that the skills required for his two jobs rarely cross paths: only one patient has ever recognized him, and once he used his medical skills to help someone at a show in Switzerland.

“People in the greater music community, both who come to concerts and are in the industry, are surprised that I’d have a workaday job. On the nursing side, people think, ‘Why do you bother? Surely you must make a lot of money playing,'” he says. “It’s true we go all over the world and play about 50 shows a year, but that doesn’t meet the financial requirements of having a family. There’s no 401(k) or retirement plan.”

He talks more about what he does on a day-to-day basis in the article, which you can read here.

[Photo by Clare McLean/University Of Washington NewsBeat.]