The bassist of Fit for a King, Ryan “Tuck” O’Leary, has expressed his disagreement with recent comments made by Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor regarding the financial challenges faced by aspiring young bands, criticizing the musician for his bleak outlook.

O’Leary specifically challenged Mansoor’s assertion that bands must have alternative sources of income to sustain their musical ambitions.

What Did Misha Mansoor Say About the Financial Concerns for Young Bands?

During an appearance on Nik Nocturnal’s podcast, Mansoor discussed the difficulties young bands encounter and stressed the importance of understanding the current financial environment.

“I’d say it’s probably more relevant than ever,” Mansoor stated (as quoted by ThePRP). “People always got the wrong message from what I was saying because I did this interview with Rick Beato and that was my point, like, hey, you’re going to need side hustles. You’re going to need income streams and those take a while. … Those take a while to build and to bear fruit, if they’re going to bear any at all. So start early.”

The guitarist continued: “This is stuff that we did from the beginning, and any band would benefit from knowing this information from the beginning, rather than believing like, ‘Ah, man, if you just believe it hard enough, you just have to want it more than the next guy, you’re going to make it. The music will be enough.’ Being just a musician is just not enough for most people to make [it]. If it is, it’s great.”

Mansoor clarified that he was not complaining about his financial situation or Periphery’s success. “People always took away from it, ‘Oh, Misha‘s complaining he doesn’t make money with Periphery.’ It’s like, no, I don’t care that I don’t make money with Periphery because I use it as the nucleus for all my other stuff that does make me money so that I can have a life,” he explained.

“I did this because I started these things very, very early on,” he added. “And if I hadn’t done that, I probably would have quit the band by now because I wouldn’t have been able to afford to continue being in a band. I think nowadays, dude, I don’t know how bands who rely just on the band are going to survive the next few years.”

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Mansoor then outlined several specific challenges faced by actively touring bands trying to make ends meet, including rising costs of buses, a shortage of crew members, increased guarantees for opening acts on tour packages, and more. Even when headliners secure higher guarantees, their earnings do not stretch as far.

“So now, on all ends, there’s just not enough money to go around, and basically as anyone who’s in a band knows, you’re the last one to get paid,” Mansoor elaborated. “Your crew gets paid. Your manager, your business manager, your booking agent — they all get paid. … If your business manager is smart, he’ll do a 40 percent tax hold back on whatever money that you get after it’s split five or six ways.”

Based on Mansoor’s examples, it’s clear how a band’s earnings can quickly diminish. “What’s left over for the band is usually little to nothing and everyone else will get paid — and they should get paid because they’re working very hard,” he stated. “There’s very little to go around. So I don’t really know how bands are going to survive this without something changing. And I don’t really know what that is. I think the next few years are going to be pretty tough for a lot of bands that don’t have side hustles or … ancillary income to help justify the little to no money they’ll make on tour.”

What Does Misha Mansoor Think Bands Should Be Doing?

In another part of the conversation, Nocturnal addressed Mansoor’s concerns and explored some creative methods for bands to supplement their income, such as offering Patreon exclusives, creating tablature books, and providing music lessons.

“That’s exactly what they should be doing,” Mansoor affirmed. “And that’s what I was trying to say all along. Just like, ‘Hey, your band’s not going to make any money. Do the other stuff.’ And who knows where it may lead? Yeah, maybe at first it’s just lessons. Maybe at first it’s just this. Maybe at first it’s just YouTube. Who knows where that leads? Now you’re opening a door to other possibilities.

“But you know what? What won’t help is just sitting there and being like, ‘Well, I hope the band makes enough to survive.’ Because even if it did five years ago, it doesn’t anymore. Because you are earning maybe 10 to 20 percent more and the costs of everything are doubled. And there is no business model that would survive that.”

Mansoor concluded: “Imagine that you’re running a business and your cost of goods and services doubles. That just ruins most businesses. That makes them insolvent, you know? So what is the answer to that? The answer is you have to do other stuff whether you like it or not.”

Periphery’s Misha Mansoor Guests on the Nik Nocturnal Podcast

What Did Ryan ‘Tuck’ O’Leary Dispute About Misha Mansoor’s Comments?

The bassist of Fit for a King shared his views on Mansoor’s interview via social media, accusing the guitarist of presenting a pessimistic narrative.

“Rich guy in a band said you need a side hustle because he doesn’t understand how budgets work,” O’Leary wrote on X on Monday. “@NikNocturnal talk to someone that’s not a f—ing idiot and actually makes a living touring. This rhetoric is unhealthy for young musicians.”

READ MORE: Fit For a King’s Ryan Kirby Discusses Personal Growth Amidst Band’s New Album

When one fan challenged O’Leary on his comment by suggesting that Mansoor was highlighting how inflation has impacted profit margins, O’Leary responded: “Bands are also charging double for shirts and are getting paid a lot more. I would fully disagree with you on the ‘can’t play 500 caps and survive.’ Doesn’t mean you’re ‘roughing’ it in a van either.”

In reply to another user who claimed it’s harder than ever to make ends meet while pursuing artistic goals, O’Leary stated: “It’s always been hard. People have always had to hustle. Not a weird take; just speaking from my experience as a player and manager.”

In that same thread, others accused O’Leary of simply being envious and pointed out the irony that as a member of multiple bands and a manager himself, O’Leary is indeed diversifying his income stream — which aligns with what Mansoor suggested during his podcast appearance.

Fit for a King released their latest album, Lonely God, in 2025. Periphery will return with A Pale White Dot on Friday.

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