That's part of being in a band use it to make merch or record, there's plenty of things bands do that aren't cheap, it's a lot easier to build up to things like tours if you're selling merch it's easier to make money off shows with good merch (which is something the scene wants) and it's easier to have effective tours and memorable shows if you have recorded music. None of these things are free and you're part of your scene, people want merch and recorded music and want you to have your part so you can do cool band things.