I'm no longer in a band

thomasross20

Crikey. Sad days all round. 

Collateral damage for our rhythm guitarist who has done nothing wrong. 

They tried to get me back but I'm resolute (famous last words). 

One singer just quit! And I emailed the drummer and he feels the same. Unfortunately he's not into starting another band. The trigger was the bassist missing a 4th practice in a row. There were other issues but if that one event hadn't happened... We'd probably have done two gigs next month. Instead, looks like the entire band has folded - nothing to salvage for the existing members. Two years... Jesus... 

monquixote

It sounds like a better thing to do would have been to stick with the band and fire the bass player. 

thomasross20

I think the whole thing was becoming so shaky, said act would have ended up with the same end result. Damn, we did sound good when we hit it off as well. One blackstar amp is going to have to go into storage. 

Moe_Zambeek

Give it a week or two and try the drummer again once the heat has gone out of the situation.

EricTheWeary

monquixote said:

It sounds like a better thing to do would have been to stick with the band and fire the bass player. 

wasn't it sort of his band and he was in a relationship with one of the singers or something?

I think it is worth hanging on to whoever is still interested - that way you aren't just another guitarist but you are a band looking to complete it's membership!

DLM

I'm sorry you're upset, Tiggs, but I think it's a positive outcome for you. You should be playing with better musicians/singers than that lot. Put music-stands-on-stage and the out-of-tune warbling behind you and find some real players. Socially engineer your comeback! Get a business card made up with this embossed on it:

Tigger

Awesome!

Get that into the right hands and your bounce will come right back.

Teetonetal

Music Stands on stage looks awful

DLM

It's a perennial bone of contention on here. And Tiggs' now-ex-singers were guilty parties. If it ain't a "reading gig", you've got no business reading anything other than the setlist unless you've got a doctor's note like Ozzy.
 

mudslide73

Sorry, I've only just seen this. As I said before you're too good for them and all their behaviour. Just get yourself into something that functions properly and does gigs. Having 45 people on stage only works when you're earning loads of money.

ESBlonde

Yes go and network. The more awsome players you meet the more opportunities that come up to play with them, and not just now but way off in the future. Being that nice easy going professional player will get your name mentioned in the right circles, hanging out with people that won't learn proper material or play the songs expected or turn up on time or make the same mistakes over and over is 2nd rate pub band stuff. Nothing wrong with doing a few pub gigs for experience and exposure but you can't buy the next Custom shop guitar on that!

thomasross20

I'm definitely starting to feel a tad better about it. 
TBH there are going to be a few changes in my life in the next few months so a little break will do me good. During that time I'll be working on an acoustic duo type thing... and this might also give me more time to do some YouTube videos and update my blog

thomasross20

@DLM I like the business card idea.  
And I agree about the music stands.. 

DLM

They seein' music stands onstage, they hatin'. And you get tarred with that brush, too.

(I'd not mind the stands so much if the vocalists had been better.)   

vasselmeyer

Re. music stands, a couple of my band members use black tablet holders which clip to the mic stand and don't stand out. Witha 7" tablet they can still get cheet sheets but they look much more professional. I hardly ever use memory aids...they're a crutch.

Ché

I'm contemplating throwing in the towel myself, forgive me highjacking but I feel I need to vent. I'm in a 7/8 piece. Bassist moved 3 hours away down south 2 years ago, we recorded drums for our debut LP in November last year. We haven't practiced in months and haven't written a new song in near on 2 years. Our bass player wants to be the one to handle all the bookings. Our last run of gigs have all been down south even though 90% of the band live up north. The band existed before I joined as another band so I have no grounds to replace him. I have tons of song ideas and I'm creatively starved at the lack of progress and fear my ideas aren't going to be realized.

Anyone wonna start a latin funk band up North?

thomasross20

Agree about tablets being much better - as a temporary aid only!

ICBM

Slightly sad to hear but not surprised. The band always seemed somewhat dysfunctional to me! And you were definitely the best musician and apparently the most committed to doing it well of any of them. (I'm not sure if the new drummer was with you when I saw you last or not.)

Hopefully you'll either be able to put something back together from the ashes or just move on to other things - you're good enough to get into a good working band, so don't sell yourself short.

richardhomer

@thomasross20 - I think band 'politics' is undeniably the worst aspect of being in a band. You're a gifted player - and don't develop the facilty you have without putting in some serious 'hard yards' - so it's inevitable that you'll be irritated by those who show poor commitment. 

I haven't played in a band for a long time  - to be fair, domestic limitations have been an significant issue - and if I'm honest, I do miss it. Or more accurately - I miss playing live.

As I see it, you have a few options - tolerate other's foibles - accepting they are part of life, find people as committed as you are, or concentrate on recording and bail out of band politics completely.

Ché

richardhomer said:

...concentrate on recording and bail out of band politics completely.

That's what John Frusciante ended up doing but did so down to preferring the creative process rather than the touring.

Finding players on your level in terms of ability is easy enough but the psychology of finding people you can not only work with but who share your drive and ambition is difficult. It's a bit like online dating to find a marriage partner.

You could always record songs and ideas and have them on a soundcloud to show to potential members. That way it keeps your creativity flowing and doesn't stunt your progress.

Vaiai

Almost had you in as a dep for one of our gigs for Oct @thomasross20 ! It's still a possibility if I can do some persuading
Sorry to hear tho - I think the 6 pc thing puts venues off as there's little enough room in some places for our 5pc.
We are on at The Jam House this Sat if you fancy a night out
You are my 1st choice if we need a replacement dude!