It's called a "work ethic".
That's very true.
THE BAD SEEDS
You can meet a musician who has the best of talent, and yet has the worst work ethic. With them, they'd rather be doing anything other than rehearsal. I was in a band with a guitarist who could play like Al DiMeola. He would say that,
"Every day we don't rehearse is a day that the other bands get ahead of us."
That sounds great, except that talk is cheap. When it came down to it, I'd mention rehearsal, and it was always met with resistance. The game is on. We're going drinkin' tonight.
After two weeks of no rehearsal, I just left. Done. I gave him four weeks, which was probably about five weeks too long.
There was one other, where this band sounded pretty damned good. I passed their audition and got ready for the first Thursday night rehearsal. I was working a day job, so my time was valuable. We had a 7:00pm scheduled rehearsal.
I get there at 6:00 because I want to warm up for 15 minutes, run my parts, work on trouble spots, and be ready to impress.
People start rolling in at around 7:30pm. By close to 8:00, they decide that a run to CVS for beer is in order. I wait behind. They get back around 8:20 or so. But then a few of them need to do their drugs, so there's THAT fiasco. Then, the singer saunters in by almost 9:00pm. By about 9:10, they are supposedly ready to rehearse.
By this point, I'm exhausted and ready to go home. Needless to say, but I did not stick around for another "rehearsal."
EARLY WORK ETHIC
When I was a teenager, I wanted to skip a drum lesson to go see Ozzy. My drum teacher, "King Richard," says,
"Hey, you know what? Fine. If you want to be in the audience instead of on the stage, that's okay by me. In fact, you can stop showing up for lessons, and just keep mailing me checks if that's your attitude."
He was an ass, but he was right. I went to my lesson, because I knew what I wanted to do.
WANT A HARD WORKING BAND?
If you have a band, and you want to get really good, do shows, write and record, then you have to ask yourself some serious questions:
* What are my goals?
* What are my expectations?
* Am I wasting time or money here?
TAKING CHARGE
There was a time when I got sick of joining bands, and decided to form my own. We had goals and expectations. Don't waste time at rehearsal. Practice your parts on your own. NO figuring things out when the room is costing.
Rehearsal was broken out:
* Self-rehearsal at home.
* Band rehearsal once per week in a 3-hour RENTED room.
* First hour is running the show. Songs go back-to-back until there is a spot where the singer talks to the audience for about 30 seconds. No rambling. Planned dialogue.
* Second hour is rehearsing new songs. Stop for issues, or if clarification is needed.
* Third hour is for new material. This involves weeding out the songs that just aren't working out, discussing any issues in current songs that are on track, and the introduction of new material, including the distribution of audio files to all members.
Rehearsal never had a "hey man," discussions, or a therapy session where someone talks about what happened the night before.
If your goal is to try to get the band and the music somewhere, then you put sincere work into it.
There were a few members in the early line-up who were starting to slack. Back then, I was the owner of the project, investing my money into the rehearsal space. When they'd slack, they'd be told to not come back. Sure, it's scary because you wonder what the hell you're gonna do, or wonder how quickly you'll be able to replace them. But the alternative is to waste time, money, and energy.
Eventually, we got the line-up that wanted to work. They all wanted ownership, so we split rehearsal costs, recording costs, promo cost, and other expenses.
When everyone works, it feels great, and you just
know it's going to sound good. I looked forward to rehearsal.
SELF-REHEARSAL
My self-rehearsal involved sticks, a practice pad, and pen and paper. I would listen to tapes, write out my parts, make notes, prepare questions, and get my folder ready for the next rehearsal.
I did not use my drum set for my self-rehearsal, as I was working days and had little time for dragging the drums out, unless there was a gig. I would make an exception, on occasion, and rent a room for two hours and use the back line kit, if I felt that I really needed it. Sometimes I did, and I paid for it.
Personal time was rare. Vacations were rare. There was no taking my girlfriend out for dinner or romantic ventures. She wanted to spend time with me, so she learned how to setup and tear down drums, as well as how to tune, and how to troubleshoot things like bass drum pedals.
She got so good that a handful of drummers asked if they could hire her. And NO Yoko crap. Work only. She knew where to help and where to stand back. Very professional.
QUESTIONS THAT YOU SHOULD ASK YOURSELF
It really comes down to what you want.
Do you want to be with these other band members six months from now, wondering when they will straighten up?
Do you want to invest more into them, only to later be told that they're quitting because they want to have more time with their significant other?
OR
Do you want to build a solid band?
Do you want some recordings and memories of which you are proud?
Are YOU willing to make that sacrifice? Do YOU have that work ethic?
These are the hard questions, and they require some hard decisions. I made some hard decisions when I was young, left the safety of my hometown and traveled 2,000 miles to go to LA to give my dreams a shot, with nothing more than a change of clothes, a big bag of M&M's, and ten bucks. I borrowed drums, sometimes slept on the streets, sometimes relied on the kindness of complete strangers. That didn't always work out well. Things got dark, cold, and scary.
Sometimes I got tangled up with some questionable people. In LA, there are lots of people who like to call themselves "musicians," because they play an instrument. They're probably the most scary. A crocodile is easier to deal with, in that you know it wants to kill you. But these people? They want to be your friend first, and they'll even be nice to you at first. Be careful and stay on your toes.
I went there, worked hard, and gave it my best. I didn't get where I wanted to go. There are no guarantees that hard work will pay off. But I have some music and memories that are awesome. I had some great adventures. Best of all, I have no old man regrets. What if I had tried? I might cry of someone rips my ears clean off my skull, but I won't be crying over things that I did not do, or that things didn't work out.
Too many people are into the glamorous surface that comes with the prospect of being a musician. Although I never "got to the top," I got a good depth below the surface. You'll see things that will make you wish that you'd gotten an accounting degree, much like those freaky blind fish you can find at the bottom of the sea with a blinky light coming out of their skull.
But I digress. It really comes down to what you want to achieve and how far you are willing to go.
And no guarantees. None.