rogue_drummer
Gold Member
Just curious here, has anyone ever been glad they've left a band, either on their own or by getting "fired" or replaced?
I got canned from a band I was with recently for 10 months. Probably the best thing that could happen. The guys in this particular band had about 3 prior drummers before me. The bass player was a former inmate for 6 years and made his living by living off of unemployment and picking up gigs whenever he could and by subbing at open mics. Dude was constantly broke and on his second marriage. He kept telling me to follow the rhythm guitar player / lead singer and if I do that, we're ok. We never really jelled as a rhythm section because of this.
The lead singer (leader) and rhythm guitar player was married for 14 years to a foxy lady but constantly complained of having to go to marriage counseling, was constantly broke and barely could afford gas to get to rehearsals, kept turning the mic downward so he could see the music which affected the volumn and everybody's ability to hear when he sang, continually changed the set lists right before gig time, and smoked continuously, which also affected his singing voice.
The lead guitar player was a decent guy, solid player and about 5 - 20 years younger than the rest of us and was a lab tech, but lost his job and was unemployed for 6 months, so his main activity was trying to find a job. Decent reason for being broke. Plus he was more realistic and objective than the other two.
Nobody lifted a finger to find gigs, pay for equipment, pay for CDs and material, print up and put up flyers, pay for the web site, etc. EXCEPT me. I busted my ass trying to make the band successful, talking to venue owners, beating streets to look for gigs, hang up flyers, etc. Plus I was the only one to be able to make it to all the rehearsals.
And the band lost it's coveted rehearsal spot at a local bar because the other 3 couldn't make it to weekday night rehearsals once a week. They other 3 lived in apartments so rehearsal was off there, and I have elderly neighbors who go to bed very early so nightly rehearsals are off at my place also. Daytime rehearsals on weekends were nixed also because they insisted on beign wth their families.
So when to rehease? The lead singer's idea was to make it to open mic jams once a week and play for 30 minutes. We had a catalog of material of over 4 hours we could play. But not rehearsing those songs tends to make things suck at gigs.
The only reason they gave me when they booted me out was that they "wanted to go to the next level" and thought I was holding them back. We only had 7 gigs as a band at the time and only 4 of those were paying gigs - 3 of which I got the band - we all got about $30.00 each. Not that I played superior, but I stayed in the pocket and at least kept the beat steady, which got me compliments. And they had no fan base excpet a few family members and a handful of friends who they worked with. But damn - I was the one holding them back! hahaha!!
Sorry to ramble, but after thinking about this for 3 weeks since they fired me, DAMN I'm glad to be away from them. I didn't realize how much work I was doing on behalf of the band and the rest of them did nothing.
Anyone else glad to be away from a band?
I got canned from a band I was with recently for 10 months. Probably the best thing that could happen. The guys in this particular band had about 3 prior drummers before me. The bass player was a former inmate for 6 years and made his living by living off of unemployment and picking up gigs whenever he could and by subbing at open mics. Dude was constantly broke and on his second marriage. He kept telling me to follow the rhythm guitar player / lead singer and if I do that, we're ok. We never really jelled as a rhythm section because of this.
The lead singer (leader) and rhythm guitar player was married for 14 years to a foxy lady but constantly complained of having to go to marriage counseling, was constantly broke and barely could afford gas to get to rehearsals, kept turning the mic downward so he could see the music which affected the volumn and everybody's ability to hear when he sang, continually changed the set lists right before gig time, and smoked continuously, which also affected his singing voice.
The lead guitar player was a decent guy, solid player and about 5 - 20 years younger than the rest of us and was a lab tech, but lost his job and was unemployed for 6 months, so his main activity was trying to find a job. Decent reason for being broke. Plus he was more realistic and objective than the other two.
Nobody lifted a finger to find gigs, pay for equipment, pay for CDs and material, print up and put up flyers, pay for the web site, etc. EXCEPT me. I busted my ass trying to make the band successful, talking to venue owners, beating streets to look for gigs, hang up flyers, etc. Plus I was the only one to be able to make it to all the rehearsals.
And the band lost it's coveted rehearsal spot at a local bar because the other 3 couldn't make it to weekday night rehearsals once a week. They other 3 lived in apartments so rehearsal was off there, and I have elderly neighbors who go to bed very early so nightly rehearsals are off at my place also. Daytime rehearsals on weekends were nixed also because they insisted on beign wth their families.
So when to rehease? The lead singer's idea was to make it to open mic jams once a week and play for 30 minutes. We had a catalog of material of over 4 hours we could play. But not rehearsing those songs tends to make things suck at gigs.
The only reason they gave me when they booted me out was that they "wanted to go to the next level" and thought I was holding them back. We only had 7 gigs as a band at the time and only 4 of those were paying gigs - 3 of which I got the band - we all got about $30.00 each. Not that I played superior, but I stayed in the pocket and at least kept the beat steady, which got me compliments. And they had no fan base excpet a few family members and a handful of friends who they worked with. But damn - I was the one holding them back! hahaha!!
Sorry to ramble, but after thinking about this for 3 weeks since they fired me, DAMN I'm glad to be away from them. I didn't realize how much work I was doing on behalf of the band and the rest of them did nothing.
Anyone else glad to be away from a band?
Last edited: