I quit the band. Why did you quit?

Totigerus said:
the understatement of the century. I've been doing the math regarding gig pay these days, and freaking hell man, its not worth it anymore.
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Gone are the days where money didn't matter. I just wanted to play.

Those days are gone sad face
 
Well, this is 180 from what I've been asked and told the past year and a half since returning to drums.
Had a 1st rehearsal yesterday. The leader asked if I mic my drums on gigs. Common question, I thought. Later he said I could hit his practice drums harder if I wanted. Oh, you're asking me to hit harder, lol. Ok, the 7" Maple is going to the next practice, but don't blame me when clubs say we're good but we're too loud.
 
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I technically quit 1 band, but actually 2 bands for the same reason. Rehearsal… Rehearsal… Rehearsal for months on end with no light to actually performing. When I asked about goals and times, the conversation just faded.

I remember a defining moment when the guitarist dismissed a song we had been practicing for months and got down … to, it just didn’t sound like the original. WTF.
 
Back in 87 I briefly joined a cover band. Played a few parties and I was done. Dragging, at the time, my drum set around, duct taping this and that...losing wing nuts, etc got old. At home, at least, I had everything duct taped and set up perfectly (LOL). If I had a set with hardware in good shape, I may have felt differently. Those were the days
 
doggyd69b said:
All valid points, specially even if you are having fun, if you have difficulty hearing your drums, the rest of the band is simply too loud, and you definitely need to wear hearing protection. ( And turn their volume down, there is no need to play at full volume during a rehearsal).
Professionalism is hard to attain because in most bands that are starting there is usually at least one if not more band members that just want to reap the benefits of being in a band (read groupies and booze), without putting the work. (singers are particularly bad at lending a hand for load unload, and definitely won't know anything about setting a PA, they just want to show up, drink and mingle).
Non musicians giving unsolicited advice.... That is probably never going away, but a rehearsal should be only the band (most of the time) I get that some band members want to invite their friends and it turns into a party but that should be the exception and not the norm.
Improvements in quality... If after a few sessions there is no noticeable improvement then you are wasting your time.
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My current band does something that I've never seen before. The lead guy allows friends and family to visit our rehearsals at any time without notice. I thought it would be a mess, but it works out fine. Everyone understands that we're working, sits quietly and watches and doesn't interfere. My brother is in a band where it's just the opposite. In his band, visitors get drunk and stupid.
 
Macarina said:
I technically quit 1 band, but actually 2 bands for the same reason. Rehearsal… Rehearsal… Rehearsal for months on end with no light to actually performing. When I asked about goals and times, the conversation just faded.
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My last band was like that. After a while I figured out it wasn't going anywhere.

Just last week, I called the lead guy in that band just to say Hi. He seemed distant and unfriendly. The band had long since broken up with no plans to re-form. I think I made the right decision.
 
Direct and to the point..the thought of putting together a kind of 60s tribute thing sounded interesting to a bass player and myself. The mention of other members had me thinking it's not gonna work....the talent level wasn't there. But my thoughts were WTF just have fun and let it go. I knew at rehearsals that it was going to be NOT GOOD. After the first outdoor gig I loaded my kit in my car with no intentions of unloading at the bass players rehearsal space. I called him (bass player) and bowed out. I'm totally shocked that he didn't beat me to the bail out. I just couldn't do it. My initial gut instinct was right all along.
 
I left when it looked like a band was getting ambitious and picking up more gigs or hoping to tour. I left three or four for that reason. Unlike most musicians, I liked songwriting, arranging, rehearsals, recording and jamming more than gigging. Gigging was awesome when the venue had great sound and the foldback was good, but usually it was muddy acoustics and poor foldback.

Residencies were fun because you got to know the room, the staff and regulars and you could build up fans. Unlike backing up "big name bands" at "prestige venues". Crap pay, playing for the "exposure". One tme, an unnamed Top 40 band left the PA howling with feedback through our whole set. So everyone had to put up with feedback to feed their fragile egos.

I don't deny that gigs have their appeal, but not enough to make up for the aggravation for me.
 
A J said:
My current band does something that I've never seen before. The lead guy allows friends and family to visit our rehearsals at any time without notice. I thought it would be a mess, but it works out fine. Everyone understands that we're working, sits quietly and watches and doesn't interfere. My brother is in a band where it's just the opposite. In his band, visitors get drunk and stupid.
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my metal band has always been that way. People stop by and listen. Freinds from other bands will stop by and check out gear (our guit player has a "revolving door" of gear all the time....imagine that)

guitar and drummer are husband and wife, so when their kids were in HS, they were always bringing freidns down to check it out.

there were many times where there were so many people down there, it seemed like a house show
 
I worked with a guitar player for 9 years. This was his only job and he was struggling to eat so I often worked for free, helped pay for his solo CD he couldn't afford, and even bought a subwoofer for the band. Last year I did 31 gigs with him for average pay of $23.39.

We finally landed a gig in Nashville, 90 miles away. It was a free gig, an audition if you will. I told him I would do this once, but in the future I expected more pay for Nashville gigs than for local gigs.

Did I mention he had a temper? Well, he got mad and texted me that the sub drummer would do the Nashville gig and half of all future Nashville gigs. After all I have invested in this project I am not going to split the drum chair, so I tried to contact him to work this out. He refused to answer my phone calls or respond to voice mail or text messages, so I sent a polite text resigning from the band.

We made arrangements, by text, for me to pick up my rehearsal kit from his house. When I got there I found my kit out on the curb!
 
I just won't work 8 hours for 100 dollars before gas and tolls anymore. It's insulting.

I've had enough and I don't miss it. I'm enjoying my new retired life and my doggie.

I haven't had a great gig since 2017. That's way too long. 6 years. So thanks but no thanks.

I won't join a band again, but I will do one off and sub gigs if called. I had my fun, but it wasn't fun for me anymore.
 
larryace said:
I just won't work 8 hours for 100 dollars before gas and tolls anymore. It's insulting.

I've had enough and I don't miss it. I'm enjoying my new retired life and my doggie.

I haven't had a great gig since 2017. That's way too long. 6 years. So thanks but no thanks.

I won't join a band again, but I will do one off and sub gigs if called. I had my fun, but it wasn't fun for me anymore.
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Will you host jam sessions on your deck?
 
Gig 5 of the new band was last night. Still a shakier performance than I wanted. Some things are just tightening gradually.
The old band that I quit got a repeat date at a big venue and I'm told by a 2nd hand source that my replacement is ready to quit. Probably after that gig.

Edit that. Welp, he already quit. Before the good venue, so was he afraid of it?
 
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larryace said:
Probably not!

However I will if you promise to show up

Who else would you like to see invited from DW?

I'll provide the other players
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If all goes according to plan, I'll be passing through Pennsylvania in the fall, October-ish. Do you drink beer and roast meat on a grill? Or are you vegan? Asking for a friend.
 
cbphoto said:
If all goes according to plan, I'll be passing through Pennsylvania in the fall, October-ish. Do you drink beer and roast meat on a grill? Or are you vegan? Asking for a friend.
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Me inviting you over. Me roast meat on grill. Me drink beer after meat is roasted.

Me would like it if you brought along hammered metal snare.
 
I haven't really quit any bands, but I have refused to join one because I think they suck.

The guitar and bass from my main blues band are also in another band together that plays blues/soul/rock/funk, etc., and despite being quite good in the blues band, their other project isn't that tight at all.

They have two horn players (bari sax and trumpet) that don't seem to have any real arrangements; they just sort of drone and vomit all over the songs. The sax player's wife is the main vocalist and she is just absolutely horrible.

I did record a CD with them a couple years ago but refused multiple requests to formally join the band. I think it would be embarassing to gig with that group. Yet somehow, they seem to get a lot of gigs around here! Weird! I really don't get it...
 
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