Why did you get fired?

L

lovemysonors

Senior Member
So I know it might not be the most unembarrasing topic, but I'm curious why drummers have gotten fired from projects, because I just have!

The reason why I got fired was we didn't fit musically, however my guitarist complained consistently of how his girlfriend's keyboard parts didn't work with his guitar, and how he was frustrated with learning how to use his new loop pedal. I knew there were fills and the tempo changed a bit in some songs that weren't perfect, but the project was 2 months old before I had just spent literally a month of being in a housing upheaval (major landlord problems with a potential lawsuit due to her assaulting my girlfriend-not punching and kicking but some pushing happened which is NOT cool, showing/renting my apartment while looking for a new apartment and having just split up with my loved one who I lived with), so the month prior to getting fired was full of stress and missed practices which they told me they understood since they had recently gone through the househunting process (and mine wasn't only that!). If it matters, I'm in my late 30s and they're 23 and 26.

So we had one obvious bad jam, they posted a Craigslist ad a couple of days later, I saw it, knew it was them, copied and emailed it to them and asked if it was, and they fessed up. Apparently, the girl (control freak, alcoholic) pushed to fire me but her ass whipped boyfriend fought hard not to do it until he was 100% sure. Well, too late as she proceeded to fire me while he was at work (no email or phone access) and didn't know so if he did want to prevent it, it was too late and I had already stated I was going to pack up my gear.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling but bottom line is they love me as a friend but were sad and depressed for weeks that musically I wasn't consistent and perfectly the tempo and beats, fills, etc. So much for being humane, as they just wanted someone who had a stress free life and no time to harp on it but commit to their project, which also I should add was very much 'their' project (never work with couples). Their goal was to make money, and as much as that could be a great thing, bad communication and backstabbing isn't cool with me, but I guess that's how some people get places (not my preferred method though).

Would love to hear any stories you've got...thanks for listening.
 
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unembarrasing ?

..anyway... long about 26 years ago I played in a band that I want very into. I gigged at dives that were full of the rednecky types and it lacked inspiration entirely. I got into a phase where I didn't sleep right, drank, didn't work out or practice. I knew this, and after a couple crappy shows they said "Sorry, we have to let you go." It wasn't *my* type of band anyway. No matter how bad I felt, I can imagine the rest of the band looked bad to the two club owners after those gigs. I am sure much smoothing over had to be done.

I felt bad for a while, but as I changed my life and work ethic around I fully understood. After that I said that there will be no public performance, no recording until I am in the ballpark, prepared (ready to play) and willing to play because I enjoy it. I can never again allow laziness and apathy reflect in my playing. And even though I have exponentially more experience and appreciation for a more diverse world of music, I still don't want to be out there unless it's fun.
 
In got fired, (just not called back actually) for telling the singer that he counted things off at wildly varying tempos, and that I wasn't sure whether to bring the song up to the right speed or play it at the speed he started it at. (How dare the lowly drummer suggest such a thing to the clearly superior lead singer)
 
About a year and a half ago, I was playing in a band. The guitar player/lead singer and the bass player started the band. Their ex-drummer gave me the referral. I knew that we weren't a real good musical fit when we started to jam. They were both definitely good musicians and had an awesome rehearsal space and loads of PA gear, recording gear, etc..

I had practiced to their CD for about a week before the first rehearsal. The music was progressive rock, sort of like Dream Theater/Rush Classic Rock. Classic Rock in sound for the lyrics and song styles but busy busy busy stuff.

First jam. Real rough. I made it through only 2 of the songs without a song stopping problem. Everyone seemed hopeful.

Second jam. I led the practice. We played better. I had practiced some that week but I was struggling with the songs in 7 and 9.

By jam #3 they were excited and I was too. Even though I wasn't digging the music too much, I just wanted to play.

So, two practices a week and a couple of months later the tension was huge. They had started huddling up to work out song passages and not even including me in the exchange. Then I wouldn't know what they had done and they would cop an attitude when I didn't play the part they had worked out in secret. They wanted to constantly work on new songs that were just riffs in 7. This drove me crazy.

The guitar player started complaining that I wasn't loud enough. They would play at 11, as loud as they could, while there was no interest in letting me mic up and be heard so I just brought out the thick pies and the 2Bs.

Then it went from bad to worse in one rehearsal. Halfway through song #2, the guitar player shakes his head, unplugs and says we're done. On top of that, he wants me to get all my gear out that night. I had to call my wife to come help me get all my crap in two cars and get it home.

It was the longest "two hour pack up and get out" I have ever experienced.

They both did a great job of making me feel like crap.

I've had a lot of time to think about it and in hindsight, I probably wasn't good enough of a drummer for them, especially in their genre. I know I lacked the polyrythmic odd ball time sig chops they wanted.

The most embarassing part was the realization that I was there until they found somebody better. I knew it then but wasn't sure. Later, their original drummer came back and they were happy (they used to talk trash about him during our rehearsals).

When I talked to their drummer a few months ago, he told me that they knew I wasn't the right drummer for them from the beginning, they just hadn't played in so long that they needed somebody/anybody. Ouch.
 
I've only been tossed from one band in 33 years of gigging. About fifteen years ago I was called up & told that my services were no longer needed, that my attitude was just not right for that particular band. In retrospect, I guess they were right, how arrogant of me to insist that people show up on time for rehearsals, (at MY place) learn their parts and not get stumbling drunk at gigs. Not sure what I was thinking. Oh well.
 
lovemysonors said:
So I know it might not be the most unembarrasing topic, but I'm curious why drummers have gotten fired from projects, because I just have!

The reason why I got fired was we didn't fit musically, however my guitarist complained consistently of how his girlfriend's keyboard parts didn't work with his guitar, and how he was frustrated with learning how to use his new loop pedal. I knew there were fills and the tempo changed a bit in some songs that weren't perfect, but the project was 2 months old before I had just spent literally a month of being in a housing upheaval (major landlord problems with a potential lawsuit due to her assaulting my girlfriend-not punching and kicking but some pushing happened which is NOT cool, showing/renting my apartment while looking for a new apartment and having just split up with my loved one who I lived with), so the month prior to getting fired was full of stress and missed practices which they told me they understood since they had recently gone through the househunting process (and mine wasn't only that!). If it matters, I'm in my late 30s and they're 23 and 26.

So we had one obvious bad jam, they posted a Craigslist ad a couple of days later, I saw it, knew it was them, copied and emailed it to them and asked if it was, and they fessed up. Apparently, the girl (control freak, alcoholic) pushed to fire me but her ass whipped boyfriend fought hard not to do it until he was 100% sure. Well, too late as she proceeded to fire me while he was at work (no email or phone access) and didn't know so if he did want to prevent it, it was too late and I had already stated I was going to pack up my gear.

Anyway, sorry for the rambling but bottom line is they love me as a friend but were sad and depressed for weeks that musically I wasn't consistent and perfectly the tempo and beats, fills, etc. So much for being humane, as they just wanted someone who had a stress free life and no time to harp on it but commit to their project, which also I should add was very much 'their' project (never work with couples). Their goal was to make money, and as much as that could be a great thing, bad communication and backstabbing isn't cool with me, but I guess that's how some people get places (not my preferred method though).

Would love to hear any stories you've got...thanks for listening.
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I was fired because the replacement drummer had some "inside contacts" that one member of the band THOUGHT would help HIM/Them get "in" but it didn't work out, and the band ended up falling apart not too long afterward. I was a founding member, and I'd been in the band for 12 years.

Fortunately I was hired the very next day by a band further UP the local totem pole (been in for 6 years as of last month) and my pay went up by 75 to 100% depending on the gig and they were better more high profile gigs for the most part. Funny thing is, the singer from the last band does some gigs with us every once in a while as HE was a founding member of my CURRENT band 25 years ago. (you following this??)

The scene is SOOO incestuous here!! Everyone was in everyone else's band at one time or another. L0L!!!

The member who saw to it I was relieved of duty from the first band only has a small smattering of gigs these days, so I guess what comes around goes around. (or how ever that saying goes?!!?!?!!)

It worked out for the best in the end, but it STILL sucked being fired. I remember being SOOO infuriated. I wanted revenge in the worst way, how DARE they fire ME!!!! HA HA !!
 
Just like Leadfoot, I've only been fired once. So I killed everybody. (JUST KIDDING) But seriously, I had been in the band almost three years, we had a big following (in Los Angeles), then all of a sudden, AFTER a full rehearsal, I was told I was being replaced by another drummer who was "much better" than I. That hurt so much, I couldn't say anything, I was packing up, choking back tears!

About a week or so later, they called me up, said they'd made a terrible mistake, could I forgive them, and would I come back? That made me feel better, so I went back. The guy who ran the rehearsal studios (also a drummer), told me that the drummer that had replaced me SUCKED, and didn't mesh with the band at all. Then they fired the singer, the new singer was horrible, so I QUIT, and THEY were crying. They broke up for good a couple of months later. Sweet Revenge! I have not looked back since.
 
Back in 1976-77 or so, I was in a band that had an identity crisis: we played rock, blues, jazz, reggae, and latin stuff, all over the map. Two longhair hippies (guitarist and myself), two shorthair hawaiian-shirt-wearing percussionists, one straight-laced baby-faced bassist, a skinny tall black singer in leather and kneehigh boots, and a chick lead singer that always wore a kimono.

It was a lot of fun but the guitarist was a real controlling type who kept us in the garage practising until we got it perfect. We hardly ever played any real gigs. So me and the bass player would try to have a little fun at practices by improvising little bits to amuse each other. Which drove the guitarist crazy, because we weren't playing the exact same parts every frickin' time. So I got the call one day at work: I was canned for being a bad influence on the bass player!

Maybe it's because I grew up in the '60s and '70s, but I've always had a problem with "authority".

A few years later I had cut my hair and mustache and was playing in a "new wave" band. Got a call from the guitarist who was putting together a new wave band himself. So I auditioned and then, when he asked me to join, I told him I would... but only if he'd cut his hair and mustache first: "You can't play new wave if you look like a hippie," I told him. He wouldn't, so I didn't join.

Petty and vindictive of me? Maybe. But it felt good.
 
criz p. critter said:
Back in 1976-77 or so, I was in a band that had an identity crisis: we played rock, blues, jazz, reggae, and latin stuff, all over the map. Two longhair hippies (guitarist and myself), two shorthair hawaiian-shirt-wearing percussionists, one straight-laced baby-faced bassist, a skinny tall black singer in leather and kneehigh boots, and a chick lead singer that always wore a kimono.

It was a lot of fun but the guitarist was a real controlling type who kept us in the garage practising until we got it perfect. We hardly ever played any real gigs. So me and the bass player would try to have a little fun at practices by improvising little bits to amuse each other. Which drove the guitarist crazy, because we weren't playing the exact same parts every frickin' time. So I got the call one day at work: I was canned for being a bad influence on the bass player!

Maybe it's because I grew up in the '60s and '70s, but I've always had a problem with "authority".

A few years later I had cut my hair and mustache and was playing in a "new wave" band. Got a call from the guitarist who was putting together a new wave band himself. So I auditioned and then, when he asked me to join, I told him I would... but only if he'd cut his hair and mustache first: "You can't play new wave if you look like a hippie," I told him. He wouldn't, so I didn't join.

Petty and vindictive of me? Maybe. But it felt good.
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HA HA HA HA HA!!!! You had the POWER and you wielded it well my man!! GREAT story!!!!
 
if you find that your ever being disrespected because you are a drummer, than tell the person in question to f*** off and leave with your dignity!
nobody (well me) can play well when their being brought down!..just convince yourself that your better than the band in question......and tell your self that you WILL get another job
 
Vipercussionist said:
HA HA HA HA HA!!!! You had the POWER and you wielded it well my man!! GREAT story!!!!
Click to expand...

Thanks. I have to admit the other side of the story, though, that he was one of the two best guitarists I ever played with. And he exposed me to some great music, particularly Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. A brilliant guy, but a bit pigheaded, too.
 
I was let go once for disagreeing with the lead singer when he wanted to hire 2 new people into the band. So I stole the rhythm guitarist and released a cd of my own music.
 
...back in the good old days when I was an economic refugee living in Northern B.C.

I was asked by a bass player aquaintance to try out with this blues guitar/singer/songwriter friend of his. We jammed once, and it felt like a good fit. Between that first, and our second jam, the bass player, who my wife aptly named "flaky Norm" decided that I needed a best friend, and that he would be it. Needless to say, the less than a week betwen jams had me so dam sick of flaky Norm, I sabotaged the next go, and was told that I would not be returning for a third. Flaky Norm still wanted to be my best friend, but without that bond of the power trio, I did not feel so bad about telling him to err, umm, leave in short jerky motions.

A band is as much a relationship as a boyfriend/girlfriend thing. You don't stay in a bad relationship no matter how good the sex/music is unless you...Okay, bad analogy.

Barry
 
I was just fired last week. I had been riding the guitarist/lead singer quite a bit as he would cancel rehersals and show up to them with booze/weed. His drinking got so bad that I decided to be tell him I thought he had a drinking problem. He called me back 20mins later and fired me.

The next day, I recieved a phone call from a working band that heard great things about me. None of them drink or drug. LOL Sometimes things just work themselves out.
 
I don't think I ever got fired.

I did have a bad audition, and was not offered the role.

And then one band I was in, just kind of disintigrated. Everyone just left at the same time.


The bass player in the cover band I am in now, just quit about a month ago for an original project.

He is a younger cat, so I don't really blame him for it, but I do feel kind of abanded. Especially since we are having a hard time finding a replacement and I really need to play out soon.

I jammed with this guitarist a few weeks ago...whom wants to do some original, Radiohead type stuf..I am trying to do two things, but I may have to limit myself to one because of my work schedule.
 
I was never fired. I have been in a band that just fell apart because everyone had to go separate ways.
I did fire my band once. Or actually I quit because they just weren't showing any progress and I wanted to try something different. They replaced me with a drummer who wasn't bad, but he didn't really know his own limits, playing sloppy fills as fast as he could. And generally screwing up the tempo. But hey, that's somebody else's problem.
 
As a drummer, I've never even made it to the point where I could be in the band, let alone be fired. Maybe I pick bad auditions?

The first band I auditioned for was a classic rock cover band with 2 KILLER musicians who were both 20+ years older than me. I had just bought a used Ludwig set and gotten back into drumming as a 19 year old kid. I did my best, but these guys were totally out of my league. I saw them a few years later, and their drummer wasn't much better than I was, but he was closer to their age.

The second band I auditioned for had a lot of history. I had played guitar on a one-off gig with this piano player girl back in high school, and she was phenomenal. She seriously could have been on the radio at 17 years old. Fast forward about 3 or 4 years, and I see an ad for guitarists and bassists. I grab a bass playing buddy, and we both audition. Turns out it's her again, this time with a manager. We play with her and her drummer twice, get the nod, and then we hear nothing. I keep trying to call the manager, but never can reach anyone. Finally, the girl calls me and says she's fired the manager and isn't going to need us anymore, either.

So, fast forward another year or two. I see a drummer gig advertised in the paper, so I call. After about 10 minutes on the phone, I realize it's her AGAIN. I tell her who I am, but she's still excited about auditioning me. I shrug, water under the bridge, and haul out my gear. Now it's her and her new guitarist husband, STILL playing the same songs from the same CD that she recorded in high school. I have a great audition (IMHO), but the tension/awkwardness was just too high. The curt, "We'll call you," was totally understood on my part.

Band number three was just recently. Learned the recorded parts almost verbatim, had a great audition, but realized that I probably wasn't "emo" enough for the band. I had come straight from work to the audition, so I was wearing slacks and a button up shirt, and they're all wearing tight jeans and clever t-shirts. Found out they hired a friend who had played with them before.

I have had a band quit around me, essentially firing me. I was in a 5 piece (bass, drums, lead guitar, backup vocalist, and me on guitar and vox). Guitarist quit coming to rehearsals. The four of us made some noise about firing him, but he was never around and didn't answer his phone for us to do so. Next gig comes up, and the guitarist shows. I didn't even know he KNEW about this gig. Bassist convinces me to let him play. Three days later, the bassist and the drummer get on our band's message board on the website and quit. On the MESSAGE BOARD. Turns out they got together with the guitarist to start their own metal band.
 
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