Do you guys ever get burned out on band members?

DustinAR · March 08, 2011, 04:19:38 PM

Dude, seriously. It sounds like you need to cut those mother fuckers loose. Looks like they're not doing anything but slowing you down.

Trust me, I've been there. Its all about continuing to network and jam with different people until you assemble the right group of guys. If you're having to foot the bill on equipment, jam space, rides, etc etc then you don't need em. I've had about a million failed attempts at bands over the years and every once in a great while, you'll find the right folks. I've also learned not to take that granted if you've found those right people, because when they're not around and you have to deal with dimwits that don't want to do anything but talk a game then you'll realize to keep a good thing going as long as you can.

Even when you think you've got a good group musically, they can still suck in all other aspects. I was in this band for a couple of years that was honestly talented as fuck, and we got offered some really good things (esp lots of awesome out of town shows with goods bands within our genre) and ended up not being about to do 85% of the shit because of people in the band that couldn't get their personal shit together. Our last show wasn't even a local show, we played an out of town show at this mini-festival in St. Louis. This is a city 6 hours away from where me and the singer lived by the way, and around 4 1/2 from where they lived(long distance band- 2 members from little rock, ar 2 members from memphis, tn - 2 hours away). Our drummer calls me the day of the show and tells me he has to work until 2:00 (when he'd known about the show for a good two months), and they'd leave as soon as he got off. The fest started early and the day and luckily the girl that booked us put us next to last on the lineup. The singer and I drove all the way from Little Rock to St. Louis, while the guitarist and drummer left Memphis after he got off work. We were there most of the day, and I shit you not, they pulled into the parking lot as the band right before us was tearing down(around 10:00-10:30 or so). Waayyy later than they should've been even if they left an hour after he got off work. Talk about a nervous wreck, the singer and I were furious. Luckily we played the show and it all went well but I seriously was about to lose my shit. We quit talking after that and just quit playing shows, even though we were gaining a decent following in the regional area. Completely frustrating. That's just one of many, but that's the one that burned my ass the most.

Metal and Beer · March 08, 2011, 05:33:21 PM

Here's my criteria and the standard I try to adhere to, and expect from others: Don't Be A Dick. It really is that simple. If you can't keep your gear in working order but you're buying shots and grams, you're being a dick. If you're hours late every time, you're being a dick. If you're 30 minutes late, you're NOT being a dick. If you miss a practice occasionally because your ol' lady's dad is dying, you're NOT being a dick. If you don't move your gear fast enough at a show because you're finally talking up with a girl you've liked for months, I'm gonna let you fly your flag and I'll happily get your cabs/drums off the stage because I'm your brother. If you pull that more than one or twice or worse habitually, you're straight up being a dick and I'll fucking squawk. Singers who've never played an instrument and never carry anything, well, you were probably born a dick LOL j/k. Kind of.

Lumps, when writing songs I'm the "let's rip through it and let the feeling/vibe dictate how many times a riff goes before changing" guy. I never considered it an act of passive-aggression, but more like pushing for songs to never feel "forced" or something. Just a point on your point, sir. Can't have a riff lose impact from being too short or too long !

tl;dr....bottom line is just have a minimum standard of expectations and let all else go.

VOLVO))) · March 08, 2011, 06:20:04 PM

Is it possible to have a double boner? Jo AND a USA MKII ironbird with white binding and a 2n2 rosewood headstock? Bursting pants...

Discö Rice · March 08, 2011, 06:20:31 PM

I like the open jam thing, but I also like recording and listening back to it to see what I might be able to add/subtract, listen for too much or too little repetition, maybe fuck with the recording and flip the sound wave to hear the chord progression backwards, move the riffs around, etc. I dunno. That stuff's exciting to me.

Discö Rice · March 08, 2011, 06:21:07 PM

Quote from: SunnO))) on March 08, 2011, 06:20:04 PM
Is it possible to have a double boner? Jo AND a USA MKII ironbird with white binding and a 2n2 rosewood headstock? Bursting pants...

Did you post that in the right thread?

Edit: Whoops. I guess you did. Tell me more about this "boner".

DustinAR · March 08, 2011, 09:11:58 PM

Quote from: Discö Rice on March 08, 2011, 06:20:31 PM
I like the open jam thing, but I also like recording and listening back to it to see what I might be able to add/subtract, listen for too much or too little repetition, maybe fuck with the recording and flip the sound wave to hear the chord progression backwards, move the riffs around, etc. I dunno. That stuff's exciting to me.

That's the way things have been going in both of my bands (Dave is in one of them) and its worked out exceptionally well. Someone will come back the next week after listening to the recording and suggest we switch riffs around or play something a little longer or whatever and it works out for the better 9 times out of 10. Good way to work since technology allows you to do so in an easier way nowadays.

mawso · March 08, 2011, 09:33:23 PM

Quote from: Metal Dave on March 08, 2011, 05:33:21 PM
Here's my criteria and the standard I try to adhere to, and expect from others: Don't Be A Dick. It really is that simple. If you can't keep your gear in working order but you're buying shots and grams, you're being a dick. If you're hours late every time, you're being a dick. If you're 30 minutes late, you're NOT being a dick. If you miss a practice occasionally because your ol' lady's dad is dying, you're NOT being a dick. If you don't move your gear fast enough at a show because you're finally talking up with a girl you've liked for months, I'm gonna let you fly your flag and I'll happily get your cabs/drums off the stage because I'm your brother. If you pull that more than one or twice or worse habitually, you're straight up being a dick and I'll fucking squawk. Singers who've never played an instrument and never carry anything, well, you were probably born a dick LOL j/k. Kind of.

man.. this is good enough to get tattooed.

EddieMullet · March 08, 2011, 09:39:42 PM

It's almost always the non instrument playing singers that do it especially the ones that don't own any gear and bitch constantly about whatever they are provided with at a gig or practice that I get burned out on they'll talk for days on how great things are going to be and how wonderful this band is going to be, but can't even be arsed to pick up a used SM 58 when the mic (that they didn't own in the first place broke) but they got money for booze, smokes and everything else. Hey I just blew 350 bucks on coke, but now I'll bitch about how I can't afford a P.A.

Trying to do a trio, bass player and me both making pretty sorry attempts at vocals, but no more non playing singers.

rayinreverse · March 08, 2011, 10:36:22 PM

i feel really lucky to jam with the dudes I play with.
we dont practice a lot, but no one gets butt hurt about it.

Pissy · March 09, 2011, 07:53:08 AM

Quote from: rayinreverse on March 08, 2011, 10:36:22 PM
i feel really lucky to jam with the dudes I play with.
we dont practice a lot, but no one gets butt hurt about it.

I'm in the same boat. our time constraints are pretty hefty and we consider it a gift to be able to play at all. I suppose this means that when the opportunity to jam arises, we all do what we can to make it happen. Because we all want it to. You can't fix the desire issue with others. They either want to play or not.

I believe that this issue is why there are so many duo's out now. Less people to keep on track.

VOLVO))) · March 09, 2011, 12:56:36 PM

I'm headed in that direction, my buddy is a really good bass player, and a really good guy... he wants to do a duo. I'm thinking about dumping everyone else and just doing that.

zachoff · March 19, 2011, 02:22:45 AM

Quote from: Hemisaurus on March 08, 2011, 03:22:55 PM
Sorry, misread the topic, I thought you were looking for people who were turned on by their band members

Now if only I could be in Bolt Thrower

Oh, Bolt Thrower. I got In Battle There is No Law when I was 14 or 15 and listened to it purely to piss my parents off. I don't really think I even liked it. Now I actually like most of what Bolt Thrower has done but still don't really like that album. Plus I think if I wanted to piss off my parents now I'd go buy a car I couldn't afford or something.

To the topic at hand... If you're bummed on them you can either tell them in hopes they'll change (which they probably won't) or find other folks to make music with. You only live once, man. No need to spend your time doing something you're not happy with. I figure if people are really into making music they'll have the tools to do so and if their tools are insufficient (heh heh) then they'll invest in ones that are. You shouldn't have to supply rigs for people that are only in it to tell girls they're in a band. That's silly talk.

hayseed · March 19, 2011, 02:07:03 PM

I get burned out trying FIND band members!!! Where are all of the damn drummers around here?!?!

Christ i am playing bass now because there are NO bass players to be heard of. I don't mind though...its nice to be the low man on the totem pole sometimes.

All i know is that i will never put myself in a position again where one member of the band has a choke hold on creativity, progress and over all enjoyment of playing. I got into this lifestyle for fun (and chicks....they have yet to show up) and it is mind numbing to force yourself to trudge on with shitty band mates.

DavoTron · March 19, 2011, 08:21:14 PM

Oh man some band members are the worst.

Someone was saying about knowing about a show for two months in advance but had to be at work.. I had a show booked for my birthday, was gonna be a bit of a shindig, we were putting it on ourselves and shit, and I see the bassist a couple of weeks before, and remind him about it. He says "oh.. I'm gonna be on holiday". His girlfriend dumped him and he "needed to get away".... uggghhh.

I play with a singer / songwriter fella who has a sort of revolving door system of musicians, which is ok for him as he writes and records all his own stuff and is more than happy to play by himself, but it's a better show with more people and it's just trying to pool together people.

I'm sort of half in another band with no bassist at the moment, but that's sort of going down the pan... i'm the only one to organise practices, the singer never writes lyrics, the one gig we had I was the only one talking to the crowd.

So that band took a back seat and now my main band is the one that everyone puts the effort in for and we've been going all over the places for gigs. I think that if you are all pulling together as a band you could be great... now if people stopped playing over you when you're trying to talk, you could be unstoppable

beerrhino · March 26, 2011, 12:10:37 AM

I used to play with this guy who would regularly cancel about an hour before rehearsal. We didn't have a warehouse, we paid for a rehearsal studio ($40 for a minimum of 4 hours). I would pull up (coming straight from work) and the drummer would say "dude, ____ just sent me a message, he can't make it because <insert lame excuse here>. If he gave some notice we could have cancelled the studio and saved some cash but instead the drummer and I had to foot the whole bill. I know $20 each isn't much but when it continuously happens it really pisses you off.
When he did show up he looked bored out of his mind, and constantly forgot his parts--especially on riffs he wrote. He also had NO sense of timing or rhythm, he had to follow me or the drummer. He wouldn't remember the names of the songs so he'd say "hey, let's play this..." and he would play part of a riff but his phrasing would be so screwed up me and the drummer would be like "what the fuck was that?"
When we had a gig he wanted to play as few songs as possible. We always planned on 5 songs, around 30-35 minutes, but he always argued for less--like 2 or 3. I think if we just showed up at a gig, set up, broke down and went home without playing a note he would be ecstatic. Eventually he got to the point where after the third song he would say " my hand hurts too much to keep going, lets skip to the last song"
Sad thing is, he's one of the GOOD ones in my area