Band Woes

[billjv]

Hi all,

 

Just came from a rehearsal. Our bass player stormed out, the gig is Saturday. We've had a hard time keeping bass players, and he supposedly came in to do the band leader a "favor". He has been at five or six rehearsals, and been miserable every time, ranging from just being quiet to showing out-and-out disdain for even having to be there. Never smiling, never enjoying playing the music, never making eye contact with other players, just making everyone else tense. Every time. Now he's gone, and tho it's a good thing overall, I can't help but feel like we've been victimized, the rest of us in the group. We didn't deserve this, not with a gig on Saturday. Ugh.

 

I was his lightning rod tonite, as well - he left during a discussion about a unison part for guitar and bass, a part that he couldn't just "fake" as you can with soooo many of the standard rock tunes we do, and I asked to hear the bass and guitar together to hear what was not working. Wrong thing to do, I guess. He had been waiting for an excuse to say ***k this band every since he got "roped" into doing it. He finally got it tonite. Nobody else really blamed me for what happened, but I'm sure I'm the evil one in his mind, I was the one who called him to the carpet on knowing his part. I still feel bad it happened, but I don't think I really was the cause. This was just an unhappy person to begin with.

 

I'm sorry to be rambling, but I just figured there would be some of you out there who can relate, maybe even have some stories that would generate some laughs around band fights and the like. I'm sure we've all had 'em at various times.

 

bv

[coyote]

I can't help but feel something's missing from the picture you've painted. Why do you suppose the band cannot keep a bass player? And what was the tune you had the unison problem with?

[Rod S]

It baffles me why people play music and have such a negative attitute towards it. Why the hell do it?

 

But it was a bit of musician's attitudes that led me to turn my idea of a band into the current duet I'm in. The guitar player has no responsibility with time commitments, and the bass player would show up with a chord chart that was just scribbles in a piece of paper - and without practicing 1st. The drummer is a cool guy who's actually really busy - in a way I think it was a bit of a relief for him - he's probably better off focusing on his other 2 project The singer and I said screw it, let's give it a shot doing something 'acoustic'

 

I used to do a lot of 'fight management' in a previous band between the two guitar players. Too high on themselves, one of them in particular. They just had to be playing all the time, at full volume. Things improved a bit after we lost the bass player and they had to alternate playing bass...

 

I think the band setting is sort of a brewing ground for personal problems, and there's ways to handle. But when one member's behaviour specifically starts creating a lot of problems, it's their responsibility to sort their issues or get the hell out.

[Markyboard]

Sometimes my right hand doesn't get along with my left hand. Neither one will accept responsibility. Oh well... at least they both show up.

[Rod S]

Well, my voice doesn't get along with my hands. Either I play piano or I sing. If I sing well, my piano chops go to hell. If I try to focus on piano, my voice goes out of tune.

 

I'm trying to set up a date so they can get better acquainted and start getting along.

[billjv]

Hi Coyote,

 

The song in question was Pat Benetar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" - not a difficult song by any stretch, but there is this riff during the last verse leading up to the last chorus (although not sure if it's really unison exactly, just distinctive for both parts) that showcases the bass and guitar. Not a big deal, but because they weren't together, it was falling apart there. The song wasn't the issue, really. Nor the part. Five minutes of working out the part and listening to the CD would have taken care of it. He is a good player. He just didn't want to make the effort to get the part right.

 

As for keeping bass players, we've just had a general lack of commitment. It's always been "I'll play for you til you find someone else". Nashville is full of players, but most don't want to commit to a band. Alot of players won't commit due to constantly looking for the BBD. Just the nature of this town, in some ways. This is really the first time we've lost someone due to a "conflict", and there really wasn't a conflict - we were all just discussing the section in question, when he started unplugging his gear and mumbling about wishing he'd sold his equipment years ago, this is why he didn't play in bands anymore, etc... and stormed out. Everyone else was in shock. It wasn't like there was shouting or everyone getting mad. We were just trying to get the part right, it surprised everyone (although not too much, given his attitude in general over the rehearsals he'd been to). There was just stunned silence as he huffed out carrying his gear. About as mature as your average 6-year old was the general consensus.

 

bv

[lrossmusic]

I'm sorry to be rambling, but I just figured there would be some of you out there who can relate, maybe even have some stories that would generate some laughs around band fights and the like. I'm sure we've all had 'em at various times.

Thanks for reminding me of what led me to pursue work as a single. I still do some freelance work with bands from time to time but the bulk of my gigs are singles now. Making the switch wasn't all that easy because my primary instrument is trombone. Now I really wish I had buckled down in those piano classes I was required to take years ago. OTOH when I do my trombone gigs all I have to carry is a horn and maybe a stand sometimes. Oh well love the life you live.

[marino]

I have dozens of stories... But before, something that billjv's post made me notice:

A LOT of the bass players I've known have some kind of quirk in their relations with others. Not all of them - but an awful lot of them. Go figure.

 

Case in point: My own group, Syntaxis. I write complex music, and the parts are a bit virtuosistic... Well, we've already changed four bass players, and not for musical reasons. The first one played very well, but had such a negative attitude toward everything, I let him go after one year. The second was an excellent musician too, but had a drinking problem which totally spoiled his playing sometimes. Fired.

The next one held his place for most of the group's life, but he also had a lot of problems with the band's discipline: He used to show 45 minutes late at reharsals, cancel reharsals at the last minute, didn't show in time for soundchecks... You know the moral. Bass players, what's up with you?

 

(I'm now about to resurrect the group with still another guy... God help me... )

 

Some other funny episodes:

 

I once played with a sax player, who thought it was his duty to make my life difficult, for reasons I won't go in here. I was the arranger and keyboardist, and he constantly told me that he didn't like my arrangements... He was replaced.

 

When touring Japan, I got so pissed with our manager once, I played a keyboard solo by holding a note, and going crazy on the pitch wheel. Everybody looked at me, and the bassist asked, "Is it broken"?

 

A very nervous singer kept saying I was playing wrong chords. When I played the very same chords again, only in a softer way, she said the chords were right...

 

I played for an year with this male singer from New York who used to fight the audience. He teased the crowd, then he fighted them - That's how got the energy he needed. After a while, I got enough and left.

 

And on and on...

[Jeff Irok]

Ive encountered a lot of different personalities in bands before, but I dont think Ive encountered one like this bass player youre talking about someone who just doesnt want to be there. Mostly everyone Ive played with wanted to playbut that doesnt mean that there werent problems. People stuck on themselves, not agreeing which way to go about things, different levels of commitment, etc. cause all sorts of different problems. Other than the musicians stuck on themselves problems, I think most other problems can be dealt with non-confrontationally. But that also depends on the personalities involved. Plus its a learning process. Performing is a personal thing, regardless of how many people someone is performing with. A musician often sees the bands performance as an extension of himself. If the band plays poorly, the individual may get angry at the weak link (or the whole band). If the band disagrees with a member on the arrangement of a song, the individual might view the disagreement as a challenge and become argumentative. A simple disagreement on how many repetitions are played in a certain part can cause huge fights.

 

I havent been in any bands where personalities clashed continually, but the bands Ive been in have had their share of problems; more so in my earlier years. Ive taught myself to be more flexible and compromising so that I can minimize any problems that I might have otherwise caused, and although I cant control the actions & opinions of others, Ive learned that quite often the way an individual approaches something often dictates, or at least influences, the reaction of others. (Ive used this to my advantage and as a result have a lot more influence than the other members might realize! http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/devil/diablotin.gif)

 

This final incident that caused the bassist to leave may have been unavoidable. But you seem to feel guilty that you were the catalyst. If the other guys dont blame you for what happened, then dont let it bother you.

[zeronyne]

I was in a now-famous industrial band way before they got famous, and we were looking for a touring drummer. The ad said in effect "You can play what's been recorded or you can come up with your own parts. You can play all the parts yourself, or you can play selective parts and let the sequencer do the rest. All we ask is that you are comfortable with playing drums, can play to a click, and show up on time."

 

The first two drummers who responded to this ad told me that it seemed a bit "restrictive", and he didn't want to be "boxed in". When the third guy showed up at the audition without any equipment, we decided to hold off for a while, amazed at the lack of passion and dedication among the drummers we met at the time.

[Superbobus]

Addix "bass isn't just for breakfast anymore", where are you?

What's up with bass players? Probably they know that bands will need 'em anyway, so they do this funny stuff... Sorry, just being a little sarcastic. There are also committed ones.

[sudeep]

Originally posted by Superbobus:

Addix "bass isn't just for breakfast anymore", where are you?

What's up with bass players? Probably they know that bands will need 'em anyway, so they do this funny stuff... Sorry, just being a little sarcastic. There are also committed ones.

i have had a similar problem with bass guitarists as well (more just being a bit lazy than anything else)...do you think it is fair to say that in straight rock/pop music...that the bass guitarist more than any other instrument can get away with not preparing parts and listening to the songs before a rehearsal? I remember playing with an aweseome bass guitarist who never really bothered to listen to the stuff before rehearsals...but could pretty much get away it with..you only really noticed it when it came to a song which had a distinctive bass riff ie. Are you gonna go my way (before the guitar solo)

 

hope i havent offended anyone by suggesting this.

[David Loving]

The bass player we had before the present one showed all the symptoms: being late, hard to get ahold of, missing rehearsals, etc. We just assumed he had other things going on with him and couldn't commit the time so we had a visit with him and parted ways. The only other problem we ever had was a percussionist who just out of nowhere stormed out of a rehearsal madder than hell. Turned out later his medicine hadn't been dialled in right. But he never came back after he was released from the hospital. A lotta times it's better to have a cool, solid, good player who's also a good guy, than some wild a$$ virtuoso bass soloist. Just my 2 cents...