Have you ever been kicked out for not playing a certain style and then....

[fullrangebass]

Hi fellow TBers. Here is a little story that happened recently.

For a very short period of time, I was in a band that had many inter-personal stresses and nobody was really getting along with the rest of the bandmembers. I was the one to point out the bad level of musicianship of certain members, by recording 3 consequitive rehearsals, coming up with 6hrs of recorded material. The band members that had the bad performance and exucution were the people who were music-school trained musicians and made a living as musicians: the lead singer (singing out of tune and in the wrong key for his voice), one guitar player (always out of tune, very loud and placing the fills and solos out of time) and the keyboard player (a violin player that the lead singer brought along, who could not save his life if a transposition or a fill was needed).

When I gave all the band members the cd's and asked them to listen, noone but the drummer and the 2nd guitar player made the effort to listen. When in the next rehearsal I asked for a break to discuss what they heard, the lead singer said that all were OK in the cd and the rest were put off by the singer and were urged not to listen. When I told him that he was out of tune and singing in the wrong key for his voice (I am not deaf or stupid) he told me "I am not off-key or out of tune. I am trying different lines"!!!! . The rest of the guys made no comments and only the drummer (a trained vocalist with national appearances as a classical singer) stood up and said the very same things. The lead singer said that I had no Heavy Metal attitude in my basslines, so I was not fit to play Metal (this was a cover band with material rnging from pop to metal).

Next thing we hear (the drummer and myself) is that we got replaced without any communication or explanation. The week after the drummer and I form a new band, and I get a call from a friend to let me know that he passed my name to a band and they wanted to audition me for the bass player's chair. It happens that this band has a history of 20+yrs (with cd's and many live apearances) and have supported Iron Maiden and Dokken to name a few (it means they play HEAVY METAL).

At the end of my audition they asked me to join the band as a member and bass player!!!! Bass player for a Heavy Metal band after I was rejected from my former band for not playing metal? . Anyway we are rehearsing for the next cd and probably will hit the studio in the summer.

Then I go and find the lead singer (who had a gig with the rest of the band members and our replacements) and thanked him for firing me because I was not able to play Metal!!!! His answer???
"I never fired you". He is true, in the sense he did not even have the guts to do it. He just replaced the two members who spoke their minds.

Has something similar happened to you?

[Pilgrim]

Without meaning to be negative toward you, it sounds like you became a pain to your former band and they simply decided you weren't going to work out. I suspect they saw you as a busybody and a know-it-all...which you probably are not. However, knowing the pressures that you describe, what did you really expect to happen?? All you did was make the inevitable happen faster.

But you landed on your feet, so just look forward and don't complain.

[BullHorn]

This is awesome.

Awesome.

[fullrangebass]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

Without meaning to be negative toward you, it sounds like you became a pain to your former band and they simply decided you weren't going to work out. I suspect they saw you as a busybody and a know-it-all...which you probably are not. However, knowing the pressures that you describe, what did you really expect to happen?? All you did was make the inevitable happen faster.

But you landed on your feet, so just look forward and don't complain.

I was very quite and polite and did not raise any issue until I gave them the audio facts to listen. In fact, the singer thought that we'd start gigging in 2 weeks from the day the issue was raised. And the rest of the guys, when I asked them seperately after the incident, they said they were just there for the money that would start coming from gigging, but noone had the sense of being friends in the band; just go there, execute (poorly) and then go home. I like that band members go out for a beer afterwards and be honest. The lead singer was the know-it-all-guy and command everything in the band (all but the real problems). I told him that we need more rehearsals if we were to go out and perform for people. Then I got the boot!!!

And sure I'm not complaining!!! I am super lucky

[NickyBass]

Originally Posted by Pilgrim

Without meaning to be negative toward you, it sounds like you became a pain to your former band and they simply decided you weren't going to work out. I suspect they saw you as a busybody and a know-it-all...which you probably are not. However, knowing the pressures that you describe, what did you really expect to happen?? All you did was make the inevitable happen faster.

But you landed on your feet, so just look forward and don't complain.

I disagree. He was just trying to better the band. It isn't easy to raise these concerns...It takes a brave soul to bring up issues that everyone else seemed to be ignoring. In the end, it is always best to speak your mind if something is bothering you...Even if that means that you will be replaced.

It seems that you're better off without them. Who wants to play in a band with a singer who can't sing?? Who wants to play in a band where everyone else looks the other way until payday??

[manicbassman]

so let me get this right... you deserted your drummer and jumped ship from the band you and he had set up

so how's he feeling?

has he found anything else yet?

[LyonsBass]

Best story ever!

I bet you the vocalist would be annoyed now

Best of luck mate

[fullrangebass]

Thanks LyonsBass.

And to clear something, I keep on playing with the new band we formed with the drummer (I'd never dump friends to play a better gig; I'm totally against that). But the new band is a different league!!! When I called the drummer to tell him that I was going to audition, he told me to go ahead and do it. It's nice to have support from talented people who can see your abilities too.

The vocalist is really annoyed, but he has no guts to admit his bad judgement and choice (which turned out perfect for me)

[invader3k]

I think the most irritating thing would be when he couldn't even admit they had kicked you out. It would be like walking into the office you work at on a Monday morning, finding all your stuff in a box with someone new sitting at your desk, and then having your boss say "Oh, we didn't fire you..."

[s1l3nc3r]

Man thats pretty sweet and its cool also that you didnt totally ditch the drummer thatll get you somewhere in life, and best of luck to you! Also, if you become super famous dont forget about all your friends at TB.com