Another "Unreliable Drummer" Rant

Jazzin' · #1 05-22-2006, 04:56 PM

I'm not going to say the whole story, I'll just get to the point. Our drummer needs to get his priorities straight, he puts our practices on the bottom of his priority list and we can never practice because he always has something "better" to do. He's always late when he could practice and always has to leave early. He has 1001 excuses, none of them are valid. And scheduled practices always have to be rescheduled because he can no longer show.

I'm just getting sick and tired of it. He's very skilled and unique as a drummer, and he's very important to our band. He gets us most of our gigs too. But summer is coming up and if we want to get serious with our gigging, we are going to need to practice A LOT just so we are prepared. The way it's going on right now, we are practicing less and less because of him. I thought the summer break would mean we could potentially practice everyday; obviously we wouldn't do that much. But instead, we are stuck practicing bi-monthly or so with very short practices which also include lots of wasted time within each practice.

He also put himself in charge of finishing up our demo cd over a month ago, and he still hasn't finished editing/finalising our tunes. It would only take a day to do if he were to do it. Always saying "I'll do it tomorrow" whenever I ask him.

We all agree that he is slowing us down, but we can't get rid of him because of his importance. We need to somehow change him. Anyone have any ideas?

[/Rant]

DaftCat · #2 05-22-2006, 08:52 PM

Life is short. You need to ask yourself this question.
Is he worth the hassle?

Yes, carry on.
No, find another band.

Woodchuck · #3 05-22-2006, 09:00 PM

Ask yourself: If a mother chooses to breast feed a baby, but she only feeds him twice a month, is she still important?

At what point are you guys going to see that his position means nothing if he's not filling it? Before you get rid of him, first you need to get rid of this "he's so important" idea. Just my 2 Lincolns.

Jazzin' · #4 05-22-2006, 09:43 PM

Another factor is that we are all friends which I know is not a recommended band setting. It's probably going to be a bigger hassle getitng rid of him than it is to keep him. I think we're going to have to threaten him to get his priorities straight or else we will find another drummer. Then, hopefully he changes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaftCat

Life is short. You need to ask yourself this question.
Is he worth the hassle?

Yes, carry on.
No, find another band.

I wouldn't find another band, I'm happy with most of this band, the problem in this band is the drummer and not me.

agreatheight · #5 05-22-2006, 10:57 PM

I tend to think it's a bad idea to talk about someone's priorities when it comes to music - it can seems like a personal attack. It puts people on the defensive, as if they don't care about music enough, and that can lead to aggressive attitudes and friction. Oh, and threatening is never a good way to get someone to do anything.

My suggestion is up your professionalism. Set up a band meeting, discuss your important summer goals and set up rehearsal times in stone. "This is what we all want to do, this is how long it will take to prepare, this is when we will work." Then, if he doesn't make the rehearsals or is late in arriving or early to leave let him know that he isn't contributing as he committed to. If it continues to be a problem, fire him.

Good luck!

DaftCat · #6 05-23-2006, 01:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzin'

I wouldn't find another band, I'm happy with most of this band, the problem in this band is the drummer and not me.

I answered my original post like that intentionally. If the drummer is the backbone of the band and he is not carrying his weight...what are you going to do?

If he is the one wearing the pants and he can't hold them up... so you get another drummer and then who wears the pants?

Hope I am making sense.

JansenW · #7 05-23-2006, 02:07 AM

Either he has no time to play at all, or he is in another band (especially if he's very skilled). You should speak with him about it either way.

hartke20g · #8 05-23-2006, 10:58 AM

i know exactly what you mean. the same thing is going on with my band. our drummer's also really talented (mind you, he's no neil pert), but he can never make it to practices. i wanted us to be able to practice at least twice a month because we all still don't have cars (or the proper liscences to drive alone) and our parents have lives too. but apparently, nothing matters to our drummer.

maybe that's what's goin on with your drummer. (we also have a guitarist whose mom thinks he needs to be with them at all times[what can you do?] but that's a different story

). right now i'm trying to find a new band that can actually practice at least twice a month- i suggest you do something along those lines.

SOA_bassist · #9 05-23-2006, 11:02 AM

hey man there are thousands of drummers with their own unique style, same with bassists and guitarists and signers and keytar players. If one isnt willing to be there and do the work then get another one.

plenty of fish in the sea...

and they probably have big enough brains to play drums.

invader3k · #10 05-23-2006, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jazzin'

We all agree that he is slowing us down, but we can't get rid of him because of his importance. We need to somehow change him. Anyone have any ideas?

[/Rant]

No one person is bigger than the band. If he doesn't actually play with you, then he's not your drummer. He's just someone who says he's in the band. How can you be in the band if you never actually practice with the band?

You won't be able to change someone like this. Your only option is to have a band meeting, and make sure everyone is on the same page as far as goals and commitment. If the drummer refuses to go along with the group's plans, you'll have to tell him "you're a great guy, and we're still friends, but we'll have to find a drummer who's more committed to this project." Then, you and the other guys can take up finding a new drummer. Sure, you may need to do some extra work (finishing your CD, booking shows), but at least you'll actually be going somewhere!

IanStephenson · #11 05-23-2006, 01:50 PM

You'll find your answer in all of the "turning pro" threads - the great player is the one that turns up on time, has his gear set up and working without fuss, gets the job done, contributes to the music, and gets on with everyone.

Thats exactly what a great drummer does. Until those things are nailed down, all the chops in the world aint gonna make a good band, and they're certainly not going to make a happy band.

Comitment, reliability and good attitude first. Playing second.

Ian

Ed Fuqua · #12 05-23-2006, 02:36 PM

Well, from another perspective, changing another person's behaviour is next to impossible. No matter how you threaten, plead, cajole, bribe, manipulate, remove or add options; people pretty much act the way they always act.

I'm not sure what you mean when you say stuff like, "get serious with our gigging"? Or when you say "he gets most of our gigs", are you talking about 60%? 80%? Almost 100%? And percent of what, are you gigging 200 dates a year? 100? 10?

Cause I gotta say, if he's getting me 80% of 200 dates a year, things would have to be REALLY bad musically before I'd start saying NO.

What kind of music are you guys playing? Covers or originals? I know that I personally HATE to show up for a rehearsal and instead of having one, all you are doing is acting as a playalong so the tenor player can practice soloing over changes he can't be bothered to learn on his own.
If you guys are doing mostly covers AND he's the heaviest cat in the band (as you say, he is "very skilled and unique" and that he "very important to our band") AND he's the one that gets most of the gigs, then I can get with where he's coming from. You don't need me at a daily rehearsal so that YOU (or the guitar player or the keyboard player) can learn your part. LEARN the part and then let's get together and see where we need to tear it apart and really WORK. Not LEARN, WORK on tunes. The best rehearsals I've been to, you DON'T play tunes through, you stop and tear'em apart. What needs work, go over that. Play it through that section. If you need to cycle a section that is giving you difficulty cycle it. Change keys, see how that affects how it sounds.

But daily rehearsals where all you do is just blow through the same tunes, over and over? ESPECIALLY if you feel like you already are clear on what YOUR part is?

fr0me0 · #13 05-23-2006, 02:54 PM

I know what Ed is saying. I hate showing up to practice if people don't have their stuff together. Like I wanna waste my time sitting aroudn watching somsone practice a part that they should have learned on their own time. But hen agaqin if that was the case I'd be up front about it I wouldn't make excuses not to come.

Jazzin' · #14 05-23-2006, 04:46 PM

Well due to a miracle, we actually get to practice tonight. Hopefully there are more miracles coming up.