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advice how to deal with an unreliable singer?

L

Lawlzfitzgerald

Jul 7, 2008
13
0
#1
alright. so our singer's voice is pretty much amazing.
however, he avoids band practices as much as possible.

we were going to play a party tonight. and he told us he was going to goto a going away party for a cousin leaving for the army.

but then we find out he was going to a friend of the guitarist's house for a sleepover,

he also usually avoids us as much as possible. unless
a. we cover a song he likes (which wont matter because we're writing into original songs now. and im sick of learning punk-pop songs)

b. we have some sorta thing to play. an event that HE wants to play (which is basically nothing)

and get this, the guitarist and i show up at the mcdonalds he works at for some food. some friends we have there tell us he skips work too.probably to be with friends or his girlfriend or something..



alright do you guys have any advice on how we should deal with him? if he leaves or we vote him out, the whole band is screwed. good vocalists are few and far between over here. :crying:

but we dont wanna be kissing his a** either.
and we dont know if hes just going through a phase or being irresponsible/immature or something.
we're still in high-school so ive seen my fair share of this.


have you guys gone through this?
i find other bassists much better at sorting out problems than talking to my guitarist friends. :D
 
#2
You're still in high school. Your band is probably going to end up breaking apart when everyone graduates. Tell him "You don't seem commited enough to this band, we need someone more reliable," and let him go. A mediocre but reliable singer is going to be better for you than a great vocalist but total flake like this guy seems to be.
 
#7
Let's see...

> He avoids practice
> He lies to you
> He avoids being with you
> He only wants to do songs he likes and gigs he wants to do
> And he blows off work

Man, this a no brainer to me. Start playing more instrumentals and don't call him anymore. Keep your eyes open for another vocalist. I get the feeling, from his stand point, he's not part of your band anyways
 
#8
The answer is obvious. And honestly, as you are all in high school yet the odds of you playing long after graduation are slim. Mediocre talent combined with responsibility and a good attitude is far superior to a great voice attached to a jerk.
 
#13
If you want to keep the band moving, work on finding someone better BEFORE you can him.
Click to expand...

yeah i like that.
its still going to be hard. because this guy is still good friends of ours. and close friends with the guitarist.

and just because we're in high school doesnt mean we're fated to fail before we graduate.
we're all close friends. we dont care about being famous or anything, we just wanna make music for people.

besides, most of the big local bands are still in highschool.


i like what invader3k said though. none of us can really sing. good enough to do back-up vocals. maybe scream.


i was talking to our drummer after the party yesterday, and he said the lead singers skipped practices before.

idk if we just need a noteworthy gig to get his attention.

because all we were really doing is just playing a party for the guitarist's older sister, and it was meant to be a practice session anyways but it turned into that.

but i like the input you guys have given so far. ill tell them we should try singing, if the vocalist continues to skip he'll just get gradually edged out.

he started the band, and was basically our frontman.
we also noticed that everytime he "went emo" he became serious with the band?

this guy is a weirdo
 
#16
Look for someone else but still let him practise with you as much as possible until you find the other singer.


Or infact musically make progress without the singer. You'll have a great time having no singer distraction just learning how to bind together musically. Then when that goes well find the RIGHT singer.


I've learned something, I'm too impatient to deal with BS and unreliabilty. i rather deal with a constructive serious band filled that may not have the greatest musicians then superb musicians who aren't serious, that way you grow more.
 
#17
invader3k said:
Band matters are best handled professionally...and in private. It won't do any good to try and ruin the guy's reputation or something. Chances are, he's already done that himself, or soon will in the future if he keeps up his behavior.
Click to expand...


How you handle it will affect YOUR reputations. If you're not ready to fire him, try jamming with some other vocalists, maybe something will fit. If or when you do part company be honest with him but don't get into a shouting match / **** you dialog. If you handle it well there should be nothing worse then a few ruffled feathers, and your band will get a reputation of operating professionally. Member changes, whether by quitting or firing is a part of the business. Handle it well and you'll be able to attract more reliable musicians. Our guitarist gave his notice early this summer. He agreed to cover the gigs we had lined up for the summer and was willing to let us use rehearsal time to audition and then practice with a new guitarist so that we could continue as seamlessly as possible. A great example of professionalism and we'll part on the best of terms. We play our last 2 gigs with him this coming weekend. We play our first gig with the new guitarist the end of August (luckily a relatively short gig)

Good luck with all of this
 
#18
If the singer is skipping work and other commitments, lying to you about his activities, and avoids you as much as possible, then he's not really your friend. Friends don't do those things to each other.

He has some serious issues underlying his behavior that go way beyond the band. What you'll learn over time is that people don't change.

As far as your band not breaking up, IMO/IME you really don't have a band because you really don't have a singer. What you have is some guy who shows up once in awhile and (while doing an excellent job) likes the attention. Maybe he's has ADD or some other learning disability. Either way, you need to move on and develop your own singing skills or find someone else or both.
 
#19
Amazing singer, works at mcdonalds, in high school, never shows up to band practice? Really, an amazing singer? Doubt it. Get some perspective. Is your idea of amazing sounding vaugely like a a crappy cover of a band that has an equally crappy singer?

Though, I can relate. When I was fifteen. We had the same dilema with a guitar player who we thought, "was amazing." He was only, "amazing," to us because of our lack of perspective at the time.

If you don't want to waste your time, learn to write and sing your own songs. that way if your band breaks up, all you have to do is replace other players, not worry about rewriting a whole set list.
 

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