Am I being a jerk if...

sounds perfectly resonable to me.

 

If their using most your stuff than hell no man. I throw a lot of LAN parties here and my mom buys like $100 worth of food/drinks everytime we have one and so I asked everyone to bring like $5 or so from now on to help pay for it...and when it is at other people house's, we bring money to give them for it. Totally reasonable and they should be thankful that your letting them have it there.

 

Go for it. Chances are good they'd have to pay to rehearse anywhere else.

 

Where I come from it's standard practise to pay for rehearsal spaces, even if you're not gigging. I'd say you have all the right to demand payment.

 

I disagree...I think they should be bringing drinks or something along those lines, but charging them is over the line IMO. How much electricity are you really using? That's really really cheap. And water? Are you guys taking baths or something?

As far as equipment, it's cool that you have it, but you can't expect to charge people for something you decided to purchase. You didn't have to buy it I assume. The guitarist borrowed your guitar, but did that really cost you anything? Sounds more like a favor to me.

And rehearsal space...I don't get this. I wish we had rehearsals at my place (we can't since I live in an apt.) What a convenience to not have to lug your gear in and out of your car and drive somewhere to rehearse. Maybe they should be charging you for gas! Sure it's great that you have a place to rehearse, but that doesn't change the fact that it's not really a cost to you. Or is it? I can't see how by your post at least.

 

I think this is the bigger issue here

 

I agree...it's not so much a matter of should you be charging them, as should you even stay with them. If you were gigging you could take a bigger cut of the gig money or work out some other deal. But this band sounds like it's going nowhere.

I also think it's unfair to ask them to pay for rehearsal space after the fact. The time to do that would have been when you were considering getting the house or apt., not after. It's not their fault you bought the house, you never consulted them in the decision originally.

What I think is fair is if you were to tell them you don't want to rehearse at your house anymore for X, Y, and Z reasons, and then find another rehearsal space that you all pay for equally.

 

You are being a reasonable person, that's all. But the best people to talk to about it is your friends. Just lay it out in front of them and say that you ain't nobody's mama to be cleaning their dipers or what not. The thing is, it's a two-way street, you provide space, equipment, utilities and they should come in at least with something to cover up for that. If they are good friends, they'll dig it, if not, you don't the ignorant bastards at your house in the first place. As for the rehearsing and not performing, it might be something that brought the whole thing to your attention, lack of progress maybe is pushing on your toes. So why not find somewhere to perform, say, once a month, just so you guys can get it off your chest. That can give you motivation and solve the problem, because then you will be going towards something. Good luck, man.

 

I agree the real issue is the band is not ready to gig. Unless you are doing all originals and inventing a totally new style of music a year is more than enough to get out of the basement. If the guitar player needed to borrow my guitar the air raid sirens would be going off in my head!

Charging for the practice space is just gonna cause trouble. I wouldn't do it personally, but I also wouldn't hesitate to move to smaller digs if it was going to save me rent money...and let the chips fall where they may as far as the rehearsal space.

 

Our guitarist built a practice room behind his house. We used to pay for rehearsal space. I still throw him a 20 now and then to help cover costs. Electricity, water and cleaning supplies can get expensive over the long term.

 

Yes, agreed.

Noooo! If they all refuse, I say you shouldn't have too much trouble finding a new crew who will appreciate the heck out of having all of the amenities you bring to the table.

Man, the setup you've got is more valuable than a bunch of no-gigging so-and-so's - you can find those just about anywhere...



Seriously, not to value "things" over people - but it sounds like you're getting taken advantage of, somewhat, and not getting to get out and gig like you want to...

 

Yeah I hate when some mofos can't get it right in their small heads that nobody was brought to this life to be running doing sh*t for them. Miles Davis said in his book, that the best way to deal with these people is to tell it straight forward and in a timely manner (the sooner the better) to F*CK OFF!!! Good luck man, just take it easy and find some cats who dig what you're doing.