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Auditions, how do you detect the drunks/drug addicts?

#61
rmkesler said:
There are a lot of flakes out there and we musicians are some of the flakiest. :D Sad thing is there are a ton of guys out there in bands just to have something to do and use it as an excuse to get away from their old ladies so they can get drunk, stoned, etc. Makes it tough for us guys that take music seriously to find a group of like minded individuals.
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That is the exact mentality I am running in to. At last nights audition the one guitarist basically said the same thing, that practice was his time to drink and get away from home. The band I am leaving is the same way but worse, they drink/drugs every day, not just making practices into parties.
 
#63
I've been with the same woman for 11 years and band practice is my time out of the house too. But I don't use it as an excuse to drink and pop pills. I drink at home right in front of her when I feel like drinking. I only drink once every few months so she doesn't care. I also never get to the point of puking, breaking things up and starting fights. I get a little silly and go to sleep when I feel tired. Our singer (if you can really call him that) has gotten so drunk on more than one occasion that he got lost going home from practice, a place he has been to hundreds of times and its only two turns and you are on the highway heading home. Our lead guitarist has already been arrested for domestic violence from being too drunk/drugged up and fighting with his wife, his own sister had to call the police to stop the fight which pool balls where being thrown at each other among other things.
 
#64
Most of the bands I've played in started with some sort of email contact....whether it was the band responding to one of my ads or vice versa. When describing what I'm looking for to someone I don't know, I always include something like this (taken from the last email I sent to a potential new band):

What I'm looking for: a gigging rock band that knows what they're doing and has fun doing it....thats pretty much it. I'm about as easy-going a person as you'll ever meet and when I commit to something, I commit all the way. I don't flake, I don't miss practices and I don't have any substance issues. I don't have anything against having a good time but I'm also not looking for a band that gets hammered before or during a gig/rehearsal.....afterwards is fine but I've been there/done that with bands that knock back 4 pitchers before the first set and I'm looking to avoid that sort of situation again.
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I want the band to know up front how I feel about the issue. The "getting wasted" issue is an absolute deal-breaker for me and its something I never have any hesitation talking about during the first contact with musicians I don't know.
 
#66
wetpowder said:
I guess Colbain or Marley wouldn't get to gig with you, eh?
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If you're talking to me....you'd be exactly right. I'm not a person who lives with an "ends justify the means" philosphy. I've played in plenty of bands with drunks and addicts. I've had a wasted guitar player stumble into my rig, knocking the whole thing over (which destroyed my head), I've had a wasted singer spill his beer on my pedal board, I've had to deal with addicts not showing for gigs and even worse, showing up and then walking off stage. I've been doing this for a while now and I'm no longer looking to mollycoddle addicts for the sake of the band. There are plenty of ridiculously talented people out there who don't need to be wasted to perform and I make no apologies for seeking those people out.
 
#67
wetpowder said:
I guess Colbain or Marley wouldn't get to gig with you, eh?
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can't gig with dead people. I quite honestly don't care if you are the best musician in the world, if you are a drunk or heavy drug user I don't want to be in a band with you. I've had substance abuse issues in my distant past and just don't want to be around it. It is far too easy for someone with a past history of drug abuse to slip back into it when put into that environment. I learned my lesson a long time ago and I refuse to let it happen again.
 
#68
A Strohman said:
If you're talking to me....you'd be exactly right. I'm not a person who lives with an "ends justify the means" philosphy. I've played in plenty of bands with drunks and addicts. I've had a wasted guitar player stumble into my rig, knocking the whole thing over (which destroyed my head), I've had a wasted singer spill his beer on my pedal board, I've had to deal with addicts not showing for gigs and even worse, showing up and then walking off stage. I've been doing this for a while now and I'm no longer looking to mollycoddle addicts for the sake of the band. There are plenty of ridiculously talented people out there who don't need to be wasted to perform and I make no apologies for seeking those people out.
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Exactly my thinking. It may take a little longer to find these people as the bands that seem to need people are the ones with the most issues.
 

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