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Band Issues What Else is new!

D

Dazzare

Dec 3, 2011
47
1
#1
So in a nutshell here is my problem. The band I currently played with lost our drummer, he was a really great drummer too. We managed to play a lot of songs with heavy drums and bass to cover our guitar players "talent". Culminating into a very heavy drum and bass version of pink floyd which our crowd loved.

Now then, Flash forward to now. We have a new drummer. I CAN'T PLAY ANYTHING BUT THE ROOT NOTE(No Walks, No Arpeggios,no nice tasty little fills, 15 minute solos, none of my old slap parts, and no fun -_-) and if I do the guy thinks I'm screwing up. It really just makes me want to punch a kitten right in the baby maker while leaping off of Big Ben in London wearing a suit of nails. The thing is the Singer/Guitarist is just fine with this.... Can you guys think of anything to fix this. I can't really leave the band because this singer is the only guy around here that can actually sing and do it well. -_-

Long Story Short I have a new drummer he blows and I can't get the band leader to do **** about it.
 
#2
If this is a cover band, then maybe the drummer wants to remain faithful to the original arrangements, and sees your playing as a wild aberration, even though it may be competent technically.

If the BL isn't doing anything about it, that tells me his opinion is the same as the new drummer's.

What reasons did the old drummer give for leaving?

I smell lack of communication, with the underlying cause being either shyness or fear of confrontation. But this is just intuition. I could be way off, sorry......
 
#6
Yeah... it's time to have a sit-down and hash it out.

A bassist and a drummer don't have to be best buds (though it helps)... but if the two of you aren't seeing eye to eye on the "philosophy " of what you're doing, your band is going nowhere but backwards.

Like you said, solid bass and drums can cover a multitude of sins on the frontline... but if your band is already challenged in the guitar department and now the rhythm section is at odds with each other... that's bad news.
 
#8
Keep playing fills in the middle of songs and letting the drummer melt down. Make sure you keep playing a couple of measures after the drummer stops so everyone can hear you aren't the one who stopped it.

View it as an entertaining, passive-aggressive, way to voice your displeasure. Simply say "This is the same way I've always played these songs in this band, the last drummer didn't have a problem with it. I don't know why you can't just keep a steady beat without having to stop."
 

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