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Drama in bands
- Thread starter PauFerro
- Start date
Like Fleetwood Mac's Rumours and No Doubt's Tragic Kingdom
(Well maybe not great art, but you get the point!)
mancefine
Guest
- Jul 7, 2013
- 255
- 64
- Disclosures
- Endorsing Artist: Orange Amplifiers and Spector Basses
In my experience (which has been exclusively with rock bands) the absolute hardest thing to do when forming a band is getting 3-5 people on the same page as far as what they want to put into the band and take away from the band. There is nothing more frustrating than when 1 or 2 members eat, sleep, and breathe the band and then their efforts are counteracted by another members laziness and lack of motivation. That can cause serious drama. Also, I don't know about the rest of my fellow bassists but I can say EVERY single guitar player I have ever played with has been by far the most egotistical and drama inducing member of the band. I think my current guitar player hates it when I go near my pedal board or do a crazy fill on the bass NOT because it sounds bad or is out of place, but because there is the off chance that someone might take their eyes off him for even 5 seconds and look at the bass player.
Many moons ago my friends were in a band and I was between bands so I roadied for them as well as supplying the PA and mixing the whole thing. It worked well and the five band members and I split the money 6 ways.
Then one of the wives found out about the arrangement, talked to one of the other wives and suddenly there was a discussion about reducing my share. Now I went to every rehearsal and drove two of them to rehearsals and gigs, and also advised on what was and what was not working.
I quit and the next few gigs were not very profitable as PA hire was more expensive than me. Then of course they had to shell out for a new PA.
It was actually a very good band and had one or two successful albums. However most of the hand had left by then as the record company decided that some faces did not fit. The name of the band was LIAR.
In hindsight I now wonder whether one of the band was also peeved at my share, maybe the wives were convenient as scapegoats.
Then one of the wives found out about the arrangement, talked to one of the other wives and suddenly there was a discussion about reducing my share. Now I went to every rehearsal and drove two of them to rehearsals and gigs, and also advised on what was and what was not working.
I quit and the next few gigs were not very profitable as PA hire was more expensive than me. Then of course they had to shell out for a new PA.
It was actually a very good band and had one or two successful albums. However most of the hand had left by then as the record company decided that some faces did not fit. The name of the band was LIAR.
In hindsight I now wonder whether one of the band was also peeved at my share, maybe the wives were convenient as scapegoats.
Gaolee
Official leathers tester and crash dummy
I play with another guy in his 50s and a couple women in their 20s. The women are long-time best friends. It should be a recipe for endless drama, but somehow it all works. The girls seem to get their drama quota out dealing with boyfriends/jobs/coworkers/whatever, and the other guy has occasional ex-wife and misguided daughter drama. My work involves a whole lot of conflict. Perhaps we are relatively drama-free as a band because it is a refuge from the drama elsewhere.
Rumours has some great art! "The Chain" might be the best song any pop-rock/FM Radio rock band ever did!
I have never seen any feral drama in a band that was not brought in by one of the member's girlfriends.
Ha ha. My current combo is male guitarist, male bass player (that would be me), female percussionist, and two female singers who are sisters. The only drama comes when the sisters argue about who sings which note.
I was in a band years ago where the rhythm guitarist/leader/singer's wife and the bass player's wife hated each other. Those were the days when the bass player brought a bottle of Jose Cuervo to each rehearsal.
In my experiences, MOST of the drama in a band comes from the singer and the drummer. There's just something about the type of personalities it takes to fill those 2 roles. Both were also very flakey. And those are the 2 that are usually at each other's throats. The 3 "musicians" in our band (lead, rhythm guitar and bass) were always quite at ease and cooperative with everyone. However, we also kind of had a lot in common, as far as communicating with each other, etc.
There is always one person who takes the lead in a band. This eventually leads to the "lesser" members wanting their voices and ideas to be heard, alliances are formed, and poof... goes the band.
There is always one person who takes the lead in a band. This eventually leads to the "lesser" members wanting their voices and ideas to be heard, alliances are formed, and poof... goes the band.
As the drummer in my band, I'll agree with that. If I have issues with someone in e band it's usually the singer.
I'm not a drummer but i resent the implication that a drummer is not a musician. I understand what you mean, they don't play notes, have to learn scales, whatever, but a good drummer can often have a better understanding of song dynamics than anyone else in the band. A good drummer will very much be a musician.
Even a singer can have a lot of musical knowledge and might benefit from it too. After all they do sing actual notes and voice is an instrument. There are some singers who actually know at least some music theory even if they don't play anything.
And i would agree with the opinion that all great art was created by people with egos. If you have no ego, you won't even see the point of leaving your basement to share your art with the rest of the world. An ego is always a beneficial thing to have for anyone doing any kind of art. Now....there is being deluded too. But you have to believe in yourself and your abilities, even possibly to the level of at least slight delusion. Yes it's sad to see artists deluded about their (lack of) talent, but as the quote goes, if you think big you might make it big. If you think small, you'll always remain small. I think most artists who ever made it have in some respect managed to convince people they were better than they actually were (or at least their manager did...)
Ha ha. What a stereotype!
I regularly work with knowledgeable singers who know a hell of a lot more about music than the average guitar player. Most of them play keyboard, too.
That is not, of course, to say that they know as much as a bass player.
+1 on all of this. Unfortunately unless you're a solo artist and can just have hired hands there's just no way around it. There's always one in the group that drinks too much, doesn't pull their weight, doesn't practice enough, the flake that forgets everything, can't figure out their equipment, disagrees with the set list etc.
My old guitar player said it best that someone's always the "flat tire." I'm convinced that most bands succeed not because they're better or more talented but because they fire on all cylinders with no dead weight.
