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Drummer has joined a second band...

dirtychinchilla

dirtychinchilla

Dec 23, 2007
659
670
London, UK
#1
We're a three piece originals grunge band trying to make our way locally. Turns out, the drummer got fed up of waiting for us to progress and has joined a second band, a rock cover band.

My initial response was, good for you. I've also been very fed up with this band because we have to rely on someone who is completely unreliable, but he is the source of all music (guitarist, vocalist, song writer). He's finally had the kick up the arse he's needed to finish the vocals on our EP - one year later - which is good news.

We're meeting up at the pub tonight to discuss how/if we're going to proceed. He's now signed up for a rehearsal every Wednesday with the cover band and has 15 gigs booked apparently. The guitarist and I are on the same side now, we don't think he should have joined the cover band. The worst bit is they've been friends for years, and the drummer didn't even discuss the possibility with the guitarist.

Apologies for the rant, it's just a PITA situation probably without a resolution! I'm expecting the drummer to either quit tonight, or we might have to ask him to leave. Whether he'll leave gracefully or be a dick about it I don't know, but I'm expecting the latter. I'm expecting him to claim ownership of the songs and say we shouldn't play them, record them etc.

My suggestion is that give him a chance, see how many practices he makes after this, see how his gigs cause us problems etc. We'll see!
 
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#5
ArtechnikA said:
If I'm reading this right, you're not recording, you're not gigging, and you aren't making any progress toward either.
Exactly what is it drummer's other project is keeping you from?
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I finally think the guitarist is in a position to pull his socks up. In short, once the EP is recorded I'll be able to organise gigs and therefore we will progress. We did play a few gigs late last year, but with nothing to offer any possible fans it has been difficult to offer a follow up.

In the round, I do agree with you, but we're all passionate about the project and the EP is absolutely key to that.

jblock said:
My experience is that if you have one member who is unreliable and drags his/her feet for whatever reason once, in this case your guitarist, then it will happen again. So, while you may be on the same page with the guitarist today, there will be something in the future that will make you no longer be on the same page once again.
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Yeah you're probably right. He is extremely unreliable. He and I are generally in agreement, but his inability to record his vocals has pushed me to my limit.
 
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#7
dirtychinchilla said:
I finally think the guitarist is in a position to pull his socks up. In short, once the EP is recorded I'll be able to organise gigs and therefore we will progress. We did play a few gigs late last year, but with nothing to offer any possible fans it has been difficult to offer a follow up.

In the round, I do agree with you, but we're all passionate about the project and the EP is absolutely key to that.



Yeah you're probably right. He is extremely unreliable. He and I are generally in agreement, but his inability to record his vocals has pushed me to my limit.
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Sounds to me like your problem may not be with the drummer. Maybe you should ask if his cover band needs a bassist! : D
 
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#8
David Jayne said:
It's pretty hard to find a good drummer who is willing to pass on paid work and sit around and wait for stuff to happen. Good drummers get work. You can hardly blame him really.
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David Jayne said:
Sounds to me like your problem may not be with the drummer. Maybe you should ask if his cover band needs a bassist! : D
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Hahaha! That's fair. He's a good drummer but he's not an easy person to get along with. His timing is sometimes questionable and he often forgets his parts, but he's very creative and has a good ear for arrangements. I really like his drumming, but a couple of times he's gone out of time and then sort of said, drummer knows best. Sorry dude, the rhythm section is two parts!
 
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#9
I'm kind of in the market to be that guy for our band. I'm constantly looking for a second opportunity and if it comes and keeps me busy then I'll follow the money. I like the guys in my band and when we're playing it's a blast. And I tend to be a very loyal band mate, so it's hard for me to look out for myself in this situation.

But we're not nearly as busy as I expected. The BL is so caught up in getting our press kit ready, for the gigs we want to target, that he won't go out and book us for places that don't need a PK. I can't point at anybody who's holding us back and make an issues of it, but it feels like we're taking forever to get regular gigs.

And the problem with other opportunities isn't so much the potential gig clash, or need for prep time - it's rehearsal days - everybody around here seems to rehears on the same day, so it's difficult for me to go to auditions that conflict with my band's rehearsal schedule.

So getting back to the thread, who can blame the drummer for wanting to work - keep him busy or he's gonna wander.
 
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#11
SLO Surfer said:
The drummer is the only one making any sense in this instance. There’s no rule that says you can only play in one band at a time, especially if the one band is not progressing.
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I don't disagree with either of you there, but the I think the guitarist might have come to his senses a little more if the drummer had spoken to him about it first. As I say, they're good friends...he's secretly gone and joined this band.

We don't think he'll have enough time to contribute to our band any more. I understand his reasons and they make good sense, but he's sort of killing one band that's his passion project to play for another.
 
#14
dirtychinchilla said:
I don't disagree with either of you there, but the I think the guitarist might have come to his senses a little more if the drummer had spoken to him about it first. As I say, they're good friends...he's secretly gone and joined this band.

We don't think he'll have enough time to contribute to our band any more. I understand his reasons and they make good sense, but he's sort of killing one band that's his passion project to play for another.
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If you're looking for a new job, do you go advertising that at your current workplace? Well maybe a bad example - us State workers are very proud to flash the "I'm hoping to get out of here" signal!

It can be very awkward giving a friend the "get me busy or I'll find other work" ultimatum - I know - I had to do that to my originals project last year. That band collapsed when I told the BL that we needed to be gigging by X date, or I'd have to move on to other prospects. I was really hoping he'd get us booked, but he gave up on the project instead. I miss it, but it had to be done or else I wouldn't have had time to move on to other opportunities. You can't expect motivated, quality musicians to hang around if you're not providing stage time (for me it's not even about the money).
 
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#16
ArtechnikA said:
If I'm reading this right, you're not recording, you're not gigging, and you aren't making any progress toward either.
Exactly what is it drummer's other project is keeping you from?
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Exactly. All I see here is that you guys need to step up your game. You can't keep good players tied exclusively to a project if you are not offering anything. And you guys are not offering anything. If I were in the drummer's shoes I probably wouldn't have even stayed. What is the point of blocking off weekly rehearsals for a band that isn't even putting shows on the books?
 
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#17
dirtychinchilla said:
We don't think he'll have enough time to contribute to our band any more. I understand his reasons and they make good sense, but he's sort of killing one band that's his passion project to play for another.
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Sounds like the band is comatose, so I don't see how he's killing it by being in another working band. Maybe ya'll should address the problem when it becomes a problem.
 
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#20
dirtychinchilla said:
I finally think the guitarist is in a position to pull his socks up. In short, once the EP is recorded I'll be able to organise gigs and therefore we will progress. We did play a few gigs late last year, but with nothing to offer any possible fans it has been difficult to offer a follow up.
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Yeah, uh, no. The drummer has every right to move on to other things while you and the guitarist get your act together. Guitarist hasn't pulled his socks up yet, and even then it's gonna take a lot of work on your and his parts to book 15 gigs. The drummer is under no obligation to wait for you guys when he's apparently capable of landing a gig with a working band right now.

From my perspective, I see a lot of excuses as to why you're not successful yet, but the drummer isn't to blame. He's the only one actually working.
 
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