Drummer has joined a second band...

[fivestringgecko]

It's pretty hard to find a good musician who is willing to pass on paid work and sit around and wait for stuff to happen. Good musicians get work.

Fixed your post for you. (This phenomenon doesn't happen with just drummers)

Count yourself lucky he's only in ONE other band.

This.

My main gig is a 14-piece cover band, and every member of the group is involved in at least one other project. I play for that band, a vocal choir, sub for two more bands fairly regularly, sub for a couple other bands on rare occasion, and also do occasional church service and studio session work. Our keyboardist is a professional musician, so gigs are his main income... which translates to him playing in all sorts of projects. Our horn players all play all over town. Our band leader runs a complete second band (big band swing stuff), which is even bigger than ours. I think there are a total of 34 gigs among the 14 of us, give or take. This does mean that we have to sub out people sometimes (myself included), but we are a good band that works for/gets good gigs, so people are dedicated and want to be in it.

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.

I agree that the drummer could've talked with you guys about it, but he doesn't get all the blame here IMO. Sounds like you and the guitarist also have to claim responsibility here as well. This is going to sound harsh, but the drummer finding another project isn't what's going to kill your band. Not doing/accomplishing anything is what is going to (has?) killed your band. See @ArtechnikA's post above.

It takes a tremendous amount of work to get a band off the ground, especially an originals band. You have to treat it as a business if you want your band to succeed, and taking a year to finish vocals for an EP won't cut it.

5sg.

 

[LBS-bass]

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.

Actually, it's nobody's business what I decide to do with the rest of my free time. I would no more think about this as being "secretive" than I would if I were deciding to commit additional free time to some other hobby. It sounds like your guitarist is being somewhat over-controlling, which, for me, would be the nail in that coffin.

Right now I'm working with four different projects and I sure didn't beg for permission before deciding to be involved with any of them.

 

[Allan Allan]

Sounds like you are hurt that he didn't want to wait another YEAR for the EP to be finished. He's not the problem, your band leader is. A year to record vocals is going to bleed into a year of mixing and then "this isn't what we sound like anymore, let's record again instead of releasing this."

Flash forward 5 years, you've played a dozen shows, released nothing, nobody cares about your band because they can't listen to your originals at home and eventually you'll get sick of playing to empty rooms and quit.

After you've been jaded you can spend all your time here with the rest of us.

 

[Joe Nerve]

It sounds to me like YOU should also be doing what the drummer did.

I'm not one for band monogamy, unless it pays well and is absolutely necessary.

If you plan to continue in the band my strong suggestion would be to be happy about what your drummer is doing, leave it be, and find either a sub or someone you can hire if needed. Anything else, IMO, will only cause drama and additional trouble.

 

[overit]

I don't blame him.

 

[micguy]

Musicians have things to do besides rehearse and play (OK, that last part is conceptual here,as you're not really gigging at present) in your band. If you can schedule rehearsals fairly regularly and book gigs most of the time when you want to (again, that last part is conceptual here), then what ever he's doing isn't an issue - doesn't matter if he has yoga lessons, a job, kids to raise, or another band.

I play in churches on the weekends - I'm currently doing that at 4 locations. I have a simple scheduling method, where anyone that wants to book me can go and do it - I have dates where other things in life are blocked out, and the remaining dates are first come, first served - when someone books me, everyone can see that I'm booked at that time.

I show up on time, well prepared - ready to play whatever is on the schedule every single time. The fact that I also serve 3 other places? What that means, in practical terms, is my chops are always honed. Nobody ever complains about that. I know a guy that, when I asked him about how many bands/churches/etc. he plays at (he does this for a living), he told me he had 62 W2's last year - 62 different bands, places, etc, had hired him to play music in 1 year. He's in high demand; people are happy to book him.

Your drummer has a second band, not 61 others. Relax, it's not the end of the world. The issue is not that he's doing something else, it's that your band isn't working enough. Work on that.

 

[crguti]

it sounds to me that the bass is the weakest link.

 

[MultiScaleMale]

You can give him the ultimatum, stick with our band or stick with the band that has gigs booked. I think we know how that will turn out. The grunge band (sounds like originals) is a side project if you've been rehearsing for a year with no gigs. I don't blame the drummer, I think the project is setup for failure unless "success" is defined as a fun hang out every couple of weeks.

 

[Xjenrbcjsmsbfjw]

I feel for you, but I'd have left too. It sucks being beholden to someone who is flaky. If I had the time and was bored, I might have stuck around for a while, but even if I had nothing to do, this kind of stuff eventually gets under your skin.

I think you are going into this with the wrong attitude. The singer doesn't need to prostrate himself, but an "I'm sorry I haven't taken this seriously in that past, but I'm dedicated to doing better." might go a long way to smoothing some stuff over. Otherwise, you are just offering no money, no gigs, and repeated frustration vs paid gigs with a reliable band who are putting the time in. It's not exactly tricky math.

 

[40Hz]

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!

Let’s see…you have a flaky procrastinator for a guitarist/songwriter…and you used to have a creative but part-time prima donna drummer…oh! and you’re not gigging…do I have that right?

Sounds to me like you need completely different people to work with.

FWIW, I’ve never been involved with a band or project that ever made it past the three month mark without gigging that ended up staying together. If you’re gearing up for doing mainly originals you can backfill your set list with as many covers as you need until you can gradually replace them with your own music. If you’re doing only covers, and you’re working with experienced players, you can hit the clubs in a month.

Too much time spent in rehearsal without playing out (or at least cutting a project album) will kill a band surer than anything else I’ve ever seen.

 

[lfmn16]

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?

Yea, but they were going to start moving.

In a bizarre turn of events it appears the drummer fired the band!

 

[dkelley]

Does the drummer's new band need a bassist? You should jump on board..... heck, maybe do lighting for them - it'll keep you busy while you patiently work out a stable schedule with your guitarist that he can manage to keep up with, if you feel he's worth it.

 

[JRA]

In a bizarre turn of events it appears the drummer fired the band!

per the OP: some cats can't 'wait forever' --- and everyone has a version of 'limits'...or should have! good luck with your project!

 

[GBBSbassist]

Are you guys actively gigging? If you say yes, elaborate. Actively gigging isn't one gig every two to three months at a dive bar for 10 people at 1:00 A.M. on a weeknight.

EDIT! Nevermind, you're not based on your post about being able to organize gigs once the EP is finished. Dude...book them now. You're not Dream Theater. You don't need to put your world tour on hold because you're working on a new record.

 

[Sixgunn]

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!

Sounds like the drummer made a good decision.

 

[TheReceder]

Only issue I have is that the drummer could have let all of you know he was looking for other work.

Seems you have an intelligent drummer.... I'd try to make him happy any way possible.

 

[GBBSbassist]

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.

If being passionate about a project means to haphazardly record an EP's worth of unfinished material only for it to be dragged out for over a year due to one member's work ethic, then I'm not passionate about any project I'm in.

I get it. Writer's block is a real thing from time to time, but a recording project coming to a halt because a guy is taking a year to finish lyrics isn't writer's block, it's laziness.

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.

You don't have ownership on his time away from your band, so he's really not under any obligation to inform you that he also plays drums with other people from time to time. You're not actively gigging so to demand an open schedule would be ludicrous.

As far as his time to contribute, if the EP you're recording is only held up by the singer at this point, it sounds like the drummer has contributed just as much if not more. Do you have an EP that's only missing drums that you're not telling us about?

 

[hrodbert696]

Good for him, absolutely.

You don't own him, and you don't own his time. If he is still able to continue doing what he was doing for your band, what he does with his own time is none of your business. He can sit home watching youtube videos, get a side job waiting tables, run around with strippers, or join another band. It's his time and his life.

If he's failing to keep up with your band's schedule and activity, not learning songs or skipping rehearsals or never available for a gig, then replace him.

There was one point, years ago, when I had two projects going, one in Exeter and one in Manchester (NH, not the UK ones). It never particularly came up to talk to members of either project about the other as both were in preliminary phases and, as it happened, neither went anywhere. So I'm in a guitar shop with my wife one time and run into a guitarist, and introduce him as "the guitarist from the Manchester band."

He glares at me like I just spat on his mother and says, "THE band. I'm the guitarist in THE band."

Like I said, the band I was in with him never went anywhere, and I feel no remorse at all about being involved in another.

All a band really is, is a group of people making music together. It isn't a marriage, it isn't even dating. Just making music. Make music with whomever you can, whenever you can.

 

[40Hz]

In a bizarre turn of events it appears the drummer fired the band!

Could be the start of a trend worth watching.

Bass players take heed!

 

[GBBSbassist]

So I'm in a guitar shop with my wife one time and run into a guitarist, and introduce him as "the guitarist from the Manchester band."

A bit of a tangent, but I think The Manchester Band would actually be a rad band name.