Dumbest reason ever to get fired from a band

[themickster]

First up, she is a drummer. I used to think that drummers were unfairly spoken about, but I have changed my mind in the last 18 months. Next, girls are the hardest musicians to deal with. One I tried to work with had advertised that she wanted to be a rock singer. She chucked me aside for having electric guitar on the songs I sent her.

 

[Marley's Ghost]

I never trust email for time sensitive band comms. Or if we must send an email then follow up with a text in a short time confirming if no response.

 

[Rip Van Dan]

This isn't going to help you with the band you got fired from, but maybe in the future?

Email is the worst for doing any group coordination. All it takes is for someone to NOT "reply all" and comms are off the rail.

Instead you've got group text, WhatsApp, Slack and any number of other group collab or social media chat channels. Maybe your BL doesn't have a mobile? Not that you need a mobile to use any of these platforms.....

Last working band I was in, we used Slack. Even the most technology obtuse member could work it. Worked great. All conversations were compartmentalized to band stuff and band stuff only. Not mixed in with FB crap or buried in your emails.

Current jam band with buddies we use email and it drives me batty. Half a dozen different email chains going to decide what night of the week we're going to get together. Signal degradation is horrible. And all theses guys work in IT!!!! But this is supposed to be casual, son not pushing it.

My 80-something mother in law is a fiend with her mobile and a few of these platforms. And she's not really tech savvy. No excuse for your drummer if she's got an internet connection.

Yeah all of those work great unless you live on the wrong side of a hill in Washington state to get any cell coverage. Then it's worthless. I have to drive half a mile away on a good day (mile or two on a bad day) before I can receive any texts or make/receive any calls.

For some reason they don't come through on wi-fi and wi-fi is so slow here anyhow that the phone disconnects from it because "internet access too slow" and if you are not looking at the phone when it does that, you'll never know it's disconnected. So those other nice programs are great as long as you have coverage and/or a decent internet connection. I have to handle all band arrangements from 2 bands by e-mail and it is not ideal. I can at least label them so I can follow those threads, but I agree it sucks.

 

[Nevada Pete]

A reason I personally experienced: because the other guys in the band wanted to bring back the former bassist who never showed up for practice because of his drug-and-alcohol issues. It was because of his absence that I got into the band in the first place.

Shyeah... smart manever, fellas.

The former bassist was probably their connection and was too hard to get a hold of except at gigs. Hard to compete with that.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

I prefer email to texting … It bothers my eyes to look at the small screen and it is better to send setlists and youtube attachments to email. For people over 50 looking at a small cell phone with a 3x5 screen and reading tiny text is not easy, where a big 27" computer monitor is a joy.

I just saw an interview with Ian Anderson and he said one of the reasons he quit working with Martin Barre is because he wouldn't read his emails.

The bandleader wanted to do everything by phone, but she didn't know how to do group texts, so it would be a whole series of texts.

Coordinating schedules, time off, conflicting gigs using text messages is more than suitable as you get a receipt when text is delivered and if it is read.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

she listed an ad on craigslist and on the ad there is no way to contact her

That's all you need to know. Here are the 3 possible scenarios:
1. so self-centered that they just assume you'll be able to contact her
2. not familiar with the concept of "send & return" style of communication (ie - not smart)
3. both 1 & 2

 

[roller]

They broke up soon after getting the old bassist back.

The former bassist was probably their connection and was too hard to get a hold of except at gigs. Hard to compete with that.

 

[Rolling Thunder]

So now she fired me from the band

Some break-ups leaving you listening to "Love Hurts" on repeat and others feel like getting released early for good behavior.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Yeah all of those work great unless you live on the wrong side of a hill in Washington state to get any cell coverage. Then it's worthless. I have to drive half a mile away on a good day (mile or two on a bad day) before I can receive any texts or make/receive any calls.

For some reason they don't come through on wi-fi and wi-fi is so slow here anyhow that the phone disconnects from it because "internet access too slow" and if you are not looking at the phone when it does that, you'll never know it's disconnected. So those other nice programs are great as long as you have coverage and/or a decent internet connection. I have to handle all band arrangements from 2 bands by e-mail and it is not ideal. I can at least label them so I can follow those threads, but I agree it sucks.

Yep, can see why you have a problem. On the East coast, not so much.

 

[Nevada Pete]

So I am in a band and the guys are getting old and having health problems … it got to the point where we play about once every 3 months. So I looked for another band. I found a band near me. Female drummer, 2 guitars and me. Things started ok. But then the drummer started only getting some of my emails. I spent an hour with her top see what the problem is. Well sometimes they go to spam and she is too lazy to check her spam. So I sent her a link to how to whitelist my email. She again is too lazy. So she didn't get my email where I canceled a rehearsal due to a funeral. So now she fired me from the band. This is the real kicker … she listed an ad on craigslist and on the ad there is no way to contact her.

I guess you can't fix stupid.

I am thrilled to be done with this bleeping @#$%%^

You can't make this stuff up

Thank God I don't rely on music to pay the bills

On Craigslist, there's always a reply button on the far upper left side of the add. You use that to contact the seller.

When I cancel something as important to others as a gig, for example, I seek conformation that my message was received. I don't take for granted that just because I sent someone something like an eMail, the intended recipient necessarily actually got my message. In radio communications, for example, it's: "Roger that", or something to that effect. For important comm, you repeat the message back to the sender to make sure you got it right. I would have fired you too if you did something like that to me.

There should have been an established procedure in place for cancellations. But it's your responsibility to make sure your message gets through. Why? Because your the only one who can confirm that it got through. That's why.

 

[OogieWaWa]

For people over 50 looking at a small cell phone with a 3x5 screen and reading tiny text is not easy, where a big 27" computer monitor is a joy.

Speak for yourself, Kemosabe. We're 56, 63 and 69 and use group text just fine. Of course we also all know how to increase the font size. And mostly keep the messages short.

As kind of mentioned, remember, email is pull and needs to be actively looked at and sorted out; but text is push, so it's in real time without having to take any action or conscious thought. Much better for musicians.

 

[Minimalist]

I never trust email for time sensitive band comms. Or if we must send an email then follow up with a text in a short time confirming if no response.

I don't trust email for anything important. The worst is at work if people say "But I sent an email". You don't know if the other person received the email and actually read it.

 

[Blueinred]

Yeah all of those work great unless you live on the wrong side of a hill in Washington state to get any cell coverage. Then it's worthless. I have to drive half a mile away on a good day (mile or two on a bad day) before I can receive any texts or make/receive any calls.

For some reason they don't come through on wi-fi and wi-fi is so slow here anyhow that the phone disconnects from it because "internet access too slow" and if you are not looking at the phone when it does that, you'll never know it's disconnected. So those other nice programs are great as long as you have coverage and/or a decent internet connection. I have to handle all band arrangements from 2 bands by e-mail and it is not ideal. I can at least label them so I can follow those threads, but I agree it sucks.

Wow. Ten miles from Microsoft headquarters and no cell coverage. That is really surprising. And sucks.

 

[Ric5]

Speak for yourself, Kemosabe. We're 56, 63 and 69 and use group text just fine. Of course we also all know how to increase the font size. And mostly keep the messages short.

As kind of mentioned, remember, email is pull and needs to be actively looked at and sorted out; but text is push, so it's in real time without having to take any action or conscious thought. Much better for musicians.

I believe exactly the opposite

 

[Humbled]

Seems to be lot of discussion here about what doesn't work or what people are sure won't work...

 

[Ric5]

On Craigslist, there's always a reply button on the far upper left side of the add. You use that to contact the seller..

except on her ad craigslist says the person who made the add left no contact information

 

[Ric5]

Some break-ups leaving you listening to "Love Hurts" on repeat and others feel like getting released early for good behavior.

I got released for good behavior

 

[Stumbo]

I would completely disagree here. There is no real excuse for not understanding how reply-all works, or to not notice when you get a private message out of a reply-all chain. E-mail provides a collaboration space free from outside influence.

I don't have accounts on WhatsApp/Instagram/Slack/Twitter, and neither will I. Trying to require me to use one for any group function is a quick way to get me to politely refuse partaking. I'm sure others would feel the exact opposite, and would refuse to collaborate over email and that's fine.

I've dislike all forms of social media I've partaken in, and am not going to subject myself to what more closely resembles social vomit than social collaboration.

What's App is not social media.

 

[46and2]

Slack is just IRC with a new name and the client takes 2GB of RAM for some reason.

 

[Nevada Pete]

except on her ad craigslist says the person who made the add left no contact information

Okay. I guess in the end, some people just make you go too far out of your way to make it worth while having anything to do with them. I was just making a point, but I totally get where your coming from. With your bass skills, you will no doubt soon be playing out again, and with a more satisfying situation. Good luck.