Flakes

[Valvehead]

Since when are drummers considered to be musicians?

But seriously, our drummer is the best dude ever. He also plays guitar, bass and sings, always shows up for practice and KNOWS THE SONGS. Wow. I am so lucky.

 

[OogieWaWa]

I had the good fortune of having a career in an industry where the expectation was that things always started on time and were done right. Basically perfection was the minimum acceptable standard. If someone couldn't meet their times, the expectation was that they asked for help or you asked them how you could help, or at least let everyone else know (the rule of thumb was within 15 minutes of when you figured it out.)

I always wondered how anything ever got done in "the real world," it still scares me! But then I took up the bass a while back, and met a bunch of musicians. Most are outstanding folks, but I'm still getting over the shock from some of them! Fortunately the guys I'm playing with are wonderful; heck, we even text if we're going to be more that 5 minutes late.

 

[Jon Lars]

......Or check the local hospitals. Have you ever seen a drummer drive? Maybe he was in a crash on the way to practice. Happens all the time with drummers.

Drummers driving:

Farmers Insurance TV Commercial, 'Hall of Claims: Rock and Wreck'

 

[whero]

I used to be pretty easy going but a dopehead guitarist lowered my tolerance level. It went from turning up at rehearsals not having learned the songs during the week, to forgetting it was rehearsal night, to turning up late to gigs, to forgetting how to play songs that we'd been playing for six months. And that was back in the 80s. These days, where everybody has a phone in their pocket, there is no excuse for not turning up and not telling everyone.

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Move on.

 

[Skullheadrac]

as frustrating as that is, i hate my situation.

My drummer is my best friend. We've been in our 3 piece band for awhile. We've gone through a few guitarists throughout the years, but no one is more flakey than my drummer.
For our scene, we're an established band and we play internationally a few times a year. I'm the sole mastermind behind booking gigs, which of course requires planning (especially with all three of us working fulltime jobs). It is very common for my drummer (my best friend mind you) to go full antisocial and off the grid for weeks, sometimes months at a time.
I remember one time, we had a gig offer to play Italy and he literally did not reply to me for 1 month. Funny enough, he agreed to the gig when he did reply to me LOL. Of course by then, the gig was filled up and we didn't get on it.
Oh, and he lives about 10 minutes away from me on top of that haha!

 

[mark roberts]

Yup. Scheduling difficulties for practice and gigs can be a band-killer. Especially when lead vocal duties are divided up or multi-part harmonies are expected. And if the drummer can’t or won’t show...it’s a done-r.

 

[Hummergeist]

We had practice on saturday morning. I set an alarm, got up, made breakfast, took a shower, drove 30 minutes. Our drummer had some dumb reason why he couldn’t make it.

Tonight we had practice. I called everyone to make sure we were good. Drove 30 minutes in the rain. Got to practice. Drummer just didn’t show. Of course he is fired but man I hate flakes. My dad taught me as a kid to be upfront with people. How rude is it to make people drive somewhere and stand them up?

Hate lateness/no shows in any activity. Rude. If they're late due to traffic/train, and text updates are sent, that is cool. Otherwise, bye.

 

[Hummergeist]

Maybe I've been lucky, but whenever work has put me alongside high-level music biz types, they've been attentive, professional, and on time. Perhaps because they're paying for the sessions! I know it's not always like that...

 

[Nobis17]

The guy who flaked should be flogged. Plain and simple. Or maybe tarred and feathered.

 

[DJ Bebop]

You got here before me

I'll just add:

 

[Spectrum]

Since when are drummers considered to be musicians?

But seriously, our drummer is the best dude ever. He also plays guitar, bass and sings, always shows up for practice and KNOWS THE SONGS. Wow. I am so lucky.

Same here. Our drummer is the most level-headed guy in the band, the one with the best grip on reality, and he's also a solid drummer. And once at a gig I saw him stand up to a guy twice his size to defend his future wife. Solid dude. Pretty much the main thing that's kept me in this band for so long.

 

[DJ Bebop]

In any group of artistic types, there's bound to be one. Charlie Parker was a notorious flake... But he was Charlie Parker. My tolerance for flakey band mates is directly proportional to their value in the group.

 

[bassman10096]

HAHAHAHA....our drummer shows up early, is always prepared, super funny and nice.
most importantly...he's very tasteful and understands dynamics. RARE, I KNOW!!!

IMPOSTER!!!!!! Clearly a keyboardist impersonating a drummer...

 

[Keyser Soze]

In my experience, firing screwups ASAP makes for a better band with better morale. Even if they are the most talented one in the band, the band is always better off without them. Folks grow and fill the gaps and everyone is happier.

 

[SemiDriven]

The humor of the "fire the drummer" meme is that the drummer wasn't the problem.

This post makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. I don't understand how you, or anyone else for that matter, can imply that the drummer wasn't the problem.

I'll give you an example...

The rhythm guitar player is constantly too loud and dialing in way too much low end... It's the drummers fault. The drummer is obviously too loud and tuning his drums wrong forcing the poor guitar player to crank and chug...

Here's another...

The lead vocalist can't make it to gigs in time to help set up the PA or do a soundcheck... It's the drummer again. The drummer obviously has too many drums that always take forever to set up. The singer just sat around waiting to lift speakers onto poles and run cables. Then, when the drummer was all set, it took the whole soundcheck for him to get the 5 snare drum mics perfectly aligned so there were no phase issues and that signature ping could really pop in the mix. By the time he was done the singer had lost his voice doing warm ups for way too long. Now he sits in the car drinking tea and doing breathing exercises so he's ready to go as soon as the lights go down.

Fire the drummer and welcome the singer back into the band comradery.

See...

Yeah, I chuckled at this.

 

[roller]

1. Always tell the truth.
2. Always do what you say you're going to do.
3. If you can't do what you say you're going to do, contact the other person and let them know ahead of time.

It's a shame that so many adult toolboxes out there have never learned these basics.

We had practice on saturday morning. I set an alarm, got up, made breakfast, took a shower, drove 30 minutes. Our drummer had some dumb reason why he couldn’t make it.

Tonight we had practice. I called everyone to make sure we were good. Drove 30 minutes in the rain. Got to practice. Drummer just didn’t show. Of course he is fired but man I hate flakes. My dad taught me as a kid to be upfront with people. How rude is it to make people drive somewhere and stand them up?

 

[SemiDriven]

Our band just re-instituted a rule that we thought we didn't need any more.

If you're late to practice (10-minutes+) without notification, you cough up $5.00 into the band tip jar.

We practice once-a-week.

Funny how no one seems to be late anymore.

In reality, the usual suspects are now at least messaging the band on the fact that they will late...again.

Meh...we're charging 'em anyway.

 

[MIMike]

I came here based on the tread title expecting to see a Stingray with an awesome silver metal flake finish with matching headstock and all I find is another “fire the drummer” story.

...I think this needs to be flagged as a troll thread.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Oh oh. An attorney. Gotta run!

Yeah, I run from attorneys too. Have you ever heard about the miracle of Whole Life Insurance?