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How to fire someone from a band

#81
i've never been fired from a band or vise versa, but i've had some auditions that didn't go well.

the first audition was for a speed metal band. i was just a teenager and they were twice my age. one of their guitarists only has one arm. the guitarists didn't even face me enough so that i could see what frets they were on. the singer said, "well i heard SOME of the right notes" and they told me to stop playing so they could continue their rehearsal. i could've done better if they would communicate to me how the songs went, as i had never heard them before.

10 years later and playing excellent, i auditioned for a pretty well-known local band. i learned their 4 myspace songs and went in pretty confident. they had just moved into a storage unit and told me to just bring my practice amp. it was winter and cold. i told them i learned their myspace songs but the singer refused to play them. she wanted to play new songs i had never heard before. the drummer protested but didn't make any difference. so they played a song for me to listen to, and i tried to warm up my hands. then they played it a second time for me to join in. i knew without asking or watching the guitarist, what key it was in just by listening, and began. i thought it was going really well. then the singer says "well i hate to kick you out after just 15 minutes but we're going to record some stuff." then they went outside to smoke, i took that as my que to leave. she said on my way out, that she would email me an mp3 of the song. of course, no email came. i wish she had just been honest and told me they didn't want me instead of leaving me waiting and wondering what was going to happen. just say it and get it over with.
 
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#82
Only time I've ever had to "fire someone" was when, in an old band, the drummer became a flake. Like a few of the other guys above though, didn't ever get the chance to fire him because we couldn't get a hold of him
 
#83
We have had to fire some people over the years. We have had to fire one guitar player, one percussionist, and four drummers. I wont even try to remember how many backup singers we have been through. The point I would like to make is that all of our official firing was done honestly and respectfully. A couple of the people we had to let go actually ended up helping the band out more than they ever did when they were playing in it! The percussionist now does stage sound for a local production company, so we get a "man on the inside" at some of our shows. The ex- guitar player now is doing some cool techno trance stuff and helps us with production work when we do our own events. He also helps me set up the PA and watches the board when I have to do everything myself. So many shows would have been a disaster withount him. One of our ex- drummers is now our artist on retainer for flyers and cyber art, and his wife ended up becoming our lead female vocal! Yes, we have had others who left with bad feelings, but that cant always be helped. If you are professional about your roster changes even the messy ones wont hang over your head(s). If you know you did it right you will be able to forge ahead with someone new withount drama biting you in the ass later.
 
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#91
I know everyone here says to do it in person but, if Im the person being fired, I would hate to have to drive somewhere only to hear that Im out of the band. Maybe they want you to get your stuff out of the practice spot right away, and thats cool, but I would much rather get a phone call than waste my time and gas driving to the gallows. I would arrange to get my gear another day after things cool down (if it would be tense)

Ive only been officially fired from one band, and I was trying to think of a way to quit anyway, so I wasnt upset (actually relieved) but they called me up and did it on the phone. The practice spot was 35 minutes away and at the time, I was broke and had a junker car. It would have went much worse if I did the trek up there and got it in person.

Just MHO, YMMV.
 
#92
This has nothing to do with bands, but the OP did ask for humerous anecdotes.

I walked in my front door unexpectedly early one evening and saw my babysitter's boyfriend, who was forbidden to be in the house in the first place, standing in front of her zipping up his pants.

Later I told my 4 year old daughter that I had fired the babysitter. My daughter became very upset. When I asked why she was so upset she asked, "Why did you set Becky on fire?". :eek:

Please don't flame me for being a little OT. :hiding:
 
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#95
well, i was fired once from a band by one of my best friends. We were playing in a band together for about 4 years. He started another band at the same time and had me on as a bassist. the drummer and i didnt get along so well, and it just wasnt working in the new band. the old band practiced on saturday, the new one on wed. Well, one wed. i show up and my friend is sitting outside and says, "hey man, this isnt working, youre out. see ya saturday?" and i went.. "yeah, see ya saturday"... were still playing together in another band 10 years later. In hindsight he now knows he shoulda fired the drummer!!! but theyre harder to come by in our parts.
 
#96
Here ya go,

Take each member out to lunch and tell them that the axed member doesn't like them:mad::mad:. Tell the axed member that no one in the band likes him but you:confused::confused:. Call a rehearsal have an emergency:smug:, lock the door behind you and split for an hour. When you return, the ones who are there want to be in a band. The ones in the hospital need checked on, and the ones that booked, you don't need to worry about:D:D

God Bless, Ray
 
#97
I usually would just take the bandmate aside in and say "You know X, I just would just honestly rather not have you in the band anymore" and respectfully say why but keep it short. Also remember to thank him/her for their time spent in the band and remind them that it is nothing personal (even if it is personal).

I don't know why, but phrasing it that way seems to leave little room for backlash. The most important thing to do though is to be as curt and as professional as you can manage while saying this, let them know what you say has weight to it. Steady eye contact never hurts either.
 
#98
Just fired a guitarist from my band a week or so ago. Had a lot of reasons. Like he would go through the entire setlist at full volume before a gig, playing about 20-30 seconds of each tune. Aside from giving away our tunes, he annoyed the hell out of everyone. He was always going on about his tone, but his tone really sucked. I played with him years ago and he had a great tone and played brilliantly.

So I gave him another chance. He had a Hughes and Kettner amp, but he ran two crappy multieffects floor boards into it. His resultant tone just sounded like poopie. The tone wasn't what got him canned.

I had a specific idea about this band. I wanted to cover tunes that everyone knows, but very few bands play. At first he was down with this, but he started trying to get us to do instrumentals and more blues stuff, which I abhor. After laying down the law, he started just refusing to do songs. We tried a new tune and he just stopped playing in the middle of the song. Quite noticeable in a three-piece.

He also complained constantly about everything, insulted bartenders for things they couldn't control and just ended up making the drummer and myself miserable. So I finally kicked his ass to the curb. He didn't take it well, but that's how it goes.

Funny aside. When we started booking gigs, he told us to mention his name at a few clubs. Nothing came of that, but when my drummer went back to one and told them the guitarist was no longer in the band, the owner bumped a band to get us in sooner.
 
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#99
Dr_Benway said:
Funny aside. When we started booking gigs, he told us to mention his name at a few clubs. Nothing came of that, but when my drummer went back to one and told them the guitarist was no longer in the band, the owner bumped a band to get us in sooner.
Click to expand...

Have to be careful and have all the info before you start dropping names. I did this once many years ago at a job interview. I got the job but found out later that I the name drop was actually a bad move. Surprised I got the job at all once I knew the whole backstory.
 
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#100
i have to let a cat go in a couple of weeks. i will tell him that it's time that i move on. i expect that he will be sad/mad, but grownup. i will offer him another role(s). i expect that he will pass on that offer, but who knows?

i don't know how much longer i will have the ability to play. i don't want to 'play out' my final moments/gigs with a sub-par player who believes he is better than he is.

he's a drummer.
 
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