Keyboard player quits over jam space rent.

[shwabilly]

See my profile pic. I started a band when he was less than 1. in the originals band the guitarist and drummer both have kids that are about 2 months old. he lives in the city. his wife goes to a freinds house while we practice. neighbours never say a thing and his wife is happy to get out.

I'm blind and can't drive. my wife has to drive me to band practice at this place in the middle of the city through bad traffic. I once got fed up and told my wife I was going to sell all my gear. she wouldn't let me do it. so it sounds like the real difference is the wives support.

Honestly, I'm not here to get in a p**sing match with anyone. Our wives are all supportive.

At the end of the day, we can afford to rent the space. It is usually covered with gigs. It suits our needs.

Really this is not what i intended with this thread. You and i will have to agree to disagree i guess.

 

[catcauphonic]

I can't believe folks are still ragging about not seeing the need to pay for a space outside of one of the band members homes (apartments) in the city! Unfathomable

 

[Gluvhand]

Honestly, I'm not here to get in a p**sing match with anyone. Our wives are all supportive.

At the end of the day, we can afford to rent the space. It is usually covered with gigs. It suits our needs.

Really this is not what i intended with this thread. You and i will have to agree to disagree i guess.

Dude, only you and the rest of your band mates can actually answer the question you're asking. Don't pay attention to the people giving you grief.

 

[catcauphonic]

I applaud the OP for sticking around and staying polite and positive as long as he has here. This thread has grown some weird branches ... part of the reason i keep coming back, i guess

 

[ShadowImage]

See my profile pic. I started a band when he was less than 1. in the originals band the guitarist and drummer both have kids that are about 2 months old. he lives in the city. his wife goes to a freinds house while we practice. neighbours never say a thing and his wife is happy to get out.

I'm blind and can't drive. my wife has to drive me to band practice at this place in the middle of the city through bad traffic. I once got fed up and told my wife I was going to sell all my gear. she wouldn't let me do it. so it sounds like the real difference is the wives support.

They don't want to/can't practice at their house, what is so inconceivable about that? If you practice at a band mate's house, good for you. That doesn't work for a lot of us. You really shouldn't judge other people's situations just because you've never been in it before. You don't live in his city, in his apartment buildings with his neighbors and for all we know maybe they prefer to practice at 3 am buck naked. This thread wasn't called "Would you pay rent for rehearsal space", it was a guy asking for opinions about HIS situation. He shouldn't have to justify any of that to you.

 

[shwabilly]

I applaud the OP for sticking around and staying polite and positive as long as he has here. This thread has grown some weird branches ... part of the reason i keep coming back, i guess

Im Canadian, Im supposed to be polite. With all seriousness, if someone cant wrap their head around a different situation than their own, i cant do anything about it, and frankly i dont care.

 

[shwabilly]

They don't want to/can't practice at their house, what is so inconceivable about that? If you practice at a band mate's house, good for you. That doesn't work for a lot of us. You really shouldn't judge other people's situations just because you've never been in it before. You don't live in his city, in his apartment buildings with his neighbors and for all we know maybe they prefer to practice at 3 am buck naked. This thread wasn't called "Would you pay rent for rehearsal space", it was a guy asking for opinions about HIS situation. He shouldn't have to justify any of that to you.

Thankyou.

 

[punchdrunk]

You really shouldn't have to rehearse covers. IMO, just have everyone learn them in the agreed upon key, show up to the gig and play em. If you must rehearse, then pay your cats for their time.

 

[shwabilly]

You really shouldn't have to rehearse covers. IMO, just have everyone learn them in the agreed upon key, show up to the gig and play em. If you must rehearse, then pay your cats for their time.

Another example of a reply that has zero to do with my original question.

I appreciate your opinion, but we prefer to rehearse our stuff together. We want to put forth effort, where we put on a bit of a show, and not just show up as a random bunch of musicians just expecting to collect a buck. If you guys can go out there and play 30 - 40 songs with no rehearsal, great. We wont.

 

[Korladis]

People on talkbass love to answer questions that weren't the ones asked. Lots of potential politicians here.

 

[punchdrunk]

Another example of a reply that has zero to do with my original question.

I appreciate your opinion, but we prefer to rehearse our stuff together. We want to put forth effort, where we put on a bit of a show, and not just show up as a random bunch of musicians just expecting to collect a buck. If you guys can go out there and play 30 - 40 songs with no rehearsal, great. We wont

Actually having read the question I feel my response was quite germane. I merely offered that you should consider paying the musicians for their time as a means to maintain their involvement.
Furthermore I'd invite you to consider that, from their perspective, this arrangement could be being looked at as a diminishing returns type scenario in which you're not only asking for the musicians to commit their time/effort to a project that doesn't seem to be producing enough of a profit to pay for itself (rent, etc.), but (it may seem to them) that you're also asking them to spend money for the privledge to do so.
Now to more fully address your original question, perhaps you could arrange to subtract their equal measure of the rent from their actual gig earnings (when and if that happens) without retro-acting any time spent in the space before profits for their time/effort are obtained. In that way, you'd essentially be paying them for their t/e by covering their portion of the rent, until such a time as the group begins to turn a profit (as well as providing motivation for them to get up to speed). This method seems like it could produce a satisfactory solution for all concerned.

 

[EdO.]

Never ceases to surprise me how many people here reply to these threads without having read the entire thread and taking stock of ALL of the information posted by the OP. Just an observation.

 

[sean_on_bass]

This point has already been addressed multiple times. Not everyone lives out in the sticks where you can regularly rehearse with a loud band and not get the cops called. Lots of us who live in urban areas rent rehearsal spaces. And where I'm from, $400 is very cheap. My rehearsal space totals $250 more than that (but is split among 17 people).

I am filtering this situation through my own experiences, and my experiences have shown me that renting a rehearsal space is not something i would feel is necessary. I have no real problem with other people doing it, but i am a cheapskate and would try to avoid it.

I live in an urban area too, albeit a small city. My home is within city limits, and would be totally open to a band practice as long as it ends before 10 pm. Also, i've practiced in many homes on city blocks, where homes are literally 5 feet from each other, and never had a complaint. Loud too. I've found neighbors are very understanding and never caused issue. Cities are noisy places.

But sure, i can see some circumstances where a space is needed, like if all members live in apartments or something. I am just trying to portray to the OP that the rent for a space may be a turn off to some incoming members and to avoid it is possible. If it's not possible to avoid, then so be it.

 

[sean_on_bass]

Also, to those trying to define what is "pro", just stop. If you receive compensation for a service, you are a business in my eyes. If your expenses out run your compensation, you are still a business, just one functioning at a loss. Any other details are just noise.

 

[Bass Viking]

One thing he did say in his text with my guitarist is that he figured that this was going to come up but was "putting off asking about it".

At the end of the day, it was our responsibility as a band to make this clear from day one, as others here have mentioned. Atleast we've learned a lesson.

I'm surprised the keyboard player wasn't more proactive in discussing rehearsal rent. If I joined a band with a jam space that wasn't in someone's home I would want to know "who's paying for this".

I totally get not being able to rehearse in your house. One of my friends moved into a townhouse and he bought a Jamhub + electronic drums to avoid disturbing the neighbours.

 

[Korladis]

I am filtering this situation through my own experiences, and my experiences have shown me that renting a rehearsal space is not something i would feel is necessary. I have no real problem with other people doing it, but i am a cheapskate and would try to avoid it.

I live in an urban area too, albeit a small city. My home is within city limits, and would be totally open to a band practice as long as it ends before 10 pm. Also, i've practiced in many homes on city blocks, where homes are literally 5 feet from each other, and never had a complaint. Loud too. I've found neighbors are very understanding and never caused issue. Cities are noisy places.

But sure, i can see some circumstances where a space is needed, like if all members live in apartments or something. I am just trying to portray to the OP that the rent for a space may be a turn off to some incoming members and to avoid it is possible. If it's not possible to avoid, then so be it.

Your life isn't everyone's life.

I'm in two bands that rehearse regularly. We couldn't rehearse in any members' residences. While members of one band do live in a house, work schedules dictate that rehearsal happens relatively late on a weeknight, so it really isn't possible. We recorded at the vocalist's and guitarist's place during the day, and still got a lot of complaints from the neighbors.

Obviously it isn't for you, but for many people, a rehearsal studio is a necessity and just part of being in a band.

 

[shwabilly]

This thread has been pretty educational. It's surprised me to see how many people find it out of the question to rent rehearsal space.
It would be interesting to start a thread just on this subject.

I've been in bands that have rehearsed at a band member's home, and it was great, but if that host band member can not rehearse at the scheduled time for whatever reason, then that effects everybody. With my current situation, if a band member cant make it, work can still be done.

Another great thing about my situation is that most of us in my band are our own bosses in our day jobs.
If one of us finds out we have some free time throughout the day, we shoot off a text to one another and can meet up and jam for a couple of hours.

Bottom line is, we are happy where we are, and we dont plan on changing our current arrangement. We'll just have to be up front and hopefully find a keyboard player who is into our arrangement. If we cant, so be it.

 

[Korladis]

This thread has been pretty educational. It's surprised me to see how many people find it out of the question to rent rehearsal space.
It would be interesting to start a thread just on this subject.

I've been in bands that have rehearsed at a band member's home, and it was great, but if that host band member can not rehearse at the scheduled time for whatever reason, then that effects everybody. With my current situation, if a band member cant make it, work can still be done.

Another great thing about my situation is that most of us in my band are our own bosses in our day jobs.
If one of us finds out we have some free time throughout the day, we shoot off a text to one another and can meet up and jam for a couple of hours.

Bottom line is, we are happy where we are, and we dont plan on changing our current arrangement. We'll just have to be up front and hopefully find a keyboard player who is into our arrangement. If we cant, so be it.

Yeah, there are many upsides. If I didn't have access to a rehearsal spot, I basically couldn't be in bands.

 

[Robroy]

Hmmm. Hadn't thought about retiring to Kentucky.

It's quite beautiful, and if you choose the right county it's dirt cheap. and you can, if need be, virtually live off the land, if you get enough and stay in the rural areas.

 

[catcauphonic]

It's quite beautiful, and if you choose the right county it's dirt cheap. and you can, if need be, virtually live off the land, if you get enough and stay in the rural areas.

Disadvantage: finding a keyboard player