Kicked out....

[RkdJehova]

So I was booted yesterday from the band i've been with for a while now. We were a family, really close, and we clicked really well together.

But I was starting to notice that everything we wrote was one dimensional, and followed similar variations of a 4 chord progression. The same 4 chords. Every song. I was starting to wear a bit thin on that fact, so I brought it up and made it apparent to everyone that I wanted to try writing something a little more creative.

A few days later, the singer TEXTS me that they didn't think it was working out. They had their set direction, and they felt like I was a flaw in that system. So I called him, and talked a few things out with him. Turns out it was the two guitarists that took offense to me saying what I did about our music. And on top of that, and here's the kicker folks because everybody's seen it over and over, their friend had become available to play so I was no longer needed.

If you've ever been kicked out, stupid reason or not, lets hear your story. I'm sure we've all got some classics, and some a bit more unique.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

Sorry to hear that man.

In all honesty I feel somewhat similar right now to the group I`m in. It seems that half the songs ever presented to the band from our guitarist are written with the exact same chords. It`s funny. One time he asked me why all my basslines sounded similar to the songs he dominantly penned and I told him I`d play something different whenever he decided to actually write a new song (G and C and D get old REALLY quick).

But back to you - I hate to say it man but it doesn`t sound like you guys were as close as you liked to believe. If they weren`t able to discuss matters in person and then had to text you to fire you just to hire their friend then it really just shows how little they respected you or cared. Good riddance, IMHO.

 

[Chuck King]

You outgrew them.

 

[lowfreq33]

When I was about 19 I got kicked out of a band because I was trying to be "too involved" in the songwriting. A few months later they were begging me to come back, seems they couldn't find a decent bassist who would play with them.

Bands will come and go. Try not to take it too personally. There's always something better just around the corner.

 

[stflbn]

A lot of very successful musicians have made their money being one dimensional.

Much of the mass population prefers one dimensional.

 

[klokker]

Any group of people of people that can't take constructive criticism is dysfunctional. It sucks your gone, but its better than walking around on eggshells all the time.

Hope you find something better.

I've never been kicked out of a band, but I caused a guitar player to leave one time. He was leaving out some important chords, sort of mushing through them. All I did was ask him about it.........he just left and never came back.

Oh well.

 

[dukaruk]

Ha, I actually brought in charts to show the guitar players what chords were available in different keys because i was sick of the eventual falling back on the same progression.

It's a shame that they saw you as a threat.

 

[Crazyeelboy]

But I was starting to notice that everything we wrote was one dimensional, and followed similar variations of a 4 chord progression. The same 4 chords. Every song.

Hey bro - they're ALL 4 chord songs:

 

[QuelOround]

Hey bro - they're ALL 4 chord songs:

Dude that was hilarious!

 

[QuelOround]

I got kicked out of a band I helped start... book all the gigs for... bought most of the Pa gear, I wrote some of the songs .... but not exactly sure why... now I still get calls from them asking for help to book gigs. I wasn't mad at first it was just kind of annoying that they didn't return my calls, and I kept practicing our songs to be ready for the gigs only to find out they had replaced me. I still play with my other band Static Mind. I just wish I knew why the kicked me out, at least so I don't make the same mistake again.

 

[Exploiter8]

Hey bro - they're ALL 4 chord songs:

HA!

X8

 

[addylewis]

OH yeah I know this one...

I posted about it at the time - I joined a band awhile ago and we had about 2-3 months rehearsal with a new drummer...we went into the studio for a week, I gave them £85 toward it - 3 days after they threw me out coz their mate who originally played bass with them wanted in again.

It wasn't my type of music really but I'm STILL pretty annoyed at the money I gave them and never got back...even more so now with my current work/money situation!

 

[TroyK]

There's a great exchange in the movie "That Thing You Do", where the old salty road musician says to the drummer of a band with a top 10 hit; "Aint no way to keep a band together, man. You just gotta keep playing, no matter with whom."

I've been in and out of bands for about 35 years now. Getting "excused from future membership" is a right of passage. I'll admit that it can really hurt. I still hold a few personal grudges that I can't quite let go of, usually over how it was handled rather than that it happened. But the truth is, every time I've left a band and felt like "what am I going to do now?" it's turned out that I was in a rut with them and something better was around that corner that i wouldn't have been available for if I had stayed.

Suck it up, take your lessons learned and your bass to your next opportunity. Try to wish them the best and get your revenge by being the bigger man and succeeding on your own. Success in music can best be measured by time, not a snapshot in time.

..so sayz I anyway...

 

[Haysoochreesto]

That blows. Legit or not, when they (whomever "they" might be) want you gone, they'll find reasons to get you gone.

A few months back I told my bandmates that I might be leaving the band. I said that I needed a couple of days to think about it. Four days later I came back, told them I didn't want to leave and that I was truly re-committing myself to the band. We didn't even miss a rehearsal. At that point we'd been together for a year and in terms of reliability, preperation, and flexibility I was excellent.

However, during those four days it turned out a guy who'd graduated from BIT was available and looking for a band. The drummer and keyboardist (yeah, the drummer and keyboardist) got a hard-on to get the guy in the band and apparently became disappointed that I wasn't going to leave. From that point on, I went from "the best bass player I've ever played with" according to a word for word statement from the drummer and being "well above the average cover band bass player" according to our keyboardist to someone that was easily dispensed with.

By the time of our last gig the thing had degraded into me, the lead guitar player, and the lead singer deciding we were going to leave. But before we could have a sit down with the other guys, the keyboardist announced on Facebook, without speaking to us first, that we three had been thrown out of the band! He generously invited the guitar player to stay if he could improve his attitude but me and the singer were out.

I don't know if that counts as being thrown out because I/we were already leaving but I have to admit that even though that was the case, I'm still kind of embarrassed at being "thrown out" if you could call it that.

Oh, by the way, the bass player they wanted so badly is friends with those of us who got thrown out and now thinks those guys are dicks and will "never play a note with those a**holes."

 

[Muaguana]

A lot of very successful musicians have made their money being one dimensional.

Much of the mass population prefers one dimensional.

Then you're getting into the discussion of, what's the goal of making music? If it's only to appeal to mass audiences, then that's fine. If you want to be an actual musician and artist, limiting yourself to the status quo is just sacrificing your artistic integrity.