Hey all, I need to vent a bit and welcome any feedback you'd have to share.
TL;DR: Got fired from a serious band because of issues with the "feel" of my playing, and concerns that I wasn't committed to pursuing music professionally.
A few months ago, a rapper and friend of mine from college posted that he was looking for a bassist on FB. I told him I was interested, and he gave me songs to learn. We started rehearsing as a band, with a guitarist and drummer who've played together before. I've never played in a hip-hop band before, and my playing was rusty since I hadn't practiced consistently during my studies.
I got some feedback from the sound engineer at the studio we rehearsed at gave me feedback to "step back" from the drums and guitar like on an Erykah Badu track. I took the advice seriously and practiced playing looser, so I could get the feel right.
Over the next few months, we practiced weekly leading up to our gig, and everything sounded great. I'm open to honest feedback since I want to improve as a bassist. I tried to be conscious of the pocket and lock in the groove with the drummer. We sounded great according to the sound engineer. Our first show was awesome, everything was flawless and high energy, and we almost sold out the venue. People had a great time.
A week after the show, the rapper said he wanted to go over the performance and identify what went well and what could be improved on. We all agreed that we should meet up and talk about it. There wasn't much activity going on since then, and I knew we had a show the next month, so I had a feeling something was up. The rapper texted me asking if I could take a call and I said sure.
We chatted about life for a bit; then he got into what the deal was. He got feedback from people at the show, and the band members that the feel was a bit off, like something in the background was missing.
The guitarist told him that my bass playing wasn't cohesive with the guitar and vocals and that the bass was "almost antagonistic" to the guitar. He praised me for my attitude and dedication, and he said that he felt that I'm more focused on my career and that it seems like I'm not interested in professional music.
It's true, I am focused on building up my business, but it's not true that I don't want to play music professionally. That's been a dream of mine for so long, and I was happy to have found serious, talented musicians to perform with. I'm aware of the areas I need to improve on, and I honestly believe that I have the capability.
With an upcoming show and more planned in the next year, he was concerned that I wouldn't be able to nail all the new songs fast enough, given that time and money for rehearsal spaces is short. His career is taking off pretty fast, and I was 100% dedicated to going on tour if the opportunity presented itself.
I felt it was unfair that this was a decision made behind the scenes, instead of in a discussion where I could address concerns. He reiterated that my playing was technically good enough, but the feel wasn't quite there. I told him I'm aware that I'm rusty and the style of music was uncharted territory for me, and that I was professional, learned all the songs true to the bass lines on the recordings, and even made a couple of new songs on the spot that sounded great.
It's true that chemistry still needed to develop, but in the few months we've been rehearsing, every single session sounded better and better. From the first jam to the show, I've consistently cut down my playing and improved my groove.
I also said to him that it's his project and if he feels that I'm not there yet, it's his decision, and I respect it. I don't want to burn a bridge, and he mentioned that he also didn't want to close a door for future collaboration.
I'm trying to make sense of everything since I truly want concrete feedback on how I can be a better player. I like when people are honest when something isn't right so that headache can be avoided in the long run.
Maybe I'm biased since I'm an econ graduate and have worked in business environments, but if you're hired for the job it means you're good enough, and if issues arise, you have periodic evaluations for coworkers to give you feedback on what you're doing well and what needs work. If my playing was that bad, I feel like it should have been addressed before the show.
They saw me develop over a short period of time; why is it just now that they don't think I can get it right when I would have had more time to get it down?. The artist decided to go with another bassist who'll have to learn all the songs in a month, with less rehearsal time than we had.
Groove is crucial especially for R&B/hip-hop music, and if I wasn't bringing it, then it does nobody any favors to keep me in the band. Music is an emotional process, and it's hard to articulate many things. Maybe I won't be able to get an answer that I'm hoping for beyond "it just doesn't feel right".
Anyway, I needed to get that off my chest and into the open. If you've read this far, I congratulate you! I know I'll bounce back and find another project - I'm working with a producer tomorrow and the rapper was happy to connect me with his main beat maker, as well.
I guess what I'm curious about is:
- How do I learn from this to become a better player and avoid this scenario in the future?
- Should I work with this artist again in the future, or is it like breaking up with an SO and things will never be the same?
- What have you guys done when you've been canned?
Thanks for reading, I'd love to get your opinion and read other bassist's stories.
All I can tell you is sometimes people aren't a good fit with each other for no apparent reason. Also, people who are seriously career minded about music often have a problem with members who might have potential entanglements. For example, Chrissie Hynde said that when she was forming the Pretenders, she looked for musicians who had nothing but music going on, and she didn't even want them to have girlfriends. Your fledgling business is an entanglement. No way around it. Nothing wrong with that, either. It'll probably serve you better in the long run financially, anyway.
