not necesarily , but that is very funny. Bruford had a roto tom or two. And Bozzio too.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
the worst drummer you've ever worked with?
- Thread starter crj14525
- Start date
not necesarily , but that is very funny. Bruford had a roto tom or two. And Bozzio too.
Had one drummer get up in the middle of a set, kick his drums over, and storm off the stage. All because we played a raging song too fast. We were on the road and couldnt find him for hours. Dude totally flipped out.
I've had nothing but bad luck with drummers in my band career. The last two out of three bands I played in broke up because of the drummer. "nuff said I guess
We had a guy audition for my rock covers band, and he was absolutely awful.
He showed up at the rehearsal space in a red truck with the license plate (something along the lines of) "Drummer Boy." He had Zildjian/DW/Paiste etc stickers all over his back glass, and really talked himself up on the phone - played with "several bands over the last decade or two" and so on.
When we auditioned him, he knew exactly one beat, and he played like he was scared of the drums. We gave him a list of about 5 or 6 songs to audition with, a few days in advance, and he was cool with that. When he showed up, he obviously hadn't learned any of them.
My band being the type of people we are, we decided to give him a second chance. We actually set up a second audition, this time at HIS house, and gave him the same songs.
We showed up (more or less) on time, set up, and started to play. His wife comes down to the basement with a bunch of Long Islands and some bud.
:sigh:
So he does his thing, whatever, we have a few drinks, and get into playing. He's still playing the same basic beat, and still acting like he's scared of the drums. In between songs, he made a racist joke. No one laughed, and Jose (<- That's right, my guitarist is 2nd generation Mexican immigrant) actually said he didn't appreciate it.
This drummer just rolled along, right into another joke of questionable taste. At that point, Jose stood up (he's a big, big guy) and turned his amp off. Started loading stuff up.
Like a few other posts in the thread, that person (whom we nicknamed "Dirt" because of how dirty his basement was) has become the gold standard to which we measure others - "He wasn't great, but he was waaaaay better than Dirt."
Lessons learned, I suppose.
He showed up at the rehearsal space in a red truck with the license plate (something along the lines of) "Drummer Boy." He had Zildjian/DW/Paiste etc stickers all over his back glass, and really talked himself up on the phone - played with "several bands over the last decade or two" and so on.
When we auditioned him, he knew exactly one beat, and he played like he was scared of the drums. We gave him a list of about 5 or 6 songs to audition with, a few days in advance, and he was cool with that. When he showed up, he obviously hadn't learned any of them.
My band being the type of people we are, we decided to give him a second chance. We actually set up a second audition, this time at HIS house, and gave him the same songs.
We showed up (more or less) on time, set up, and started to play. His wife comes down to the basement with a bunch of Long Islands and some bud.
:sigh:
So he does his thing, whatever, we have a few drinks, and get into playing. He's still playing the same basic beat, and still acting like he's scared of the drums. In between songs, he made a racist joke. No one laughed, and Jose (<- That's right, my guitarist is 2nd generation Mexican immigrant) actually said he didn't appreciate it.
This drummer just rolled along, right into another joke of questionable taste. At that point, Jose stood up (he's a big, big guy) and turned his amp off. Started loading stuff up.
Like a few other posts in the thread, that person (whom we nicknamed "Dirt" because of how dirty his basement was) has become the gold standard to which we measure others - "He wasn't great, but he was waaaaay better than Dirt."
Lessons learned, I suppose.
A former crackhead who went by the name of Stixxx.
He'd do every snare hit with a rim shot (probably with horrible technique) and would break a stick every song.
All of his cymbals looked devastated. Most of the drum kit was held together with strips of tape.
One rehearsal he broke the board of his bass drum pedal in half. No idea how he managed that. Nothing a little duct tape couldnt fix.
Somehow he managed to hook up with a chick... on the drum set (when no one was around).
Aside from all of that, he was an OK drummer. Better musical head than the two guitarists/egos in that band.
He'd do every snare hit with a rim shot (probably with horrible technique) and would break a stick every song.
All of his cymbals looked devastated. Most of the drum kit was held together with strips of tape.
One rehearsal he broke the board of his bass drum pedal in half. No idea how he managed that. Nothing a little duct tape couldnt fix.
Somehow he managed to hook up with a chick... on the drum set (when no one was around).
Aside from all of that, he was an OK drummer. Better musical head than the two guitarists/egos in that band.
In my progressive metal band, we got our first drummer after about 2/3 of a year just writing original stuff. We auditioned him and he meshed very well, musically.
Pros: He could keep a beat, he could play really fast, he was precise, and he knew his time signatures (a must for our music).
Cons: He was not dedicated, he would cancel practices all the time (sometimes the morning of), he always wanted to cut practices short (we were used to 3-4 hours, he wanted 1-2), he was always late to gigs (one time showing up halfway into the preceding band's set), he decided he didn't like the metal side of our music so he tried getting us to play softer stuff, and he had a serious attitude problem.
The big problem was that we could not find anyone in our area who could replace his skill!
Thank God we eventually found our current drummer, who has all the pros and none of the cons of the old guy.
Pros: He could keep a beat, he could play really fast, he was precise, and he knew his time signatures (a must for our music).
Cons: He was not dedicated, he would cancel practices all the time (sometimes the morning of), he always wanted to cut practices short (we were used to 3-4 hours, he wanted 1-2), he was always late to gigs (one time showing up halfway into the preceding band's set), he decided he didn't like the metal side of our music so he tried getting us to play softer stuff, and he had a serious attitude problem.
The big problem was that we could not find anyone in our area who could replace his skill!
Thank God we eventually found our current drummer, who has all the pros and none of the cons of the old guy.
And we had a short gig with yyz by rush and the live arrangement of UFOs rock bottom...... The drummer never learned th songs an was trying to last mint before hw got on stage..... Needless to say we crashed and burned
One of my guitarists once pulled a homeless guy off the streets and said "Hey, you look like a drummer, come drum for us."
Current, I guess now "ex-drummer."
We have a gig lined up for Saturday night. Yesterday (Wednesday), he starts whining about finding out he has a restricted "work only" license, something about his girlfriend, something about work - basically something about EVERYTHING.
He decides he just isn't interested anymore - leaving us high and dry without a drummer just days before the gig.
I guess we can look on the positive side - eventually we'll find another drummer.
It would be nice to find someone:
- into playing shows and practicing
- who isn't "tired and worn out" after playing for less than an hour
- who isn't breaking at least 1 stick every 2 songs
- who isn't trying to rush through practice because he wants to go do something else right away
- who isn't thinking that every 3rd song needs to ignore the obvious ending, because "he just feels the groove and wants to rock it out"
- (yes, the above has happened at SHOWS, a few times)
- who doesn't whine about money everytime he needs new sticks or any type of drum maintenance or upgrades, but damn if he doesn't rush out and buy the most stupid, unnecessary crap in between those whiny rants
- who doesn't think a damn annoying death metal crash symbol must be used in EVERY SINGLE SONG, no matter the song's vibe.
We have a gig lined up for Saturday night. Yesterday (Wednesday), he starts whining about finding out he has a restricted "work only" license, something about his girlfriend, something about work - basically something about EVERYTHING.
He decides he just isn't interested anymore - leaving us high and dry without a drummer just days before the gig.
I guess we can look on the positive side - eventually we'll find another drummer.
It would be nice to find someone:
- into playing shows and practicing
- who isn't "tired and worn out" after playing for less than an hour
- who isn't breaking at least 1 stick every 2 songs
- who isn't trying to rush through practice because he wants to go do something else right away
- who isn't thinking that every 3rd song needs to ignore the obvious ending, because "he just feels the groove and wants to rock it out"
- (yes, the above has happened at SHOWS, a few times)
- who doesn't whine about money everytime he needs new sticks or any type of drum maintenance or upgrades, but damn if he doesn't rush out and buy the most stupid, unnecessary crap in between those whiny rants
- who doesn't think a damn annoying death metal crash symbol must be used in EVERY SINGLE SONG, no matter the song's vibe.
Back in the 80's, a drummer answered our ad, and when we got together, he insisted that *ANY* song fits this one particular drum beat that he played. He would play three measures, followed by four crashes. Drrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!
Can you imagine playing that same exact drumbeat when playing Kashmir, then Close to the Edge, then Sweet Emotion?
What a dweebus maximus!
Can you imagine playing that same exact drumbeat when playing Kashmir, then Close to the Edge, then Sweet Emotion?
What a dweebus maximus!
We had a guy exactly like this show up once (except for the truck), and he fits your description exactly.
Except our guy would complain we were playing too fast EVERY SONG. We would play everything slower than normal, and he would still complain. And he couldn't hold one beat steady.
And he supposedly played for the last three decades with several bands. Yeah. Right.
Insisted on playing whatever beat the singer was doing instead of providing the actual beat throughout the song. Novel, huh?
Argued about that.
Often sped up.
Spoke rudely to me then asked me to tell him if he did.
Singer couldn't sing more than one set.
Drummer wanted to keep booking gigs instead of giving singer time to heal.
Would not empathize with singer who went to voice lessons to expand endurance.
Was willing to put substandard poorly executed tunes on website with excuse that we're not studio musicians.
Was okay with allowing anyone to set in.
When I said I wasn't bringing my PA, he said sure I was.
Was unwilling to pay a soundman but wanted to buy drinks and dinner for folks who would set in.
Refused to care that the singer straight up said, " if the party gets going I'll get messed up even if I sing flat in the second set".
Needless to say I moved on.
After I left the band he asked for and wanted to use the same substandard tracks for a demo. Need I say I'm on the tracks.
I still wonder what planet he's on.:/
Argued about that.
Often sped up.
Spoke rudely to me then asked me to tell him if he did.
Singer couldn't sing more than one set.
Drummer wanted to keep booking gigs instead of giving singer time to heal.
Would not empathize with singer who went to voice lessons to expand endurance.
Was willing to put substandard poorly executed tunes on website with excuse that we're not studio musicians.
Was okay with allowing anyone to set in.
When I said I wasn't bringing my PA, he said sure I was.
Was unwilling to pay a soundman but wanted to buy drinks and dinner for folks who would set in.
Refused to care that the singer straight up said, " if the party gets going I'll get messed up even if I sing flat in the second set".
Needless to say I moved on.
After I left the band he asked for and wanted to use the same substandard tracks for a demo. Need I say I'm on the tracks.
I still wonder what planet he's on.:/
When my band started getting the pieces together, the first drummer(to this day, I still have no clue where he even came from!) could not, for the life of him, play Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon. Couldn't get the intro timing right, couldn't grasp the upbeats...my lead guitarist who can play drums ok(not good enough to be a drummer, but knows the basics) kept showing him, and still couldn't pull it off. Speed up and down, was tough. Luckily our current drummer is awesome, makes my role so much easier.
my singer/guitar1 used to be a drummer, and this pretty much completely describes him
