Why did you quit a band?

[SJLee]

I left a blues band that played every song in the key of G because of the singer/harmonica. At first I felt like I was playing the same song over and over again. Then it became a challenge to make the songs that were similar different by switching up what I was playing to make it interesting, but eventually returned to play what was best for the song. In the end I left because 80-90 percent of the time I was playing the same song.

 

[SouthTippBass]

So true,people dont realize how important a good drummer is to the total feel,the worst is jamming with a Neil Peart wanna be,JUST KEEP A FUKVIN GROOVE BUDDY!

He wasnt even a Neil Pert wanna be, he was just a dude in his mid forties that learned rock beat number one back in the day and never had any ambition to further his playing. I took him aside one Saturday morning, just the two of us, and tried to explain the shuffle to him and its extreme importance in a blues band. He just wasnt interested, he was determined to just continue doing what he had always done. I just couldn't stick it playing with a drummer like that.

 

[casualmadness]

I’m very likely to pull the plug on one of My bands right now. During the whole covid thing, he’s been relentlessly calling and texting the entire band Every week asking if we can all get together. I explained to him numerous times that I don’t think it’s a good idea due to what’s going on. Finally the singer caved and started in with the “yeah c’mon lets ge together this weekend.” After a while the drummer caved. They’ve managed to get together one time since this all started. Our band had just formed right when Covid became a thing so as a band, the four of us have played together one time. Now, the BL in his delusion sent out a text yesterday telling us all that we hav a potential gig this Saturday. I didn’t even participate in the texting but the singer was all in. The drummer questioned if we were ready for a gig given that we’ve only played together once. The BL answered “the place isn’t allowing more than 50 people in at a time and given how starved people are for live music, it wont matter how we sound.” I think this is idiotic. But hey, to each his own. I know I won’t be climbing on a stage to make an ass of myself with a band that is nowhere near ready to play for an audience.

 

[delta7fred]

One I almost quit. Long story (happened over 12 years) but I'll keep it as short as possible.

I was asked to play lead guitar by an old school friend (bassist) because their lead guitarist was moving abroad. 4 piece rock band 2 guitars, bass, drums. All went well for a couple of years.

At the drummer's insistence we recruited a keys player.
Drummer got killed in a car crash and the keys player brought in a friend (who wanted to be a jazz drummer)
At one gig keys player got his g.f. on stage to sing (she was a good singer) to save her from a drunk who couldn't keep his hands to himself. She stayed as our female singer.

She didn't like our rock catalogue and we changed most of it to suit her voice.
Keys player wanted to play songs that highlighted his keyboard virtuosity (so he could trample all over the other instruments and vocals).
The drummer didn't like anything unless he suggested, what he did suggest was obscure and didn't fit our set.
Bassist was into obscure old rock/MOR.
Rhythm guitarist/male singer wanted to do modern charts songs.
I kept my mouth shut because I knew it was futile saying anything

The band was now pulling in so many musical directions that we could not agree on any new material so our setlist was static for what seemed like forever.

I was getting bored with playing the same songs every gig, especially as a most of them now had little or no lead guitar. Most of the time I was shadowing the rhythm guitar, with different chord inversions, and trying not to tread on the singer's lines (that was the keys player's role - Phil Allspace).

I was contemplating quitting despite the fact that I liked the people, the money was good, and we were getting just the right amount of gigs (most of them local) when the bass player didn't turn up for a gig. (Marriage and business troubles.)

I'd had an inkling that this might happen and took my bass along "just in case". I played bass all night (through my guitar amp) and then subsequently switched to bass permanently. We never replaced the lead guitar because it was not needed.

We stayed this way until the band split (2003) when the keys player and female singer (now married) and the rhythm guitarist/male singer all decided it was time to retire from gigging.


Ironically the keys player contacted me in 2018 and asked if I would like to play lead in a band he and his wife were putting together, "You'll have no trouble learning it as it is all the stuff we used to play". Thanks but no thanks, I was glad to get out of playing the same set week in week out before and no way am I going to volunteer to go back to it now.

 

[Cut the middle]

I've left a few bands. The first was a contemporary church choir, that was more about the music, than it was about the spiritual leadership. At the end of Mass, the director would say "great show" everyone. To me, that wasn't why I was in it. When I left, they spread rumors about my sexual preferences and that I was leaving the Church. None of it was true and not Christ-like at all.

When I was married and was about to have our first child, I was in a local touring band and some other loosely held jazz combos. The touring band schlepped our own gear. So, a Saturday gig would take Friday night packing the van, all day Saturday travelling and playing, and I wouldn't get home until 1 or 2 AM on Sunday after unloading all the gear back into our studio. Having a newborn on the way, was definite incentive to lighten up schedule. I took a 13 year hiatus from playing out.

The last band I left was about year ago when my 4 teenagers and wife needed more of their dad's and husband's time. I also took up leading Scouts full time (during non-work hours) rather than splitting my time between music and Scouting.

All of my decisions have been based on my values and life choices. I wish I had more time in the day to keep my skills up to play music proficiently again. I'm sure I'll get time later in life to play more.

best wishes to you and your beautiful family!

 

[John sase]

Way too much drinking on stage.

 

[Bozendoka]

The one band I quit was mostly because I had grown tired of the song list and the other members wanted to do lighter stuff while I was (and am) a total metalhead. Creative differences, as they say.

 

[Mark Stelmaszek]

This is an offshoot of the "have you ever been fired" thread.

So why did you quit?

Usually because musicians are hard to get along with. To many ego's involved. But the last band I was in the only two consistent members were the guitarist/front man and myself. But we're both family men and having wives and children and day jobs we hung it up after several years.

 

[oldrocker]

I’m very likely to pull the plug on one of My bands right now. During the whole covid thing, he’s been relentlessly calling and texting the entire band Every week asking if we can all get together. I explained to him numerous times that I don’t think it’s a good idea due to what’s going on. Finally the singer caved and started in with the “yeah c’mon lets ge together this weekend.” After a while the drummer caved. They’ve managed to get together one time since this all started. Our band had just formed right when Covid became a thing so as a band, the four of us have played together one time. Now, the BL in his delusion sent out a text yesterday telling us all that we hav a potential gig this Saturday. I didn’t even participate in the texting but the singer was all in. The drummer questioned if we were ready for a gig given that we’ve only played together once. The BL answered “the place isn’t allowing more than 50 people in at a time and given how starved people are for live music, it wont matter how we sound.” I think this is idiotic. But hey, to each his own. I know I won’t be climbing on a stage to make an ass of myself with a band that is nowhere near ready to play for an audience.

Where abouts are you guys located that is allowing live bands?

 

[lfmn16]

The BL answered “the place isn’t allowing more than 50 people in at a time and given how starved people are for live music, it wont matter how we sound.” I think this is idiotic. But hey, to each his own. I know I won’t be climbing on a stage to make an ass of myself with a band that is nowhere near ready to play for an audience.

There's never a good time to make a fool of yourself. And he is dead wrong. People don't want to hear a crap band ever.

 

[lyonaudio]

I was concerned about driving home with drunk drivers on the road.

Ah... Texas...

 

[MauiMike]

Had a "Little Hitler" that told us what he said was the law. We locked horns about 30 minutes into our first practice. I quit, packed my gear and was gone. Two hours later the rest of the band showed up at my place. They fired the leader of the band and hired me!

 

[lyonaudio]

Why didn't I quit is the real question:
- The constant fighting
- cocaine and pot and booze all over the place all the time
- drug dealers everywhere.
- drug deals gone bad and drummer on probation
- drummer drinking pickle juice all the time because he thinks that'll make him pass his urine tests for probation
- cops constantly being called by the neighbors when trying to rehearse
- the terrible gigs where nobody showed up
- lugging huge cabinets everywhere
- and those who did come to the gig hated us
- girls only liked the guitar player. Always.
- no pay
- s*** job at the BBQ joint just to buy strings and cords and keep the amps working
- the constant fighting.

Write it down!
That sounds like it would make a GREAT movie.
Get someone to write the screenplay.

 

[Super25Smasher]

I was in a cover band for three years in high school, from the end of freshman year to the end of senior year. All four other members were two years younger than me. Most of them were extremely immature. The rhythm guitarist was not a competent player, and his amp was almost always muted at shows. The singer wasn't familiar with the songs, and was very pitchy. The few original songs we had were either instrumental, or had awful lyrics with no rhythm written by the rhythm guitarist. The drummer controlled almost everything. He picked most of the songs we played and he usually made setlists by himself. We almost exclusively played Green Day covers, because they were his favorite band. I'd suggest other bands and songs to cover, and he'd almost always reject them because "they weren't popular enough". He'd say we need to focus on popular songs, yet he'd make us play obscure Green Day deep tracks nobody in the audience would know. A few times, he refused to make a setlist, and had us pick songs onstage in the middle of the show. He tried telling me what bass to use. At one point, he suggested making a hierarchy within the band, and elected himself president because I opposed some of his drastic ideas. He dropped this within a day, but when I asked him about it the next day he denied it ever happened. It all came to a head before our final show with the original lineup, at a grad party. Earlier that week, the drummer said he expected us to play for 3-4 hours at the party, because they were paying us. We barely had two hours of material. The night before the show, I told the drummer we should make a setlist tomorrow before the show. He said we didn't have time. The next morning, the drummer and the guitarists were together before the show, and they made a setlist. It was full of songs that we either never rehearsed together, we had rehearsed and they sounded awful, or that only two or three members had learned. I quit then, but I came back and played that show because I was friends with the graduate. I knew my time with them was limited. I was starting college in the fall, and I had planned to leave the group as soon as I could form a new band in college. We had a few other shows planned for the summer, and even though I was anxious to leave, I decided it would be right to finish out those gigs. The rest of them wanted nothing to do with me. They called off all but one of the upcoming shows. The drummer said we should "take a break", but two days later, they announced my replacement. I was glad to be free from their control. Since then, I've focused on working on my technique and songwriting skills, and I've vastly improved on both. Sorry for the rant.

 

[luciens]

Write it down!
That sounds like it would make a GREAT movie.
Get someone to write the screenplay.

No way, I actually had to live that.... the $1000-loan-from-parents-for-a-brick-of-pot band funding idea that the singer and dummer came up with, though, probably would make a good screenplay. Man, that one had everything - the drummer smoking half of it, the drug deals done all around town in a total cop-bait broken down car with expired tags and inspection stickers, not to mention the financial loss because the drummer smoked half of it himself.....

And that wasn't the only hair-brained scheme either. So forget it, because I'm still trying to.. ....

L

 

[lyonaudio]

No way, I actually had to live that.... the $1000-loan-from-parents-for-a-brick-of-pot band funding idea that the singer and dummer came up with, though, probably would make a good screenplay. Man, that one had everything - the drummer smoking half of it, the drug deals done all around town in a total cop-bait broken down car with expired tags and inspection stickers, not to mention the financial loss because the drummer smoked half of it himself.....

But think of you being played by Johnny Depp.
It could work.
A 21st Century Spinal Tap?

 

[lyonaudio]

How would you get 4 or 5 bassists all playing torted and flatted P's with high-mass bridges to cut thru the mix so they could all play lead bass? No offense brotato chip, but I just don't see it working out.

Already been done. (I saw these guys play live at CBGBs just after the release of the movie... )

 

[lfmn16]

No way, I actually had to live that.... the $1000-loan-from-parents-for-a-brick-of-pot band funding idea that the singer and dummer came up with, though, probably would make a good screenplay. Man, that one had everything - the drummer smoking half of it, the drug deals done all around town in a total cop-bait broken down car with expired tags and inspection stickers, not to mention the financial loss because the drummer smoked half of it himself.....

And that wasn't the only hair-brained scheme either. So forget it, because I'm still trying to.. ....

L

My band had one of those schemes in the 70's. The drummers girlfriends "knew a guy" and all we had to do was put up the money, and they'd take care of the rest and profits would come flowing back to us ... blah, blah, blah. I said, "If it's so easy and profitable, what do they need us for?"

Any and all inquiries about details received vague answers, long on bull shirt, short on details. It was clear to me, even at 18 that they were going to take our money and we'd never see it again ... John got busted, the cops confiscated the drugs, we got ripped off by another dealer, etc., etc., etc. I finally said, you guys do what you want, but not with my money. The whole thing got dropped.

It's like these guys that are going to tell you how to make millions. If it's so easy, why aren't you busy making millions instead of infomercials?? How to make a small fortune in real estate - start with a large fortune.

 

[mb94952]

It was a good band but I was tired of the ********. Practice supposed to be 6:00-8:00. Show up and everyone just smokes tons of weed and plays smash brothers and we end up practicing 7:30-8:15. Hell its not like they were losers. One had a masters degree and made so much money he never had to work ever again and the other guys had bachelors degrees and owned their own fairly successful businesses. I guess it was more of a chill with your friends type of band for them. I wanted to play a lot more and play out more often. Just a bad fit. We all knew each other since we were kids but damn did they frustrate the hell out of me.

Sounds exactly like my practices, minus the money and college degrees, LOL...

 

[mb94952]

This thread is so depressing...