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Why did you quit a band?

#121
Last two bands it boiled down to lack of ambition. Turning down paying gigs I brought to the band, no one else bringing gigs. I don’t do hobby bands.

My new motto is “no blank checks.” I size things up. Decide how long it should take to get the material down. I put a reminder on my calendar every 30 days to take the temperature of the situation. If band is dragging their feet, I have a come to Jesus meeting with the band before I waste any more of time. Steal my money or my stuff, and I can get that back. Steal my time and it’s gone forever. I’m too damned old to put up with that shizzle.
 
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#123
I alluded to this in the other post. I've quit a number of times.
The overwhelming reason why I did so, was the old bait and switch routine.

Selling to me the band or the situation as something that was originally appealing and THEN trying to slyly conduct it as something that DID NOT APPEAL to me and then acting as if it was the norm. THEN trying to resell or guilt me into staying. (oh but all the time we spent with you and such...). That really was irritating. I don't fall for that anymore, thank goodness.
 
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#127
Oh man, so many reasons with my last band, i will cover the main ones

1)the singer would continually re-run over material we had already played many times before and decide that the arrangements needed to be tweaked even though the bass part or the drum part was perfectly fine and had been countless times before he would decide that the parts should be played a certain different way, often this would happen the day before a gig, as a result the songs always sounded sloppy because the arrangements had been changed so many times noone actually knew what they were meant to be playing.
After a while I got so sick of the arrangments being changed as and when that I would come to rehearsal and dial in the muddiest tone so that he could not actually distinguish what I was playing.

2)rehearsal space was free but was absolutely miles away and we would rehearse 2-3 times a week often on weeknights after work which would mean that I would get home from rehearsal on a weeknight around 1.30am, doing this 2 or 3 times a week and then getting up at 6.00am for work it was way too much

3)quality of the gigs- the focus of the band seemed to be booking gigs regardless of where they were or how much they paid, we did a few free gigs where we did not even get drinks,we did a couple where we got a percentage of the bar takings, our singer would often contact venues to get us gigs and agree to give them a goods price for our first gig with them, predictably of course the venues got there cheap gig and then we never heard from them after that.

4)lack of enjoyment - due to the above reasons I stopped enjoying playing gigs with above mentioned band, I remember playing the last gig and I was just going through the motions
 
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#128
Travelling mainly..... left my band in late 2017. We all got along well and were a good band, but gigs were always about 1hr drive each way for me and getting home at 3-4am on a Sunday was just doing my head in - I was getting headaches, getting cranky on Sundays and decided I needed a break from gigging every weekend....

it got to the point when sometimes I was getting in the car to go to a gig and I was thinking I'd rather be at home with the wife.... so I knew I needed a break
 
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#129
One band (guys from high school) just wanted to get high all the time (one time the guitar player didnt answer the phone because he took horse tranquilizers and couldnt move...)

The other band had a number of issues. The drummer SUCKED and the guitar player/singer wasnt much better. He also had some mental health issues he had to resolve. He ended up getting arrested.

I enjoy some jamming with friends, but I'm not at all into being in a 'band' and playing gigs.
 
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#132
I left a band a few years ago that had turned into more of a hang than a band; drink a few beers, make some noise, talk a little about getting sets together and playing out. Never happened. They are friends, knew them from when we were all in a praise band years ago. Finally had enough and told them "I can't do this anymore. There should be a goal in here somewhere." Honestly, I think the guitarists were relieved they didn't need to learn new songs/solos. I'm really fortunate to be in another band where I'm playing with adults and actually like the music we play. Got a gig at the end of June, hopefully I won't have to sing wearing a face mask.
 
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#134
roccobass said:
I alluded to this in the other post. I've quit a number of times.
The overwhelming reason why I did so, was the old bait and switch routine.

Selling to me the band or the situation as something that was originally appealing and THEN trying to slyly conduct it as something that DID NOT APPEAL to me and then acting as if it was the norm. THEN trying to resell or guilt me into staying. (oh but all the time we spent with you and such...). That really was irritating. I don't fall for that anymore, thank goodness.
Click to expand...
Guilt. The gift that keeps giving.
 
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#135
Every band I was ever in fell apart due to flakiness of other members.
The 2nd band I was in, I was actually fired from because apparently I didn’t have enough groove and issues with timing. They had two other bass players after me, then I auditioned again about a year later and was re-hired unanimously. The band fell apart after we recorded an album and couldn’t get it to sound good in the Mastering process. I guess everyone king of lost interest and got tired of waiting for the finished product.
This was back when 2” tape was still used...quite a while ago. 1997 perhaps...?
 
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#137
AudioTaper said:
I enjoy some jamming with friends, but I'm not at all into being in a 'band' and playing gigs.
Click to expand...
I have a friend that won't play guitar with anyone any more too. A long time ago he told me he really just plays for his own ego. He says a band is not worth the hassle, especially with with being able to "star" in his own youtube channel.

More power to him! And you!
 
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#138
I’ve quit a few bands

1. because I became a father
2. Nearly got into a fist fight with the lead singer. Mind you I haven’t been in a physical altercation since 4th grade and haven’t been close since this one.
3. Band wanted to do a bunch of new classic rock tunes that I was t into
4. Bandleader liked to book a lot of free gigs. After a while it gets old.
 
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#140
Inara said:
3. We provided the PA and lights, and the guitarist had an extremely particular way everything had to be done, which resulted in 2 hours setup and 2 hours tear down time. We played 4 sets a night, 45 - 60 minutes a set, so it ended up being an 8 hour night, not counting drive time, for $75 each on average. I just couldn't do it any more, and I was sick of playing covers anyway (absolutely nothing derogatory against covers or cover bands - it's just not what I wanted to do).
Click to expand...

Passive aggressive band leader
Living my life around someone’s limited schedule
Tired of the music
In the exact same spot after 4 years
Different goals
I get bored of the same old same old
 
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