Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
At The Back => Time Out => Topic started by: Johnny Mac on April 29, 2010, 07:42:25 PM
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I/we were supposed to be in the studio tonight but I was told it never got booked even though I got a text at the beginning of the week to say we were in Thursday@7:00. It's probably due to them not having any money. Also this week I've been trying to motivate a few of them as they're long term unemployed and never have enough money for studio fee's let alone a Bass amp for a gig that is being pencilled in for June. So I asked our bass player can you see if you can get one and was told, "no i won't be able to" Its the same story with the drummer. Christ on a ffing bike these two are in their mid 40's and they have the motivation and drive of a dead cat.
The Sax player forgot he was going to see a comedy show in town tonight and cancelled.
We've had nothing but trouble since this got going in March last year and are still no where near gig ready. They smoke too much green and talk bollocks most of the time. They're nice guys but they don't get out of bed before midday.
What would you do? I do enjoy it when we all get in the studio but its so frustrating being let down all the time and listening to the delusional jibberjabber!
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I would try and get another more serious project up and running in tandem.
If you bin these guys you will have to find a new bunch of muso's anyway so if you enjoy hanging around with your current lot why not shoot for the best of both worlds.
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I've got no advice, but you were seeming really upbeat about the band a few days ago!
Sorry to hear about the problems. The second project idea seems good, if you've got the time for it.
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$%&# 'em, Johnny. You have a life to live, and not waste with wasters.
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Join another band. If this one carries on, go with the flow. Put most of your effort into the new venture...
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They smoke too much green and talk bollocks most of the time. They're nice guys but they don't get out of bed before midday.
I'd just leave them to be lucky bar-stewards..... or join them
...But not in bed
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I was in almost the same situation and left the band, however (sometime latter, after the dust had settled) I regretted doing so. Everyone else in the band was skint/unemployed, so I had to pay for everything. The keyboard player had lost his enthusiasm. The drummer just played the same pattern on every song. It was driving me crazy, so I ended it.
The singer and I were together in the band for 12 years and that was the main source of the regret. Initial it felt really good to be free from the hassle but with in a few months my feelings changes. It felt move like a bereavement than simple no longer taking part in an 'activity'.
YMMV :)
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Thank you for the advise. It does look like a good idea to stay with it now after I've slept on it. I will have a look out there for another band but keep with these guys. Things may change for the better. I suppose a rehearsal when they can afford it is better than none.
With the unemployment issue. They make every excuse not to work and it's this attitude that comes with them on this band project. They won't learn songs in their own time. Which I find confusing. They have all the time in the world and waste it. Then waste studio time learning from scratch. There is so much complacency , which will cause this to fail in a big way on stage. Remember France in the 2002 World Cup? Just because they were world champions they thought they were going to walk it. They didn't even score a goal let alone win a game. Out in the first round. Just like we will be, gigging with arrogance. Booed off after the first song! :lol:
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With the unemployment issue. They make every excuse not to work and it's this attitude that comes with them on this band project. They won't learn songs in their own time. Which I find confusing. They have all the time in the world and waste it. Then waste studio time learning from scratch.
I'm a very long way from being the most get-up-and-go person in the world, but that is ridiculous. What the hell do they do all day?
They should bring back National Service. Harumph! :snipe:
:wink:
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I/we were supposed to be in the studio tonight but I was told it never got booked even though I got a text at the beginning of the week to say we were in Thursday@7:00. It's probably due to them not having any money. Also this week I've been trying to motivate a few of them as they're long term unemployed and never have enough money for studio fee's let alone a Bass amp for a gig that is being pencilled in for June. So I asked our bass player can you see if you can get one and was told, "no i won't be able to" Its the same story with the drummer. Christ on a ffing bike these two are in their mid 40's and they have the motivation and drive of a dead cat.
The Sax player forgot he was going to see a comedy show in town tonight and cancelled.
We've had nothing but trouble since this got going in March last year and are still no where near gig ready. They smoke too much green and talk bollocks most of the time. They're nice guys but they don't get out of bed before midday.
What would you do?
Quit. This "band" is going nowhere, never ever.
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Let's be honest here, the sax player didn't "forget" anything. He bought tickets to a comedy show and didn't bother about the studio time because it's not a priority for him. And if the bass player and drummer can't be bothered to get out of bed, learn a few songs and lord knows, BUY SOME EQUIPMENT OF THEIR OWN then seriously, the band is dead in the water.
/my 2p worth
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What they do all Night is get stoned and sleep all day.
It is dead, deep down I know it.
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It's always difficult to accept that some band members aren't as committed to the cause as you. I know I've been blinkered by my own enthusiasm a few times, most notably when Island Records A&R were phoning me and the singer decided that he'd rather go and work for a firm of accountants.
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Johnny I'm fully sympathetic with you - I've been there and got the T-shirt - I posted this a couple of years ago:- :D
"I've lost count of the number of musicains over the years who joined/left/didn't bother to turn up for rehearsals etc.
The last permanent bass player in the band I was in was a brilliant musician but had never stuck at a job for more than a month and used to spend most of his day in the pub scrounging drinks off anyone he could find who was gullible enough to buy them. After waiting in an icy cold rehearsal room for over an hour and a half for him to turn up we found him outside a pub. After screaming "Where the f**k have you been?" he calmly explained that he managed to "cadge eight pints of 6X (very strong beer for non-drinkers) during the day and had sh*t himself".
Needless to say I had no wish to check out the accuracy of his claim and decided it was time for me to hang my plectrum up for a while. I still love playing and occassionally 'sit in' with some bands but find it impossible to find any serious musicians in my (senior) age group with my taste in music who are willing to work at it."
The thing that really topped it was at the last gig he played with us, he got so drunk he poured most of the contents of his pint of beer into the mixer. We literally had to drain it out and spent the interval trying to dry it but could only manage to get one of the stereo channells to work.
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Leave that band.
I had a similar situation with a couple of members (the band only really had me, a bassist and a vocalist since the drummer, who also never did anything, injured his shoulder). I wrote all the material, tabbed it out for them (and they never bothered to learn it), held their hands in learning stuff, recorded the stuff I'd written for the band on my own and they never lifted a finger. It was only even a band in name.
So I scr@pped it and took the stuff I'd done, put it under a different name, called it all and instrumental solo project and carried on basically exactly the same without them.
If, by some miracle, I find some people that
- like the music
- have interesting musical tastes and contributions to make
- are able to play the material (some of its a bit tricky)
- can and will put the effort in
Then maybe it'll be a band again, but for now its me, a handful of guitars, a couple of amps, a few mics, a PC, an interface, a DAW and 50 gigs of drum samples. Gigging is out, obviously, but I'm much more musically productive and happy without having to think about dragging lazy gits (who I love to bits btw, they're awesome guys and very good friends, but they're $%&#ing useless) along with me.
I cant help but note that you have basically the same resources, and seemingly similar interest in getting a bit creative with them, maybe take some time to focus on that, then use that to find committed and compatible members (which surely must be easier in london than west cumbria?)
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I'm the other side of the spectrum of musicians, I'd love to go to rehearsals. Unfortunately being able to play anything there is another thing :P
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Some very interesting posts here. Tellboy, after reading your post, I'm asking myself, what have I got to complain about! :lol: We should do A new thread based on all this.
I've seen drink and drug abuses in my mates bands over the years. I think some guys who play in bands get stoned as part of an image to make them cool. God I'm getting old! I used to be stoned all the time myself. I used to post in here off my face. Buy cr@p off eBay stoned. Ride motorbikes stoned. So perhaps I shouldn't expect too much.
I've already had an offer of rehearsing with an old drummer pal of mine. He plays in some good earning function bands so I could learn a lot from him!
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With a few exceptions I must have been lucky most of the time but like I have said, I have had my share of idiots over the years. I am shortly going to we getting into a little part time project that has been on the back burner for a long while but it is with a couple of people that are motivated and they are great musicians and I shall be back on the familiar territory of bass and song writing ( with occasional slide guitar duties). But it gets you down when you want so much to get something going and you are surrounded by fools- like wading through treacle.
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... But it gets you down when you want so much to get something going and you are surrounded by fools- like wading through treacle.
very much so.
My band had some pretty cool opportunities lined up but either people involved didn't care so much and couldn't be motivated, or people wanted to just finish songs in whatever way for sake of going out and touring etc, which didn't make sense to me at all. Surely you want good songs to tour with or put on records, right?
since I quit I just haven't found anyone I really feel like I could do a band with. I even had a really exciting chance that just totally failed. I have the chance to join another existing band that I do like, but what they do isn't what I'd do if I had the choice. I'm 26, I'm getting 'old' in terms of that 'scene' and I identify with it less and less at the moment, which is a shame, because I really don't identify with much else musically or socially.
I'm gonna say, I regret walking out and ending the band, because at least I was doing something where as now I'm doing nothing (regardless of how frustrating it could be at the time).
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Sorry to hear it's going that way Johnny :(
My recommendation, right at the moment, would be to keep it going but put your energy into the new recording kit, creating music on your own, find out what you can do, find out more about yourself musically...
If you hang on to them, you'll still have some real human beings to try ideas out with (even if they can't get it together as often as you want). If you ditch them now, you'll have to find some new folks to be able to do that... You never know, you might come up with something that gets one or more of them going... you might not though!..
Look at it this way - now it's got to "p1ssed off now" stage, constantly weigh up what you get out of them/it for what you put in. If it regularly costs you more in angst/wotever than you get out of it in satisfaction/giggles... then you'll know exactly what to do...
The main thing is, you've just got yourself a new set-of-musicians/outlet/audience in the new recording gear (and you're the audience, by the way! :lol: you can create stuff and listen to it as a punter- it's brilliant... and try that website I told you about for getting some input from outside on your creations, we all need a bit of acknowledgement from others). Put some serious effort into that stuff for a bit and get some personal satisfaction out of it - you might feel less disgruntled with them then mebbe...
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I'd dump the lot of them as you will be continually banging your head against a brick wall and will get more and more disillusioned.
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Thanks for all this valuable advice! I did send an email to them saying this projects going nowhere last week. We will probably go back in when their dole cheques turn up! I do want to try and motivate them. Yes Andy if I'm honest I do get a lot out of it even though I get pissed off with them. I feel a bit sorry for them really as they are really nice people. That is a good idea about writing some music to get them to play. I did discuss this at length with the bass player the day before the rehearsal that never was. I want him to get involved with that too. We could knock up a few tunes on the mac and bring them to a rehearsal and get the rest of them involved. I can get him to plug direct into the Motu interface after we have arranged a drum track. He is so talented Andy I would be a mug if I fell out with him. That's why I had a sound off in here!! :lol:
I signed up to the website the day you gave me the link Andy. I think it's a great site and I'm looking forward to using it. Thanks Andy you're a star! :D
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One thing that I do notice in threads like this is that quite often people are complaining because other band members aren't motivated to play music that other people have written or they're less than enthusiastic about someone else's pet project. Most of us have been in the same position, not entirely happy with the direction a band's taking or maybe slightly resentful of one or two band members who treat it as their solo project and everyone else is a volunteer session musician ... not saying that's the case here but it sometimes helps to clear the air by just asking people if they want to contribute any music or take a more leading role in the band. Or even just ask them if they like the music they're being asked to play.
At the end of the day
... they're musicians so they presumably want to play music in a band, maybe they're just not 100% into the music or less than happy about the way it's being run?
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At the end of the day
:lol:
I'm watching that now. :oops:
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The way it was being run over the last year Frank, we were being pulled in different directions by couple of people but one of them has took the many hints and hasn't showed up any more despite owing me money. 3 of us who got this going want to play funk and we do when we get the chance. We were too polite to speak up in the past but now it's at the stage where it's happening again with the keyboard player. We did some good Bob Marley tunes but the CD he gave us to learn is cheesy pop in a reggae style or covers in that style. I agreed to go along with it and have learnt my parts of 10 songs. However the others haven't and it's the choice of music as well as laziness that's holding us back I suspect.
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Had a great rehearsal last night despite a no show from the Sax player. I spoke about my concerns with the lack of commitment. They want this gig but they have to work at it. They understand though. So i said if you won't put the work in with me I'm not going to do it either and we will have to cancel it.
It was a great rehearsal though. I love it! :D I'll just have to take it as it comes.
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.... despite a no show from the Sax player....
Always a result, in my limited experience of Sax players (and Harmonica players!) :lol:
Glad you had a good one... hopefully they took it to heart :D
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.... despite a no show from the Sax player....
Always a result, in my limited experience of Sax players (and Harmonica players!) :lol:
Glad you had a good one... hopefully they took it to heart :D
They're keen Andy but they sleep far too much! :lol: They have some plans to practise during the day for free somewhere. At least they're showing a bit of willing now.