so at our last rehearsal, it was just me and my drummer, who pretty much write all music and are seasonned studio guys. we have a bass player and another guitar player (who happens to be one of my former students too!) with us who do a very good job while they're there.
that's just the problem, they aren't there all the time. our bass player's been there for one rehearsal in the last month and the other player just said he wasn't gonna be there 'cause of some family party. this pissed the drummer off real bad.
we're quite the odd bunch, i'm quite young, at 23, my drummer is 33, bass is 26-27 i think and the young player turned 20 in january. I've been living and breathing music since i got the damn thing in my paws. my drummer's played covers with a bunch of old bands. my ex student is a kind of lazy party all the time but really talented kid who could be something if he worked on it. and the bass player is a good one, but has no gear (plays on a bass kit we have at our rehearsal place)
anyway, backstory is done, we're working on our originals, actually, me and the drummer are. i've had little to no input from these guys. they play, we play some covers from back when we were a cover band. and that's that. last time me and the drummer rehearsed alone togheter we got a new song started.
so it comes to the point where we're thinking we might have the throw the dead weight off the boat, to get started with more songwriting, or simply get more motivated musicians. and it's always been up and down with these guys. everytime it feels like we're going somewhere, something else seems to come up in their lives and we're left just the two of us. it's kinda depressing really. i like playing, but i like having a good band sound, and it seems like for every killer sounding rehearsal we have, there's a month of 2 guitars and a drum, or 1 guitar a bass and a drum, never the full band.
we have to kick them out. i'm sick of this up and down. i've done this before but the past bass player was just a hack. these guys are good, but lack the motivation to dig into their guts and bring the music out.
I suppose there's no easy way to kick anyone out of a band (heck, i've been playing with the guitar player for at least 6 years...) but when people's interests go another way, it's time to do something.
i've been thinking we should go out to a pub or a restaurant on a night other than rehearsal night and have a talk. but a firm talk, no coming back. the decision is taken. it's pretty hard to put into words and i'm sure we'll get reactions like 'but we'll try better!' almost like the cheating husband making up to his wife for the umpteenth time, but i guess a band leader's gotta do what he's gotta do!
on the bright side, we're trying out a male lead singer (finally!) next saturday. i'd hate to ruin this rehearsal with a shite storm from the other members.
Also. I do fully understand how other people's interest can deviate from music. i'm just sick of waiting for something that doesn't exist in them.
this was more of a rant than anything i guess. sorry! but share experiences-wish me luck-anything at all. it's never an easy thing to do.
