Band kicked me out

[gapiro]

"None of us wanted to be the bass player. In our minds he was the fat guy who always played at the back." - Paul McCartney


It's their loss. I am a chunky monkey too but it doesn't affect my playing ! That's their loss.

[Johngh]

Many a band will sell their soul just because of "record label interest"

I imagine its an indie label, so the band will more than likely get screwed over by a contract so tight that the band never make any money anyway as it will all go to the record label.

The best they can hope for is to play some half decent shows and maybe get an album out of it, so i shouldn't feel too bad about it

It's nice to know who your mates are though isn't it

[Lenny B]

If you've written or co-written any original songs then they'll need your permission to do anything with them AND you should get your appropriate share of income from them. Same for any recordings if they're exploited.
And if you really want to annoy them, you can say (or write) that the band was operating as a partnership under partnership law, and as such you have rights in the name and goodwill (excuse me being vague, but it's a long time since I did Partnership law) of the band.

You should definitely assert your rights in any songs though...

[rogerstodge]

[quote name='gub' timestamp='1346449754' post='1789530']
Bass players are a bit like cooks anyway, never trust a skinny one
[/quote]Oii, im a skinny one... or would be if it weren't for me beer gut

[Lozz196]

I was in a sort-of band with a mate - I say sort-of band, as it`s one of those recording projects, with no plans for gigging. Plus, I was never actually asked to join, I was just helping out on bass, then suddenly started being introduced as the bassist.

Anyway, I got fired, and was told it was nothing to do with my bass playing. So, it could be one of two things:

I was, at the time, rather stocky, and didn`t have (and still don`t have) any hair. They were all long-haired rockers. Possible image clash.

Or, the leader of the band was never happy paying for rehearsals, he wanted to buy a rehearsal space, with everyone chipping in £6000 for something that would be entirely in his name alone. I said I would not be doing so.

To this day I don`t know which, and don`t really care, it was probably both, rather than either. But, a few years after, he asked me to give their current bassist lessons. No point in being impolite, but I refused. He is a very charismatic person, and tried every trick he could think of, but no way. If I`m not wanted, I`m not wanted.

The project is still going on now - some 16 years after it began, without the band being able to play one single song live (although that isn`t their aim) and this time next year Rodney, they will be millionaires!

[skankdelvar]

[quote name='Musky' timestamp='1346453233' post='1789579']
Or Ian Stewart...
[/quote]

Or Rod Evans or Wally Nightingale or Henry Padovani. At least Jon Bon Jovi didn't fire Alec Jon Wotsisname - he just ordered the poor sod to get his thighs liposuctioned.

It goes without saying that the OP's backstabbing former bandmates have shown their true colours, but sadly there are plenty of other people out there who would do exactly the same thing.

The horrid fact is that pop and its commercially-driven sub-genres are money-making tools, designed to extract cash from those influenced by superficiality. A pretty face is mandatory in the ghastly world of 'showbiz', for show is the biz which one must inhabit if the intention is to make a business out of the 'show' aspect.

And though my sympathy is a given, the alternatives now open to the OP would seem to be:
[list=1]
[*]Stay in 'showbiz' but prepare for a recurrence of the problem
[*]Lose some weight
[*]Make a 'feature' out of the weight issue (the John McCoy approach)
[*]Work in musical genres where idealised visual conformity is unimportant
[*]And never to assume that one's commercial partners are one's friends.
[/list]

Onward, upward and mind your back.

[color=#ffffff].[/color]

Edited September 1, 2012 by skankdelvar

[LiamPodmore]

Sad to hear that people would do something like this, just to be tied down into some corporate and probably highly manipulative contract. I'd like to think my band wouldn't do this to me, because i'm not a tiny guy myself, but i'm easily the most active guy onstage and don't look that out of place (Though i doubt you did either). Bassline's wont be too hard if they ever did replace me though, 90% of my gig is root notes and LOTS of jumping.

Liam

[Judo Chop]

That's f***ing disgusting, playing music and being in a band is supposed to be enjoyable.
Where's the fun in kicking your mate out for such a petty, shallow reason just because some slimy record label creep says to?
They'll all regret it one day, and I hope the bastards fall flat on their faces for selling you out like that.

[alyctes]

Retyping this (I hate MS Windows...):

(a ) if there's any songwriter credit to be had, insist on it. That way, their treachery will be rewarded forever
(b ) bunch of losers, you're better off without them.

Edited September 1, 2012 by alyctes

[gjones]

If that's not a good incentive to loose the beef I don't know what is. This is from somebody who was in a similiar situation years ago and lost 4 stone. In the end we didn't get the contract but I did get fit.

Since then I've put it all back on again...... but that's another story.

[MiltyG565]

[quote name='gjones' timestamp='1346463306' post='1789647']
If that's not a good incentive to loose the beef I don't know what is. This is from somebody who was in a similiar situation years ago and lost 4 stone. In the end we didn't get the contract but I did get fit.

Since then I've put it all back on again...... but that's another story.
[/quote]

im at the point where i have lost a good bit of weight, and now its just the stares i have to deal with. you know.... "jesus, Milty has lost some weight....... wonder when he will go back to looking like a sofa left in the rain"

soon, is my bet

anyway dude, people are all different shapes and sizes. if i thought that any of my friends would sell me out like that, they wouldn't be my friends you are better off without them.

[wateroftyne]

Whilst I have genuine sympathy for the OP (being a bigger-boned chap myself), I'm surprised at some of the responses here.

Assuming the band are a bunch of ambitious young'uns, and assuming the label have a bit of clout and know what they're doing, (a big 'if', I know), you can hardly blame them for wanting a crack at the big time, however misguided it may or may not be.

[lowdowner]

A vocalist was interviewed at length on Radio 4 recently and explained that she was attending a record label offices just after they had auditioned another vocalist who the record label execs said had a 'fabulous voice and presence' but was 'too fat' to make it big time! She overheard them eventually decide to give the newbie a go and try to persuade her to loose some weight - they didn't sound hopeful.

The person they were discussing was Adele and the rest is history.

The mainstream music business is about music *and* sex - thank god for the internet which enables us to choose the music *we* like and not what the record labels choose for us (who are no more than marketing operations at best anyway).

[The Dark Lord]

Fat people are cool.

[BassHavoc]

Thanks guys, for all your support and input, I was already in the process of losing the weight but now I have the added incentive to do it just to piss them off!

Edited September 1, 2012 by BassHavoc

[BigRedX]

[quote name='Voodoosnake' timestamp='1346448716' post='1789511']
It can't be much of a deal if they are making these demands before signing, if it was about the music ( which it should be) then it wouldn't matter. Trouble is the business if full of flakey f***wits who think image and other such issue matter, it doesn't, they just think it does.
[/quote]

Anyone who thinks that image in an originals band is unimportant is severely deluding themselves.

[JimBobTTD]

Best of luck, BassHavoc. This whole thing stinks worse than a sackful of bums.

[BluRay]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1346483192' post='1789682']
Anyone who thinks that image in an originals band is unimportant is severely deluding themselves.
[/quote]

Fortunately there's no shortage of exceptions to that!

[BigRedX]

[quote name='BluRay' timestamp='1346483475' post='1789687']
Fortunately there's no shortage of exceptions to that!
[/quote]

OK name me some. I think you'll find that they nearly all have a carefully constructed "non-image". Which of course is an image itself.

[BluRay]

If almost every successful but overweight or otherwise non pin-up musician counts as a carefully constructed non image, then there's no winning that argument!

[JTUK]

Not surprised certain companies would think they can call this shot...and like it or not music is a lot about image over substance.
Doesn't say much about the lot of them as people but I agree about staying dignified, at least in public.

Hopefully, you can get the chance to serve some COLD revenge......so find aqnother band and onward and upward

[stingrayPete1977]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1346483192' post='1789682']
Anyone who thinks that image in an originals band is unimportant is severely deluding themselves.
[/quote]

Lack of image and the weight of the members are different things though, An indie type band with a huge guy/girl playing a bit of upright would be cool for instance IMO, the problem is the labels just want another One Direction on their books. The funny thing is the buying public are ready for it even in pop bands but the industry is always too scared to provide it IMO. We have had some lets not mince our words 'fat' artists in pop but they were crap artists rather than being crap because they were overweight. Time for a good indie band with a couple of bigger fellows I'd say

[steve-soar]

Never did The Magic Numbers any harm.

[gub]

Beth ditto seems to have done ok for herself , also my new fave band alabama shakes has a big boned bass player who IMO fits the bill a treat and Whitney the singer is not the too skinny either !

[TimR]

There will no doubt be other issues that as a friend they may feel that they couldn't talk about. Friends are often odd and won't say things for fear of upsetting you.

I was chucked out of a band due to not having long hair. To this day I still meet long haired musicians who seem to think that their long hair is a very important aspect of their lives and think not having hair must be a real worry for me.

Looking back, the image was only part of it. A lot if it was due to my attitude which probably didn't come across in the way I'd hoped. Also my playing wasn't quite as good as I thought and not as good as one of their other friends.

Anyway the 'interest' ended up being a loser and the bands music went downhill, my playing wasn't great but I helped rein the mad guitarist back (I suspect this was part of why they got rid of me). The fan base drifted (I had a big circle of friends who stopped going to the gigs).

People bring different things to bands apart from image and playing ability. The big part of a band is the hang. They may have trouble integrating another bass player, they may not.

You shouldn't have much trouble finding another band.