Band Disappointment

[DanOwens]

I suppose I'm ranting, but...

My good friend asked me to dep with his band whilst he was away for the summer. He's a guitarist but plays fretless in the band because he's a singer and they already have 2 guitarists. Its kinda psychedelic folk-rock and I've loved the songs since I first saw them and secretly though "I should be their bass player". I was honoured to be asked.

On joining I asked for charts and recordings; I don't need it but it helps. I was met with laughter: "Charts? We're too disorganised for charts" ALARM BELLS!

I've done a few rehearsals and one gig and the calibre of musicianship and general organisation is far below what I'm used to, but the kicker is the drummer:
- Asks "What does that go like?" each time he's told the song title... of a song he's been playing for months!!
- Can't keep time
- Band writes songs by jamming. The drummer played one single beat for 3 hours last night and still made mistakes
- Can't remember structures or arrangements (stops, pauses etc)

So now I'm in this horrible situation of depping for a mate for a band where I feel like I've lost the will to live every time we meet.

Is this a common experience, that I've avoided so far? I only have 4 more weeks of it, but MY GOD!!

TL;DR Joined a band with a sh*t drummer.

[hubrad]

What's that old joke about 'bucks up the feet'? ;-)
Most of us folkies do stuff by ear rather than charts. 'Too disorganised' is just the typical Brit self-deprecation coming out.
Paying gigs?
I feel your pain!

[JTUK]

You only get caught out like this once ...and then you learn to ask pertinent questions.. that help you decide if you are available..

For me...I need to know who is calling, who they have worked for..how did they get my number and what contemporaries we have in common.
The latter is not bombproof by any means either... but it helps if people recognise and respect the 'talent pool' you are expecting.

If someone calls, who I don't know, and is almost random, then they really need to convince that it will be worthwhile.

Unless, you are from a 'gig is a gig' school where you'll take the money come what may...but then you wont rehearse and will met the guys on the gig..
I think asking for charts or a pad has seemed to flush out the info you needed.. but it seems you are obliged/committed anyway..???

Maybe you just need to do what they do...whatever that is, and mark it down to experience.
If you are dreading it..then it can't get much worse on the night, can it..??

Don't forget to update us.. I'm sure a lot of us have been there.

Edited July 6, 2016 by JTUK

[joey1234]

just take the same approach, turn up with a hoover instead of your bass and say oh sorry I forgot to bring my bass, then next time bring your bass but spend 40 minutes getting it in tune, and everytime they play a song just play the bassline to barracuda. Pretty soon they'll get annoyed with you. At that point you go full frontal mental at them, scream, shout, smash things. Just go crazy.

[police squad]

you secretly thought, 'I should be their bass player'
be careful what you wish for lol.

Seriously, as JT has said, stick it out, chalk it up to experience.

I've been there, recently. My mate is the guitarist and needed a bass player for 1 gig. I had 2 rehearsals (I didnt need any, I know the stuff).
They have a set list of 70 songs and insisted on a load I've never played. No problem, I'd always wanted to play most of them, Billly Jean, Club Tropicana etc.
Got to the gig.
Very amatuerish. Indeed just a hobby band. They picked 35 songs and played them all.
Past midnight and the pub was empty but they ploughed on to play all of the songs. No performance art, no rapport. usual stuff

That's the last dep I do with them. But I did enjoy Club Tropicana by Wham!

[wateroftyne]

FWIW, none of the bands I play with, either regularly or in dep form, have charts.

Hopeless drummer? Different thing entirely. Run away!

[mrtcat]

[quote name='wateroftyne' timestamp='1467820674' post='3086537']
FWIW, none of the bands I play with, either regularly or in dep form, have charts.

Hopeless drummer? Different thing entirely. Run away!
[/quote]

+1 I do plenty of deps and have only once been given charts in 20yrs. The drummer issue is a whole different world of pain though and I'd get pretty blunt pretty quickly if I were doing it as a favour.

Probably worth checking with your mate that he's definitely coming back at the end of summer and hasn't just done the craftiest exit from a band that he too finds depressing to play with.

[Chaos Daveo]

Dep or no dep, you become part of that band and if they are deemed rubbish live....

need i continue..

time to make a polite excuse and not bother

[ahpook]

If the drummer can't keep time, doesn't know the songs and makes mistakes all the time, what made you want to be the band's bassist before you were asked to stand in ?

Or can they pull it together live ?

[ahpook]

[quote name='DanOwens' timestamp='1467811154' post='3086433']
...and I've loved the songs since I first saw them and secretly though "I should be their bass player".
[/quote]

From this I assume they're a much more convincing band live than in rehearsal ?

[Beedster]

"How does that go...?" and "..but we've never played that song before...?" were the constant responses of our old guitarist to songs we rehearsed at every rehearsal and gigged at every gig. However, he was great and we loved him so it didn't really matter. In fact we started recording rehearsals just that we could get agreed arrangements circulated by mp3, and it became quite amusing replying to him his own protestations that we'd never played it before, followed but us playing it, week after week

[DanOwens]

[quote name='ahpook' timestamp='1467828692' post='3086596']
From this I assume they're a much more convincing band live than in rehearsal ?
[/quote]

The guy I'm depping is a great vocalist (two lead vocalists in the band), the second guitarist is really inventive and use loads of interesting voicings and suspensions that I rarely see even in jazz, the songs are simple but well thought out.... They have a list of really good qualities that outshine what I assumed was a mediocre drummer.

Hearing a guy play a song once and make a mistake can be excused. Hearing him play the same song 5 times and still missing section change, those mistakes make a lot more sense.

The kicker is it's originals, doesn't pay and the guy I'm depping for has the band's funds locked away so I'm out of pocket every rehearsal. I'm paying for my own torture!!

[DanOwens]

[quote name='Beedster' timestamp='1467829384' post='3086604']
In fact we started recording rehearsals just that we could get agreed arrangements circulated by mp3, and it became quite amusing replying to him his own protestations that we'd never played it before, followed but us playing it, week after week
[/quote]

Oh man, they record rehearsals. He sits there, listens to it on his phone, nods that he's got it then plays a completely different beat! The singer stopped him to point it out... Out comes the phone, then the nod, then the same wrong beat!!!

[JapanAxe]

Well I've been through all the emoticons but there isn't one for grabbing a person by the shoulders and shaking them...

[AndrewJordan]

Are drugs involved?.......................................maybe they should be...........

[ahpook]

[quote name='DanOwens' timestamp='1467837246' post='3086682']
Hearing a guy play a song once and make a mistake can be excused. Hearing him play the same song 5 times and still missing section change, those mistakes make a lot more sense.

The kicker is it's originals, doesn't pay and the guy I'm depping for has the band's funds locked away so I'm out of pocket every rehearsal. I'm paying for my own torture!!
[/quote]


Um....what to say ?

JTUK's was pretty much right..... you may just have to chalk it up to experience unless you can get out of the arrangement.

[lojo]

Sometimes you just have to honour your commitment and get out as soon as you can

[RhysP]

From what you've said in your first post you've seen this band before & liked the songs - surely if they were that bad it would have been evident then?

[stingrayPete1977]

I've got a mate who keeps ringing me, he's a great singer but he wants to do some weird blues prog stuff with various revolving members except me, it will take months of practice and the gigs would be non paying,I'm being as polite as possible but he keeps coming back!

As soon as I hear "more of a sociable thing really" I'm generally busy or washing my hair!

Edited July 7, 2016 by stingrayPete1977

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='RhysP' timestamp='1467909492' post='3087265']
From what you've said in your first post you've seen this band before & liked the songs - surely if they were that bad it would have been evident then?
[/quote]

My thoughts exactly. What on earth is the problem other than the band work a different way? Ok, the drummer thing is another matter altogether but having seen the band and wished to be part of it I can't fathom this thread at all.

[DanOwens]

[quote name='dave_bass5' timestamp='1468013116' post='3088153']


My thoughts exactly. What on earth is the problem other than the band work a different way? Ok, the drummer thing is another matter altogether but having seen the band and wished to be part of it I can't fathom this thread at all.
[/quote]

Seeing this band on stage is a different experience to being in the rehearsal room. I'm fine with not getting charts; part of me was excited by being challenged to work differently. I suppose the bit I'm struggling to resolve is the drummer's attitude. Then maybe the drummer's attitude is a more explicit version of everyone's attitude? I'm just guessing.

[RhysP]

[quote name='DanOwens' timestamp='1468195852' post='3089203']
Seeing this band on stage is a different experience to being in the rehearsal room. I'm fine with not getting charts; part of me was excited by being challenged to work differently. I suppose the bit I'm struggling to resolve is the drummer's attitude. Then maybe the drummer's attitude is a more explicit version of everyone's attitude? I'm just guessing.
[/quote]

But surely all of the problems you mention about the drummer must have been evident when you saw them on stage? Did you not notice that he couldn't keep time or not remember the song structures?

[dave_bass5]

[quote name='DanOwens' timestamp='1468195852' post='3089203']
Seeing this band on stage is a different experience to being in the rehearsal room. I'm fine with not getting charts; part of me was excited by being challenged to work differently. I suppose the bit I'm struggling to resolve is the drummer's attitude. Then maybe the drummer's attitude is a more explicit version of everyone's attitude? I'm just guessing.
[/quote]

I can synthesise with the drummer issue. Ive had the same drummer for 14 years and he never rehearses at home, cant remember any new bits we add, cant keep time, doesn't have the stamina to keep a steady beat....i could go on and on. utterly soul destroying but its really only now getting to me. I guess my tolerance is a lot higher than most people.

[bassbiscuits]

I've played with a couple of rubbish drummers in the past, and its bloody soul destroying. When you're trying to build some dynamics into songs and a baboon on drums just wrecks it all by playing the wrong arrangements etc.

It sounds like a nightmare mate - best of luck with seeing it through tho. Haven't the rest of the band noticed how bad he is then?

[BottomE]

I'm a bit mystified as to how the drummers inadequacies were only evident at a rehearsal and not when you saw the band and liked them. Equally, them struggling to remember their own compositions is a worry .

Rehearsals can be frustrating as peeps tend to have a different idea about what "learning a song" actually means. In this case, probably best to smile your way through it and chalk it down to experience.