Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 8, 2014 Members Share Posted March 8, 2014 Kinda ticked me off that he did it with an email. Showed a lack of class and major case of no balls IMO. We'd been playing together for nigh on 5 years, first as a duo, then then the last yr or 2 with a drummer and his son on bass part time. I felt I deserved a face to face talk friend to friend. We could have parted ways amicably.Still it was going nowhere. They guy was in a major rut and would never learn anything new. Just wanted to play the same doz songs he remembers when he was a teen band in 1969. It was like pulling teeth to get him to play out. I was frustrated but didn't bow out because I considered him a friend. So I kept showing up every week, bringing in material just to get shot down or ignored. Claims he wants to go in a "new direction". Yea, I'll beleive it when I see it. I was very curt and to the point in my respose to his email. Made it clear I would not be back over there in any capacity. I did send a nice email to the drummer because hes a good dude and a good musician telling him I hope we rremain in contact. He says it was a surprise to him too and asked that I contact him on any future endevours. I don't think he's in for much longer either. Anybody else been fired and glad of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RoadRanger Posted March 8, 2014 Members Share Posted March 8, 2014 Yep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CliffordN Posted March 9, 2014 Members Share Posted March 9, 2014 It happens! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted March 9, 2014 Members Share Posted March 9, 2014 Recently. After 6 years, no notice, but face to face with the drummer. I shut down the website I had provided out of my pocket when I realized that they were expecting me to maintain it for free. Pissed them off. What the hell did they expect? It's long been my contention that every band that wanted me gone was a place I would have left much earlier and on friendlier terms had I been included in the discussions up front. This band included. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members CliffordN Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 I just love looking at the listing of the former members, and seeing my name listed as "founder"... I guess that's as nice as it can be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Opus Antics Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 Been fired once. But it was a project that I really was into, so it sucked for me. The only consolation is that the "leader" slowly fired everyone, and now he's not doing anything and the rest of us are happily playing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members paste Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 Wasn't technically fired, but I was really unhappy with a band, but didn't want to leave a couple of the band members hanging because they needed the money from gigging. We were playing almost every weekend, sometimes both nights, but we couldn't keep a stable line up, so we were still rehearsing with new members or subs one to three times a week. After finally getting a somewhat stable line up, the BL decided the band needed a singing bass player, so the BL started contacting bassists via craigslist ads and one of the bassists contacted was a friend of a friend, so I found out and quit. The whole drama sucked, but I was glad to be done with the whole thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted March 10, 2014 Moderators Share Posted March 10, 2014 I'm always amazed hearing some of the cold and cowardly ways people get canned. I've never been let go of a music gig but I've let others go and I've always been been respectful of that person. It sucks to let someone go (and to be let go) and I believe it needs to be done face to face with total respect. Any other way is chicken $H!T. I have, however, been let go as an audio engineer at an up and coming Chicago mutimedia house. That was a bummer... I loved that gig, but my boss was more than respectful. He actually had tears in his eyes. Everyone has the right to choose who they want to work with, and when a situation isn't working out, but to do so in a vindictive or cowardly manner is lame beyond lame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WynnD Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 I understand why you don't give the IT guy two weeks notice, but why would you not give two weeks notice to a bandmate that you've gigged with for years? That's just inconsiderate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 I'm always amazed hearing some of the cold and cowardly ways people get canned. I've never been let go of a music gig but I've let others go and I've always been been respectful of that person. It sucks to let someone go (and to be let go) and I believe it needs to be done face to face with total respect. Any other way is chicken $H!T. I have, however, been let go as an audio engineer at an up and coming Chicago mutimedia house. That was a bummer... I loved that gig, but my boss was more than respectful. He actually had tears in his eyes. Everyone has the right to choose who they want to work with, and when a situation isn't working out, but to do so in a vindictive or cowardly manner is lame beyond lame. Musicians are incredibly passive aggressive people and it get's them into trouble. This city is full of countless musicians with hurt feelings because of things that happened 30 years ago. I remember bluestrat telling someone that musicians are usually emotional immature and I think of that sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elbowtx Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 I recently quit a band that I've been in for the past year and a half. I've been in several band situations over the years and this was the first that I ever just had to quit. I gave them about a month's notice and ended up staying about 6 weeks to cover gigs that were on the calendar... and I never bad-mouthed them. You learn a lot by keeping your pie hole shut. The few people that tried to get me to loosen up and trash them.. they aren't anybody's friend. The few that noticed I took the high road.. those are the folks that I'll be supporting and networking with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 Firing people is hard to do. Firing friends is even harder. Even people that are 'good' are firing people usually hate to do it. Many people are 'cowardly' about it because they really don't have the ability or experience to handle it any other way. Musicians aren't HR people, for the most part. Those interactions rarely go well. I don't know very many people who have ever fired anyone and didn't wish they did it somehow differently or better. Ironically, the fact that he was your friend and should have treated you better is probably the main reason he didn't. If you don't want to work with him again, that's perfectly understandable. But I wouldn't read too much into the WAY he went about firing you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SpaceNorman Posted March 10, 2014 Members Share Posted March 10, 2014 Musicians are incredibly passive aggressive people ...,. There are lots of 'em who are that's for certain - and that's exactly why some guys use a "firing process" that may raise eyebrows - especially in terms of "timing" (i.e., how much .. if any ... notice is given, etc.) I've had to fire my share of folks over the years ... and while I always try to be as sensitive to the situation as possible and respectful of whoever it is that I've got to let go - I've also learned a long time ago to never be surprised what people will do to others when they no longer have a common future together. That usually means that I have a replacement lined up and ready to go, that I will have contacted the bar owners we work with, etc - before I actually pull the trigger and let somebody go. I'm also careful about limiting any exposure we may have to having an angry (and possible belligerent) former bandmate in our rehearsal hall or in close proximity to gear - which means I put some planning into when and where to break the bad news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pine Apple Slim Posted March 11, 2014 Author Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 Firing people is hard to do. Firing friends is even harder. Even people that are 'good' are firing people usually hate to do it. Many people are 'cowardly' about it because they really don't have the ability or experience to handle it any other way. Musicians aren't HR people, for the most part. Those interactions rarely go well. I don't know very many people who have ever fired anyone and didn't wish they did it somehow differently or better. Ironically, the fact that he was your friend and should have treated you better is probably the main reason he didn't. If you don't want to work with him again, that's perfectly understandable. But I wouldn't read too much into the WAY he went about firing you. You're most likely correct. I just wish he'd talked to me man to man about his concerns, and that ticked me off a little. After thinking about it the main reason I don't wanna work with him again has little to do with that. As I said I was pretty frustrated myself and although I certianly hadn't been slacking I was loosing interest in our partnership. The last 6 years have been mostly been in the garage. It had been going nowhere for a long time, even back when we were just a duo it was like pulling teeth just to get him to do an open mic. I made no secret of when when I joined up with a 2nd project about 18 months ago if and when the gigs started comming I was gonna do the ones that got booked first. Just before the firing the other band has just played its first show. I think he had decided that he wanted to play with his son and do the material his son wanted to play on guitar. Mostly classic rock/blues. I think he found a rock bass player at work and now he thinks he has a band that he can play guitar in with his son. I have no interest in playing Clapton,Santana, Mayer, Bossanoma covers and he knew that. Ifhe had just explained to me what he wanted to do, Id have left happily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ski219 Posted March 11, 2014 Members Share Posted March 11, 2014 [quote=Pine Apple Slim; Anybody else been fired and glad of it? Yep. Got fired from my all originals band last year. We were gigging way too much... crappy little places with no audience. I tried changing the focus of the band. I tried to get them to filter the gigs we would play. Never happened and I finally started to not be available for some of the crappy gigs. Got fired by text! Something like this: "we seem to be going in different directions. Maybe you should;t bring your rig to practice tonight." So I guess it wasn;t an actual firing but I took the opportunity too respond something like this: "Let's just call it quits then." Afterwards there were a lot of wow great knowing and playing with you type emails and texts. They kicked the singer out (he was the one booking all the damn gigs in the first place) 2 weeks later and the band then held together for another 4 months or so before disintegrating. Anyway the text gave me the out I was really looking for and I was glad to be gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RobRoy Posted March 16, 2014 Members Share Posted March 16, 2014 Anybody else been fired and glad of it? I've been fired from several bands and quit one. All were a good thing. The first, to keep the story short, had a great PA and a TERRIBLE sound man as well as used cheap in-ear monitors that had NO bass (I'm the bass player) as well as no back line. I could not hear myself, and once I heard how bad the FOH sounded I started complaining. First quietly and politely and ramping it up with each show, all of it falling on deaf ears. Finally they revamped the band and the Keyboard player and I were out. Two weeks after that the owner of our favorite venue bought lunch for the band leader and told him that if he didn't do something about his sound, the band couldn't play there any more. BTW, this was a "bar band" and the keyboard player and I were the only non-Mormon members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RobRoy Posted March 16, 2014 Members Share Posted March 16, 2014 I forgot to mention that my wife told me that I was going to get fired from the band and my response was, "either they fix the sound or fire me, either of which would be an improvement." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RobRoy Posted March 16, 2014 Members Share Posted March 16, 2014 Anyway the text gave me the out I was really looking for and I was glad to be gone. It's funny that way, isn't it? It's like getting dumped by the girlfriend you're trying to figure out how to break up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted March 18, 2014 Members Share Posted March 18, 2014 I've been fired for things like: because other bands expressed interest in hiring me - "You're not committed fully to our band". Showing up for rehearsal jacked on espresso coffee: cop drummer ASSumes I'm on drugs, says nothing to me - holds a pow wow, fires me. And so on. No big deal. That's why I try and play with as many folks as I can in a variety of situations. Can take a while to find the "right fit" I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted March 18, 2014 Members Share Posted March 18, 2014 Holy sh*t! Rob Roy AND Wade Keys make an appearance. In a thread about being fired no less! There must be a wrinkle in the time/space continuum. LOL It's good to see both of you back!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wheresgrant3 Posted March 18, 2014 Members Share Posted March 18, 2014 I was fired from my very first band... in high school. Played in a friend's band's basement. Got together every Saturday and played Kiss and Black Sabbath covers. One day they didn't call for a rehearsal time and I called my buddy and he said they cancelled... and I heard the band rehearsing in the back ground. Took it like a man. 25 years later I believe I am the only member from that group who's consistently gigging. One word: KARMA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted March 18, 2014 Members Share Posted March 18, 2014 Life crept up on me....I was blessed with a slew of fill-in gigs last summer, then the van broke down, sidelining me for several months. I just did a fill-in gig this Saturday, they hired me next morning, played a benefit for a 3 year old with Leukemia last night, and have a showcase gig for the local talent agency this friday. My first rehearsal will be tomorrow LOL. This keeps happening to me it seems: last minute, learn 40+ songs with one day or less notice but by God I'm getting better at it. Definitely blessed to be allowed to play music, and i don't want to ever forget that. I should have a busy summer playing music, as my old classic rock band wants me to play their bike night gigs this summer, my country band wants to gig every weekend, and I also have a recording project lined up. All of this came down the pike within the last week LOL. I'll probably pop in from time to time: we keep playing some of these juke joints and I'll pile up some funny stories quickly. Anyway, take care: good to see some of you all still kicking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vito Corleone Posted March 18, 2014 Members Share Posted March 18, 2014 W-w-w-w-wade???? This IS starting to look like the old place again, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Dilrod Posted March 19, 2014 Members Share Posted March 19, 2014 Good to see you Wade!! I was hoping you were doing OK, you were getting some hard knocks. I used to be Sharkbait, by the way. kmart is back too, under a different name. Terry too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members wades_keys Posted March 19, 2014 Members Share Posted March 19, 2014 Wazzup David? Still kicking it I see.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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