Ways to get out of a gig.

[etcetra]

So A friend of mine asked me to this gig. The pay wasn't great but it was really easy, so i figured, why not. We were doing 5 songs and 1-2 2 hours rehearsals at most. He told me who else was playing in the band and knowing who they are, I figured things would go very smoothly.

 

I went to the rehearsal and it turns out that the bassist and drummer were not who I expected. The bassist was ok, but the drummer.. he could not keep time even if his life depended on it!. He had metronome on while he was playing and I could hear that he was off most of the time(he later admitted he had trouble playing with the metronome). Playing without metronome didn't help either. As if that wasn't bad enough, these songs have drum solos and breaks in them, and more than half of the time he could not go through simple 4 bar intro without dropping a beat here and there. After the rehearsal, the band leader told us we need to do more rehearsal to get tight and suggested we do 4x3 hour rehearsal minimum.

 

At this point I am trying to figure out whether I should leave this gig or not. The gig doesn't pay enough to warrant that many rehearsals. I just can't see how the band would benefit from improving considering most(if not all) of the problem has to do with drummers ability to play his instrument, but firing him seems like it's out of the question.

 

So if you are in that situation, how would you address this issue? Would you get out of the gig, and if so how would you go about doing that?

I kind of feel like I got sucked into a crap situation by my friend. He didn't give me proper info and he knows that I wouldn't have agreed to this gig under these conditions. He is trying to be diplomatic is reduce the number of rehearsals but I have issues with doing any more than 2 rehearsals at this point.

[SeniorBlues]

The last time I quit a band, the line that came to mind was "This isn't what I signed up for."

[Chris Marion]

Etcetra, i think you have ample cause to go to your friend in lieu of the additional rehearsals. You agreed to do the gig with 1 to 2 2 hour rehearsals and the gig itself at a set rate of pay. He either needs to increase your pay to offset the additional rehearsal time or you have due cause to withdraw from the gig. But, do it immediately, don't leave him hanging until he can't find a replacement. Then it also makes you look bad. good luck

[Vito Corleone]

I'd just be up front about if. You signed up for a certain deal, and no amount of rehearsal with this drummer is going to get you there.

[etcetra]

Thanks for the advice. I told the guitar player that I won't be able to do the gig and referred a student of mine who was looking into joining a band.

 

I think my reluctance to do what you guys suggested(which is common sense) had a lot to do with cultural differences. Doing extra rehearsals here is a lot like working overtime in Japan, everyone does it without question. It's not about efficiency but rather, it's about making yourself look busy and "dedicated". The whole idea of prepping your work is overlooked. Even if you don't prep you work, people will think you are a serious musician as long as you are willing to do the extra rehearsals. If people really need to get out of a situation, they usually tell a white lie rather than confronting the actual issue.

 

I also found out what happened to the other drummer. Although he was prepared and was much more solid as a drummer, the bandleader did not like the fact that he was a session player and treated the gig as such(in other words, he treated it like work), so he decided to re-hire the old drummer who was much more "enthusiastic" about the band.

 

Personally I don't understand how this band got as big as they did with the current drummer. They are playing some big venues and they might even be touring internationally soon. It's a hip hop band, and I would imagine having a drummer with bad time would make or break the band for that style of music.

[FitchFY]

I think my reluctance to do what you guys suggested(which is common sense) had a lot to do with cultural differences. Doing extra rehearsals here is a lot like working overtime in Japan, everyone does it without question. It's not about efficiency but rather, it's about making yourself look busy and "dedicated". The whole idea of prepping your work is overlooked. Even if you don't prep you work, people will think you are a serious musician as long as you are willing to do the extra rehearsals. If people really need to get out of a situation, they usually tell a white lie rather than confronting the actual issue.

 

I also found out what happened to the other drummer. Although he was prepared and was much more solid as a drummer, the bandleader did not like the fact that he was a session player and treated the gig as such(in other words, he treated it like work), so he decided to re-hire the old drummer who was much more "enthusiastic" about the band.

 

I find stories like this very interesting. The WWW is a big place, so you get opinions on this board from all walks of life and regions. I think your first paragraph on the cultural difference of your scene is interesting and not overly-surprising. There are certain places were being in rehearsals is as important as being at shows, if only to say "look how busy I am."

 

As to your second paragraph, I know a band leader who wants everyone in his band to be as crazy into all the tiny little details as he is. Guess how long he's ever held a bandmate?

 

[etcetra]

FitchFY

 

Yeah. I've had American/European friends who have come to perform here and many of them have told them it was a culture shock. It's also interesting to see how people from different parts of the world react the peculiarity of the scene here too. Another peculiarity I've noticed is that people rarely talk up front about money situation, because asking about money right away makes you look like you are just all about the money. I once had a gig where the people who hired me didn't give me a straight answer for the gig and I ended up having to give an ultimatum. The strange thing is that nobody else asked. For them the right course of action was to go along with it, and if they didn't get paid, just make an excuse to get out of the gig in the future.

 

Anyways, going back to the current situation. From what I heard, the band members are changing constantly, and many of them have quit because of the drummer. IMO if you aren't super famous or paying a lot of money, then it's really up to the bandleader to get other people excited enough to get them to commit to a project. If you ask someone new to join, of course they will have "let's try and see what happens" mentality. That's all you can ask for at that point. But if you do your job as bandleader and if the band can make visible progress and show that the band has a exciting future ahead o them, then people might start to commit to it beyond it being a session work. If you don't have that, the least you can do is to be extremely courteous and really let your bandmates know that their effort are much appreciated. I am glad I got out of the gig, because I'd probably be replaced sooner or later for not being "serious enough" anyways.

 

[nchangin]

I've seen a successful wedding band back in the day that was family based and used to do fill in as a drummer for them when I was 18 and was looking for experience. Their daughter the drummer, hated it (drumming) and literally had one beat she used on all the songs and they would play full gigs. Simply amazed me cause that same beat she would use in all the songs and obviously you can't use the same beat for all tunes, but she did and they had work. Tempo was agonizing to say the least but still they had work. What we think as musicans for perception and what non musicans perceptions are can vary substantially, and it still amazes me today how it all works. Yes, regarding hip hop and no steady beat? I do not see how it's even remotely possible to keep a client, that's 1/2 of the requirement for hip hop, steady beat, no fluctuation is allowed especially when most of those beats are synthetic electronic reproductions in the studio anyway.

 

Re the metronome, it's one of the hardest things to do to play in perfect time to a nome, I'll be the first drummer to admit that, at least you guys tried it without the nome.

[etcetra]

Update I got a call from my student telling me she has not received a word from the band. I immediately contacted My friend asking whats going on. He tells me that they are thinking of doing the show without keyboards and haven't made up their mind yet. I told him this is not cool. They went ahead and asked me to find a replacement, i already gave my student the music and rehearsal dates, and she has already started working on them and blocked out time for rehearsal which is in 3 days. These people are asking for commitment to the band and yet they cant extend people commom courtesy..

[nchangin]

Bands are great arn't they? chuckle.

[wades_keys]

The "not serious enough thing" tends to favor those that kinda don't play much during the week, or maybe just give tunes a 'once over' and leave it at that, expecting at rehearsal to "get it done". I like to check my musical progress against other barometers than these: How fast can I hear what key a given song is in? How quickly can I learn and remember a lick? How efficiently can I put ear training into a broad musical context: EG: the songs starts on the fifth of the I chord, key of B, high octave vs. 11 fret G string.....How well can I keep time? Can I play along with a song on the radio, cut it off for a few seconds and still be on the beat?

 

Man, do these things with joy and all of this band jive hand jive and puttin on airs and appearances won't really matter because you will be more efficient, more ready and more able. Peace out.