Reasons for bands breaking up?

[paste]

 

2-3 rehearsals a week should have good musicians ready to gig in less than 2 months. When starting from scratch, it's the best way. About one month into the project, start booking gigs.

 

 

That is what happened with my current band.

 

I had originally been contacted through a Craigslist ad I posted to join an established band with a fair amount of gigs on the book. They were having some issues with one of the players and had me out to audition and it went well, but I didn't hear from them for awhile.

 

As it turned out things started to fall apart with the band for other reasons, so they never replaced their bass player, they just shut the band down. Two of the members inherited a handful of gigs and invited me back out to audition with the two new guys they had just hired. Got the gig and we had about two months before the first gig. We kept about half of the material the previous band had been doing, most of which the new guys and I had never played before, and added a bunch of new songs.

 

The new guys and I got up to speed pretty quickly and we just scheduled two practices a week - a shorter mid week one to focus on getting the new material down, with an extended weekend one to tighten up the new stuff and older stuff. Everybody did their homework and it worked and we actually were able to squeeze in a smaller, rehearsal show the week before our scheduled debut - which really helped us as far as tightening things up and getting some of the bugs out.

 

Now that we are gigging fairly regularly, we still try to practice once a week, sometimes twice if we are not gigging, to build up our song list so we can do a better job of tailoring (sp?) our set to the venue we are playing.

 

In the two months or so between the initial contact and the second audition, I hooked up with another band that was formed out of the ashes of another band.

 

It turned out to be a cluster - when I went to the audition I found out that even though they had been doing this new project for six months, they were only about half way there song wise. It turned out that they hadn't gotten down several songs on their songlist - some were things they wanted to play, some were ones they had tried, but canned, some were ones they had jammed on once but weren't ready to play, and some the newish second guitarist hadn't learned yet. So the audition was weird and they ended up playing songs I had never played before or songs they weren't ready to play.

 

They were nice guys and I ended up playing with them a few more times, but the whole thing seemed kind of directionless, so when it looked like scheduling conflicts were going to prevent us from practicing for a month or so, I dropped out. Luckily, for me, the other band called up a week or so later.

[Tubefox]

 

Several bands of mine have disbanded because of alcohol (and in one case drugs) started running over into gig/practice time. This causes personality conflicts. It can even cause creative differences. It certainly creates work ethic problems as well. .

 

 

For me, some drinking is alright during the song writing period, but once it comes to be time to buckle down and practice, alcohol really has no place.

 

Also 95% of people who claim that alcohol doesn't affect their playing is either wrong or lying. Though some can manage it.

[wades_keys]

You really should try to be more open-minded about closed-minded people. :poke:

 

[maxnew40]

I had a guy leave a band many years ago. He claimed the reason he left was because I was an asshole. I think the real problem was he joined the band and about two months in he tried and failed to take control of the band. As soon as he figured out that he would not be the band leader he left. Man I am such an asshole!

 

Max

[Miket156]

Great thread everybody! A lot of the reasons posted bring back memories. I played in bands for about 12 to 14 years, can't remember exactly. I got really tired of all the problems that happen in bands. A lot of times when the band is just really getting rolling, someone quits for whatever reason. Then all that work is either lost or a new member has to be auditioned and learn all the songs. More work and lost time. There were other reasons too, but the last gig I did with any other musicians was a duo. After almost 4 years with a great singer/guitarist that had no work ethic and wouldn't touch a piece of equipment on load in/out, I dissolved the duo F....off buddy.

 

I owned the PA, the equipment van and my very large cousin was the roadie. So we got stuck with the work. It got old.

 

Anyway, a guy that owned a bar/restaurant that I hung out asked me to play this "festival" he was putting on "in a few weeks" and wanted to hire my duo. I told him that we weren't playing together anymore. Then he asked me to play it myself. I really wasn't ready to do a solo act just yet so I tried to side step him. He insisted. So I practiced every night and all day on weekends and put together a song list and did the gig. I can sing lead fairly well and I can manage a crowd. I got by, but I knew I could do a lot better once I had enough material and got to work on it seriously. So I did. A few months later this same guy asked me to play another one of his festivals, so I did. This time, I was READY. It went over great, had a fun time, large crowds that stuck around to listen to the music and hang with there friends, the cash registers rang and rang. Yeah, it worked, I was officially a solo act.

 

That was in 1977 or 78, I'm still a solo act, although age is creeping up on me and the equipment is more difficult for me to move around (keyboards, amp rack case, PA, mixer, stands, etc.) And of course some of the material that is on the radio makes me want to hurl and I won't play it. A matter of taste. (There IS some good material and songs I will try to play, but the pop and hip hop material makes me wanna puke)

 

The great thing about doing a solo act is that I could play want I want, where I want, when I want, and not have to be concerned with any band members; no band. If a club wouldn't pay me what I asked, I didn't take the gig, period. A perk for being a solo. As a OMB (One Man Band) I get private parties when a group or organization wants live music but either doesn't want a band because it will be too loud or too much money.

 

I played music full time on the road for 3 years when a regular job was not happening and it paid the bills. When I had jobs that left my weekends free, I always tried to book weekend gigs while still maintaining my day job. There was never enough solo musical work available for what I do where I've been living the last 25 years, so I have always needed some other kind of employment. But having music to fall back on when all else fails is a skill that players should never give up. Its a hell of a lot more fun than waiting for the clock at work to hit 5 or 6 o'clock.

 

 

Cheers,

 

 

Mike T.

[Lying Eyes]

Wow, I must be from a different planet then a lot of you. I've read the entire thread and it seems like instant gratification is the key word here. I play music because I love it, and as long as things are progressing musically, I see no reason to bail on a band/project. If becoming a "rock star" is the goal, then we've all pretty much failed before we even started. Leaving a band because you're not immediately playing gigs or expecting to join something that is already up and running means that you are either not willing, or not able to do the work that is required to create something worthwhile. Obviously an original act is going to take more time than doing covers, but damn people...have patience...throw a little extra effort at it. Having said that...

 

1. Drug addicts

2. Yoko wannabe's

3. Lack of decent gear

4. Lack of decent transportation

5. Starting a family and/or knocking up the Yoko

6. No call no show for rehearsals

7. And in one instance...rhythm guitarist drunkenly yelling at the audience for showing up late...all deal breakers

[wades_keys]

 

Wow, I must be from a different planet then a lot of you. I've read the entire thread and it seems like instant gratification is the key word here.

 

One of the signs of wisdom and maturity is being able to distinguish a "could happen" situation from a "never gonna happen situation".

[Lying Eyes]

Absolutely true. That same wisdom should also tell you to not bother with a situation that is "never gonna happen" therefore avoiding any potential bs before it even starts...and most importantly not wasting anyone's time. Too many people are passive aggressive, as has been stated many times, which always leads to the drama.

[BlueStrat]

Absolutely true. That same wisdom should also tell you to not bother with a situation that is "never gonna happen" therefore avoiding any potential bs before it even starts...and most importantly not wasting anyone's time. Too many people are passive aggressive, as has been stated many times, which always leads to the drama.

 

 

I don't know how old you are, but age has become a factor for me. The older I get (and I'm 55 now:cry:) the more quickly I'm able to spot the bullcrap and less likely to put up with it for any length of time. It's not that I don't have patience, it's that after doing this for 40 years, several of them full time, I can spot the could-bes from the never gonna bes and recognize the value of cutting the losses and not wasting time.

 

But having said that, you often do have to spend some time before you find out it's a dead end. The idea that you can avoid wasting any time at all on a fruitless project is a nice thought but not always a realistic one, in my experience. Some people's liabilities don't surface right away, usually more in the personality or habits department and less in the performance end. .

[Lying Eyes]

I'm 31