Members Outkaster Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Are people really replaceable in a band? Can musicians sometimes not be replaced? Are they that good that there are no replacements. A lot of people say that any musician can be replaced. Sometimes it alters the chemistry I have found and does not always work. What have you guys experienced? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Well, some people can and some can't. It depends on the type of band, the individual and the chemistry between members. There's no doubt there are some individuals who add so much to the band or the live performance that there'd be a huge void without them, and many bands don't recover if such a person leaves. There's also no doubt that some people who might be replaceable in some bands would not be in another, because the band members work particularly well together and the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. In any case, I don't really buy into the whole "anybody's replaceable" thing, although I understand why it holds true for some bands. Certainly in my band nobody is, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vanlatte Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by Lee Flier In any case, I don't really buy into the whole "anybody's replaceable" thing, although I understand why it holds true for some bands. Certainly in my band nobody is, anyway. I never used to buy into that either, until I was the one to get replaced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members THBv2.0 Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 I think it comes down to chemistry & style. Anybody can be replaced by another musician of similar ability, but will they provide the same vibe? Will they zig when you zig? I could replace my lead guitarist with someone, but I might never get the same musical kinship again. It might be better or worse, but it would certainly be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Lee Flier Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by vanlatte I never used to buy into that either, until I was the one to get replaced Well some people are replaceable in some bands. And just because someone gets replaced doesn't mean they were replaceable either, it just means somebody thought they were. That somebody might be mistaken. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BndGrl Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 I agree with everyone else. It all depends on the person and the band. I know bands where anyone of the members can be replaced and they could still go on as if there were no change. I know other bands where if you took any single member of the band out of the mix then there'd really be no point in continuing just because of chemistry, talent, level of collaboration, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members squealie Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by BndGrl I agree with everyone else. It all depends on the person and the band.I know bands where anyone of the members can be replaced and they could still go on as if there were no change.I know other bands where if you took any single member of the band out of the mix then there'd really be no point in continuing just because of chemistry, talent, level of collaboration, etc. Hell, I know bands where they can, AND DID, replace EVERY member and continue on as usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jackcheez Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 I've been in a band or two where there was someone who was truly unreplaceable. Problems (leading to the death of the band) occured when one of them came to believe they were unreplaceable. They eventually realized that while any one of us were replaceable, we as a unit, were not replaceable. In the last 4 years that person has not been able to get back to the point we were at when we broke apart. The moral of this story is if you are unreplaceable, don't act like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Rand-O-Monium Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by BndGrl I know other bands where if you took any single member of the band out of the mix then there'd really be no point in continuing just because of chemistry, talent, level of collaboration, etc. Thanx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Beachbum Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 I don't think the individual people are ever replaceable as we are each unique. However, guitarists, singers, drummers, bassists, and band members as such are replaceable. (This sounds odd but I think you get my point.) Example: INXS didn't replace Michael Hutchence, they simply got a new singer. Same with Van Halen and other bands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mrcpro Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 When someone leaves and gets replaced, it always changes the band some... sometimes a lot. Just playing bars, that's not a bad thing to me... keeps things interesting. I remember this bass player. A quiet unassuming guy with a great high voice. He left the band for personal reasons, and we never could find a replacement. We finally ended up hiring a chick vocalist, and I played left-hand keyboard bass. That really changed things around. I remember several egotistical lead guitar players, leaving for all the usual reasons... personality clashes, thinking "there's something better out there for me than this"... They all thought they were indispensable. They were wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burgess Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by Outkaster Are people really replaceable in a band? Yes, anyone can be replaced. Can musicians sometimes not be replaced?They can always be replaced but the band may not prosper as before. Of course that's assuming the band was once prosperous.Are they that good that there are no replacements. No matter how good you think you are (or someone is), there's always someone just as good or better.A lot of people say that any musician can be replaced. Sometimes it alters the chemistry I have found and does not always work. What have you guys experienced? In my experience, anyone can be replaced. Chemistry doesn't have to be the same for it to work, it just has to work and it's OK for it to be different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Outkaster Posted March 10, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by Burgess Yeah but it is never the same and sometimes you can loose out so much that the band is never the same and your crowd drops off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members elbow Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by Outkaster Are people really replaceable in a band? Can musicians sometimes not be replaced? Are they that good that there are no replacements. A lot of people say that any musician can be replaced. Sometimes it alters the chemistry I have found and does not always work. What have you guys experienced? The short answer is yes... anyone can be replaced. What happens then is a chemistry shift and things will change.. sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, and sometimes it's just different. Example.. ACDC after Bon Scott. Is it better, worse, or just different? Depends on you. But that's a huge act. OK.. back to us forumites. I think it has a different impact whether you are doing originals or covers. I would think that if it's a cover band scenario, that it would be less impact and a replacement player would be a little easier to find. I think the impact would be more severe in a band doing originals... especially if each member is involved in the writing and/or arranging. The vibe changes.... for better, for worse, or just different. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators daddymack Posted March 10, 2006 Moderators Share Posted March 10, 2006 Not anyone can be replaced...but it depends on the type of band.If you have a band, for example, where the primary songwriter is also the lead singer and an instrumentalist, I think the band is pretty much built around that person. I think for an 'original' band, if the band has only one songwriter, that person basically is the band. I was in a band where everyone felt they were irreplaceable... except me, so I left. I was an original member, wrote a quarter of the originals, was the main guitarist, doubled on keys, did the arranging, picked the material, worked up the sets, and sang lead and harmony...Funny thing, the band lasted about six months after that.... they only gigged three times (we had been playing every weekend before I left). Why? Well, the new lead guitarist was only that. They struggled trying to replace songs I sang lead on, and none of them could arrange...let alone write up a paced set list, etc. It isn't that pieces of the puzzle can't be replaced, but what happens when they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BndGrl Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by daddymack It isn't that pieces of the puzzle can't be replaced, but what happens when they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Burgess Posted March 10, 2006 Members Share Posted March 10, 2006 Originally posted by Outkaster Yeah but it is never the same and sometimes you can loose out so much that the band is never the same and your crowd drops off. I'll agree that it may not be the same but I wouldn't say that's necessarily a bad thing... Two songs. Texas Flood was the final straw, Funky Bitch was them continuing as I packed up and walked out midset... Same two songs with the new lineup at our next gig... I'll agree, it's not the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted March 11, 2006 Moderators Share Posted March 11, 2006 Originally posted by squealie Hell, I know bands where they can, AND DID, replace EVERY member and continue on as usual. When I was in the band I mentioned in the "groupie stories," the other guitar player once told us "Whenever we meet someone that's better than a guy we currently have, we should replace that person. In a year or two, we'll have an amazing band!" He was dead serious too. I guess then, having all been replaced, we'd start up a new band and watch the new guys play our old set list. Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators MrKnobs Posted March 11, 2006 Moderators Share Posted March 11, 2006 Originally posted by BndGrl BndGrl, that's a wonderful new picture of you in your avatar! Terry D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Preacher Will Posted March 11, 2006 Members Share Posted March 11, 2006 In the last five years my four/five piece has been through about ten different people. The only constants have been the drummer and myself. I miss everyone who left--even those that were occasionally hard to get a long with. Every incarnation of the band has been different. Each one better in some respects than another, each one worse in some respects than another. I've enjoyed playing in every one of them and would have everybody back except one guy. And, if he'd get his personal life straightened out enough that you could depend on him, I'd have him back in a heart beat as well. Lessee . . . if we got everybody back at once we'd have three guitars, two basses, two keys, a drummer, and four vox. Talk about big sound! (and an arrangers nightmare!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members martianrebel Posted March 11, 2006 Members Share Posted March 11, 2006 We just replaced our singer, mostly because he could not do the band thing anywore. It was difficult finding someone new because Rob was a really good singer. Where he lacked was commitment and showmanship. Once we'd decided on someone to replace him, the drummer decided that he wasn't having any fun and quit. We've now replaced the drummer, and again I find it difficult because Mike was a good drummer and had a particular style. The two of them had become friends to Mark and I and that's probably the toughest part. Because of the way that they left, it's difficult not to feel some resentment towards them. Now we're practically a new band and I'm having a lot of fun learning new stuff from the two new guys and especially with sharing our music with them. Hopefully we'll be able to keep it going for a few morre years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ThumpThumpTwang Posted March 11, 2006 Members Share Posted March 11, 2006 My short answer is "YES". I've gone through the "we built the band around one person's talent just to have that person quit" thing. The band gets together a year later, and now that person feels irreplaceable. Attitudes ensue. If we'd have just changed up the set list and kept practicing, we'd have realized that the rest of us enjoy playing together and we'd all be a better band for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Blackwatch Posted March 11, 2006 Members Share Posted March 11, 2006 In some bands there are people that cannot be replalced as they are the heart and soul & driving force of the band.. If you let them go, the band goes too...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members BndGrl Posted March 12, 2006 Members Share Posted March 12, 2006 Originally posted by MrKnobs BndGrl, that's a wonderful new picture of you in your avatar! Terry D. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar Centaur Posted March 12, 2006 Members Share Posted March 12, 2006 Originally posted by BndGrl Thanks Don't encourage him. Terry is the resident stalker of women.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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