Your most common band arguments?

[Timestorm]

I've read a few times in this forum now that nothing makes you learn and grow as a player more than being in a band. There's also been a few band problem threads. So to anyone who is in or has been in a band/s, what are the things that you argue/disagree over the most, and what things do your fellow bandmates do that REALLY annoy you.

[BucketHeadLand]

When one of them ( in my case the keyboardist) only wants to do one style and its quite a tiredsome style.

[Malcolm]

An established band with a recognized leader does not run into the normal problems most start up bands have. Start up bands started by friends and run as partnerships or democracies ----- seem to have personnel problems because; 1.) there is no leader or the leader is lacking supervisory skills, or 2.) no clear cut division of responsibilities has been made, and 3.) there is no clear cut understanding of what type of music this band will play. IMHO. ;) If those issues are met, it's a lot of fun.

[KenParkerRules]

This thread is a great idea and i hope that more insight is added. I've been playing for over 20 years and have never been in a band. As I am clearly underdeveloped in this area having some idea of what to expect as the "norm" might help later on. Is it common to have a Leader and how is this decided upon?

[ashc]

I haven't been in a lot of bands but the same few themes always come up:

- committment level issues.
- control/leadership issues ("who's band is it.." type stuff)
- creative differences.
- interfering partners (Yoko syndrome).

Malcom was on the money when he said that bands formed by groups of friends are more prone to these problems than a more professional setup were everythings made clear at that outset.

NB: Apologies I appear to be losing the ability to spell!

[Blutwulf]

Been a while, but here are a few of the problems bands in the late 70's/early 80's would face. Surely these are no longer issues. Oh, perhaps they are. I dunno.

1. The band is "owned" by whomever owns the PA system. Sure, you're a democracy, but don't push it. Eventually, the hint-bomb of a threat to deny access to the PA will surface when the next problem pops up. That problem is...

2. Song selection. At first, most bands do all cover songs. 4 or 5 guys will have different tastes, no matter if all of them are fans of the same bands. The guitar player(s) will point out the virtues of songs which have the coolest lead bits, the singer will cite songs which they imagine they sing well, and the drummer will name songs which are fun to listen to. Even though bands should listen to the drummer, in reality the winner of the song selection predicament will be...

3. Relatives in the same band. Two brothers, cousins, lifetime best friends, etc., will reign supreme. They can't trump the owner of the PA, but they can come close. They will determine the style of the band, and about 75% of the song selection. Happily, most of the time you only have to deal with one at a time because of...

4. Schedule conflicts. One day a week, everyone can be there. 4 days a week, all but one can be there. the other two days each week, only 2 can be there. Basically, you build the schedule around the days the drummer can show up for...

5. "Practice," "rehearsal," or "jamming." Some members regard it as rehearsal, because they plan on playing "Shook Me All Night Long" at Carnegie Hall next year after the band gets its contract with Warner Brothers. Some call it practice, because they want to get 40 songs down pat so they can play at "O'Reilley's Pub" without embarrassing themselves. Others call it jamming because they just love music. All three have their merits, even if the first ones are rather tiring to be around. Really tiring. I mean, they drive you nuts because they are...

6. Upwardly mobile professionals. These guys are intense, and demand the same level of pipe-dreaming from you that they exhibit. If you doubt for a minute that the band isn't going to go "all the way" (even though they never can adequately explain what "all the way" means), they have no use for you. You'd better hope they don't own the PA, or have a brother in the band.

But you know what? Even with those problems, I wouldn't trade the dynamic for anything. Occasionally, it clicks and you can gig for a year or two before moving on to the next band (after the drummer gets married and has to sell his drums).

[Timestorm]

Thanks for the replys guys! i hope this post works ok - my laptop packed up a few moments ago and now im stuck with ye olde internet access. just to make matters worse an old christmas card has been disturbed somewhere in our living room so while i type this on internet tv "rodolph the red nosed reindeer" is playing on a frickin loop. anyway... thanks again!

[UKRuss]

Been a while, but here are a few of the problems bands in the late 70's/early 80's would face. Surely these are no longer issues. Oh, perhaps they are. I dunno.

1. The band is "owned" by whomever owns the PA system. Sure, you're a democracy, but don't push it. Eventually, the hint-bomb of a threat to deny access to the PA will surface when the next problem pops up. That problem is...

2. Song selection. At first, most bands do all cover songs. 4 or 5 guys will have different tastes, no matter if all of them are fans of the same bands. The guitar player(s) will point out the virtues of songs which have the coolest lead bits, the singer will cite songs which they imagine they sing well, and the drummer will name songs which are fun to listen to. Even though bands should listen to the drummer, in reality the winner of the song selection predicament will be...

3. Relatives in the same band. Two brothers, cousins, lifetime best friends, etc., will reign supreme. They can't trump the owner of the PA, but they can come close. They will determine the style of the band, and about 75% of the song selection. Happily, most of the time you only have to deal with one at a time because of...

4. Schedule conflicts. One day a week, everyone can be there. 4 days a week, all but one can be there. the other two days each week, only 2 can be there. Basically, you build the schedule around the days the drummer can show up for...

5. "Practice," "rehearsal," or "jamming." Some members regard it as rehearsal, because they plan on playing "Shook Me All Night Long" at Carnegie Hall next year after the band gets its contract with Warner Brothers. Some call it practice, because they want to get 40 songs down pat so they can play at "O'Reilley's Pub" without embarrassing themselves. Others call it jamming because they just love music. All three have their merits, even if the first ones are rather tiring to be around. Really tiring. I mean, they drive you nuts because they are...

6. Upwardly mobile professionals. These guys are intense, and demand the same level of pipe-dreaming from you that they exhibit. If you doubt for a minute that the band isn't going to go "all the way" (even though they never can adequately explain what "all the way" means), they have no use for you. You'd better hope they don't own the PA, or have a brother in the band.

But you know what? Even with those problems, I wouldn't trade the dynamic for anything. Occasionally, it clicks and you can gig for a year or two before moving on to the next band (after the drummer gets married and has to sell his drums).

LOL, that about covers it for me. Excellent.

[Obivion]

Yeah, the worst are the professionals, they force everyone into their dream whether they want it or not!

[mattblack850]

There's really not a lot you can add to that Blut!!!!!!:D:D

[Blutwulf]

Well, a few other things can be added. If one is in a band that is lucky enough to be an an area with a well-populated music circle, then you get the "interband peer dynamics." These are truly teh suxxorz.

1. "The alpha band" is that local band against which all local bands compare themselves. The alpha band is regarded as the "best" band by the local music circle, even though, if one examines it closely, the alpha band hasn't gigged in months and indeed only gigged for a few months a year or two ago. But by golly, they have the best members (which are constantly changing because of....)

2. Band hopping. Everyone in a band actually wanted to be in some other band but had to settle for their current band. As soon as they imagine they can hop bands, they will do so. Nothing is quite as much fun as showing up for rehearsal/practice/jamming only to discover that Buford the bass player has hopped over to "Willie and the Wont's." But that is okay, because your singer's brother plays some bass and will backfill the slot. Eventually, someone from your band will even make it into the alpha band. It will be your drummer, because...

3. Everyone wants your drummer. A drummer has his pick of any band which has a missing drummer. Every drummer in every band in the city is known by every person in the music circle. Bands compete for drummers. Sometimes, a band will "upgrade" their drummer via...

4. Back-knifing sh*ttiness. Even though you are friends with a bandmate, you will join in with the PA owner (or tandem relatives) to kick out that bandmate so you can scarf up what you imagine is a better player. These events are usually driven by the upwardly-mobile professionals, but they happen a lot. "Why, Jerome used to be in the Alpha Band! We can get him if we kick out Karl!" After such knifery, the band will have their new member (whose actual appeal was the close contact with venue A) and can start gigging at Venue B. They'd rather play at Venue A, which is...

5. The local Mecca. The local Mecca is that club/school/theater where only the good bands play. The alpha band opened there once for that band that had a #64 radio thing back about 5 years ago.

Essentially, in a thick music circle, you end up with scores of musicians who all know a bit about each other, who shuffle members, and who all invent various status elements. The fact that so much time, effort, money, and energy is wasted in ruining friendships all in the name of achieving some laughable goal is the ugliest bit behind gigging. But not as ugly as...

6. Gear Req Creep. Bands who start off as sane people will eventually convince themselves that gear is the problem. In a bar that seats 100 people, they will imagine that three 600-watt Crowns are needed for the PA, and that the guitar players need pairs of 100-watt Marshall stacks. They will buy 6 or more stage monitors, and freaking side-fills. Look... spend the money on lights. The crowd will appreciate it better.

[forgottenking2]

LOL this is priceless!!

[Schooligo]

excellent comments in this thread, :D

especially by Blutwulf :)

you have made a real effort to part of the IBreatheMusic.com Community, Thank You !!

as for some things to add, even though Blutwulf and others covered many of them, there are more

time for me to ramble(we LOVVVVVVVVVVE IT when people like Eric V. ramble, so it's my turn) :p

Priorities:

the band your in has some guy, (could be the singer(lead singers disease), drummer, etc. that has so much ego, and NEEDS to have more attention than anyone else in the band,
that they ignore good sense and insist on doing something that inevitably hurts the music, and therefore the credibility of the band.

I've seen this on numerous occasions,

one example is a band my friend was in

and one of the most ridiculous examples was where this drummer(and I know this is subjective but he was not a very good drummer, and even worse barely knew how to play guitar at all) , felt like he wasn't being seen enough behind his massive drum set, so he insisted that the band let him play a song on guitar so that he could get MORE adoration he needed from the audience, and so they could see him better since he was now at the front of the stage, and the sad part was this was a tribute band, so he was supposed to be playing the part of a musician/drummer in this tribute band, who was professional and never played a guitar in front of the audience in his life.

needless to say it never went down very well, yet he kept insisting to do it,

talk about not being a team player, and hurting the credibility of your band,

or heres another example

ie. even though the singer can play the guitar, the singer is not able to do BOTH play guitar and sing at the same time at nearly the proficiency level needed(I know this comment is subjective) when performing as a professional who is being paid for their art/music.
More importantly he forgets the words to MANY songs FREQUENTLY, and also forgets the chord progression he is playing, likely because it is not easy to do both(play an instrument and sing at the same time)but this person has such ego and pride that even though they know that what they are doing hurts the credibility of the band, they insist on doing it anyway.

that's just 2 examples,

then you have the musicians who are all about image, (nothing wrong with having an appropriate image for the gig) yet do nothing whatsoever to contribute to the band other than their image.

they don't learn the songs, they don't practice, they don't know the songs, etc.

yet somehow they think if they look the part that is all that matters,

talk about having the wrong priority as a musician.

and you may experience that many musicians have drug/alcohol, chemical dependencies, and may have legal issues, etc

please believe me when I tell you, I'm not trying to discourage anyone from being in a band,

being in a band is really alot of fun, and it's really great if you have team players/musicians, but unfortunately there is also the potential for drama

nevertheless it is great to have a talent, and be able to share that music and
talent with people who do appreciate your efforts, music, etc. ;)

[Timestorm]

This is great stuff guys - thanks!! So its not just the same arguments that happen over and over again, the same bandmember personalities crop up time and time again too. Crikey!!

[jade_bodhi]

Hey guys, don't forget the gender problems. I have been the only female in a few bands, and I usually get treated like I'm some kind of decoration for the stage. One drummer had the nerve to tell me that when I sang I should "shake it." I was mortified. Eventually I realized he was right, but he didn't have to put it so crudely.

My guitar playing isn't taken seriously either, and I think it's because I'm female. For example, I could play as well as the rhythm guy we had, yet I was always told that my guitar was one guitar too many and it cluttered the mix. Again, the criticism wasn't far off (three guitars were too many) but why was I elected to put mine down?

This is why I don't have a band anymore and just play duos and trios.

And one more thing: How about the yoko syndrome, as I've heard it referred to in these forums. Even that term "yoko syndrome" is sexist. I've witnessed numerous times when a bandmate brings in his girlfriend, even just for a couple guest spots, and the rest of the band is rolling their eyes.

Jade

[leppard81]

One drummer had the nerve to tell me that when I sang I should "shake it."


That made me giggle! Sorry...! :rolleyes: :p

One funny "argument" i had a few weeks back was that the singer was totally wasted while we were playing our 2nd and last set one night und ****ed up ALL songs (it was our first gig together). The day after it all he had to say was "I knew we had rehearsed too less songs, if we had more we would´ve succeeded!" :rolleyes: :D I guess you can blame ANYTHING if you only want to...... The main problem was that he cant sing at all, yet insists to, since it his "band" and me and the drummer were only helping out......We´re gonna play a few gigs more soon, not sure if i should look forward to them...:D

[LaughingSkull]

Most famous band with PA owner (DLR) and two siblings must be Van Halen .... LOL:D. Look, where did it get them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Halen
(look at beginnings ...)
Thanks Blutwulf, for this insight.

[HTD]

haha Blutwolf.... That is so true.
I am admitedly one of those carnegie hall types... Except I don't want to go "all the way" with the band I'm in, even though I'm the one that freaks out when one of our songs isn't half as tight as it should be..... phew.
But I also fall into the P.A. Owner and I have a brother in the band, so we make a pretty formidable team.
Yet unfortunately the lead singer and keyboardists are brothers too but are a lot more control freak (throws crying fits when one doesn't get its way etc.)
Usually the arguments center around our lead singer and our keyboardist (the other brothers). It usually involves the Lead singer telling the keyboardist how to play something... or telling the drummer how too play something even though he can't play drums... at all... I don't think he even has rhythm... hmmm... And he plays guitar so he always wants all the leads so he plays over everybody when we're having a band discussion. That is a day in the life of my band.

I'll probably have stomach ulcers by the time I'm out of this band.

[Blutwulf]

If you already anticipate being out of it, then why put yourself through ulcers? Jump ship.

Or...

Or you can all get in a room and discuss what "critique" means. For instance, the singer who cannot play drums or keyboards almost certainly is talking about mood and style rather than notes, beats, and pitch. If he is phrasing his input poorly, then that is a communication thing - it isn't a messiah complex. As a cheap example, a conductor in an orchestra doesn't actually shout out notes and technique to the orchestra. They direct effects. None of the floutists get offended when the conductor tells them to soften their loud asses as they get higher in pitch.

We all have elements in songs we like and expect to hear. Tension, crescendoes, muting, mood, etc. When a bandmate is carrying on and telling us to play something a different way, they usually are not telling us how to play our instrument. They're saying that they missed something. One doesn't need to play an instrument to know if someone is playing something too weakly, fast, mechanical, etc.

When a bandmate tries to tell you that you're playing something "wrong," they are actually telling you that you are missing the "thing" the original artist added which made it enjoyable for them. (Or, if they wrote it, what they were shooting for.) If you recorded yourself and listened, 90% of the time you'd agree with them. They are not saying that you are unlearned, or that they are better musicians, or that they are ubah and you are teh suxxorz, or whatever.

It is all about the "thing." Of course, if none of you are emotionally equipped to handle critique, then I cannot recommend trying this.

[forgottenking2]

Yeah, like when the singer tells you to play with a more "raunchy" vibrato. :D

[Renegade]

Mostly, my band argues about wehter or not to play cover songs. I am for it, as the audience gets more excited when they hear a song that they recognize and like. I think we should cover some songs and slip in our own here and there. The other guitar player disagrees and wants to be totally original. I think being totaly original is fine once people know your songs, but not when your playing for a crowd for the first time.
Other band members are split.

[joeyd929]

I joined this band in 1984 and the bass player had a little side gig going on with this polka band. He only played out with them once a week but made good money doing so.

When we formed the band I joined with him he promised us that he would dedicate all his time to our new band and quit the polka deal once we were officially gigging in clubs.

So, we start playing clubs after 6 solid months of rehearsing and developing 4 good solid sets of music. He never did quit that polka band though. The problem was that we were forced to turn down some great gigs because he had committments with his stupid side gig.

Oh well, we all disbanded after a year of hard drugs and partying too much anyway so I guess I can't put all the blame on him.. Nuff

[Sub-Lingual]

My old band lasted five years, the bass player was my oldest (and of my best) friends. We all got on outside of the band brilliantly but every band practise was hell and full on screaming/arguing simply because we all came from different music backgrounds and we each wanted the band to be something different.



Weirdly the fighting, screaming and arguing and the hugely different music backgrounds ultimately gave us a unique sound and we never did quite sound like any of the other bands on the circuit. We somehow over the five year life of the band recorded two albums and one e.p …. and looking back I now miss every second of it.



So if your band argues a lot maybe its not such a bad thing.



Damon

[shredlogic]

I am in a metal band so the arguments are generally involving whether/where melodic singing should be put in the songs.

Also, in some sub-genres of metal there's a strong emphasis on technical ability, and I practice a whole lot due to this but also because I just love intricate and expressive music. So I will write something and my guitarist will come to practice stoned and not be able to play it because of that and because he didn't spend his time practicing, and I will get mad.

So I guess in general it's creative differences and differences in levels of motivation/dedication.

[Joe Pass Jr]

This is amazing. I never knew there were so many issues surrounding live bands. Particularly interesting is blutwulf's views. All I can say i's that none of these things have ever been a problem for me. Admittedly often Ill just turn up to the gig and play, we don't 'rehearse' on any real regular schedule. Also its not always the same band when I turn up. The closest thing to an argument we ever have is when I go a bit overboard with extensions during someones solo.

Truly amazing :D

As a great man said, alot of these people need to 'shut up and play yer guitar '

[Wintermute]

When the guitarist decides to play virtuoso-rock and can't play a whole song without screwing up.

[Doctor Gee]

Band arguments/practice setbacks in my current project:

1) Noodling. Incessant noodling.
2) Chit-chat
3) Going up town to buy food
4) Rehearsing right next door to a pub :D

[stervinertist]

I agree with gender issues playing a big part in band drama. I played drums in a rockabilly outfit a few months back and we were all dudes except for our bassist who was a female and she was married to the lead guitarist which you'd think would make for even more drama but it didn't. Anyways, she was incredibly new to the bass and her sense of timing was a bit off while the rest of us had been playing and playing live for years. Whenever we'd play live she would get all of the attention. It didn't matter how well or poorly we had performed because she made us look cool apparently. This was tough because we all worked so hard to get to where we were and she just started playing, kinda sucked, and got all the praise. I never thought of myself as a sexist person but I had to believe that her gender was what made her stand out. Her stage presence was hardly there and her abilities on the bass were elementary, but she was a hot chick with a bass.
I agree that gender can play a big role in a bands inner workings and drama. I suppose it's different for each band though.

[stervinertist]

Current issues in my current band:

1.Practicing at home for a successful rehearsal. No one does it.

2.Constant cancelling of rehearsal due to wives, kids, jobs, life.

3.More playtime than playmusictime.

4.Brand new drummer who's new to drumming wants to sing too but can barely keep a beat.

5.Everyone wants to do songs out of our range.

6.Guitarist and drummer make the rhythm section while bassist plays what bassist feels like playing.

7.Getting everyone to shut up and start the song.

Ya know, sometimes I absolutely hate being in a band. But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

[Red Shoes]

Sounds familiar......our problem seems to be that we are a group of friends who were friends a long time before we started a band together. Our bassist is usually the problem - he's rather stroppy and thinks he knows everything. He has the least input into the band but disagrees and argues with most of what everyone else says, even though he is the least "musically minded" out of the lot of us. Problem is we are all friends so things are awkward - he's a friend but if we weren't all friends then he would have been fired by now.

[Draven Grey]

This thread really brings back some memories!

I once brought on a new drummer who decided he didn't like something about my 3 year guitarist, and conspired to get him kicked out. Once we ironed that out, he decided he wanted me out of the band and conspired with my guitarist. It was crazy. Eventually (a couple of years later), right before a huge gig, he disappeared for a few months. That's when we decided to go our separate ways. My guitarist actually went on to start a pretty cool band, well known in Texas - The Last Starfighter. I won't go into their issues.

With all that I've learned over the years I've recorded and coached bands, I hope I can avoid a lot of the typical issues this time around.

[JNagarya]

I've read a few times in this forum now that nothing makes you learn and grow as a player more than being in a band. There's also been a few band problem threads. So to anyone who is in or has been in a band/s, what are the things that you argue/disagree over the most, and what things do your fellow bandmates do that REALLY annoy you.

Only a few things in my experience:

1. I have to play the other band members' suck-*** crap choices of "music" so they'll play the gems I want to play.

2. Everyone else in the band is an assh*le, and I'm a sane and tolerant saint.

Other than that it's great fun.

[marson]

Money seems to be a theme for arguments.

I live away from the rest of the band, and I'm apparently only entitled to one half of one trip to Sheffield (40 miles from me) in expenses, regardless of how many gigs I do during tghe week.

In the meantime, they live in Sheffield, so all the band diesel is paid for out of gig money that I help to earn.

Smells like bullcrap to me...

[Draven Grey]

Money... that is always a fun argument. One or two people are willing to put everything they have into the band, and expect everyone else to feel the same way. And when the rest of the band can't commit much money, if any, everyone starts feeling pressured, the first guy starts feeling like he's the only one who cares about the band, and instead of all talking to each other about it, they complain to their friends. *sigh*

Have any of you ever considered looking into band agreements? I've seen those little pieces of paper save bands from many many headaches and arguments.

[Carvinite]

Who gets the last budlight.

That was the one, when I had my band, that always came up.


There was also the proverbial "I don't get enough credit guys" that used to come up from our bassist. but that was mainly because he didn't really do anything. and after we told him that he shut up and did what we said. lol.

[HuManMusic]

There was also the proverbial "I don't get enough credit guys" that used to come up from our bassist. but that was mainly because he didn't really do anything. and after we told him that he shut up and did what we said. lol.

Bassists are always underrated but oh-so-necessary. Just try to go out there without a decent one and see what happens. I worship the ground our bassist walks on because he's the foundation of our sound. When a guitarist messes up, you don't really notice it too much. When a bassist plays the wrong note, everyone notices.

As well, when you lose your bass, it's really not easy to find a good replacement. They're 2nd in line behind drummers in that proverbial list of "hard to find" musicians that can make or break a band. I was once in a fantastic band that broke up because we couldn't find a good bass replacement fast enough. Then the drummer got impatient and went to another band. Then the rest just fell apart. This was a band that had financial backing, recording studio availability and one song already on the radio!

Give your bassist the props he deserves. Why not build up fellow members instead of tearing them down? Good bands thrive on positive energy, not negativity.

[Carvinite]

No, I would not say that if he were a good bassist. good bassist are hard to find.

but he never practiced or worked on the songs. He wanted recognition for work he basically wasn't putting in. We actually had to oust him and find a new one, but we no longer play together.

I love having a good bassist play with me. However this was not the case since he never practiced anything we would be working on.

And we never tore him down, I was saying it in a more direct way than what we really said. We told him the truth , we said "man, you don't practice or put in the time, thats why you never get praise. It's because you are just barely getting by." it wasn't "You suck at life, you should probably stop." I know thats kinda the way it sounded in that last post.

[Red Shoes]

Some good points. Great bassists are essential. Bassist in my last band was useless, he never practiced anything.
Although the bassist in my new band is absolutely awesome. He also has a lot of charisma which comes across well at gigs.....

[Detman101]

Been a while, but here are a few of the problems bands in the late 70's/early 80's would face. Surely these are no longer issues. Oh, perhaps they are. I dunno.

1. The band is "owned" by whomever owns the PA system. Sure, you're a democracy, but don't push it. Eventually, the hint-bomb of a threat to deny access to the PA will surface when the next problem pops up. That problem is...

3. Relatives in the same band. Two brothers, cousins, lifetime best friends, etc., will reign supreme. They can't trump the owner of the PA, but they can come close. They will determine the style of the band, and about 75% of the song selection. Happily, most of the time you only have to deal with one at a time because of...

4. Schedule conflicts. One day a week, everyone can be there. 4 days a week, all but one can be there. the other two days each week, only 2 can be there. Basically, you build the schedule around the days the drummer can show up for...

6. Upwardly mobile professionals. These guys are intense, and demand the same level of pipe-dreaming from you that they exhibit. If you doubt for a minute that the band isn't going to go "all the way" (even though they never can adequately explain what "all the way" means), they have no use for you. You'd better hope they don't own the PA, or have a brother in the band.

Hehe...those are the ones that killed my "Band experience". After what I went thru I'm not joing another one unless it's people who I won't mind throwing down a flight of stairs.

The band was driven by a husband and wife team. The husband wanted to play guitar so he stuck me on bass (Which isn't my instrument, I'm a guitarist) so he could learn how to play guitar. Then the drummer was in ailing health and only came to practice sessions he could make it to. But get this...the band claims that I wasn't progressing fast enough on bass and I missed too many practice sessions!! (I missed one because I was sick with a cold and didn't want to make them sick. I should have gone and put them all in the damn hospital.) I was totally convinced that there were other reasons behind the band leader having issues with me.
But whatever...I hope they have a good time doing whatever they do.
I know I'm having a blast where I belong...on guitar!

Dm

[Los Boleros]

They just don't work. There will always be someone who is not happy. It is important to have a band with a unanimus goal, That or creat your own band where you just pay everyone to do what you want them to do.

I am paying my band mates between $200 and $400 per gig so there are no arguements at all.

[Timestorm]

As Detman101 mentioned about going from guitar to bass - i've heard a lot of bass players were originally guitar players but changed or were pressured into changing to bass because their band needed a bass player and there were just too many guitarists.

I guess this sort of thing must cause a lot of resentment. No-one wants to give up their instrument of choice. I suppose there aren't that many people who choose bass as their first instrument tho. Out of the remaining guitarists in any given band, no doubt they'll all want to play lead!

[Jackpunk3]

Money is always a tough one...cohesive bands that work well together are hard to come by because its only nature for there to be tension...