Sift Out The Useless Members of Your Band

My brother, Bill, and I put together our first real band back in 1981. I won't mention other names to protect the innocent (or guilty for that matter) It consisted of:

-Myself, still learning how to play guitar and doing primitive backup work

-My brother, still learning how to play drums

-a bass player who, more often than not, did not attend practices and only used two strings on the bass. The other two were an ornament,

-a guitarist who played even worse than me, but somehow conceived the notion that he was God's gift to music and no one could convince him of the opposite

-a ...singer? Well, at least that's the story they sold me.

...Sound familiar to any of you?

Now, the first band we put together that actually started sounding good in 1985 consisted of:
-Myself on guitar (playing much better) and doing lead vocals which I should have been doing in the first place

-My brother Bill (playing much better and even doing some backups)

-John Vice, an excellent bass player who did his homework, attended practices and became an excellent friend of ours even to this day

What can you conclude with this information? I don't think that I have to spell it out for you. Some people in your band make an effort and are good musicians and others are excess weight. The trio we put together, sounded ten times better and more powerful than the five member group ever did.

I'm not saying that you should only work with a trio. What I'm saying is that once we knocked off the excess weight, we were able to start flying. From then on I have insisted on finding constructive members for my bands. I have worked with trios, quartets, 10 member working bands and even gospel bands with a 40 voice choir, with everyone contributing to the project. The difference has to be heard to be believed when this happens.

Every member of your band should pull their own weight. They cannot expect to go for a free ride and take the credit for the band's success or (and this is a good one) criticize the band for it's failures -some or most of which are even his/her own fault. These people are always finding excuses for not attending practices, not working on stuff at home and not giving constructive suggestions.

Another problem might be that they were just not cut out to be musicians. If this is the situation with a member in your group or band, my advice is to get rid of them -diplomatically or straight in the face. You'll save time and hassles because a real musician doesn't need to to be told that he must practice, work on songs at home or pull their weight in the band and they're too busy working for the band to criticize it.

A few years ago, I was working in a trio that did shows 5 days a week and the drummer couldn't play with us any longer for personal reasons so we recruited a new one. This guy's playing was quite limited and would even stop in the middle of a song because he had screwed up. As the story goes, I was going on holiday the next month so I told him to get up to date and work on the songs he was having trouble with while I was gone. When I got back, we started up again and he hadn't done anything to better his playing. THIS WAS AN INSULT TO THE BASS PLAYER AND ME! So, we immediately looked for a new drummer and told him to GET LOST!

I don't mind amateurs if they're willing to do their job and put in the effort, but it is insulting to see someone who is not doing their job and wants their share of the earnings. That's exactly the way I see it. They're getting their cut of the money, popularity or whatever the band has to offer and giving the band NOTHING in return. Sound selfish? It definitely is.

Singers are often the most controversial element of a group unless they have a musical backing. A lot of these wannabes, come into the practice hall with their hands in their pockets and don't lift a finger to help with setting up anything, and when something goes wrong it's always someone else's fault. Don't waste your time putting up with useless members. You'll spend more time fighting than making music.

Look for hard working members with a musical backing, if possible, and a desire to make the group better. Don't feel sorry for those who are not musically inclined because it's not their place to be making music. They're probably better at other things. Don't limit the potential of your band by putting up with excess weight. If you don't do your job at work, your boss will fire you. Apply this principle to your band and it will start working better. I guarantee it.