Home› Musicians and Gearheads

Need Help With a Problem in my Band (part 2)

PJVITALOGYPJVITALOGY Posts: 54
edited January 2004 in Musicians and Gearheads
hi everyone...

i posted here a while ago asking how i could kick out our rhythm guitarist in our band. that was a few weeks ago...

back then we thought we wanted another rhythm guitarist, a better one, which i mentioned in the other post. since then weve decided to go down the path of Rage Against the Machine, Led Zeppelin, and countless other bands and have only one guitarist.

today we told him we didnt really want him in the band coz we only want one guitarist. hes going crazy and we dont think hell leave the band. were still deciding if we actually ARE going to kick him out because it seems far too harsh, but also the only option to make our band work better. apart from him sucking, he has barely any rhythm, and doesnt have any creativity.

to get to the point: how can we make him leave the band!? or fire him and he accepts it?

EDIT: also, i forgot to mention...he kind of started the band, but since then has done nothing. and we'd really work a lot better without him.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • brain of cbrain of c Posts: 5,213
    break up the band and start a new one...........
    d'oh!!!!!!

    http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
  • pariahpariah Posts: 596
    That would be the screwy way to do it. Either way, he'll be mad. So I guess the fair way to do it is just tell him that he isn't a part of the band anymore. It's not like he can decide on his own that he stays.

    "Hi guys."
    "What are you doing here? You're not in the band anymore."
    "Yes I am. Come on, what are we gonna play today?"
    "NOTHING. We KICKED YOU OUT. FUCK OFF!!"
    "I'M INVINCIBLE!!"
    "You're a looney..."
    "Until you realize the importance of the banana king, you will know absolutely nothing about the human-interest things of the world."
  • puremagicpuremagic Posts: 1,907
    PJ, this isn't really a brainteaser, the guy is either in or out. Friends kick friends out of bands all the time. So, unless there is something legally binding him to the band I don't see your problem. Make a decision and stick by it.

    I will say this, you used him to define your sound, then changed it, so he probably wasn't all that bad. [you may have just pigeon holed your sound, speaking of creativity].
    Originally posted by PJVITALOGY
    hi everyone...

    i posted here a while ago asking how i could kick out our rhythm guitarist in our band. that was a few weeks ago...

    back then we thought we wanted another rhythm guitarist, a better one, which i mentioned in the other post. since then weve decided to go down the path of Rage Against the Machine, Led Zeppelin, and countless other bands and have only one guitarist.

    today we told him we didnt really want him in the band coz we only want one guitarist. hes going crazy and we dont think hell leave the band. were still deciding if we actually ARE going to kick him out because it seems far too harsh, but also the only option to make our band work better. apart from him sucking, he has barely any rhythm, and doesnt have any creativity.

    to get to the point: how can we make him leave the band!? or fire him and he accepts it?

    EDIT: also, i forgot to mention...he kind of started the band, but since then has done nothing. and we'd really work a lot better without him.
    SIN EATERS--We take the moral excrement we find in this equation and we bury it down deep inside of us so that the rest of our case can stay pure. That is the job. We are morally indefensible and absolutely necessary.
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    Ask him the following question:

    What rhymes with, "Man, I'm wired?"

    Answer: "Dude, you're fired."
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • Release_87Release_87 Posts: 2
    Remeber: you're in not in a band to make friends. The music comes first. Don't go right ahead and tell him he sucks; explain the situation to him carefully. If he still refuses to hit the road, then simply go down the democracy route. Take a vote in the band, if there is a majortiy vote to get rid of him then do it.Tell him that you're not ASKING him to leave, you're TELLING him. If this doesn't work,you could:

    1) Break his legs
    2) Not tell him when or where you are practising
    3) Leave town
    4) Steal his stuff

    On the issue of whether it's wrong to kick 'the founding member out' all i have to say is: there isn't one. He's served his purpose getting you guys together. Now he's holding you guys back. I was in a similar situation a couple of months ago. I had a rythm guitarsist with a lack of rythm who was drowning everyone else out. After too many practises with the guy I took charge told him that, being a 'lead' ( i hate that term) guitarist i couldn't get my head round having another guitar in the band. Truth be told he sucked. He has a really bad work ethic and, like the guy with you, was holding everyone else back. He was also just plain SHITE. He was there is the first place cuz he was a friend of the bass players wo had just got a load of new, stu-pidly expensive stuff. So i got rid of him, do the same. You'll be gald for it.
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    Ben Folds Five says:

    Citing artistic differences
    The band broke up in may
    And in june reformed without me
    And they'd got a different name
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • PJVITALOGYPJVITALOGY Posts: 54
    thanks to everyone who replied to this thread, youve been real helpful...i think hes realised hes not in the band anymore, i heard news he was trying to form a new band.

    Once again, thanks.
  • mccreadyisgodmccreadyisgod Bumfuq, MT Posts: 6,395
    I feel for ya, man... I've never had your experience, but I know what being in a band means, and it's hard to think about giving anyone the boot.

    Glad it worked itself out.
    ...and if you don't like it, you can suck on an egg.
  • Coming back to lifeComing back to life Posts: 401
    I'd say kick him out and change the band's name, you get to kick him out and he doesn't feel like Roger Waters so everyone wins (I don't support Roger with that though because he quit as oppose to being kicked out, although Gilmour shouldn't have talked about record sales with the final cut either)
    A restaurant with a smoking section is like a swimming pool with a pissing section
  • Lukin_ozLukin_oz Posts: 257
    PJVITALOGY... youre in Melbourne? Does your band play any gig yet in Melbourne?
    Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
  • nfmessiahnfmessiah Posts: 58
    my brother's old band had a similiar problem, but it was the singer they wanted to get rid of. he was horrible, could not sing in tune to save his life and thought he was a cross between Maynard from Tool and Ed from PJ. he was barely either.
    all this was compounded by the fact that the singer's rich father funded the building of the band's own private studio.
    so, naturally being dedicated musicians (meaning=broke) they could not bring themselves to part ways with him despite his lack of talent and his obnoxious and violent personality.

    so, they each left on their own accord, one by one, saying they didn't want to play music anymore...that they had no time.

    they reformed as their own band, minus the nice studio and equipment. the old singer found out eventually and there were threats of physical violence, but hey, that's what restraining orders are for.
    once dissolved we are free to grow...
  • PJVITALOGYPJVITALOGY Posts: 54
    im sorry to hear about your brothers old band nfmessiah.

    to answer Lukin_oz....we only do party gigs at the moment...were only 15 haha. but dont think that were just some kids who think that were gonna be huge and the next big thing someday...we care about the music more than anything else.
  • Lukin_ozLukin_oz Posts: 257
    thats cool... I got a band myself and woulda tried to hook up some gigs with ya... what sort of stuff do you play?
    Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
  • PJVITALOGYPJVITALOGY Posts: 54
    well at the moment were just a cover band....we do:

    Killing in the Name - RATM
    Testify - RATM
    Alive-PJ
    Californication-RHCP
    Teen Spirit-Nirvana
    Seven Nation Army-White Stripes
    and we do some other stuff

    weve got a temporary lead singer...we havent decided if were gonna keep him yet.

    im the guitarist and ive written about 10-15 songs, probably only 5 or 6 complete ones, and tonight were gonna try and play them for the first time. theyre kind of "hard hitting" lyrics i guess...kind of annoyed at stuff like corporations tryin to take over everything...and the music businness gettin fucked over...and then theres a few "angry love songs" lol.
  • Lukin_ozLukin_oz Posts: 257
    Have fun trying your own tunes... hope the neighbours dont mind either... where abouts in Melbourne you from?
    Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
  • PJVITALOGYPJVITALOGY Posts: 54
    hahaha....nah they neighbours dont care....were from Caulfield...what about u?
  • Lukin_ozLukin_oz Posts: 257
    In Sunbury... sorta near Melbourne airport. We gotta gig in Melbourne Sunday night if ya bored.... at the Arthouse
    Those who dance are called insane by those who dont hear the music
  • Echo FlangerEcho Flanger Posts: 60
    Nevermind
    Ha ha I've a custy
  • gatefoldgatefold Posts: 28
    i agree with whoever said break up the band. i joined a band that had been going for a while but asked me to play lead guitar for them. we gigged for a while but our singer and bass player were shit, and i knew guys that would be much better than them. (also, i couldnt stand being with them being as they were both huge nirvana fans, and the singer just wanted to be kurt, and being as i absolutely hate nirvana and love pj, well you see the problem).

    anyway, i used a lame excuse to leave the band (ie, the singer and bassist did too many drugs for my liking and i dont do any) but i knew that if i left the drummer and rhythym guitarist would also leave. and they did. we started a new band which to be honest didnt work either, so i went from playing in a grunge/metal band to playing in an acoustic two piece with my best mate. we are now a four piece doing pretty well for ourselves, you can check us out at http://www.gatefoldonline.co.uk

    so just split the band up!
Sign In or Register to comment.