>Attempt to treat playing in my band like an actual profession
>Really laid back person but all I ever want to do is music so I take it very seriously
>Bandmates are some of my best friends and amazing musicians
>They act like fucking children when it comes to getting anything done
>I have to email all the venues, I organise the practices, I produce and record the songs, I organise gear transport etc.
>One of them just constantly plays guitar. Constantly. Over everything. He can never put one down, he always has to try and work out every song that's playing in the background (and he doesn't stop till he gets it)
>The other literally stares at his fucking phone and will ignore everything you say until you walk up to him
>They both forget every goddamn jam I don't personally record and reteach to them
>They take 40 minute smoke breaks and just walk away and do something else when they're bored
>Every time I bring any of this up they get extremely defensive and act like I'm being some kind of huge asshole for calling them out on their shit
Just last week we blew a HUGE show because one of them snapped a string by playing like a spastic in the first song and he forget to bring the back-up guitar like he said he would. I'm at my wit's end guys, I love the music and they're very good friends but god I fucking hate working with them. Should I just quit, take my songs (most of them) and redo them for a solo thing?
I've never been in a band but that sounds like the worst thing that could happen when you're trying to get your shit together. Why do other people always have to be so difficult?
Have you tried to ask them what they think about the stuff they're playing? Is there something else that they'd rather do? I mean, we both know the answer to that is probably something like "I think it's okay, I don't care", but it doesn't hurt to ask.
>>51473970
If you want to stay friends with them and still continue making music, I'd say yes
>>51474005
/thread
>that one freaks and geeks episode
>>51473970
yes
bjork is so pretty
>>51474039
That's the hard bit, they'll hate me if I leave because in their minds we're kinda getting fast tracked because we're soooo good but in reality I'm doing all the hard work. Then they'll try and say "they're our songs too!" even though they just played on the recordings.
It's just gonna be incredibly messy. Not to mention that our band already kind of has a huge following and we're sorta on the precipice of success, we're already signed to a fairly respected local label. The smartest thing to do would be just replacing them, but then they definitely wouldn't forgive me.
>>51473970
dude take your serious shit and make a serious project. if u wanna goof around and have fun with these guys then dont make this band your main priority.
I was in an eerily similar situation. I lived with my bandmates, too. Eventually I quit and moved out and told them not to ever use my songs.
Few months later they hired a manager to do all the stuff I used to do (like fucking idiots) and I heard from mutual friends that they were claiming all the songs I wrote and sung were theirs. They even recorded them all and were gonna release an EP in the next week. So I found my old house key, went to the old place when I knew they were working, found the old Mac we recorded our songs on and dumped it in a bathtub full of water. Then I found every external HDD in the house and put them in, too. Then they broke up.
>>51474162
see this is exactly why i dont want to work with anyone else. if anyone ever tried to claim my shit i would shoot a mofo
Yeah bro thats sucks man. I hate people who dont take shit seriously
Bro dump them. You need people who are committed and serious. Fucking hippy image dudes.
Fuck this made me so mad reading. Get committed people man.
get a fucking normal day job and quit being a hardass on your mates
>>51474177
>see this is exactly why i dont want to work with anyone else. if anyone ever tried to claim my shit i would shoot a mofo
To work in a band is an amazing thing if you pull off something good and gel well.
But it adds complexity to a situation of course, working with others.
Im not OP but Im fortunate to have a bro who plays drums. Adding new people into the mix is always risky.
Ive always played bass in bands but I wanna be in control of something.
I guess if you hate people stealing your songs id just write them then assemble a band and you tell them what to play or something. Take all songwriting credit
although I don't know your friends, how hard can it be to subtly change them into focused hard working musicians
>>51474191
Non musician detected. Someone has to be a fucking hardass in a band. The band Im in I realise the dude who started it should have a majority say or else no shit is gonna get sorted.
You need a leader of somesort. Not a dictator but a guy who just has a level of control.
Thats why Radiohead are so good. kek
>>51474162
are u from the microphones
>>51473970
do you have any videos of your band?
would be interested.
The non musician neckbeard replies to this thread are so dumb.
>>51474220
>how hard can it be to change a bunch of slackers to motivated and focused people
Very. It literally needs to be a life changing event, anything less will not stick.
People really suck sometimes.
>>51474162
are you Dan Barrett
Do you want your stuff to be wasted on a mediocre band? If not, then walk. If you don't split now, you'll probably end up doing so later anyway and it won't be half as clean if done under stress.
>>51474239
Singers are often the worst. They dont really have to bring anything and often have big egos/personalities.
In my band our guitarist/singer often comes late. Sometimes an hour late because he was drinking heavily the night before practise.
The funny thing is is they are often the most talented and important
>>51474239
depends where you live.
if it's a big city it's not too difficult.
you just need to have the courage to be sincere with your band mates and tell them to go.
Exact same thing happened with me.
My band was just fucking plebs who could play but knew fuck all about experimentation, risk taking or taking anything seriously.
One of them was a guns and roses fan, and played his fucking les paul over everything I said
when we did weed and caffeine they were all too "buzzed" to actually do anything - when I wanted to FUCKING GO.
>guns n fucking roses
>what a fucking joke
>pretty much says it all
left them and I'm still looking for a new band
>>51473970
>They take 40 minute smoke breaks and just walk away and do something else when they're bored
All of my rage.
Nigga, just quit. If they stop hanging out with you, fuck em they weren't real friends if they get pissed off at you for trying to make a name for yourself.
>>51474259
Im probably a cynical person. I love music but Im tired of bands going no where. Plebs suck for sure.
Its annoying playing in bands that are really good and they try to over complicate songs or add in all kinds of weird jazz like chord progressions but it comes off pretty bad.
The "funky and fun" aspect annoys me too. It feels like a joke. I also hate seeing bands that are good rhythmically/musically but the singer treats the band like a joke and spouts stupid lyrics in a monotone "who gives a fuck im a punk" voice.
There is a band in my country and they ended up becoming one of my countries most acclaimed/important acts in the "indie-sphere". They were featured in a little doco with other local bands and they seemed to be the most serious while the other bands had a stupid "who cares/rock star" look.
Its good to have fun, sure. But the music has to be treated with respect and have credibility to it.
>>51474259
worst thing was for a couple of months leading up to/in the summer we had a kinda cool sound
sort of even less polished early flaming lips sound
>>51473970
Give an epic soapbox speech. "Right guys. I want to be serious. These are the issues...You need to be prepared...etc"
if they snub you offf for that then just quit and take your songs.
>>51474105
Posting that and then not telling what the band is? ... you dick. Quit your shitty band.
you said your band is relatively successful, then whats the problem. quit being a party pooper
>>51474105
Manuel?
>>51474344
Steve?
>>51474385
Lavren?
>>51474409
Jaykwan?
>>51474415
Björk?
>>51474449
DIRTY DAN?
>>51473970
Had a person with both of those terrible traits in my band.
We replaced him, and it's been smooth sailing ever since.
>>51474518
Qui-gon-Jin jr???
>>51474536
Josh Homme?
>>51474542
Dave?
Fire them.
Seriously, fucking fire them.
"I can't do that." Yes you can. You are in charge of the band's music, business affairs and logistics. It's YOUR band. If you guys are starting to make a name for yourselves then fire the rest and keep the name.
And it doesn't matter how good the other guys are, being good is not enough to make it as a band. In fact, being good might not even be the most important trait a bandmate can have. Better to have a reliable bandmate with weaker playing than a virtuoso who can't get his shit together.
So what if they're friends. Who cares if they're friends? If they can't take the hard truth then fuck em. Why would you want to hang out with unmotivated dumbasses anyway? Get new bandmates and make friends with them.
>>51474547
His name was Matt.
Above average skills for someone who's only been playing for 3 years but...
>shitty gear
>spends all his money on gas to drive to his girlfriends house 90 minutes away so he never has cash to upgrade
>we changed our practice schedule to fit around his work schedule
>then he started not showing up for practice for his girlfriend
>2 hours late to a house show we were playing... because of his girlfriend
>always had to play adam's song by blink 182 to warm up or whatever
>>51474549
Artemis?
>>51473970
This is literally how my band was before I left a couple months ago, minus the 40 minute smoke breaks. I was the "constantly plays guitar" guy.
The guy who reminds me of you would
>write all the songs
>sing all the songs (horribly)
>take any criticism on a song as a personal attack
>antagonize everyone else in the band at least once every practice
>drive any legitimately good band that we were friends with and hoped to book shows with away with his general shittiness towards them
>Book shows without asking if anybody is busy/working that day and blame us for not telling him that we were busy on the off chance that he should book a show.
>book shows at terribly inopportune times (weekdays, at venues hours away, at like 10 PM while we were still in high school)
>advertise our shows terribly (although, that goes for all of us, really)
>book pay-to-play shows
>devise a system for pay-to play shows where "everyone is responsible for <insert dollar amount here>" regardless of how many tickets other band members sold (So in essence, if three guys sell 29 of the 30 tix for $10, instead of just putting in ten bucks, the 4th member has to front $75 and the money from tix in excess that the other members sold would go to the band fund)
>have complete control of the band fund
>Basically never inform us of how the band fund was being used (I think he made stickers and pins or some shit)
>Constantly got on one band member's ass for being Christian.
>Generally took no interest in things that the other band members were interested in
>Would try to be funny when talking to the crowd, but came off really cringey because it would often be some 2deep4me pretentious bullshit about his own song, or poking fun at people we knew in poor taste because he was mad at them.
>Finally, and most frustrating for me, NEVER TOOK ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANYTHING EVER
But you seem pretty laid-back, OP, so you're probably not anything close to him.
I have stories.
>>51474682
Not op but that sounds pretty interesting tell some stories
>>51474615
>>always had to play adam's song by blink 182 to warm up or whatever
why are you in a shitty pop punk band in the first place?
>>51474162
Damn wtf, just copyright the songs and sue them
>>51473970
>continue playing with but stop putting effort into your band
>wait for it to inevitably fall apart
>meanwhile put all energy into your solo career
Easy.
>>51474682
>>book pay-to-play shows
Hate that shit. My bros singer does that sometimes. Fuck sake.
>>51474743
Alright, here's one
>Drummer has this nice drumset
>Singer does some trivial bullshit for him and asks to have a logo spraypainted on the bass drum in return
>Drummer says ok, not taking it seriously
>A couple months later, singer has the drums at his house
>Brings them to our gig the next day with some shitty stencil spraypainted on the bass drum
>Got a bunch of spraypaint on the wood
>Drummer loses his shit, naturally
>They argue about it for the rest of the day, then forget about it
>Me and the bassist agreed that it was pretty fucked up to do that without telling anybody
>Singer literally got more mad than the drummer now at the suggestion that what he did was wrong
>Refuses to take responsibility for the incident
>Eventually he ended up getting a drumset for himself and let the drummer take the ring that goes on the outside of the bass drum in exchange for his (which had paint on it), and nothing else
>>51474060
I want to marry her
