Dude, You’re Not Married.
Butch Ross
http://butchross.comFollow @ihelpmusicians
So the drummer of a local band here was recently fired. Why? He played too many other gigs with to many other bands.
Ridiculous.
I want go on record as not defending the guy, (truth is I don’t know him at all). But I feel like this is a huge myth that a lot of bands fall into: You can’t be in other bands too.
I am flabbergasted at how many musicians—many of whom don’t consider road hookups cheating because “what happens on the road stays on the road”—can’t get their heads around this concept. It seems we’re all too quick to buy into this myth of some band of brothers slugging it out through thick and thin to make it to the “big time.” Yes, it does occasionally happen just like that, and about once a decade a band comes along that reinforces the meme (The Stones, Aerosmith, U2, Metallica, Radiohead etc.) but it happens about as often as someone spends their life married his or her high-school sweetheart. *
Obviously your commitment to the band needs to be there, and other work shouldn’t distract you from the goals of your primary band.** But so what if your drummer (or guitarist or kazooist) is playing in another band, or two or three, to make rent? As long he (or she) keeps their eyes on the prize, I say it’s okay.
*Ask Pete Best or Stuart Sutcliff
**And maybe he would be better off working at Kinkos or something.
Spot on, Butch.
Must admit I’ve been there (when I was young, precious and emotional about bands.)
HOWEVER, I would want my drummer to be working in other bands if my band wasn’t busy enough to keep him entertained, practising, connecting and earning enough money. It adds value to my band.
No brainer. Be proud, reap the benefits.
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lets face it drummers are whores.they all “wanna play”.and that i like,but nope…a one off ~fill in~ spot is one thing- but “balancing” a few bands..is impossible.These are dudes who dont wanna ever have to work a real job ,so they run all month trying to eke out an existance.These are the guys with “rent on the brain.”
These are also the same dudes who don’t wanna feel like a “side” guy see:Tico Torres ,but are unavailable to really INVEST the time and creative input to the music ,that one day gets somewhere and buys houses .me?/ im broke cause i chose to invest all my time on creating a lifetime of songs.i may not have a bank account ,but ive bank 100s of tunes ,some being ballads ya know the type .boom chicka boom ,i can just use a drum machine or play this crap myself.when the time comes …i can find a “rent ” boy to bang a couple beats out for dinner and beer,then I will have the house on the hill ,hopefully with a couch for you .Just dont come crying to me when you’re a side guy and don’t know why .
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In other drummers named Phil news reports that Radiohead drummer Phil Selway has announced that he is set to release a solo album. Selway who sings on the album is currently in the process of recording the as-yet untitled record in his bands Oxfordshire studio..He enlisted the services of Wilco members Glenn Kotche and Pat Sansone to play on the project and multi-instrumentalist solo artist Lisa Germano and bass player Sebastian Steinberg have also contributed.No release date or any more details yet. drummers are literally the weakest link of any given band no matter how terrible the rest of them are.
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