How not to keep yer band together
- Nick Sevilla
- on a wing and a prayer
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- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:34 pm
- Location: Lake Arrowhead California USA
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- Gregg Juke
- cryogenically thawing
- Posts: 3544
- Joined: Fri Jun 11, 2010 10:35 pm
- Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
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I wanted to post this on your blog, but it wouldn't let me without some intricate and intrusive credentialing dance, so I'll put it up here instead. Feeling for you, vvv, but we move on...
GJ
====================================================
Hey Vuvvy Vlayman?
The great session and touring drummer Russ Kunkel (who used to be a band musician years ago, until one-too-many break-ups) has a saying: ?Well, we played together for awhile and did such-and-such, but eventually, that _went the way of all bands._?
That went the way of all bands.
And they do, mostly. They?re funny things, whether the most democratic or autocratic of institutions, or somewhere in-between, they ususally end? although more than a few have been blessed with amazing longevity, there aren?t that many that have 10, 20, or 30 years in with all of their original members. And most crash and burn long before that. It?s like a small family that doesn?t have to stay together, a marriage with no real contract; you?ve just got to enjoy the time you had. And probably, do your own thing, when you want to, and not worry about anybody else, until you can afford to call in the best and pay them. Period. This coming from a just-a-tiny-bit-perturbed-and-disappointed bandleader whose group finally fell apart after almost a decade, while getting ready to release our sophomore album (actually, the first band album, as the first CD really was a solo project).
So there you have it. The Way Of All Bands.
Keep writing, and keep recording. It?s your thing and nobody else?s.
GJ
GJ
====================================================
Hey Vuvvy Vlayman?
The great session and touring drummer Russ Kunkel (who used to be a band musician years ago, until one-too-many break-ups) has a saying: ?Well, we played together for awhile and did such-and-such, but eventually, that _went the way of all bands._?
That went the way of all bands.
And they do, mostly. They?re funny things, whether the most democratic or autocratic of institutions, or somewhere in-between, they ususally end? although more than a few have been blessed with amazing longevity, there aren?t that many that have 10, 20, or 30 years in with all of their original members. And most crash and burn long before that. It?s like a small family that doesn?t have to stay together, a marriage with no real contract; you?ve just got to enjoy the time you had. And probably, do your own thing, when you want to, and not worry about anybody else, until you can afford to call in the best and pay them. Period. This coming from a just-a-tiny-bit-perturbed-and-disappointed bandleader whose group finally fell apart after almost a decade, while getting ready to release our sophomore album (actually, the first band album, as the first CD really was a solo project).
So there you have it. The Way Of All Bands.
Keep writing, and keep recording. It?s your thing and nobody else?s.
GJ
Thanx, guys!
It is weird, ain't it, not that it falls apart, but that it matters so when it does.
Truth be told, and I think it's apparent, I brought it on - I pushed as hard as anyone to get my way.
But it puts yer self-worth as a musician a little on the line, and even yer self-worth as a person, to the extent you were friends.
A Stiv sang on the RTFF cover, "Ain't it fun when you broke up every band you ever begun" ...
It is weird, ain't it, not that it falls apart, but that it matters so when it does.
Truth be told, and I think it's apparent, I brought it on - I pushed as hard as anyone to get my way.
But it puts yer self-worth as a musician a little on the line, and even yer self-worth as a person, to the extent you were friends.
A Stiv sang on the RTFF cover, "Ain't it fun when you broke up every band you ever begun" ...
I never knew Ain't It Fun was a RFTT song. Always thought it was a Dead Boys original. Every band I've been in since I was 17 has broken up. Sometimes they just run their course and sometimes it's gets really personal and hateful. I've always found myself in the position of trying to be the leader and then resenting the other guys for not contributing enough or feeling threatened if they start to push too hard for their opinion to be heard. In my current band I'm finally content to let the singer/bass player who has way more fire in his belly than I do now days take control. I add my 2 cents and then we move on. It kinda feels good to let someone drive now but I'm always gonna be a backseat driver at the very least. Hope you find some others to jam with cause whatever it is that's in us seems to be in us for good.
Of course I've had it in the ear before.....
- Snarl 12/8
- cryogenically thawing
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Maybe it's ironic, but this thread is inspiring me to try harder to find some musical connections with others again. I've always looked at my inability to be in a band that stays together as a personal failure, but maybe it's just the nature of the beast, and my low self-esteem about it, is, in a way, vanity.
"... in us for good."
I remember being about 32 or so, having been in various bands for some 8 years, just having gotten a new job, when the bassist in my band said, "Yeah, new job, whatever, you are a musician."
First time I heard that, I mean, really heard it said about me.
20 years later, I still am, and I don't think that's gonna change, no.
I think that bands staying or leaving is "personal" in the sense that art and collaboration is personal, but that's a good thing. The requirement of compromise is a PITA, but a necessary evil.
I have never believed that music, especially rock, should be conservative and unchanging. My goal is to progress, to be onna journey, to go where I ain't gone before, or return to where I need to.
And ultimately, if I'm sitting next to the same guys for the whole or just a part of the trip, I'm still going.
I remember being about 32 or so, having been in various bands for some 8 years, just having gotten a new job, when the bassist in my band said, "Yeah, new job, whatever, you are a musician."
First time I heard that, I mean, really heard it said about me.
20 years later, I still am, and I don't think that's gonna change, no.
I think that bands staying or leaving is "personal" in the sense that art and collaboration is personal, but that's a good thing. The requirement of compromise is a PITA, but a necessary evil.
I have never believed that music, especially rock, should be conservative and unchanging. My goal is to progress, to be onna journey, to go where I ain't gone before, or return to where I need to.
And ultimately, if I'm sitting next to the same guys for the whole or just a part of the trip, I'm still going.
- Nick Sevilla
- on a wing and a prayer
- Posts: 5578
- Joined: Mon Mar 03, 2008 1:34 pm
- Location: Lake Arrowhead California USA
- Contact:
We are creatures of habit, we humans.vvv wrote:Thanx, guys!
It is weird, ain't it, not that it falls apart, but that it matters so when it does.
Truth be told, and I think it's apparent, I brought it on - I pushed as hard as anyone to get my way.
But it puts yer self-worth as a musician a little on the line, and even yer self-worth as a person, to the extent you were friends.
A Stiv sang on the RTFF cover, "Ain't it fun when you broke up every band you ever begun" ...
We fear change, for it reminds us of our mortality.
We give value to permanent things, when that is not the thing to value.
The value,was the experience.
And experience, is transitory.
Cheers
Howling at the neighbors. Hoping they have more mic cables.
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